"Zin, why are you sitting alone? Where's Amy?" I asked, leaning forward.

Lily and Andrew looked at Zinnia. 

Zinnia turned her head towards us as soon as she heard me calling her name. She gave us a faint smile before saying, "She went somewhere with Ash."

"What?" I asked as if I wasn't hearing the correct thing.

"Ash called her as he wanted to talk about something and they went somewhere," Zinnia said, looking at us. "Maybe they have got something important to talk about. They are boyfriend and girlfriend after all," she said, shrugging her shoulders and leaning back on her hands. 

Me and Lily gave her a sympathetic look as we knew the pain she was enduring even though she was putting up an apathetic face. Andrew didn't have a clue about anything so he just nodded and went to sit near Danish.

I sighed and stood up. 

"Let's go," I said, looking at Lily and Zinnia. 

"But the college isn't over," Danish said, earning a frown from me.

"But our classes are," I said and took my bag.

"Yeah but why are you hurrying?" he asked.

"None of your business," I said and turned my heels as I didn't want to argue with him, not at this moment. Right now, one of my special ones needed me and I wasn't going to spare a second for this jerk. 

Lily got up taking her bag, dusted the dirt out on the back of her dress and turned towards Andrew. 

"Bye. Be there at nine. Danish, you too."

They both nodded and bid goodbyes. 

Zinnia raised her head and looked at me and Lily as we stood in front of her. She nodded and took her bag and we three went towards my car. 

»»---------------------►

The car ride was filled with silence. No music, no talking, nothing. Only the sounds of tires screeching, the air conditioner blowing cool wind and the peculiar 'tick-tick' sound of the indicator filled the unusual silence we shared in my car. Me and Lily kept our mouths shut because we knew well that it was better to leave Zinnia alone when she was upset.

I parked the car in the garage and turned off the engine. As soon as we entered our house, Zinnia went straight to her room and closed the door. Me and Lily looked at the closed door and then at each other. 

"Let's give her some time," Lily said. 

I nodded. Lily was right. Zinnia needed some space right now. 

Why would Amy go with Ash? What does Ash have to talk to Amy about? Should I call her? 

The thoughts that were stacking up in my mind were interrupted by Zinnia's voice.

"What is about all the doom and gloom?" she asked, taking our attention towards her. She changed her clothes to some comfy ones. "What happened to you two?" she asked us again.

"Are you alright?" asked Lily, who was sitting beside me in the living room.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Zinnia asked with a baffled face.

Lily looked at me before saying, "No, back there Amy-"

"We really don't have to talk about it," said Zinnia, cutting off Lily. 

"So you're fine with what happened?" I asked her.

"Of course! First of all, Elka, me and Amy aren't dating. We are just two people who are becoming good friends but not to mention I have feelings for her and she doesn't have a clue about it. And second of all, Amy and Ash didn't break up. So practically, Ash is still her boyfriend so he has the right to talk to her whenever he wants, but that's only if Amy wants to hear him out," Zinnia said.

What Zinnia said was completely logical and practical. Her point of view was correct in all possible ways. And the way she was looking at this just proved how mature she was as an eighteen year old teenage girl. 

"What happened to Ash? He was the one who was avoiding her and when the tables turned, he's fucking interested all of a sudden," I said.

"Come on, Elka. You can't say anything. No one can. It's his mind doing everything. Maybe he's missing her? Maybe he knew her worth? Maybe he realized he's in love with her?" Zinnia said, sitting across from me.

"I don't know," I said, sighing and looking down at my feet. 

"Exactly. You don't know anything," she said.

There was an awkward silence between us and to ease that, Lily turned on the T.V. 

"I heard Andrew and Danish are coming here today. Is that right?" Zinnia asked after a few minutes. 

"Yeah, Elka called them," Lily said.

"Not them but him. I called Andrew," I corrected her.

"Yeah and I called Danish," Lily said after rolling her eyes at me.

"That's something," Zinnia said, chuckling. "What made you do that?" she asked.

"Elka was starving and Andrew got her some snacks," Lily said.

"Really?" Zinnia asked, surprised. 

I nodded and smiled at Zinnia. 

My eyes then went wide and my mouth was gaping. Zinnia noticed the sudden change on my face and asked me, "What happened?"

Hearing Zinnia, Lily frowned at me and asked the same. I brought my hands to cover my open mouth.

"What happened, Elka?" they asked in unison.

"I forgot the snacks on the ground," I said.

"You schmuck!" they called me, again in unison.

»»---------------------►

It was around nine and we were making preparations for dinner. I came up with the idea of BBQ dinner as it had been a long time we had one. And since Andrew and Danish were coming, I thought it would be fun.

I was in the backyard, cleaning the grill and setting the fire. Zinnia was bringing the necessary items from the house while Lily was in the kitchen, making some side dishes for the barbeque. 

Zinnia was trying to put up a joyful face to not make me and Lily worry but she was also aware that we could see her sadness right through her. But if Zinnia didn't want to talk about it and if that was what she wanted, then we let it be like that. 

As I was preheating the barbeque, we heard the doorbell. After a few seconds, we heard faint voices coming from the kitchen. Me and Zinnia turned our heads and saw Andrew and Danish walking towards us. 

"Hey," said Andrew and Danish.

We smiled at them.

"I bought this for you guys," Andrew said, holding a bottle of wine in front of us. 

"Wow," Zinnia said, taking the bottle from his hands. 

I took a look at the bottle in her hands. 

"Pinot Noir?" I asked with my eyebrows arching. "It must have cost you a fortune, right?"

"Well it wa-"

"Hey, look what I got for you," Danish said, cutting off Andrew.

I looked at him and asked, "What is it?"

"Find it out by yourself," he said, holding out a brown paper bag.

I took the bag from his hand and looked inside. 

"Hey!" I snapped at him.

"What?" he snapped back.

"This isn't from you. This is from Andrew," I said.

"Yeah, it would've been from Andrew if you didn't forget it on the ground. Now, as I'm giving you this, consider it as a gift from me."

I looked at Andrew who was standing behind Danish. He gave me a slight nod with a grin on his face. I looked back at Danish with a smile creeping up my face. Seeing my expression, he chuckled.

"What is it?" Zinnia asked, poking her chin out.

"It's the snacks Andrew bought for me. The ones I forgot at the college," I said, turning my head towards Zinnia. 

"Ohhh.." Zinnia laughed. 

I looked back at Danish and said, "So thoughtful of you, Danish."

"Thank you, Elka," he said, winking. 

"Alright. It's time to grill," I said, keeping the bag aside and taking oil to brush the bars of the hot long handled tong.

"Side dishes ready!" Lily said, coming towards us with a tray full of covered bowls. 

"Woah! That's a hell lot of side dishes Lily," Zinnia said, amazed. 

Lily laughed as she placed the tray on the picnic table. 

"Yeah, I made spinach and artichoke dip, smashed sesame cucumber salad, grilled sweet potatoes with lemon-herb sauce, easy red salsa and Mexican grilled corn."

"Oh God, I can hear my stomach growling at me! Someone grab me a plate right now," Danish said as we all erupted in laughter. 

We had our dinner and everyone praised me for the barbeque except Danish. But it was obvious that he loved it as he was the one who ate the most. 

»»---------------------►

Me, Andrew, Lily and Zinnia were inside the house while Danish was in the backyard, on his phone. Lily was doing the dishes while me and Andrew were sitting on the dining table. Zinnia went to her room saying she was having a headache. 

"So, you know about my past?" Andrew asked out of blue, catching me off guard. 

I stared at him for a few seconds before nodding my head. 

"No offense but still, are you nice because you feel pity for me, Elka?" he asked.

"What? No!" I retorted. 

"Sorry, I just had this doubt," Andrew said.

I licked my lips. "See, Andrew. To be honest, I didn't have anything against you. I was worried about Lily. It was always about Lily. And that was why I disapproved of her dating you," I said, coming clean.

"I know. You are a sweetheart although you are intimidating sometimes. Lily is lucky to have someone like you in her life," he said, grinning. 

I returned a smile. 

"Well, I'm still impressed by the fact that you actually bought us a Pinot Noir," I said, taking the wine bottle and a bottle opener. 

"It's actually Danish who bought it. He's the one who paid for it," Andrew said.

I looked at him and made an 'O' shape with my lips.

Why didn't he say that earlier? 

"He said he didn't want me to look bad by visiting you with bare hands," he added as if he just read my mind.

I chuckled and asked, "Does he think that I'm that picky?"

Andrew let out a small laugh before saying, "Maybe, because of the way you are towards him. So cold and rude. He just wants to be friends with you, Elka."

What Andrew said was true. I knew that I was being cold and rude towards Danish for no reason. And scaring the shit out of me on his first day at college couldn't be taken as a basis.

Maybe I should try being nice to him?

I opened the wine bottle and asked Andrew to take four glasses. He took the glasses and I poured the wine. 

"Baby, let me give you a hand," Andrew said, walking towards Lily. 

She grinned while Andrew took the bowl from her hands. I looked at them as a smile appeared on my lips. 

Maybe he's the right one for her.

"Hey, take your glasses," I said as I placed the bottle and took a glass.

"Elka, go give Danish a glass," Lily said as I brought the glass up to my lips. I stared at her to which she said, "He's our guest."

I rolled my eyes and took a glass for Danish and went out to my backyard.

Will I be known and loved?
Is there one that I trust?
Starting to sober up
Has it been long enough?