Chapter Ten – Zane

It takes a long time before I can get Leah alone again. Unfortunately, the party and Brandon’s need for me means I don’t get a moment alone to seek her out again. Damn Rosa ruined things for me. But she’s there all the time, I can sense her everywhere. It’s almost as if everyone else isn’t in the room at all, they’re all just noise. It’s only Leah and me. The magnets are dragging us towards one another all over again.

By the time I get Brandon rolled into bed, knowing that he’s going to have a terrible hangover in the morning, and I wander back down to survey the mess and the stragglers left behind. The house isn’t pleasant, there is mess everywhere, but nothing seems to be broken on first sight and I’ll take that as a good sign.

“Right, everyone, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” I call out in a determined tone of voice. “The birthday boy is in bed so unless you want to help with the clean-up then I suggest you go.”

“Aww, but it’s only two AM,” Sally moans in a dramatic fashion. “I’m not nearly done yet.”

“Well then get a bin liner and help pick up the mess.” I give her a very fake smile. “Or get out.”

“I don’t even clean up at my own parties. Can’t you just get a cleaner in or something?”

She’s so out of touch with the world. Would I be like that if I didn’t have Brandon? I would like to think not, but I’m not totally convinced. I don’t know myself if I could trust myself not to be a brat.

“No, Sally, we can’t. So, like I said, help or leave. That’s my final suggestion. Go or help.”

With a huff and a grumble under her breath, she takes her friends and she goes. I’m sure she’ll be bitching about me later, which isn’t surprising since I’m usually the one who wants the party all night long. But not today. Today I actually care about the house, and I also want to see if I can sneak one more moment alone with Leah. I haven’t seen her for a while but I don’t think she’s snuck off to be just yet. I hope not anyway.

Once everyone leaves, I grab a bin liner and I start picking up empty cups that are left all around the place. It’s almost an overwhelming amount, but I have to put a dent in it. I know Brandon’s mom might not like me, but I know that she works her ass off and I don’t want her to come back to this.

“Oh… you’re still here.” As I hear Leah’s voice, my heart leaps up into my throat. “You okay, Zane?”

I turn to look at her, smiling wildly as I see her. She’s gorgeous, even in her slightly tired, slightly just sexed look. All I want to do is wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. Finally, there isn’t anyone around us, and we can just be again for a little while longer. Tonight, would have been better if it was like this all the time.

“Yeah, of course I’m still here. I wanted to see you again. Sorry about the way that things turned out.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s fine. It definitely wasn’t your fault that Rosa turned up.”

“Did you hear that?” I feel bad, I know that argument didn’t paint me in the best light. “Sorry.”

“Oh no, it’s okay. I know that you aren’t to blame. Rosa seems a bit crazy. Like a stalker, or something.”

I’m not thinking about Rosa at the moment, because Leah is walking towards me and swinging her hips in a very sexy way. It’s almost as if she doesn’t even know how hot she is which makes her even more attractive. All I want to do is kiss her, hug her, and even make love to her. I don’t want to stop doing all those things with her…

Shit, what is it about Leah? Why does she have such a hold on me? She’s driving me wild again.

“Well, I’m glad we have a moment now,” she replies with a murmur. “I don’t know if I would have been able to sleep tonight had we not. I’d be lying there thinking about you all night long.”

I wrap my arms around her, feeling a sense of relief as I finally get my hands on her body. “Well, I hope you do that anyway! I like the idea of you dreaming about me all night long. That’s super sexy!”

She laughs, a lovely lilting sound that I want to get stuck in my head. “Yeah okay, I’m sure I will anyway. It won’t be the first time that I’ve laid in my bed thinking about you, Zane Morris.”

My heart clenches. It seems that while I haven’t noticed Leah before too much in that way, she has. That doesn’t scare me off, if anything it really thrills me. Everything about Leah is so exciting. She turns me on and flips me over in every single way. I don’t even know if there’s ground underneath me anymore.

I dip my head down and I crash my lips into her, loving the fireworks that explode within me. Leah’s lovely mouth feels wonderful against mine, as her body molds into mine, I wish that I could just hold her all night long. I don’t want to say goodbye to this girl, but for a while I think I need to. I don’t want to go, but we need some space just to get our heads together. She’s intoxicating and I can feel myself losing my head over her.

“Right, I suppose I better go,” I murmur sadly. “But I’ll be back in the morning to help you with hungover Brandon and the rest of the clean-up, okay? Then… we can have a talk about me and you.”

She gives me an intense look and bites down on her bottom lip before she nods. It’s scary for me to think that I might actually like this girl, and that isn’t only because she’s the one girl in the world that I can’t really have.

“Okay,” she replies softly. “I guess I’ll go to bed then, try and get some sleep before you come back.”

I give her one more chaste kiss before I drag myself away. It’s agony to pull myself backwards but I have to. It’s the sensible thing for the pair of us. After some space, we’ll know a whole lot better.

I hop onto my bike outside, glad that I didn’t drink tonight, and I whiz my way home. There’s a giant smile on my face that I don’t think anything will be able to wipe off. The world is at my feet…

The only thing that makes me hesitate is when I pull up to the house and I see all the lights on. At this time of night, my parents are usually in bed so there must be something going on here. My heart skips in my chest as terror claims me. My brain races as I try to work out what terrible thing has happened. When I can’t immediately come up with anything, I race inside, trying to swallow down the panic that’s balled up in my throat.

“Son,” comes my father’s booming voice almost right away. “You’re finally here.”

“What happened?” I demand back, looking at him with wild eyed fear. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. We have simply been waiting for you to come home. We have to discuss things with you,”

“Where is Mom?”

“She’s asleep. She couldn’t wait up for you any longer since it’s been all damn night.”

“It was Brandon’s birthday party, that’s where I’ve been all the time.”

“Yes, your friend’s birthday.” Dad nods as if he understands. I’m sure he hasn’t ever had any real friends, just idiot business associates like himself. “And it was also your last day at school on Friday, wasn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, aside from the exams, I suppose.” I narrow my eyes at him, confused. “Why?”

“Because it’s time to go.” All of a sudden, I notice items piled up behind him. Bags and bags of stuff that’s probably mine. “The car has been waiting for you outside for hours. It’s time to leave for college.”

“What?” I snap back. “But I haven’t had summer yet. I haven’t sat my exams, it’s ages yet…”

“You don’t need to sit your exams. You’re going to have a foundation course to deal with so no exams matter, there isn’t any point in you wasting your time. And that course starts with a summer school, so you can’t waste all your time bumming around with your sad friends. It’s time for you to be productive.”

So many things flood my mind, I don’t know what to do about any of this. If I leave now, I lose everything… most of all, Leah. I want to get back to her, to tell her how I feel, to spend a long and lazy summer with her. But now my father has a car outside waiting to take me away and I know what that means. That means I’m stuck.

“No, Dad, I don’t want this. I haven’t even talked to you properly about it yet.” I run my hands through my hair as stress catches up with me. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t have any desire for this. I just…” I groan hopelessly as I feel my future slipping away from me. “Dad, I just need some more time. Give me time.”

“No, son, there is no time. This course starts now. You have to go.” His face glowers and I start to feel a little afraid. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone turn him down before and I don’t know if that’ll change him. “You are leaving, you are getting in that car, and you are going to college. You need to grow up.”

I could run, that’s the one thing that keeps coming through my mind. I could run away from here and never come back, but where will that leave me, honestly? How will that help me? I have nothing of my own, I don’t have any money or possessions, only my bike. How far would I get? And in a way, I can’t stop thinking that as much as I don’t want it, it might be an opportunity that I risk not taking later on. I don’t have to be gone for years anyway, I can come back and visit Leah if I feel strongly enough once I’ve gotten some distance. Maybe it’s better if we do things this way anyway. I don’t know what I’m ready for and I don’t want to make a big mess of things by pushing things too quickly.

I hate to admit it, but my dad is older than me and he’s had a very successful life. Maybe he knows more than me after all. Maybe, after everything that we’ve been through, he does only care for me and want what’s best. Maybe, I should give his idea a go then if it doesn’t work out I can at least tell him that I tried.

“Okay fine,” I eventually say glumly. “I’ll go. I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”

“All I want you to do is try, son. That’s all I’m asking of you. Now come on, let’s get this car packed up.”

I feel uneasy as we do so, I have no idea if I’m doing the right thing, but I know that I might end up regretting not seeing what my potential could be. I just hope that I’m not be throwing away something incredible here by doing so. Then again, if fate is a thing then it’ll happen if it’s meant to be. I just need to be patient and hope that the life I want finally catches up with me.