Zoe And The Beast

Chapter 15 | Silly Old Board Games | Part 1

Just as Elijah's mother waved goodbye at me and took Elijah back home, Zach's car pulled up into the driveway.

It had been about an hour and a half since Vince and I had come back from our date.

"Hey, Zoe," Zach waved at me, stepping out of his car. His eyes trailed Elijah and his mother in confusion. "What are they doing here?"

Shrugging my shoulders at my brother, I held the door open for him as he carried a couple bags of groceries in his arms. "Oh, Elijah just got stuck outside while his mom was out. I called him in so he wouldn't be so scared."

"She forgot one of her kids again?" Zach asked, incredulous. He set the bags down, shaking his head. "Damn, Elijah."

"I know," I nodded along. Narrowing my eyes, I noticed a purple bruise at the edge of his temple, near his left ear. "What happened to your face?"

"This?" He touched the injury, an amused smile on his face. "This is a hickey."

"Oh." I pressed my lips together, wondering how someone could get a hickey on their temple. Before my thoughts wandered to a visual of someone giving Zach a love bite, I changed the topic. "How was your first day at college?"

"Not very exciting." Zach shrugged, then narrowed his eyes at my appearance. "Why are you dressed like that?"

I glanced down. I hadn't gotten a chance to change out of my outfit from the date, let alone get out of my sandals.

"Oh, I was just on a date." I blurted, before I could think. Gulping, I tried to come up with a follow up. "...A double date."

"With who?" Zach crossed his arms, his belligerent appearance suddenly appearing stronger.

"With Derek..." I lied, thinking. "And Savannah."

"Who was your date, Zoe?"

"J-Jared?"

"Jared?"

"Jared." I nodded, finally set on my lie. "I was on a double date, with Jared, Savannah, and Derek. I wanted to get away from everything that's been happening for the past few days, and I thought Jared was the best way to do that."

And for the first time, Zach seemed to buy it.

"Weird," he muttered, uncrossing his arms to head over to the kitchen. "I always figured Jared was either gay or dating your other friend, Savannah."

"Oh, no," I lied. "He's totally into me."

Zach leaned over the counter, lost in thought for a moment, before finally glancing over at me. "How about you and me hang out tonight?"

I raised my eyes at my older brother, surprised. "What?"

"Let's hang out, kid. We haven't had some real brother-sister time in a while. We'll play some of the silly old board games we used to play when we were younger. I'll stay home for the night. We can even watch some movies, if you want."

I felt a smile on my face. "Okay. That sounds fun."

Heading for my bedroom upstairs, I high-fived Zach as I went towards the staircase.

"Oh, also, Zoe," Zach stopped me. "Do you need new shoes? Those are the only nice ones I've been seeing you wear."

"Um," I looked down at my sandals. It was true, those were the only nice shoes I had. "Yes?"

He tossed me a wad of twenties. "Use that money to buy yourself new ones. And remember, if you need something, talk to me about it. Don't worry about the money -- I'll handle that."

I smiled, touched at how kind my brother was. "Thanks. I'll change and be right back."

"Sounds good."

AN// Please vote and/or comment if you think this deserves it :) // 

Edited: June 20, 2018