The Unforgivable

Chapter 16

The sunlight snuck in between the tree-filled park, shining down on Zane's face. He sat up on the bench he had slept on that night and wiped his sleepy eyes, clearing his fuzzy vision. Children were just starting to gather at the playground, their parents staring at Zane like he was a homeless freak.

'But I am a homeless freak' thought to himself, getting to his feet and slinging his school bag over his shoulder. Heads turned as he strutted past them, escaping from the judgemental human race. It was too early for school to open, but he had no other choice.

The wind blew through the leaves on the ground, causing them to flutter around Zane's feet as he walked down the deserted highway, heading towards the school. He watched a group of leaves as they blew across the road and down a faintly familiar street. Suddenly he had the urge to follow the path of the reddish-brown evidence of the crispy fall. Five minutes later, he found himself in front of a large white house with an even whiter door. He hesitated before knocking on the door softly, worried about who would answer, and what they would think when they found a messy 17 year old boy waiting on their porch. What if it was an old couple who don't want him soiling their house? What if it was a crazy rapist who kidnaps him and he's never seen again? What if-

"Zane?" The door opened and a girl stepped out in front of the doorway, staring into his eyes. "W-what are you doing here?"

Zane took a step back to let her out. She was dressed in a pair of short camo shorts and an off white cami. She wrapped her hands around her arms to protect herself from the cold.

"Lyric? You live here?" Zane whispered, relieved he hadn't came to a complete stranger's door.

"Um, yeah, it's my house." Lyric giggled before shivering. "Do you want to come inside? It's freezing out here." She stepped aside and, hesitantly, Zane followed her. She led him into a large room with a three-person couch, a flat-screen, a coffee table and a fireplace.

"Could you maybe just, sit here while I go get dressed?" Lyric smiled, slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Yeah, sure," Zane agreed, taking  seat by the cackling fire. Lyric turned and ran up to her room, leavig him alone in front of the burning flames. He took off his leaf-coated sweatshirt, leaving his tan and muscular arms bare. Zane picked off a couple dozen leaves and got up to throw them away. He doubted Lyric or her parents would be too happy if their living room looked like a forest floor.

"Okay, I'm back!" Lyric chirped, running down the winding staircase. She had put on a plain white cami underneath a baby blue Aeropostal sweater. She was untucking her hair from underneath the fur-coated hood. Hugging her legs was a pair of white skinny jeans that cut off just above her ankels. Her tan mocassins slapped the ground as she skipped into the kitchen and started filling a small pot with water.

"Do you want some coffee Zane?" she asked sweetly, dumping the coffee beans into a filter.

"Um, yeah sure." he mumbled, still staring at her long brown hair curl around her collerbones and wave past her chest.

"Great!" she sang, setting the steamer to an appropriate tempurature before sitting next to Zane on the floor. She stared into the fire for a while before turning to see him doing the same thing.

"So, Zane," she started, "How did you end up at my house?"

Zane turned to face her, noticing her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Um, well, leaves." he stated, realizing how stupid that sounded.

"Leaves?"

"Yeah, leaves."

Lyric looked at Zane with a confused expression before smiling.

"Okay then!"

Zane laughed at her response as she jumped up and poured coffee into two silver mugs.

"So, you're a morning person, huh?" he chucked. Usually people were groggily walking around their room swearing at random inanimate objects at this point in time, but Lyric was just as cheery now than she is later in the day.

"Yeah, how'd ya know?" she laughed, handing him his coffee before taking a sip of hers.

"Just a guess." he winked.

They sat in silence until they were both done with their drink, sneaking peeks at eachother now and then.

"Here, I'll take that," Lyric smiled getting up from her spot and taking Zane's cup. Zane got up with her, following her to the sink. Once she had both cups rinsed and in the dishwasher, she spun around and faced him.

"I gotta go get my school stuff, you can come if you want, but you dont have t-" Before Lyric could finish her sentence she found herself in Zane's arms, saving her from crashing to the floor. She looked down at her feet and saw she had tripped over Rory's shoe he had carelessly left in the middle of everything.

"Thanks," Lyric breathed, just quietly enough for Zane to hear.

"No problem. Are you oka-"

"Lyric? Lyric what happened!" Rory came sprinting down the staircase with a black umbrella in his hand, most likely ready to strike an intruder. He looked down at his daughter before looking up at the boy who held her in his arms.

"Who are you?" he demanded, confused. "You're that kid from the hospital!" Rory chuckled, releved his daughter wasn't with a complete stranger. The umbrella was lowered to the floor as Rory came to take Zane's hand.

"I'm Rory, Lyric's adoptive father. And you are?"

Zane clutched his hand firmly. "Zane, Zane Bradison."

"Nice to meet you Zane! Now Lyric," Rory turned to his daughter, still in Zane's arms. "What ever happened to that Allen boy? I thought you liked him."

Lyric pushed herself out of Zane's embrase and blushed. "Rory, Zane's just a friend. He's my partner in the Help The Underprivelaged group."

Embarrassment crossed over Rory's face as he realized his mistake. "My bad, sorry hun." He smiled, "And I'm sorry to you too, Zane."

Zane looked at Lyric with a face that said "You told him?!"  Lyric quickly shook her head no, and his expression faded.

"Yeah, we gotta get to school, so I'll see you tonight. Okay?" Lryic ran past Rory up the stairs to grab her school bag before coming back down and pulling Zane through the front door.

"Bye!" Rory called after them, but they were already too far away to hear him. When they were almost a block from school, Zane bursted out in hysterical laughter.

"What?" Lyric smiled.

"I like your dad." Zane chuckled, adjusting Lyric's bag on his shoulder. He had thought it looked too heavy and took it from her about half a block earlier.

"Yeah, he's alright, when he's not embarrassing me. Which is like, never." She laughed and leaned against Zane the slightest bit. She felt him tense up, but then relax as he put his arm around her shoulder. They walked in that position until they showed up outside the school doors and had to turn in opposite directions.

"After school?" Zane smiled, handing Lyric her bag.

"But it's not Thursday," Lyric pointed out, even though she knew that's not what he meant.

"It doesn't have to be." he winked before turning around and strutting down the hall. Lyric was left smiling like a fool as her classmates passed by.

"No, I guess it doesn't," she whispered to herself before entering her first class of the day.