Since When

Chapter Nineteen

Danny and Tyler were at Skylar's house when we showed up. I got out of the car.
"You're skipping class." I said. Tyler smirked.
"So are you." He said. I felt ashamed. I never skipped class. Zeke thumped Tyler in the head.
"Leave her alone, man." He said. When Zeke turned his back on us to talk to Danny, I stuck my tongue out at Tyler. He rolled his eyes and shoved me.
"Real mature, James." He said. I fluttered my eyebrows innocently.
"Whatever do you mean, Tyler?" I asked. He chuckled and shook his head. I smiled and jogged over to Zeke and Danny. Danny acknowledged me by tilting his head and continuing his conversation. Zeke grabbed my hand and laced our fingers. I swung our hands between us and eavesdropped.
"-Cheyenne. I don't know what is up with him, man. I figured you could get him to talk." Danny finished. Zeke sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. He obviously didn't tell them what happened with Skylar. I mean, yeah. They knew about Cody. But they obviously didn't know what Skylar did. I looked up at Zeke. He was staring ahead with a blank look on his face. I leaned my head on his shoulder and grabbed his arm with my other hand. He kissed the top of my head and pulled away. I looked at him. He shook his head and jogged to the door, knocking on it. Mrs. Jones appeared.
"Zeke! What a pleasant surprise!" She exclaimed. He smiled his million dollar smile and hugged her.
"You brought Danny and Tyler, too?! Even Rachel?? What is the occasion?" She asked. Zeke shook his head.
"Nothing, ma'am. We just wanted to talk to Skylar. He's home sick, right?" Zeke asked. She nodded and opened the door a little more. We all went inside and saw Skylar in the living room. Stacey was at the table coloring. Max was at her feet, asleep. I smiled and sat next to her. Zeke walked over and kissed my temple.
"This will only take a few minutes." He said in my ear. I nodded, not knowing what would happen.
"Hi, Rachel." Stacey said. She didn't look up from her coloring book.
"Hi, Stacey. Whatcha coloring?" I asked her. She showed me a picture of a blue, green and brown butterfly sitting on top of a yellow flower.
"It's beautiful." I told her. She beamed.
"Really? Wanna help me color?" She asked. Her bright eyes and happy face was irresistible. I nodded.
"Yeah." She clapped her hands and took out a picture of a bear eating honey. There was a sun in the corner of the page and clouds were in the sky. She had a box of crayons in front of her. I pulled out a brown and started coloring the bear. I colored his body, head and ears brown. His eyes were blue. I grabbed a pink and colored his nose. I colored the honey and golden color. I grabbed a green and colored the grass he sat in. Next, I colored the sun, which was orange and yellow. Then, I grabbed a blue and colored the sky. Stacey smiled.
"Will you sign it?" She asked. I nodded and grabbed a purple crayon. I signed my name and a little smiley face at the top.
"Ray. Look at me." Zeke said. I looked up and saw him pointing his camera at me.
"Smile." I obeyed and his flash went. He was smiling when he sat his phone down on the table. Danny and Tyler were still out sight. Stacey took the paper from me and hung it on her fridge.
"There. Now everyone who comes here can look at it." She said proudly. I smiled. Max had woken up and was pawing at my legs. I picked him up and scratched behind his ears.
"So cute." I said. He yipped and squirmed in my arms, trying to get down. I laughed and put him down. Danny and Tyler came back downstairs with a content look on their faces. I mentally sighed and stood up.
"We have to go." Danny said. I nodded.
"Ok." Stacey ran over and hugged my legs. I smiled and crouched down and pulled her into a hug. Max was wriggling with happiness at her side. She smiled and pet him. I stood back up and grabbed my coat. I walked outside to Zeke's car and got in. Zeke, Danny and Tyler all walked outside, laughing. Seeing Zeke as happy as he was brought a smile to my face. I haven't seen him that happy since... I don't know when. He chuckled and got in the car. I checked my phone. It was 3:14. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. Zeke pat my knee.
"You ok?" He asked, pulling out of the drive way. I nodded.
"Yeah. Just... I actually skipped school." I said. I felt... oddly triumphant. He smiled.
"Yeah. You did." He said. I smiled along with him. He drove to the park and turned the car off. I looked at him.
"Look... with what happened with my dad earlier... you can't tell anyone. Not a soul." Zeke said. I scoffed.
"Like I would. Why do you even protect him, Zeke? He's mean. And bad. He's not a good person." I said, disgusted. Zeke chuckled.
"I know. I guess I just protect him because I feel lime I have to. I mean, he's my dad. My mom... she is gone. He is all I have." He said. He shrugged. I sighed and crossed my legs in the seat.
"Zeke... you have to tell someone." I told him. He nodded and reached his hand over to me. He pushed a piece of hair behind my ear and lookede in the eyes. His gold eyes were looking at me with a strange emotion. Happiness? Sadness? Anger? I couldn't tell.
"I know. And I will. I just... don't know who to tell." He said, exasperated. I nodded.
"I know." I replied. He pulled me in for a kiss then took me home.

I sat at my desk, tracing the designs of my bracelet Zeke gave me. The little flowers, the braid, all of it. Charlie was rolling his marble across my desk, back and forth. I chuckled and grabbed my phone. I had a missed call from an unknown number. No voicemail. I called it. Three rings later I hear,
"Hello?" The voice was obviously female. Very high, the kind of voice you would hear in an old '60s movie.
"Uhm... hello? You called my phone earlier?" I asked. She gasped.
"Oh yes! Sorry it was the wrong number." She told me.
"Oh, that's ok." I told her.
"Ok." She said and hung up.

Well... what? Haha. xD The next chapter will be an Author's Note for those of you who read them. Those of you who don't read them, PLEASE READ! It will explain why I don't update on a daily basis, and will inform you on anything you need to know. Thanks. :)