Seafoam //Completed//

Chapter 33

She woke up to an empty room. For a second, Lulu's memory was blank. Until everything from the night before came rushing back in a flood of images and sensations. Her lips tingled with the ghost of the kiss she'd shared with Zac and her hand felt cold without his in it. They'd slept on the same bed, only holding hands, like schoolchildren, but it had meant so much more. A promise of something she didn't even dare think. Because this was her life, and in it, nothing ever came out right.

She lay there for minutes, replaying everything like a film, over and over until her alarm went off and she had to get ready for school. Zac wasn't downstairs when she went down for breakfast. Liam was there, eating cereal, and barely looked up from his bowl when she sat next to him.

"Lulu?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of Zac's voice, and she immediately felt her face grow unhealthily hot when she saw him standing by the staircase.

"Hi, Zac." Her voice was a breathless whisper. Through the corner of her eye she could see Liam had finally look up and was staring curiously.

"I was wondering if you wanted to, uh, walk with me to school? It's a little cold but it's not very far from here. We've walked farther." He smiled at her and her heart gave a little summersault in her chest.

"Yeah. Okay!" Was there a mouse stuck in her throat? It sounded like there was definitely a mouse stuck in her throat. Get a grip, Luciana.

She threw a glance at Liam and he was gawking openly at them now, the spoon in his hand dripping milk and Corn Pops into his bowl, but he didn't seem to notice. When he saw her looking, he gave her a huge smile and wiggled his eyebrows, much to her mortification.

"Let me grab my stuff!" She ran up the stairs and threw on her gray jacket, all the while trying hopelessly to calm the wild drumming of her heart. Practically flying out of the room and down the stairs, she had to put the brakes on before she tripped over her own feet and came crashing down like an idiot in front of the boys.

"Okay, I'm ready, Zac."

He smiled at her again and her heart began its acrobatics. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it.

They left Liam, who was still making stupid faces and winking at her even as she turned away from him, and walked into the cold morning fog. It was awkward and silent as they walked side by side. Zac didn't have his dark glasses on and his eyes were staring dead ahead, as if focusing on the road.

"Zac...Can you see anything?" As soon as she'd asked, she regretted it. It was pure curiosity that shoved the words out of her mouth and she wished she could swallow them right back down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean...it's just that—"

"Sometimes," his voice wasn't offended or angry. He sounded almost wistful, and her chest felt suddenly leaden. "Even before this operation, it's never been just darkness. Some days I can see light, and even make out shapes and figures. Other times, there's nothing at all to see."

Lulu thought about the fog in front of her and how she could barely make out the fading green of the trees standing tall above her. How even now, she could only see about five feet in front of her, and it was almost claustrophobic. She couldn't fathom living like that daily—half in the dark and half struggling to see only shapes.

A car drove by, breaking the silence, before Zac spoke again.

"For instance," he said. "I can almost make out the sidewalk beneath my feet. It's muddled a little, but I can tell it's there. And..." he put his hand out and gently touched her arm to stop her. She looked up at him curiously, and his eyes narrowed slightly, as he looked upon her face. "I can almost see you."