Falling Fast

Chapter 25 - Zoey Breathe

Something crashing to the floor made me turn back down my street when I was about to round the corner to the bus stop the next morning. The woman I’d vaguely noticed at Grigory’s yesterday just as I was leaving had tripped over the recycling bin that was just outside his gate. Grigory was just a few steps behind and hurried to her side, laughing, but I was too far away to hear it.

By my side, Dan was tugging on my arm. I ignored him. Grigory pulled the woman to her feet just as easily as he’d pulled me to mine just under a week ago. And then he kissed her. I felt my eyes go wide and I was moving but I wasn’t the one in control of my actions. He’d smiled into the kiss. He’d looked… radiant nearly. And she’d been so happy and beautiful and full figured.

“Zoey, breathe,” Dan said.

I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to. But then he gave my shoulder a good thump and I sucked in a shuddering breath. I realised he’d pulled me around the corner to get me away from what was happening on our street.

“Zoey… How far…”

“He kissed me, Dan,” I whispered. “On Sunday after the party. He…”

I heard him sigh and he pulled me into a hug. I bunched my hands up in his shirt and did my best to not cry all over him and use his tie as a tissue. After a little while I was passed over to someone else who I just about recognised as Evan. He was a bit heavy handed with the hand he was patting my head with, but I honestly didn’t mind. It was something real, something my mind could process. Grigory not wanting to be with me… that kinda made sense somehow. But Grigory with someone else?

How the hell had I not thought that might be the reason he’d suddenly changed his mind? It made sense. She was his age, she was beautiful, she was from his country probably and they’d probably known each other for years and years. No wonder he hadn’t made any moves on me. Apart from the kiss. That one kiss which had meant everything to me and nothing to him and…

“Let’s get on the bus, yeah?” Evan asked and began to guide me down the street.

I got on the bus in a bit of a daze and I think someone let me have their seat thinking that I really was as ill as my love sick heart felt. The next thing that I noticed was that when we got off, we were at the stop before school. Lexie was stood there in jeans and a knit jumper, turning her phone over and over in her hands and shifting from foot to foot. As soon as she saw me the phone went away and she strode over, a sad look on her face.

“We’re going over to my house ok,” she said gently and rubbed my arm.

“You know?” I asked.

“Sergey told me last night. Grigory text him saying he’s engaged. I was going to go straight to your house and tell you, but Dad fell down the stairs and broke his arm and Joe was knocked out and… Anyway. I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.”

“You… you could have asked me to come over,” I said hollowly.

“I… Wow. I screwed up. I’m sorry, I didn’t think… Let’s just go back to my house, ok?”

I nodded and got into her car. I heard her say ‘thanks, Evan. I’ll tell you later or tomorrow or something’ and then she got in.

“I called him,” she said. “Just to tell him I needed to talk to you urgently and to stop there.”

“Why didn’t you meet us at school?” I asked despondently.

“I figured you wouldn’t want anyone to see you like this. Where’s Dan?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t even realised he wasn’t with us.

“Put your seatbelt on, Zo.”

I did as I was told and let her drive. She didn’t drive us to her house right away, maybe because she wanted her brothers to all definitely be on their way to school when we got there, or maybe she just thought I needed the drive. Either way when we did get to her house she still had to nudge me into motion. I walked into the house listlessly and trudged up to her room where I flopped on the bed.