Ashlin
After Zion and I had hugged, we conversed in the living room. It was a short talk and I tried to comfort him with words I didn't know I could muster. Yet when you're faced with serious situations in life, you go above and beyond. So as it was practically night, Zion and I decided it would be best I stayed in the guestroom.
No, I did not ask to sleep in his room. So don't get the wrong Idea, I was going to stay at a nearby motel. Being that he'd have to give me the address and directions, we figured it would be easier to stay at his house.
After all that was finalized, I borrowed the house phone to contact my mom. I knew I was in for a long argument but letting her know I was ok was the important thing. For I was sure Mrs Denver had already informed her about my hurried exit from town with her car.
My mom had cursed a whole bunch and let me off with a 'this conversation isn't over' before returning to work. I had ended the call with a sigh and went to bed immediately after. I didn't even care that I hadn't shower at all that day. I just wanted to rest, to rest my mind and my heart.
The next morning, I woke up from a long slumber. The Sun was already high in the sky and birds were chirping in the tree by the window. Everything seemed like a scene from a movie, as I rubbed my eyes to adjust them to the light. Yawning and stretching I caught a glimpse of a sun dress hung over the chair in the left corner of the room. A note was also stuck unto it and I smiled at the realization that Zion left it there.
Throwing the covers to the side, I walked over to the chair and retrieved the note from the dress.
" Found this in my aunt's closet, have a shower and search for anything else you might need to wear in her room. It's the room at the end of the hall, she had some new stuff in there" ~ Zion
It was a simple note but I felt so proud. It was obvious he was raised well, despite all he'd been through. Zion would definitely be the guy to offer his hoodie to a girl, if a period incident ever occurred. God knows we need more men like that in this world. Which is why I was going to do everything I could to ensure he never thinks of suicide ever again.
I had a warm shower in the little guest bathroom and threw on the dress afterwards. Then I made my way to his aunt's room to get some under garments, because there was no way I was going to walk around the house in just a dress. The dress was a bit big on me, which made me skeptical as to whether the other stuff I needed would fit. Yet I continued to his aunt's room.
His Aunt's room was well organized and you could tell she loved to read, as there was a massive bookshelf on the wall by her bed. Luckily her stuff were labelled, for as soon as I opened her closet...I located the underwear section. It felt weird going through a dead woman''s underwear box but life in itself was a weird thing.
What I found at the bottom of the box, cemented my belief in fate. As there was an unopened pack of underwear in my exact size. The pack had 'To Be Returned' in neat hand writing , which led me to believe she may have accidentally bought them in the wrong size. Wow, that was hella suspicious...It was as if they were waiting for me.
My mind ran on Zion, as I wondered why he left a note instead of telling me himself. Then I remembered it was Monday, which meant he had school. Plus his letter did say he played a sport, which I'm guessing would be football. So he'd have practice early in the morning.
Then it hit me....SCHOOL!
Shit! I forgot about school.
I quickly ran to the kitchen to check the clock that I saw above the fridge the evening before. The clock read 8:30 am, which meant my first class would start in half an hour. I never miss school, so I knew my best friends Jake and Jacob would be worried sick about me. Not to mention it was my day to present my Essay to the class, Mr Baron was going to kill me for sure. He had warned us that we'd lose marks for presenting late. So you can tell I was worked up, for I wanted an A in that presentation. I definitely needed to call one of the boys. So I did just that and on the 3rd ring Jacob answered.
"Um hello" He answered awkwardly, clearly wondering who was calling him. As I had phoned him using Zion's house phone.
"Jacob, it's me Ashlin"
"Ashlin! where the heck are you? you're never this late for school" He asked, sounding extremely concerned.
"I'm in a place called Strenderville, I'll be home tomorrow but please tell Sir that I'll do the presentation another time because an emergency came up." I instructed not in the mood to go into details.
"woah woah woah...hold up there Ash, why the heck are you all the way across the country? Did you go with Jake for his game?" Jacob asked, confusing me because I didn't know Jake had a football game in Strenderville.
"I didn't know Jake had a game here" I replied, hoping to hear more.
"Yeah, he has a game but they'll probably lose because Cidshore High has that beast Zion on their team. Anyways-" I cut him off before he could finish.
"Zion? Who's Zion?" I asked him, wondering if it could be who I thought.
" Zion is the quarterback of the Cidshore Tigers team. He's the best highschool quarterback in the country." He spoke, sounding as if I've been sleeping under a rock my whole life.
Funny how I was actually standing in the house of the said Zion he was talking about. I knew it had to be him, He literally lives in Cidshore and I had guessed he played football.
"Oh, well I'll see you tomorrow...remember to deliver the message" I spoke, quickly ending the call after.
If I continued talking to Jacob, he would've been late to class and that was the last thing I wanted. I wanted him to get to class and give the message to Mr Baron.
It was around 6pm when Zion returned home. I had waited for him all day, passing the time by reading a book from his aunts bookshelf. He had stormed through the front door angrily, disgarding his things on the living room floor. However, he calmed down when his eyes landed on me and a look of realization took over his features.
"You're still here" he spoke, more to himself but I still replied.
"I'm still here" I replied with a smile.
He faked a smile in return, trying to blow off his obvious anger. Why he was angry? I had no idea but I wanted to know. Yet before I could ask he spoke up.
"Would you like me to call you a taxi?" He asked, his voice a bit too sweet.
" You can after you tell me why you're upset" I replied, crossing my arms under my chest.
He seemed amused at my challenge but little did he know I was dead serious.
Turning to the direction of the kitchen, he shook his head at me.
" Zion you can't keep bottling up everything inside, you need to let someone in" I spoke frustratedly.
Zion didn't seem to like that and the next thing I knew he was right infront of me.
" Why do you care?!" He snapped, trying to control his anger but still speaking aggressively.
"I-"
"No, you know what stranger! I'm done... I'm f-king done. Go back to your damn rainbow and candy life and leave me alone! I don't need to let anyone in, it's too late. So go back because you can't help me...no one can!" He Spat at me, causing my heart to break for him.
Little did he know that what he had done, only gave me more motivation to help him.
"Shut up!" I shouted at him, getting up from the couch, looking up into his angry hazel eyes.
He seemed taken a back and I was surprised he actually stopped his angry rant.
"Yes, I am a stranger but my life is not rainbows and candy. In fact nobody in life has it easy. You may have gone through more in life than others but Zion, you need to know that the strongest soldier gets the hardest fight. You are not done. As long as I have anything to do with it...you'll never be done." I declared firmly and surely.
He looked me dead in my dark brown eyes, searching for any signs of a lie. He found none, not a trace because I was dead serious. I was willing to stay as long as I could if that meant I could change his mind. If I could help him I was willing to stay. I was already here and already in this with him, there was no way I could just walk away.
"Why though?" He asked, his voice soft as he was now in a state of awe.
"Because you deserve to have someone to lean on."
At my word he hugged me, which caught me off guard but I quickly returned the gesture.
"Thank you Ashlin" he whispered in my hair and I rubbed his back in comfort.
Pulling away from him, I asked the million dollar question.
"Now why were you so angry?"
He sighed heavily and sat down slowly on the couch. I followed his movements and patiently waited for him to confide in me. It took a good minute before he spoke but he eventually did.
" I had a game today, against some useless football team. Of Course I brought our team to victory by Scoring the only touchdown of the game. Yet my day just had to be spoilt. My ex best friend literally ran up to me and hugged me, knowing full well I wanted nothing to do with him. So of course I pushed him off, we almost got into a fight but coach broke it up. Now I'm not allowed to go to the next game because I attacked the Team Captain" He explained, his anger rolling off in waves.
" I know it was petty of me to push him when everyone was cheering etc. I just couldn't help it you know" He continued, then buried his face in a cushion on the couch.
I sighed. so it was 'the best friend' that caused it.
"Do you mind telling me the story behind what happened?" I asked, ignoring his comment about a useless football team.
"Its a long story" he answered, lifting his face from the cushion and looking straight at me.
"I got time" I assured and he sighed again as he got ready to tell me everything.
Thank you Guys for reading my story.
The next chapter will be coming soon.
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See you in the next bit :)