a/n: last chapter :c Thank you to all my readers and i hope you'll continue on to read the sequel (: the sequel is called Torching of the Tides, Tsunamis of the Flames!
~42~ Heaven Forbid
(Zac’s POV)
“I feel so distant from the world,” I confessed as I sat right beside my new friends as we all ate dinner. Okay, I wouldn’t say “friends”, considering we met only because we all live together.
“Maybe that’s because you gave up all your connections,” a deep-voiced guy named Ty said as he ate. I haven’t heard him say a single positive thing since I met him…which was what, twelve hours ago?
I shrugged.
“Most people can’t do it that fast,” Grace’s voice said as she walked over, pulled someone up from their seat and then took it. She grabbed bread from their tray in the process. She sat and winked to me. “You’re a tough kid.”
I liked Grace. She was opposite of her name. She had muscles like she’s fought and trained her whole life and walked around in a tank top and camo pants that matched her hat. She was tough and no one messed with her. Maybe that’s why I liked her? Because no one ever messed with me either. But of course, she wasn’t my roommate.
“Let’s see how tough he is after a while,” I heard Dale, a light-haired boy with half-rimmed glasses mutter. He was the boy who Grace had pulled away. Ever since I laid my eyes on him, his cold eyes already told me that we wouldn’t get along. All I did was scoff. Fine.
“Guys, guys, guys—!” Streeter, the gangliest and most awkward person below my bunk started to run up to us, holding onto his thick glasses as he ran through the tables. Everyone looked at him once and then shrugged it off.
“I’m a girl,” Grace growled. She may be built like a guy, but she expected to be treated like a lady.
“And Grace,” Streeter rolled his eyes.
“What’s up?” Archer, a very built roommate of mine asked Streeter.
“It’s crazy. This kid in high school—or was in high school considering he just graduated—he just announced that he found the cure for diabetes!” he informed. I looked up.
“Let’s see if it works,” Ty grunted with his arms crossed.
“Bull sh!t,” Archer smiled.
“No, really! It was just on the news when I was in the head office!” Streeter insisted.
“Yeah right. It’s only been a day here, and you’re making up stories—”
“Devin Hallow,” I said. They all stopped and looked at me. I felt the corners of my mouth raise. “His name’s Devin Hallow. He graduated today and he’s perfected the cure for at least a year that I know of.”
“You know him?” Grace asked. I nodded.
“He was a good friend of mine,” I said.
“Was?” Archer frowned slightly.
“Yeah,” was all I said. I couldn’t tell them anything without revealing the batches before the final cure that resulted in four teenagers being genetically altered with powers. And for some reason, I didn’t mention the fact that he was the brother of the girl I was inevitably in love with. “But he’s a genius. A real genius.”
“That explains why he dumped that friendship,” Ty insulted. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Our friendship ended because one of his sister’s ex boyfriends and I didn’t really get along well, yet was his best friend so I guess we chose sides,” I shrugged, being very vague.
“And his sister? Who cares about her ex boyfriend?” Grace asked.
“I did,” I said. Past tense. “He didn’t like the fact that me and her belonged together and he never got over it. Not even when they were together.”
“Understandable,” Archer shrugged.
“You wanna go talk to him? To congratulate him then?” Streeter asked, pointing over his shoulder. “I know the phones are being used, but the office is empty because ‘The Sirs’ are gone at a meeting—”
“Trust me, if I wanted to talk to him, I’d already be on the phone,” I smirked. I felt Dale’s stare at me from a new position down the table with his own roommates. “And I have a feeling someone would find a way to snitch.”
“Dale ain’t gonna do anything because no one’ll believe him,” Archer laughed with his southern accent.
I connected eye contact with Dale and unlike others, he didn’t look away.
***
I dialed a number that I had recently remembered.
“Hello?” a male voice asked in a cough as I heard music in the background.
“Who is this?” I asked, surely knowing it wasn’t Angel.
“Brian, who’s—oh,” he said. Why did he have her phone? Why was he there with her? Why do I care?
The music ended and I waited around, nervously to not get caught past curfew.
“Hello?” her heavenly voice greeted.
“Angel,” I smiled, knowing that if she had even greeted me in the nicest way possible face-to-face I wouldn’t have let her seen me smile.
“Zac!” she greeted as if in a gasp. That’s all I needed to hear before I didn’t care about getting in trouble. It was worth it at this point. No. It was worth it when I dialed her number. “Wh-what—why are you calling me?”
“I had to hear your voice,” I said, sort of smirking and waiting for her to scold me for not being my true, a$$hole self. It was silent.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“That doesn’t really matter,” I answered.
“I guess…” she trailed. I started to hear voices and music in the background again.
“Where are you?” I asked. I slid down against the nearest wall, pressing my back against it.
“Graduation party. Devin’s not here, of course, but—”
“Why?” I asked.
“He…well some policemen needed to talk to him.”
“Tell him to only talk to Marshal Sherman or chief Rivers,” I said immediately. At least they knew about it all and wouldn’t push him like the others.
“Alright,” she allowed. I sighed and threatened to close my eyes but seeing as it was what, maybe two in the morning, I knew that I’d fall asleep. But how could I have thought that when I wouldn’t be able to sleep with the idea of Angel running through my mind.
I already miss her. Ugh.
“Angel…” I addressed.
“Hmm?”
“I…I…” I need to grow the balls to tell her I love her. Man up. “I probably won’t be able to talk to you very often so...”
“Why’s that?” she inquired.
“Well actually—”
“Hey!” someone yelled. I started to freak out. I stood up and pressed the phone to my face.
“I have to go—”
“Zac, what’s going on?!”
“Hey! I can see you!” the voice yelled.
“Answer whenever I call,” I rushed.
“I will but why are you—”
It hurt me, but I had to hang up on her. At least I knew that she’d take my call.
Someone seized my collar and pulled me around after slamming my back against the same side of the wall with the phone. I came face to face with Grace.
“Is it not clear that—Tyler?” she asked. I gave her a crooked smile. “What the h3ll are you doing out past curfew?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I smiled wider. She let me go. “And plus, they said the phone can only be used on the weekend.”
“Not after ten,” she reminded.
“It’s not after ten. It’s before ten,” I charmed. Well, technically. She smirked and started to nod.
“I knew I liked you,” she said, punching my arm and turning me to probably escort me back to my dorm.
***
“So who was it?” she asked. I looked over to Grace as if she was crazy for starting an awkward conversation with a question when no one spoke as we crossed the campus. But I knew who she was talking about. I sighed. I had realized that I had wasted a conversation with Angel. “Spill. Who was it? Dad? Mom?”
“Dad’s dead. Mom’s…not available,” I said without a drop of emotion. But when I looked over to Grace’s tanned and stern face, I knew that she didn’t really care. I knew she didn’t because she hid her emotions as well.
“Brother?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Sister?”
“Both of them would be asleep,” I answered.
“Best friend?” she asked. Was Angel my best friend? No…she wasn’t that. My “best friend” was in jail for life and the second best would be…Brian.
“He’s at a party,” I said…with Angel.
“So then you were talking to yourself,” she assumed. I scoffed and bumped hips with her. Judging by the look on her face, people didn’t do that very often to her.
“You’re not gonna ask me about my significant other?” I asked with a smirk. She scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes.
“This isn’t high school, Tyler. No one cares,” she said within a wise but deep sigh. H3ll, I knew high school. “Did you think I would?”
“No, but—”
“Who was it?” she asked with a stressful sigh.
“Angel,” I smiled in triumph for getting through to Grace.
“You were talking to an Angel?” she asked, doubtfully.
“Not ‘an Angel’; my Angel,” I said blissfully. There was an awkward silence as we continued to walk side-by-side through the empty courtyard.
“Is that your boyfriend or something?” she asked. I rolled my eyes.
“No,” I answered. “She’s my—”
Angelique Hallow wasn’t my girlfriend.
“Your girlfriend?” she finished.
“I really don’t know,” I whispered. She looked straight and I thought that maybe I had the fatigue enough to see her lip twitch and her face soften as if disappointed...or jealous. “We’ve hated each other our whole life, but then it’s like this year we were linked together and…now I’m in love with her.”
“Have you told her?”
“Why would I?” I said, scratching my head.
“Maybe she loves you back,” she shrugged. There goes my jealousy theory. “If you risk getting in trouble for her, she has to love you back.”
“Maybe,” I hoped. “But after everything that happened before I left, I don’t blame why she wouldn’t.”
She started to smirk. Yeah. Definitely jealousy. But for once in my life, I didn’t care.
“You gotta stop,” she commanded. Stop? Stop loving Angel? Stop trying to please her into loving me? No. I can’t stop any of that.
“I have to be with her—”
“I meant these late night phone calls,” she laughed. Oh. I stopped walking to face her. The way the light hit her face, she reminded me of Angel. Sh!t. Her smile radiated and I felt like I had to listen to what she wanted to say. “Just go old fashioned and write her letters.”
“This isn’t Dear John,” I hissed. I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. “And she can’t find out where I am.”
“Why’s that? I thought you loved her,” she frowned.
“I do, but…if she knew where I was, I wouldn’t be able to let her live her life without me,” I confessed.
“If that was the case, you wouldn’t have called her,” Grace said, patting my chest as she continued to walk. I guess she was right.
As much as I wanted Angel to live her own life with a new love, I wanted her for myself even though I knew I wouldn’t get to keep her. So I did what Grace said and wrote letters to Angel. I wrote to her, because that way, I wouldn’t hear her voice. If I heard her voice, I’d grow too soft. And I couldn’t make it here being soft. And if her so heavenly voice said “I want you back home”, I’d sure as h3ll do it. This way, I wouldn’t fall under her siren. So I wrote.
After talking to her only one more time, I wrote for nearly the entire year, but not a single letter was sent.