CHAPTER TEN: One gone, one gained
“Nice legs,” Zac commented, eyeing my skirt. I rolled my eyes at him.
“Hey there little puppy. You are so cute,” I cooed while ruffling Zac’s hair, just to annoy him. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.
“Okay then. What is your command, owner?” asked Zac in a husky voice, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Zac, let go. Everyone is staring,” I said. Once Zac took his arm off my waist, I got up and pulled Jade’s hand. The both of us then made our way out of the lunchroom and towards my locker to grab my Chemistry book. After I got mine, I walked with Jade to her locker to get hers. While waiting for her, I saw Nick leaning against his locker, smiling at his friends. Suddenly, he turned his head to my direction and saw me. He held my gaze for a couple of seconds before something flashed in his eyes. I couldn’t catch what because he regained his composure immediately and turned away.
“Hey Jade, Nick is acting a little strange today, don’t you think so?” I pointed out.
“Yeah. He didn’t even have lunch with us,” Jade added.
“Maybe he’s in a bad mood?”
“Still, he shouldn’t act like that.”
“Yeah, let’s go over and ask hi-” the bell rang before I could finish my sentence and Jade grabbed my arm, pulling me to the Chemistry lab.
“If he wants to act like that, let him be,” said Jade.
“Okay,” I replied in a quiet voice. I let the subject go with Jade, but I kept thinking about it throughout class. The day before yesterday, he was still so friendly with us. What changed? What happened? Did we do something wrong?
Slowly, my thoughts drifted from Nick to Zac. Zac called and texted me over and over again yesterday night just to check if I was okay. Why is Zac being so nice? Why did I feel butterflies in my stomach whenever I saw him?
***
I signed on MSN the moment I turned on my laptop. Scrolling through the online contacts, I saw Nick. I quickly clicked on his name and typed ‘hi’ before I could change my mind.
Soph Meyers says: Hi.
NickNicholas says: hi.
Soph Meyers says: So… how are you??
NickNicholas says: Fine. I need to tell you something.
Soph Meyers says: What is it?
NickNicholas says: I’m leaving the country in 2 hours.
I stared at the screen in horror. What does that mean? A vacation? Or is he leaving for good? Where was he going? Before I could ask him more, he signed off. I grabbed my phone and texted him.
‘What do you mean by leaving the country??’ I sent the message and flopped on my bed, waiting for a reply. After 10 minutes of waiting, I couldn’t take it anymore so I called him.
“Sorry, but the number you have dialed is unavailable right now, please call ba-” I hung up on the robotic voice and threw my phone on the bed, frustrated. I closed my eyes and sighed. Does Zac know about this? I quickly dialed his number and he picked up on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Zac?”
“No, this is Narnia, how may I help you?”
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
“Yes Sophie, this is Zac. Who else could it be?” asked Zac sarcastically. I could tell he was rolling his eyes at the other end of the line.
“I was just making sure!” I snapped.
“You do realize this is my cellphone, yeah?”
“Whatever. Did you know Nick’s leaving the country?” I asked, getting back to the point.
“Are you serious?” asked Zac, he clearly didn’t know about this.
“Yeah, he MSN-ed me just now, he said he’s leaving in two hours.”
“Pick you up in 10 minutes.” With that, Zac hung up. I quickly traded my pajamas for a pair of skinny jeans and a white tee that said ‘It’s now or never’. The tee definitely suited the situation right now. On my way out of my room, I grabbed a jacket, just in case I got cold in the airport.
I was waiting at my front door when I heard the screeching sound of tires before Zac’s Lamborghini Reventon pulled up in front of me. I quickly open the door and slid myself onto the leather seat. Zac sped off towards the airport the moment I buckled my seat belt.
About 30 minutes later, we arrived the airport. Normally, it would have taken an hour, but with Zac’s speeding, it took half the time needed. Zac parked his car and we both got off the car and hurried into the airport.
“Canada... Canada… Canada,” Zac chanted while looking at the plane schedules.
“Why Canada?” I asked, curious.
“He spent a few years there with his grandparents,” he replied. Just as I was about to ask how did he know, I remembered that they were best friends last time, so Zac would know a lot about Nick.
“Nick’s flight leaves in an hour. He won’t enter the gates until the last minute because he hates crowds, so he should be hanging around the waiting area now.”
“Wow you know him very well,” I commented, impressed.
“We were really, really close so of course I know such things about him.” I nodded as we ran towards the waiting area. I was silently praying that Nick hadn’t gone in the gates yet. We slowed down once we reached the waiting area. Just as we both stopped, I immediately recognized Nick’s blond hair. I charged up to him and hugged him from the back.
“What the hell?” Nick turned around and his jaw dropped open when he saw me.
“Hey,” Zac and I said together.
“What are you guys doing here?” Nick asked, shock written all over his face.
“Are you going on a vacation?” I asked, ignoring his question.
“Something like that.”
“When will you be back?”
“When I am ready.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Figure it out yourself,” Nick replied.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said. Nick smiled sadly hugged me back.
“Me too. Take care of yourself, Sophie.” After gently prying my arms off him, he walked towards the gates. Just before he entered, he turned back and waved to us. I waved frantically back to him and felt tears slowly pour out of my eyes. Strong arms wrapped around me and I felt my back lean against Zac’s chest as he hugged me from the back.
“Shh Sophie, he’ll come back. Stop crying,” Zac comforted.
“I miss him already.” I don’t know how long Nick would he be gone for, but I know school is going to be very, very different without his presence.
***
It has been a week since Nick left. Things were slowly getting back to normal. Lunch was quieter these days, seeing as there is one person less, but Zac, being the sweet guy he is, tried very hard to cheer us up. His efforts were very much appreciated by Jade and I, but sometimes, I just couldn’t keep my mind from drifting back to Nick.
Mrs. Kingsley’s class actually started with the romantic story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but slowly, she drifted into irrelevant things such as how she found out she was in love with her husband.
“Kids, when I saw him, I knew he was different.”
“I unconsciously smile to myself whenever I think about him.”
“His touch sent sparks through my whole body.”
“I had no idea how to act around Mr. Kingsley at that time.”
“A pang of jealously would shoot through me if I saw him with other girls.”
“And then, it hit me. I was in love with Mr. Kingsley,” said Mrs. Kingsley while smiling like the Cheshire cat, no doubt thinking about her husband.
Suddenly, it hit me too, just like it hit Mrs. Kingsley.
I was in love with Zac.
***
“Sophie Meyers, you are hiding something from me!” screeched Jade.
“What? No!” I denied.
“Yes you are!”
“No!”
“Don’t make me use force on you,” threatened Jade.
“But I’m not hiding anything from you!”
“I’ll have to do it by force then!” Before I knew it, Jade was on top of me tickling me all over, causing me to burst into fits of laughter and after a while, I finally gave in.
“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you!” Jade stopped ticking and moved away from me.
“I’m waiting,” Jade said in a sing-song voice.
“I have a crush on a hot monkey I met at the zoo,” I said with a serious face.
“What? Sorry repeat that again. I heard you say you have a crush on a monkey,” Jade said, scratching her head.
“That’s what I said,” I replied, grinning. Jade stared at me in horror before realizing it was a joke.
“Are you going to tell me or are you going to face my wrath?” she asked, moving her hands closer to my sides, prepared to start tickling me again.
“Wrath,” I answered. Jade gave me a look.
“Fine I think… I think I like someone,” I mumbled.
“Zac. You like Zac, don’t you?”
“What? How did you know?”
“I see how you act around him, it’s hilarious,” Jade said, laughing.
“Really? Is it that obvious?” I asked, worried.
“Yup!” Jade said, popping the ‘p’.
“But there’s a problem,” I said in a low voice.
“Hmm? Don’t tell me you like me too? I know I’m awesome and all, but I’m definitely not a lesbian,” said Jade in a serious tone, causing me to laugh and lightly hit her on the arm.
“No, I’m being serious here. As stupid as it sounds, I feel guilty for feeling happy. Ever since my father died, I’ve never been truly happy because it feels like I’m betraying him by being happy instead of mourning his death,” I said in a quiet tone. The amusement in Jade’s eyes immediately vanished and was replaced with concern.
“Sophie, your father would want you to be happy. He wouldn’t want you to mourn over his death. It would make him sadder to see you unhappy. Besides, it has been over a year since his death, you should have gotten over it.”
“I know. Ever since I got the envelope, it feels like my father died all over again.” At this point, I felt tears roll down my eyes.
“Sophie, we’re going to find out who the Ethans family is, I promise.” Jade hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, glad to have someone to comfort me. After a while, I pulled back and smiled meekly at her.
“Thanks Jade, I feel better a lot better now,” I told her while looking into her piercing brown eyes.
“No worries. Want to know something that will definitely make your day better?” she asked.
“Yeah?”
“Drum rolls please,” she said, giggling.
“Just get on with it,” I said, rolling my eyes at her childishness.
“I think Zac likes you too.”
“You are hilarious, Jade.” I chuckled humorlessly. There is no way Zac likes me.
“I’m not kidding. I have to pick my sister up from her friend’s house now so I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.”
“Oh okay. Bye Jade!”