Chapter 13
~Dane~
"So I have a completely random question," Zion said. "This just popped into my mind, completely unprovoked. For the poem we're studying in English class, what is the literary device found in line three?"
"That would be..." I began, but then I realized exactly Zion asked me that 'completely random question'. I should have figured it out as soon as he said he had a question to ask, considering he still had his homework out.
Since I didn't finish the sentence, Zion said, "Continue."
"You can't just ask me for the answers," I said. "You have to try to figure them out for yourself."
Zion sighed heavily, lying down on the bed and resting his head on his homework. "I give up. I don't want to go school anymore."
"All because you can't figure out the literary device?" I asked.
"No, I could probably figure it out," Zion said. "I'm just too lazy to give it a chance. It's kind of hard anyway when I'm too busy thinking about that amazing idea you told me before we went to work."
"You mean the music video?" I asked.
"Exactly," Zion said, sitting up again. "I'm all hyped for it now. So technically, it's your fault that I can't focus on my homework."
"Just give it a shot," I said. "It really isn't that hard. It took me, like, five minutes."
"Yeah, but you're also a professional songwriter," Zion said. "Isn't poetry and writing songs kind of the same?"
"You'd be surprised," I said.
Surprisingly, Zion went back to working on his homework. He was sort of known for never doing his homework or turning it in late. In fact, his teachers always assumed that he didn't do his homework and were always surprised when he did.
The fake baby started crying and since Zion was doing his homework, I was the one who got off of the bed to take care of it. I thought it would be fine just leaving it in its carseat, but Zion insisted on making a bed for it. The bed was just a bunch of blankets on pillows on the window seat.
"Oh, perfect timing," Zion said. "She's crying and I feel like crying. We can cry together."
"Why do you feel like crying?" I asked.
"One word," Zion said. "Homework."
"You're dramatic."
"Thank you."
"Wasn't a compliment."
"It sure sounded like one, so I'm taking it as one."
I just smiled as I rolled my eyes before picking up the fake baby. Once the bracelet I was wearing registered with the baby, I tried to figure out why it was crying and how to stop it. My initial guess was that it was hungry, since it hadn't eaten in a while and sure enough, it was. It happily accepted the bottle that came along with it, so I had to sit on the window seat as I fed it.
"You're pretty good at that," Zion said.
"At what?" I asked. "Making the fake baby stop crying? It's not that hard. It's either hungry, needs a burp, needs a diaper change, or needs to be rocked. It's not that hard."
Zion was silent for a bit, just staring at his homework but I didn't think he was trying to focus on it or anything. It looked like he was wanting to say something, but didn't know how to.
"What is it?" I asked.
It took Zion a while to answer but when he did, he looked at me. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" I asked.
"Only call the baby fake," Zion said.
"Because it is fake, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Zion hesitated before sighing. "I don't want to upset you or anything."
"You won't."
"It's like... Like you don't want to connect with her."
I didn't reply for a while. I knew what Zion was trying to say, and he was sort of right. It wasn't like I didn't want to connect with the baby. I just couldn't. I saw the way Zion was acting with the baby. I could tell that he was enjoying this project.
But me? I just couldn't see anything but a fake baby.
And I didn't even know why.
"You don't have to tell me why," Zion said since I haven't replied to him yet.
"No, it's not that I don't want to tell you," I said. "I just... don't know why. Maybe it's because I feel invalidated by my own parents and I'm mirroring their behaviour? I don't know."
Zion placed his pencil on his notebook before getting off of the bed and walking over to where I was. He sat down beside me. "You know, my sister didn't support me at first when I came out. She just kept telling me over and over that I should only like girls."
"Really?" I asked. "Alika? Because she seems like the most supportive sister ever."
"Really," Zion said. "But the more I talked to her about it, the more she started to understand that it's just who I am. That there's nothing wrong with it. That's all it takes for people to understand. Time."
"You think my parents will eventually accept me for who I am?" I asked.
"I do," Zion said. "You told me that your parents never outright said they don't support you. They haven't fully accepted you, but they haven't rejected you either."
"I know," I said. "And I'm happy but... It still sucks."
The baby finally stopped making the drinking noise, so I removed the bottle from its lips. It was probably going to need to be burped soon because that was the routine it had been in since Zion and I got off of work.
"You should go finish your homework," I told Zion. "And then we can talk about the music video idea."
Zion sighed and went back to the bed to continue his homework. "I'd rather just skip right to talking about the music video."
"Not a chance."
Zion did get back to doing his homework, and it wasn't long before the baby started crying to be burped. It took a while for me to get it to burp but when I did, Zion had finished his homework. I set the baby back on its makeshift bed before walking to Zion's bed and flopping down on it. "Just think," Zion said, dropping his homework on the floor before lying down beside me. "We're going to have to deal with that for the next two nights."
"I just hope it won't be too bad," I said. "Why did you drop your homework on the floor?"
"Because I finished it."
"You couldn't have just put it on your desk or in your bag?"
"Not after the pain it put me through."
"You really don't like homework, do you?"
"Not when there are better things I can do. Like the music video."
"So who are these people that you think can help?"
"None other than my sister and my friends. Alika loves fashion. She'd be the perfect costume designer. Marjani would be perfect for make up. And both Divya and Miguel are great with cameras and editing."
"Wow, looks like you already had the perfect team," I said.
Zion looked at me and smiled. "Nope, I didn't already have it. The team got perfect once you joined."
"Awe, you're making me blush," I said. "Thank you."
"For making you blush?" Zion asked. "Any time."
I chuckled. "Not for that. For getting my songs out there. For always trying to make me happy. For everything."
"Hey, I'd do anything for you," Zion said, and that simple sentence made my heart beat rapidly. Faster than it ever did before.
I was surprised it took so long for that to happen.
_____________________
oof finally. took dane long enough to catch the feels
i just love dane and zion so much thought <3 their friendship is just so pure.