Toxic

Toxic: Chapter #28 | Silver-Sweet Sound Lovers Tongues

Zach's Past

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Remember back when I said I can sing and sing very well but that I don't sing unless it's to help the ones I love? Well, then you'd be as confused as me when you heard that ZuZu had gotten the bright idea for all of us to go to a karaoke night in the city. I was so reluctant, but I figured there couldn't be any real harm in going. So, around six pm, we all left the house. I didn't know at the time, but as we were heading out the door, ZuZu paused on the porch and said, "Hey Zeke?"

Zeke turned to look at her. "What's up?"

Zoe locked the house and then said, "Would you be willing to take the guys? I have to run a quick errand."

My brother tilted his head curiously and then nodded. "Yeah. Sure. I don't mind. Let's go guys."

I got in the front seat of the car while Gecko and Boa got in the back seat, and we watched as ZuZu drove away towards town. I was of course curious where she was going and what errand she was running but I supposed I would find out later. Part of me hated not knowing where she was going. When I was with Jayden, he would just up and leave to go places and never tell me where he was going. He'd come back smelling of various colognes belonging to other men and sometimes other girls. I knew he was sleeping around obviously but-So, as I was saying I always got nervous when someone said they were running an errand but neglected to say what the errand was. It left me feeling a sense of ambiguousness.

No one else in the car felt that way and Zeke soon pulled out of our driveway and drove towards the city. I didn't like how everything that happened with Jayden kept tripping me up even after getting away from him, but I shook my thoughts away, reminding myself it wasn't going to be something I could get over or forget. So, rather than worry I let myself drift again as we drove towards the city, my mind now blissfully quiet for once.

What I'm going to share with you now, is something I would later be told about by my sister. See, ZuZu had gotten an idea and decided to drive to Lu's house. She parked and went up to the door, knocking softly.

Giana opened the door, smiling and tilted her head. "Hey Zoe. Everything alright?"

Zoe nodded, returning the smile. "Yeah. Just...well, we're all going out to do karaoke and I wondered if you'd like to go with us?"

Giana's eyes widened in surprise. Her voice was soft as she said, "Me? Go out for Karaoke?"

"Yes. Only if you want to but I'd love it if you would join us."

For a moment, Giana hesitated. "So long as I'm not intruding, I'd love to. I probably won't sing though."

Zoe smiled. "That's all right. Neither will E-Z or Boa and Zorro probably won't either. I do wish he would though. He has a beautiful voice."

Giana smiled. "For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. Give me just a second to get changed?"

Zoe nodded and stepped inside as Giana hurried to the guest room to change. She was quick about it and in less than fifteen minutes, they were on their way to the karaoke place.

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Since we had gotten there pretty early, we got first dibs on seating. So, we chose a booth in the corner. I sat on the end, my back to the wall. It was something I needed to feel safe. I hadn't really gone out since getting home from California. Even though I wasn't planning to sing, I didn't want to be in the middle. I would've felt trapped, and I'd had enough of that feeling to last me a lifetime.

We ordered bottomless fries, bacon cheeseburgers and one soda a piece. We ordered a Mountain Dew, a Dr. Pepper and a Pepsi for me, Boa and Gecko respectively. E-Z ordered a grape soda for himself and a strawberry soda for ZuZu. I was sipping my Mountain Dew, listening to my brothers talking, when my attention was pulled towards the door. When it opened, I saw Giana and Zoe walking in. Suddenly I was spurting Mountain Dew from my nose and coughing up a storm.