Ephemeral [f.h]

TWO

"YOU'RE NOT BORING ME, ZOE."
°:. *₊ ° . ☆ 　 °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

The two newly-acquainted teens sat at a table hidden away in the corner of the room. Mags hadn't raised an eyebrow as Zoe re-entered the cosy café with a boy she had never seen before. In fact, the older woman's heart secretly burst with joy when she saw Zoe with someone - a new friend she had assumed. She had grown to care for Zoe and knew she was friendless, so seeing her accompanied by someone for once, was a sight she delighted in seeing.

Upon entering the café, Zoe had decided she didn't want to bring Five to her favourite table. She had felt it would've been too intimate. It was silly really, but she couldn't bring herself to take him to her usual seat. Hence, why they sat far away, away from the watching eyes of passing customers.

So far, there hadn't been too much conversation. The two were sipping their drinks in silence. However, it didn't feel awkward or tense, it just felt comfortable. Normally, Zoe would race to fill in the gaps in a silence if it were to happen with her family, but with Five, she felt she didn't need to. Their comfortable silence said all they needed to.

As they enjoyed their drinks, Zoe let her mind wander. Where had Five come from? She had thought she would've at least recognised all the people around her age from this area. Maybe he was new?
Something about Five made her want to know everything about him and she was determined to find out all she could.

"So you come here often, then?" Five finally spoke. Zoe had noticed his eyes taking in everything about the place, from looking at the paintings on the wall (one of which was a present Zoe had gifted Mags) to scrutinising the menu.
"Yeah, most days," she laughed self-consciously. She knew her coffee addiction could seem slightly worrying to others, but she needn't have worried. Five didn't bat an eyelid at the admission.
"Even on school days?" he asked.
"Well, I'm homeschooled, meaning I have a lot of free time on my hands, so yeah. Even on school days." She gave him a warm smile. Five nodded in response.

Zoe assumed that would be the end of the short conversation. Five struck her as the quiet, mysterious type who kept himself to himself. So, when the boy continued speaking, she was well and truly surprised.

"I suppose you could say I'm homeschooled too," he revealed.
Zoe tilted her head to the side. "Huh. I assumed you'd go to a private school because of your uniform."
"May as well be a private school, the way the old man treats it." Five grimaced.
"Oh really?" Zoe didn't want to pry too much, from the little she could infer from the boy, she knew she had to let him reveal what he wanted to, on his own terms.
"Yeah. It doesn't really feel like too much of a home. We're constantly training."
"Training?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Five paused and tried to hide his alarm over his slip up. He didn't want Zoe to know how unusual he was. "Normal school stuff. Maybe training wasn't the right word." He laughed, robotic and void of the emotions you'd expect from a laugh.

"Ah. I see." Taking a sip of the drink in her hands, she continued. "That's a shame. I always found that, for me, being homeschooled lets me have a lot more time to go out and do fun things. I don't think my childhood would've been as fun if I was always in a normal school." She looked down at the table, feeling as if she had spoken too much.

"Sometimes I wish my siblings and I had the chance to do normal childhood things. I feel like I've been 17 my whole life."
At his words, Zoe looked back up. Five's eyes were glazed over, zoned out. It was like he had forgotten Zoe was there, and was just reciting his inner monologue. She wasn't sure how to respond, or if she was even supposed to respond. It felt like a very personal admission, the sort that she would've thought the boy would like to keep close to his chest.