The Last Chapter

Running Away

The next morning, he woke up groggily and glanced out the window smiling into the July sky. He walked into town and saw his old friend, Adell, with her sisters Dina and Jayde. Dina was seventeen, Jayde was twenty and Adell was sixteen going on seventeen. Jayde was with her fiancé, Dany.

Jayde turned around to face Zephon. "Zephon!"

Adell turned around, grinning. "Haven't seen you since school ended. How've you been?"

He smiled as he embraced her. "I've been fine. How've you been?"

Adell smiled widely. "Good. You made my day, I've missed you."

He frowned before quickly smiling to cover his confusion. "Do you guys know Onika?"

Dina saw Zephon and her face grew grim and glum. The year before, Zephon and Dina liked each other and they went on a few dates but Adell didn't like it, forcing her and Dina to fight so Zephon broke up with her to make Adell happy, so that they would become sisters again. Although they still weren't on good terms. Jayde is the one who tries to unwound their fights.

Adell nodded. "Yeah... She's a year behind us?"

Dina's face grew sour. "The priest's niece? She's rude." and with that, she walked away.

Jayde gasped. "Dina!" She quickly ran after her, with Dany trailing behind.

Adell laughed nervously. "I'm sorry about Dina."

He was a bit smug. "That's the one."

She studied him. "What about Onika?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I met her yesterday at mass."

Adell nodded, biting her lip. "That's nice."

He frowned and chewed on his thumb. "Want to know something silly?"

She leaned closer to him. "Yeah."

"Onika didn't know that I'm the prince. She wouldn't believe me."

Adell giggled. "Really? My god."

A half hour later, Zephon was leaning in and talking to his friend, Jones, when he heard a girl's voice behind him:

"Bailey. Twenty."

He whirled around to become face to face with Onika and he started laughing, clutching his side. "What?"

She wasn't laughing. "My dog's name is Bailey and my brother is twenty."

He laughed again. "I thought you were talking gibberish. What's your brother's name?"

She sighed and tapped her foot impatiently. "Stephen."

"That's a nice name."

She glanced behind herself, shrugging. "Yeah. You know..."

"Yeah?"

She looked behind herself again before saying. "I've got to go."

Zephon raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? Why?"

She sighed, tapping her foot. "Look, I just have to go. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure. Yeah, okay."

Onika ran off to a man with the same colored hair as her. He was tall and muscular. She slipped her arm through the man's arm as they walked away. He turned around, scanning the area and Zephon tensed as he realized that he wasn't really a man. He looked a little older than Onika and they looked similar, like they could be related. Stephen. Zephon caught a glimpse of Jayde and Dany walking with Dina. Adell strolled toward them. He decided to follow.