Found and Forgotten

Chapter 7

Zeta POV

I feel like I've been staring at the ceiling for hours. I  look at the clock and see it's a little after eight o'clock in the morning. Huh. I guess I have been staring at the ceiling for hours. I couldn't even tell you what I've been thinking about. My mind is racing so fast that even I can't keep up with it.

After the nightmare about the crash, I was up for a while crying. Crying is exhausting. So, I ended up dozing off again only to have another nightmare. This one was about the time my old foster father cut me with his favorite knife. I was twelve. A year before adoption. He was high. Paranoia always set in when he was high. In his crazed state he blamed me for everything going wrong. He punched and kicked me a few times before using the knife. I still have a long scar across my stomach. I try to forget it's there, but nightmares like this one always make it feel like it's on fire.

Funny, they claimed they abandoned me to keep me safe, but I wasn't safe at all. Not until I was adopted at 13. Ten years of hell.

I don't plan on getting up anytime soon, but then my stomach growls like a ferocious tiger. Seriously, I'm starting to think I might be possessed with the noise coming from me. As I sit up, I smell something sweet. Pancakes with cinnamon maybe.

I walk downstairs to see Matteo and Dante in the kitchen. Matteo is cooking at the stove  while it looked like Dante was mixing something at the counter.

"Making pancakes?" I decide to break the silence. Both boys seem a little startled when I spoke. "Crepes, actually" Matteo responds. He continues, "we were hoping to surprise you. Crepes were always your favorite when you were little. Do you still like them? I can make something else if you don't."

I can't help the smile that forms on my face. The first real smile since I've been here. "You remember that? Crepes are still my favorite. Thank you so much!" Both boys crack a smile at that. I make myself some coffee and take a seat at the table.

Soon I'm served caramel apple crepes with a fluffy filling. I thank them once again as the start to eat with them. At first bite, I almost moan. They giggle looking at my face. "These are the best crepes I've ever had" I compliment.

"I'm glad" says Dante. "Any plans for today?" Matteo asks. Of course I say no. I make up some lame excuse about reading or playing video games. They seem to deflate. Did they want to.do something? Why are they being nice suddenly.

"About that. We were thinking of going to an amusement park with a couple friends. We would love for you to join, if you want of course." Dante offers.

Weird. "First breakfast and now an invite out. This isn't some form of pity, is it?" I spoke my thoughts without thinking.

"Of course not, Z. We're sorry it took us this long to do something like this. We're both a little awkward and you seemed to need space to grieve so we didn't want to push you." Matteo started. Dante continued: "yeah. But after weeks of not seeing you, we figured we'd try to let you know that we would love to hang out with you. We're sorry it took so long."

My heart warmed a bit. Not enough to fix everything, but it was nice to feel loved. Like I'm not a burden to everyone. I decide to give the twins a chance and go with them today. It's the least I could do after this breakfast. They light up when I agree.

I go to take another bite, when my fork doesn't find food.  I looked down and my eye bulge from shock. I actually finished a whole plate of food. I look back up and see the twins both have smirks on their face, like they're realizing the same thing I did.

A couple hours later we are on our way to the amusement park. I'm useless with makeup so getting ready didn't take too long. I put on a Rangers T-shirt and some leggings. I love sports, and my wardrobe reflects that lol. I finish my outfit off with some worn, black high top converse.

We make small talk in the car. I'm in a rather good mood. I've never been to an amusement park before, and I've always wanted to.

Matteo seems to pick up on my excitement. "I'm guessing you like amusement parks?" He asks. They both pause and glance at one another when I inform them that this is my first time. Is it weird that I've never been to one?

"Well hopefully we make it a good first time" Dante states. We arrive and go through the gates and now we are waiting for the twins friends.

Three guys walk up. They're all really good looking, not that I'm interested. Two look to be the twins age while on maybe a few years younger. Matteo introduced them as Nico, Boone, and Boone's younger brother, Eli. They all say hello when Dante embarrasses me by making it a big deal that it's my first time here. I glare at him but he just laughs and pats my head. Some nerve. But in reality, I'm too excited to care.

We start off with a roller coaster. I sit with Dante in the front row. I think they were trying to scare me, but I just laughed the whole ride. It was so much fun. We even made funny faces for the picture they took. We went on every ride there. I would switch between Matteo and Dante. It was midday and we only had one ride left, a water ride. I HATE having wet clothes so I decide to bail. Eli offers to stay back with me, as he hates them too. The twins look skeptical, not wanting to leave me, but I assure them it's fine.

We sit in a near by bench as the older boys wait in line. I feel eyes on me and look towards Eli. We make eye contact and a sly smirk graces his face. "Enjoying your first time at an amusement park?" He asks.

"I am thanks. Enjoying your time?" I reply. "Yeah not too bad. Never seen a 16 year old act like a 5 year old before" He says keeping the smirk on his face.

I think he's joking, but I'd hate to be ruining his time. "Sorry. It's the first time I've had fun since I've been home. I wasn't being aware of my surroundings as much as I should've been" I say lowering my head. I suddenly became aware that I may have been ruining everyone's day.

"Hey! I'm just kidding! I've had a great day, especially getting to see that smile all day" he ends with a wink. So he was joking. Well that's a relief. I respond with a fake gag. "Corrrnnnyyyyy" I reply dramatically. We both end up in a fit of giggles. This is the most free I've felt since the crash.

Just then the older boys walk up, soaking wet. Matteo opens his arms as of he's going to hug me. That's not happening. I start running as he chases me. I use Dante as a shield. I'm not getting my clothes wet. He finally gives up and we head to the car with laughter and a smile on my face.

The sadness isn't gone, but it was nice to forget about it for a while. I may not feel wanted by all my brothers, but at least I know the twins care. That's something. Something I needed.

We make it home and I go to my room. I decide to ride this good mood into sleep, hoping for a dreamless sleep. That didn't happen. But I did get more sleep than usual. I put some headphones on and try to focus on the music rather than the memories.

It's 2 a.m. It's going to be a long morning. I turn on my light and decide to read a little. A hear a knock on my door. It's Matteo. "Why are you up?" He asks. I tell him I couldn't sleep. He doesn't need to know about the nightmares.

"Us either. Wanna come watch a movie in the cinema" he asks. I decide to go. Better than staring into space.

We sit in the reclining seats with me between them. We share some blankets. They let me pick the movie. I pick Moneyball. Sports analytics is my passion, and it is one of my favorite movies. They seem surprised.

"You like baseball?" Dante asks.

"Yes. I love football and hockey too. This movie in particular I like because it's my dream. I want to work with a pro team using analytics to make them better."

They both nod. "That's really cool" Matteo adds.  This is a lot of talking for me, but you know they say the deepest conversations happen at this time. We watch the movie peacefully. Towards the end my eyelids start drooping. Dante seems to notice and leans towards me. "Sleep bambina" he whispers. Bambina? That's new. And with that thought I fall into my first dreamless sleep in years.