Prep School

Chapter 26

I sit at the tree for a bit, sitting in the breeze.
I close my eyes and breathe.
Suddenly, someone's gasping interrupts me.
I crack open my eyes.
Ow.....
I see someone with their hands on their knees.
They lifted up their head and Zane's blazing blue eyes met mine.
"Damn.... You.... Run.... Fast," he gasps.
He collapsed against the tree and tries to catch his breath.
"You.... Should try out for track."
He turns his head and takes a good, long look at me.
"What happened?"
His eyes blaze again, piercing mine.
"Nothing important."
"Are you kidding? Nothing important?! You're covered in welts and bruises.
What was so NOT important that this happened?!" He glares at me, his eyes like blue fire.
I look back at him, not saying anything.
He shakes his head at my silence and tilts his head up, looking at the leaves instead.
Something on his neck glints gold in the light.
"What's this?" I point to his neck.
Zane flinches, then takes a breath. He pulls at the glint, taking it out from under his uniform collar.
A heart-shaped locket.
"It was my mom's."
"Was?" I ask him softly.
He nods slowly.
That's why he flinched the other day.
"Do you remember what happened in Detroit? With the mortals?"
The Incident. It had started when some bloodthirsty rouge reapers tipped off some mortals about..... Some deaths....and who did them. It was terrible and bloody. And all the mortals involved died. Most of the reapers involved died too. All because of some soul-thirsty rouges.
I nod.
Zane pulls at the locket.
"She.... Died. A rouge was trying to get at Viky and me. She..... Saved us," his voice cracks.
I put a hand in his shoulder.
"Oh....."
He doesn't notice and he doesn't move.
"I still remember that freaking bastard's scythe." His voice shakes with anger.
His fists are clenched, his knuckles white. The muscles in his arm are tense, and his face is leeched of color. His eyes are black.
"Steel- tipped gold with inlaid chocolate diamonds on an elm handle."
His fists shake. His jaw is clenched, like he's tasted something bitter.
"Zane?"
He relaxes, color returning to his face and his hands aren't fists anymore.
"I'm sorry."
"No. You're fine. What you were feeling was natural. It's ok. You're stronger than that."
He smiles weakly at me.
"You think so?"
I roll my eyes. "Please. I know so."
He smiles again, this time stronger.
He leans back against the tree and relaxes.
"Tell me about your mom."
I lean back too.
"Well, for one thing she's mortal."
Zane sits up. "Wait, for real?"
"Yeah."
"Huh." He gestures at me to go on.
"Uhh.... She likes the color blue. She likes chocolate chunk cookies, soft not crunchy......"
I go on and on, listing off facts about my mom.
Zane calmly listens with his face cupped in his hands.
After I'm done, he turns towards me, so his eyes are shining right into mine.
"Aria, what happened?"
I look him in the eye. They burn and flicker blue.
"Nothing. Important."
Zane sighs. "You're telling me later."
I roll my eyes. "Like hell I am."
He gets up and brushes himself off. He holds his hand out to me. He pulls me up and grips my hand.
"How about we get back to school?"
"Ok."

We get to school about 15 minutes later.
Dang, I ran a lot.
We stop by Zane's car, where he pulls out some foundation out of the glove box.
When I raised my eyebrows, he shrugged and said," You're not the only one with not important business."
He covers up the bruises with it and he lets me use one of his hoodies to cover the welts on my arms. We rush down the halls and hurry into History.....30 minutes late.

When we walk in, everyone looks up. I spot Gianna's relieved and somewhat angry face. Then, I see Lilo. When she sees me, she quickly looks away. Her cheeks are splotches red and her friend has an ace bandage around her knee.
What a pathetic waste of space...... Can't even finish fighting something she started.
Mr. Thatcher stops talking and comes up to us.
"Mr. Roster, sit down."
Zane sends me a sympathetic glance and goes to sit. From what I can see, he's telling Gianna and the others what he knows.
Thatcher ushers me out of the room and into the hall.
"Aria, where the hell were you?! And why are you wearing makeup?"
I tell him quickly what happened and he listens, nodding occasionally.
After I'm done, he says, "Essentially, you did the right thing. You were well within in your rights to fight back. But, next time, can you at least tell me if you got into a fight before you run off. Your friend Gianna and I were both worried sick. She told me you had gone to the bathroom."
"I'm sorry. It all happened so fast."
Thatcher pats my shoulder. "Try to be a little more careful."
I smile at him. "Ok."
We walk into class where everyone is talking. When they see me walk in, they all quiet down and follow me with their eyes. As I sit down, they start whispering. I hear snippets of their conversations.
"..... Fight..."
"...Zane came with her....."
".....Lilo....."
I turn around and I see Gianna's angry face.
"We need to talk," she mouths to me.
I nod and I see Zane. He smiles weakly.
I smile back and try to pay attention to Thatcher.