Crop

CHAPTER TW0

Out of the corner of my eye I would watch his hand swing back and forth as he walked. I was so tempted to grab it but I decided to focus on something else by telling him what to expect when we came to the house.

"I live with four roommates." I said. "But we're more than that. We're basically family. We cook meals together, go places together, do things together."

"That sounds nice." he said, stepping over a fallen tree.

"There's Zuri. She has long, silky red hair and she's a model and goes to the collage a few blocks away. She's twenty years old, and she's responsible and motherly. Sabian is also a collage student. He's twenty-one years old, has shaggy black hair and is very mysterious and quiet. There's Solstice. That's his girlfriend, but they're basically married. She's nineteen and just lives there because he's there. She was worried that she wouldn't see him very often now that he's going to school. She has long black hair and is a make-up artist. And then there's Pexi. She just turned eighteen. Her parents kicked her out the first chance they got. On the plus side, she has the coolest job ever. She's a magician's assistant. She's also an actress for the local theatre. She's short and has bleach-blond, shoulder-length hair."

"Awesome. Sounds like you live with quite a family."

"Yeah, I smile just thinking about them."

"You forgot one of them, though."

"I did?" I look at him and tilt my head with confusion.

"You." he says. "What's your story?" We enter out of the forest and get onto a paved side-walk, leaving behind the sound of rustling leaves and the romantic aura of sheltering oaks. The sun is just below he horizon now, making the earth glow red in the distance. Street lamps flicker to life. "Let me guess your name." he says before I can answer.

"You won't guess my n-"

"Zyarr?" he asks.

"Wha...?" I gape at him. "How did you know that?"

"I'm a mind-reader."

"No you're not." I say and elbow him playfully. "Seriously, how did you know?" He points to the camera hanging around my neck. I look down at it and realize my name is written below the screen with purple sharpie. I laugh. It makes him smile.

"So your name is Zyarr. What else?"

"I have light brown eyes, dirty-blond hair, freckles-"

"Yes, yes, yes, I can see all that." he chuckles. "Tell me something else." I'm silent for a few seconds before opening my mouth.

"I'm an orphan. My mother died of cancer when I was three. My father couldn't live without her and committed suicide shortly after." When he doesn't reply, I look up at him. He looks back at me with a sympathetic expression. Eyebrows drawn together, lips slightly parted.

"Well that changed the mood." he comments. "I'm really sorry."

"I guess I shouldn't be laying this on you." I say and look down.

"No, I asked. Please, continue."

"Okay, well, I went to live with my auntie, but I've always felt like a burden to her so I moved out as soon as I turned eighteen. That was last October." I look up at him again and he nods understandingly. He's a good listener. I stop walking and hug him. He hugs me back. A tight, reassuring hug. I am standing on the tips of my toes, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck, my face buried in his warm cotton hoodie. His arms are wrapped around my lower back, pulling me close to him as if he were trying to protect me from something. Maybe my fears, my past. It's been a long time since I've gotten one of these hugs. We hug for almost thirty seconds but it ends too quickly. When he pulls away, he notices my cheeks are wet.

"What's wrong?" he asks. 

I quickly wipe my tears away with the sleeve of my sweater. "It's nothing." I try to smile. This is a happy moment. I'm getting walked home by a handsome stranger I met in my favourite place. Happy moment, happy moment, I repeat in my head. I feel like this would have been a perfect moment to kiss me, but he doesn't. Then again, he probably doesn't want to be creepy. We just met, after all.

 "I guess it's my turn." he says."I'm Anton. Eighteen years old, still live with my parents. Been thinking about applying for school but I'll probably take a year off first. Um...yeah, I like a lot of things. Sports, art, music." he trails off.