The Way We Feel

08: Zach

here i am trying to maintain my uploading schedule : ))

//

Zach pulled up in front of a pale yellow house, and took off his gloves so that he could double-check the address. When he confirmed that it was correct, he slid off his motorcycle and hung the helmet on the handlebar.

The garden was small, but looked well-cared for already, which was surprising considering they had just moved in. Zach rang the doorbell, recognizing how along with the usual sounds, a light flashed inside.

A middle-aged woman answered the door.

"Hi, you must be Zach. Come in, come in." He stepped in and awkwardly looked around.

"You have a beautiful garden, Mrs. Sydney," he mentioned. She laughed.

"Well, I try. The girls are up in the attic." She motioned down the hall to a pull-down ladder. "I need to go make a phone call, but I hope you have a good time!"

She hurried down to presumably the basement, while Zach stood at the bottom of the ladder.

"Uh, hey," he called up. He heard a couple thumps, and then Leila's head appeared in the opening.

"Hi! Come on up." He eyed the ladder.

"Have you found the journal?" he asked. She nodded.

"Well, my mom set aside a few boxes that it might be in. We're just looking through them."

"Cool. Uh, mind if I wait down here?" He tapped his leg, and Leila winced.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot. We can just bring the boxes down there." She disappeared again, and Zach glanced around, unsure if he should take a seat or continue to stand there.

"Hey, Zach," Angela said, climbing down the ladder with a box. He didn't say anything, since her back was to him, but smiled as soon as she turned around. "Come into the living room." He followed her, and Leila entered a few moments later.

"We think it's in here," she pointed to the box Angela had set down. Zach nodded, taking a seat on the couch. Angela started sifting through it, pulling out an old baseball cap. After a few silent moments, she triumphantly held up a brown leather journal.

"Success!" She exclaimed, grabbing Leila's hand to high five it. Leila looked unimpressed with the occurrence. Angela passed the journal to Zach, who took a minute to skim through it.

"Hmm...English, English," he murmured under his breath. "Aha! French!" He pointed to a page.

"Cool. But what does it say?" Leila asked. He glanced over the lines.

"He was definitely in France," he stated.

Leila rolled her eyes and peered at the journal. "The French gave that away." He shrugged.

The pages were worn and dirty; some were ripped in the corners. A bloody thumbprint rested in the corner of the paragraph he was reading.

"Damn, he saw action. You know how France was like, invaded by the Nazis way at the beginning of the war?" They nodded. "He was sent there for a bunch of pre-D-Day missions. Late 1943, early 1944."

Angela smiled. "I wish he was still alive."

Zach unlocked his phone, clicking the Notes app so he could see the information his dad had given him.

"Okay, my grandfather was in the French military from 1942 to 1945. He was stationed in France for most of that, so we definitely have our connection." He grinned at Leila. "And we didn't even have to cheat." She chuckled.

"Now what?"

"I guess I can work on translating this journal, then we can do a bit of research on their separate deployments, and piece it all together. Sound good?"

"This is going to be awesome," Angela exclaimed. He rolled his shoulders.

"As amazing as a project in Bazedi's class can be, anyway."

•••

The girls' mom had carried a tray of snacks into the living room a little while after their conversation shifted away from school.

"This looks amazing," Zach told her, his mouth watering. "That can't be homemade." The platter was full of impeccably decorated cookies, egg rolls, and dumplings.

"In another life, I would've become a chef," she smiled. "But, I just cook for my family." Zach snagged a couple items.

"Well, I'm sure they appreciate it." Angela eyed him as their mom walked away.

"You are such a suck-up," she laughed. He pointed a finger at her.

"It's just credit where it's deserved." The three of them demolished the food, and then Zach pushed himself up.

"I should be going, I guess." He had somehow spent the entire afternoon there, and it was beginning to shift into evening. "Thanks for letting me come over, though. This was a lot of fun."

"We just did some schoolwork," Leila laughed.

"Yeah, true. But, I don't know, it's so...energetic here? My house always seems to be empty these days."

Something passed over both of their faces, so he stopped talking.

"Here's your coat," Leila handed it to him. "I can walk you to the door."

The two of them stood in the entrance as he stepped into his shoes. Above the cabinet he was leaning on was a photo. It must have been taken in the last few years, because he could easily recognize Leila and Angela. They were standing with their mom, and a man.

He turned to Leila, who had seen him examining it. She had grown quiet, and seemed to be avoiding his eyes.

"Um," he began. She clearly didn't want him to ask. "Thanks again. I really did have a good time. Let your mom know for me!" He opened the door and waved as he left.

•••

Zach forced his house key into the lock. When he opened the door, it was to an empty house. All the lights were off, so he flipped a few on in an effort to replicate the happiness of the Sydney's home.

It didn't work.

Zach grabbed some leftover chicken from the fridge for dinner, and took it down to his room. The hallways gave away nothing of the residents, because none of their photos had been put up when they moved from New York.

He knew why, obviously. His parents didn't want reminders of the son that should've been there.

//

hi!! i hope this got to you guys on the day it's supposed to (sunday). i'm not super knowledgeable on time zones but i'm in pacific time, which is a later than a lot of other countries. If you happen to be in europe, this could be late.

anyway, i hope you like it! let me know if there are any scenes (aside from the main plot ones) that you'd like me to write.

xo, hannah