Hello

Seven

It only took one day of school to make Zoe want to throw her hands up in the air and scream, "What's the bloody point of this!". But she didn't. After her awkward encounter with Aaron, Zoe felt guilty that she hadn't even told Xavier about any of it. It was like an annoying itch at the back of your neck that you just can't manage to reach. Aaron was now classified as an itch. 

Zoe had seen Xavier today at lunch and their conversation was full of laughter and strange topics. For the first time Zoe felt natural and actually confident, like she could speak a thousand words to a thousand people.

Zoe was sitting on the kerb of the school road, waiting for her sister to pick her up and to pass the time, she was quietly listening to her iPod and occasionally making an effort to do her French homework. 

A loud honk sounded from in front of her and Zoe looked up to see the beaming face of Tori.         Without waiting for Zoe to reach the car, instead, Tori called out to her.

"How was school?". "Was it fun?". 

Shrugging, Zoe opened the door to the passenger seat and hopped in, her earphones still in her ears. Getting the hint, Tori didn't bother with any more questions. She was like that irksome mum that wouldn't stop asking about everything. Literally. 

Tori drove off in silence but she was still wearing that huge smile on her face, which Zoe ignored completely.

Arriving at the house, it looked somewhat different today. Maybe it was because the front door was open or her Dad's faded red suitcase was settled on the front porch. Slowly pulling out her earphones, she squinted her eyes to see if it was really there. Not waiting for the car to stop, Zoe jumped out and sprinted to the open door. Can he really be home?

"Dad? Dad!". 

Peering her head around the living room door, Zoe caught sight of her dad sitting on the couch with a mug of coffee in his hand, as if it was a normal Monday. Zoe rushed towards her dad.

"Dad! You're...your back! Where were.....Dad? Dad it's me". Andrew didn't make eye contact with his daughter, his eyes were focused on the blank television screen in front of him. She looked into his eyes and whispered his name over and over again, not earning any response from him. Anger rushed through her like a tsunami and in a blink of an eye, Zoe had furiously grabbed onto her dad's shoulders and was shaking him figurously.

"Dad! You're here, you're home. Can't you see me!"

"Dad! Please, it's me your daughter. Look at me!". By now, tears were streaming down her face as she continued to shake her Dad.

"Please! Dad...It's Zoe, look at me. LOOK AT ME!" She screamed at him, but he didn't even flinch, even when she threw his coffee mug from his hands and watch it spill to the floor.

"The least you could do is notice me...Dad look I'm here, I'm here, i'm here..." She pointed to herself. Zoe sobbed and shook, sobbed and screamed. Her voice was wavering and her nose was running. She didn't even notice when Tori rushed into the room. 

"YOU IDIOT! Look at me, please It's your daughter, IT'S ME!". Zoe screamed at her father as he sat still like a statue. Tori jumped in and held onto Zoe as she tried to rip her away from Andrew. Zoe thrashed, kicked and screamed in her sister's arms, yelling jumbled curses and hurtful words at her father. Tori tried to drag her sister away from him but she was elbowed in the stomach instead. But Zoe didn't retreat back to her room, she walked up to her dad and spat right on his face.

"You fucking asshole". She whispered those words like a viper, and then stormed off to her room. After she had gone, Tori sat down next to her Dad and sat in silence for a couple of minutes. She also watched as he crumbled to a mess in front of her. If you have ever seen your parent cry, it was worse then this.

Andrew was broken, and there were no tools to fix him. 

Back in Zoe's room, there was a crumpled seventeen year old girl, lying on her bed and crying her eyes out even if there were no more tears. She hated her father with a burning passion. feeling neglected and ashamed, Zoe screamed into her pillow until her throat ran dry. At leas tthe pillow muffled the painful cries. Reagan wasn't home yet to comfort Zoe, or say something really stupid that would still crack her up. It was just Zoe, alone.

It was like a miracle, when Xavier had decided that at 5:00PM he would ring Zoe, because when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, she was quicker then lightning to pull it out and slide the answer button.

"Xavier". She gasped out.

"Zoe?". Hearing his voice somehow made Zoe cry again, just when she had stopped moments before. 

"Give me five minutes okay, just hold on". The line went dead and in anger and confusion, Zoe shucked her phone against her wall and slid off her bed and lay upside down, her head on the floor and her legs on the bed still. 

And

          she

                       cried.

On the contrary, Xavier was going past the speed limit as he raced to Zoe's house even if he didn't know what was going on. He pulled up to the long driveway and ran to the open door, which was still not locked. He heard wailing coming from the living room, but it didn't sound like Zoe.

Racing up the stairs, taking two at a time, he appeared in her room and boy what a sight it was. In the past five minutes, Zoe had managed to create a bombshell. Pillows covered the fall and random objects scattered the carpet and posters were torn down of Zoe's favourite bands and her books were whacked off the shelves. And in the middle was a silent Zoe, looking a mess. Reacting to the situation, Xavier shuffled down next to Zoe and stroked his slender fingers in her hair. Now they were both lying on their backs, but xavier was perched up on one elbow and looking intently at Zoe. He didn't need to say anything. She didn't want him to say anything.

So they lay there, for the next hour completely absorbed in silence and each others company. Somehow, in all this mess and catastrophic misery, Zoe was calm again. All the crying and all the yelling really made Zoe weary, and so she closed her eyes to the comforting sounds of Xaviers breathing. 

"Thankyou".