lovely | zion kuwonu

new friends

"hey mom" ryan sang as she walked into her house.

"hi honey, how was school?"

"you know. same old books and boring men" she laughed. "by the way, i'm going to help tutor a friend i guess so he'll be here in an hour or so"

"a friend?" a deep voice asked.

"oh hi dad, i didn't know you were home" ryan smiled hugging him.

"so who's the friend"

"i mean he's not really a friend, more of an acquaintance. but his name is zion kuwonu"

"kuwonu?" he asked.

"yeah"

"it's been a while since i heard a name like that" her dad smiled, remembering a memory from his youth.

ryan smiled back at her dad before heading upstairs to put her bag down. her room was already clean. in a house like hers, it was required.

as dad would say, a clean room is the right room. it didn't make sense but he was the boss.

"ry, your friend is here" her mom yelled from downstairs.

ryan ran down to find zion standing in the doorway.

"hey, zion this is my mom and dad" ryan closed the door behind him.

"it's a pleasure to meet you mr and mrs anderson" the young boy reached out to shake their hands.

"it's as if i'm staring at his clone" mr. anderson dazed into zions eyes.

"dad? are you okay?"

"i– i went to training camp with this man named flynn kuwonu and he looks exactly like your friend" dad tried to explain.

"that was my father sir" zion said.

"i knew it, there was no way kuwonu was a common last name! so tell me how is your father nowadays?"

"dad– zion's father passed away" ryan tried to explain for zion.

the room felt cold. it was something that couldn't be changed. the excitement in her father's eyes has vanished and were now filled with sadness.

"well i'm sorry for your loss. kuwonu was a great man who truly helped build me into the man i am today" mr. anderson said.

"thank you sir" zion nodded.

ryan took zion out to the backyard to escape the tension.

"i'm sorry about all of that. i have no idea or else i would have gave him a warning you know ryan shrugged.

"it's fine, can we just get started on this tiny women book" zion rolled his eyes.

"first off it's little women, and i suppose yes let's get started because it looks like you need lots of help" ryan giggled lowly.

_________

the first bell of the day rung. teenage bodies scrambled from across campus to fill seats in their classroom.

"why are you walking so fast?" nick trailed behind zion.

"i gotta get get to class, whatchu even mean?" zion scoffed.

"you never wanna go to english, so why no– wait wasn't your tutor sesh with ryan yesterday?" nick asked.

"yeah what about it?"

"well what happened that made you so excited to go to class today?"

zion ignored the question but couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

"zion!" nick yelled to get his attention.

"nothing happened. she just helped me understand" zion smiled before walking into his class.

he turned onto his row and saw her sitting there with her phone in her hand.

"good morning" he said.

"good morning zion" ryan smiled.

zion took his seat in front of her and proceeded to take his notebook from his bag.

he wasn't lying to nick, he just wasn't telling him to whole truth. ryan helped him understand english, but also begin to understand liking someone. through his 17 years he had never had a girlfriend.

he never felt like anyone would be able to handle his baggage. but last night with ryan, something in him just clicked.

she made him understand the book, but also made him feel a genuine connection with someone. in a romantic way.

"zion" ryan snapped him from his thoughts.

"what's up?"

"you dropped this in my driveway last night" she smiled as she slid him a pair of dog tags on a chain.

"oh thanks" zion said as he clinched his dads old tags into his backpack.

class began and the two went back to being the acquaintances they're always been. just with a bit more of a connection.

_______

authors corner

it's happeninggggg