lovely | zion kuwonu

caleb

"yo zion, you wanna come over after school and jump on a beat brandon and i made?" edwin asked as he ran after the boy.

"sorry, i'm going over to ryan's to study"

"oh come on, just skip one day" edwin begged.

"i can't bail on her when we just started ed"

"fine, don't bail on her. bring her along" he suggested.

"bring her? to brandon's?" zion almost laughed at the comment.

"yeah what's the big deal? if she gets bored she can go hang out with his sister or the dogs"

"fine, i'll ask" zion gave in.

_______

the day was almost over as they had two more class to complete before the end of school.

"hey ry"

"what is up with you and your friends needing to give people nicknames" ryan laughed.

"that just means you're in with us" zion rubbed the back of his neck while giggling. "anyways, ed invited us over to brandon's house after school today if you're down for that instead of tutoring"

"umm, i'd have to ask my parents first but i think they'd be fine with it" ryan smiled.

"okay cool, let me know"

ryan took her seat two rows behind zion. after last night she felt something for zion. the same thing zion felt for her. for once in her life, she felt permanent. permanent in someone's life. she hadn't known zion for too long, heck she couldn't even get along with him, but after talking last night about just about anything she felt closer to him.

class began once again, today's lesson was checks and balances. yay for government. ryan rolled her eyes at her teachers mention of the term "balance beam" for the fiftieth time.

zion glanced over at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"caleb, would you care to explain what's so funny about checks and balances?" mr. baker asked stopping his lesson to call out zion.

"umm, no sir"

mr. baker continued his lesson. zion's cheeks had turned red. he turned around to take another glance at ryan who was staring at him now. her mouth moved mouthing the his name caleb in confusion. zion waved her off as he scuffed.

50 minutes later the bell rang and they all booked it out of the room. zion walked out as ryan trailed after him.

"so caleb what was so funny?" ryan teased.

"shut up, no ones ever called me caleb. well except my dad"

"oh, sorry." ryan looked down at her shoes. "well anyways i have to go home before i go over to brandon's so do you wanna take me?"

"doesn't austin drive you home?" zion asked.

"he's been taking one of those cheerleaders home lately and i can not stand one more car ride listening about bows and hairspray" ryan rolled her eyes pretending to faint.

"fine looser, meet me by my car after school"

53 minutes later, ryan hopped into zion's scooped up truck and they made their way to her home.

her dads car was pulled into the driveway along with her moms.

"hello, i'm home" ryan yelled into the home.

"hey sweetie how was school?" mom asked.

"it was great actually. i wanted to ask if it was okay for me to go over to a friends house with zion so that we could work on a group project for music class" ryan lied.

"as long as young kuwonu is going i have no issues" dad agreed.

"hey dad, did you know that you and zion actually have to same first name? zion is actually his middle name, how crazy is that?"

"really?" he became interested.

"yeah, my dad always told me i was named after an old friend who meant a lot to him during his early days in the army" zion explained. "he constant told me stories about how this man joined the army to provide for his wife and newborn son, he was so happy when he got his first check that he bought himself a 1997 toyota corolla and showed it off like his pride and joy"

"hey dad– isn't that the type of car we have in the garage?" ryan asked.

she looked over at the couch to find her dad nearly drowning in tears.

"dad? are you okay?" ryan rushed to his side.

in her 17 years of life, she had never seen her dad cry. he didn't even let her cry because it was a sign of weakness. not even when mason died.

"yeah i just need a minute" her dad stood up.

"i'm sorry if i triggered something" zion apologized.

"i don't think those were sad tears sweetie." ryan's mom smiled as she patted zion's back. "but i think you just found the man you were named after"

"seriously?" zion stood shocked.

"yeah, the corolla is in the garage if you need proof"

"no, no, i believe you, i just– i can't believe it" zion laughed nervously. "my dad always wanted me to meet caleb but he could never find a way to contact him and then you guys just move here like that"

"i'll go check in on dad, but you guys go ahead and get to that group assignment" mom said as she left the two teens.

ryan gave zion a minute before walking out with him to the car.

"you still wanna go over to brandon's? we can go do something else if you want" ryan suggested.

"no it's fine i'm just still trying to grasp everything"

"take your time" ryan smiled as she placed her hand on top of zion's.

________

authors note

comment names i can
use for future characters
here😇