Next Door Neighbor

XIX

Zendaya woke up from the nap she was taking, finding Noon asleep on her shoulder. She gently ran her fingers through the dog's fur, letting out a yawn. The brunette leaned over grabbing her phone from its place on the side of her bed. She took it off the charger, seeing she had a voicemail and a few missed calls from Dinah.

Zendaya tapped the voicemail. "D-Daya...I-I..uh C-Claire Claire, she, Claire she...and Alana.." Dinah couldn't finish because she let out a quiet sob.

Zendaya immediately dialed her lover's number, waiting for her to pick up. "Hello?" Dinah answered in a groggy voice. Zendaya looked at the time seeing it was probably about eleven over there.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Zendaya asked.

"Oh um...not really. What's up Z? Did you get my message?"

"Yeah, I did. Is everything okay? Did she say something to you?"

"Uh, I think she's like...catching on to things. She's noticed you've been coming out to Florida a lot. She told me if she finds out that it's linked to me she's gonna t-take Lan.." Dinah began to tear up again. "Please don't l-let anything h-happen to her. C-Claire doesn't know she was in the...hospital or anything. She'll probably just--"

"D, I'm not gonna let anything happen to Alana. My mom isn't gonna go anywhere near her, I can promise you that," Zendaya assured.

"Z...maybe...maybe you shouldn't...I mean...maybe you should just..stay home for thanksgiving. We'll be fine by ourselves," Dinah suggested. Zendaya's heart drop. Claire always ruined something for her. Ever since she turned thirteen this is how life had been for her.

"Are...are you sure that's what you want?" Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

"I think so. It'd probably be best to throw Claire off our scent. But we can still facetime so you can at least talk to Lana." Zendaya rubbed her forehead, trying to repress her feelings.

"Right, right. Listen um...I'll let you go back to sleep. We can talk more in the morning."

"Okay. I love you Z."

"You too D. Bye." The brunette didn't give her time to respond before she'd hung up and chucked her phone at the wall, startling Noon. "Fucking hell!"

She jumped out of bed flailing around, trying to blow off some steam. Noon stared at her curiously. A knock sounded at her door. "Z, you okay in there?" Darnell asked through the door.

"U-Uh y-yeah. I'm fine. My phone j-just...f-fell," Zendaya said, shaking a bit. The man opened the door walking in. He noticed the face Zendaya usually made when she was about to have a panic attack. Darnell grabbed her shoulders making her stop and look him in the eye.

"What's going on Z?"

"My mom...she just..ugh," Zendaya says, flopping down on the bed. Darnell sat next to her wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "She threatened Dinah, and now she's scared for me to come there. She swears we're gonna get caught."

"Well why don't you just confront your mom, and get it over with now?"

"I don't want to make Dinah uncomfortable, but I really want to say something," Zendaya said.

"Don't worry. Y'all will find a way to be together one way or another. It'll be okay in the end."

"I hope you're right."

...

Dinah slowly knocked on her dad and stepmom's bedroom door. "It's m-me," Dinah said, standing outside the door.