The Golden Boys

Chapter Thirty-One

The four of them slept until the afternoon in the living room, not bothering to slide into one of the many bedrooms. Zara was the last one to wake up on the couch to find that someone had tossed a blanket onto her body. With a small smile, she wrapped herself into its warmth and walked to the kitchen to find Sam cooking.

"They're on the roof," Sam told her as she handed Zara a cup of tea. "The sun's about to set in a couple of minutes."

Zara kissed her friend on the cheek. "Thanks, Sam."

"Is everything alright, Zara?" she asked as Zara was about to exit the kitchen.

Was everything alright? She didn't know the answer to that. One moment she finally got her shit together and then she ran into another wall. "It will be," she decided to reply.

Sam eyed the girl and continued to stir the pot. "Dinner will be ready shortly."

"You're amazing, Sam!" Zara called as she went out the door.

Enzo was sitting on the couch with a cigarette lit in his hand and reading a book. Kenji was playing chess with Damien on the table nearby. Zara took a cigarette from the packet on the table and lit herself one, taking a huge ass hit before joining Enzo on the couch. She readjusted the blanket so that it covered her legs and stared at the sun slowly beginning to dip. The lighting was beautiful, everyone was so peaceful and in their other element. Rarely did you see any of them this relaxed, even in school or partying no one has seen them this comfortably quiet.

"Cersei's coming over for dinner," Enzo told her as he flipped the page of his book. She glanced at the cover to realize it was her book from her room. He was reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, one of her favorite fantasy novels. And the boy was pretty far in. "We told her that we all decided to skip today and stay over at your place. Dame invited her around seven in the morning, but she said she wanted to spend the day with Andrei."

Nodding her head, she taught another hit. "How is he?"

Enzo shrugged. "Don't know. Cece hasn't texted any of us since this morning. Did you check your phone?"

"No," she replied. "It's up in my room, but I'll check it later."

"I truly am sorry, Zarita," Enzo said, closing his book. He set it onto the side table with his cigarette in his mouth. "I took away your right of telling us about your thing with Andrei and I know I made the matters between the two of you worse."

Zara patted her friend's shoulder. "It was bound to happen eventually, Enz."

The rest of the hour, they silently watched the sunset. Zara drained her cup of tea and finished her cigarette slow enough that Enzo lit another one. The smell of nicotine was something she always hated, but smoking it herself or with friends, she didn't mind it. The girl stepped on the butt and tossed it into a trash bin nearby before grabbing Damien and Kenji to come join the others on the couch. They were all squished together while watching the sun in its final minutes and disappear behind the buildings.

"Since when do we watch sunsets?" Kenji asked after the sun was gone. The outdoors lights had switched on and the heater began blowing warm air onto the four.

"Since our lives have gone in a downward spiral," Enzo replied.

Zara and Damien laughed. He wasn't lying.

"We're getting soft, boys..." Kenji sighed. "And Zara."

"Nah, she's one of us," Damien said with a grin.

"I'm one of the boys?" she reiterated. "I'm truly honored, a dream come true."

"You know what we need?" Kenji asked out of the blue. He didn't wait for anyone to reply before he answered, "Another vacation. Halloween is coming up in about two weeks and we should go somewhere. Either New York, Hollywood, New Orleans, London, Ireland or Transylvania. Take your pick."