Zane & Soren

2 | new friend

Zane quickly packed his bag and closed his locker so he could leave before anyone else had the chance to say any more mean things while he was around to hear them. The day had been more eventful than he wanted it to be and frustrating enough with the number of irrelevant students approaching him with their unwanted, negative opinions, regardless of whether he wanted to hear it or not, which he didn't each time. Some people just didn't know when to quit or how to mind their own business, and not speak on certain topics that didn't concern them in any. Nevertheless, after packing his bag and gathering everything he needed for his homework later on that evening, he threw his leather jacket on and slung his backpack over his shoulder, slid his phone and keys in his jacket pockets and zipped them shut. He grabbed his helmet and slammed the locker shoot shut, locking it up and then turning to leave the school building.

On his way out, Zane strolled past Soren and the same small group of friends he was socialising with before homeroom in the morning. The two briefly made eye contact and exchanged polite smiles and small waves. He then pushed the glass doors open and walked out, heading towards the school parking lot. During his short walk there, he passed several students, some of whom gave him dirty looks, and others called out hurtful things to him. Zane tried to be brave and walked past them without saying a word and, for the most part, managed to ignore them pretty well — he didn't know most of the students, but one in particular, Kyle. Unlike the others, he couldn't seem to let his "Faggot," comment slide. Although the derogatory term hurt to a certain degree and was said with the intent of hurting him, he didn't let Kyle or anyone else see that hurt and instead plastered on a brave face as he couldn't resist saying something back to him.

"That, I am, thank you so much for reminding me!" He responded, his tone laced with sarcasm, "How about you try and tell me something I don't know next time, yeah?"

Kyle stood in front of Zane with a weird, confused expression and Zane smirked as he noticed some of his friends and others laughing quietly to themselves.

"Remember to tell your dad I say 'hey' and to call me tonight! I'm always ready and available to break his back like a mountain anytime your mama ain't around."

With that, Zane winked at him and turned on his heels, walking away from him and his friends, leaving them all laughing and teasing Kyle about the sassy remarks, and him looking and feeling visibly embarrassed. He started to feel slightly proud of himself for standing up for himself the way he just did. His response may not have seemed like much, but Kyle thought he could embarrass him by calling him out of his name, yet he ended up doing it to himself. However, as soon as he spotted Thomas and Jeff making out against the hood of Jeff's car, his mood immediately came crashing down. It was one thing to steal his boyfriend, but was it really necessary to flaunt it in his face too?

If he were Thomas, he'd be very careful with Jeff. How you get 'em often tends to be how you lose 'em in most situations, and if he had to cheat on Zane to be with him, he might want to rethink that relationship of his. Zane didn't ever want to subscribe to the notion of "once a cheater, always a cheater," because he knew that that wasn't always the case.

Nonetheless, he put on his helmet and climbed onto his motorbike, sticking the keys in the ignition and listening to the engine roar. Coincidentally, it was then that Soren finally exited the school building, spotted Zane in the parking lot and took a step towards him for a little chat. As he began making his way over, Zane revved the engine of his bike a few times, catching the attention of some students around him including Soren and the deranged duo, then quickly sped off out of the parking lot, onto the open road, and in the direction of Melanie's school.

Better luck next time, Soren, he thought to himself then made his way over to his own motorbike.

Melanie was Zane's younger sister and he loved her with all of his heart and soul. She was just nine years old, but she was very bright and intelligent for her young age. Despite having both their parents in their lives and taking care of them, they took care of each other as if they didn't. Zane was very overprotective of her as she was of him, and would go to hell and back for her in a heartbeat just to ensure she was okay in whatever situation. Due to their parents both working busy nine-to-five jobs throughout the weekdays, they were never around to pick her up after school, which was where he came in. Whether he was in his car or atop his motorbike, he always arrived and departed in style.