Zayn doesn’t cometo the library. He misses his shift for the first time ever.
I wait with Anna for three hours until the library shuts and we’re forced to walk home.
“I’m sure he’s fine.” Anna tries to soothe me. “He might be taking care of his mum or something.”
I don’t feel good about it, but there’s nothing I can do to check up on him. I can’t call a phone that doesn’t exist. I can’t show up at his house when I don’t know where he lives.
I have a sudden, irrational wave of anger directed atZayn. Why didn’t he buy himself a damn phone with his money instead of buying me a kindle?
Sunday comes and goes with no word from him, not that I expected any. We didn’t have plans to see each other that day.
When Zayn doesn’t show up to school on Monday, the panic kicks in.
“He’s never once skipped school in the six months that I’ve known him!” I cry at Anna in the bathrooms between classes. My hands are trembling and I have a terrible feeling in my gut over Zayn’s absence.
“Gia, he’s allowed to have a sick day. You saw him on Friday night, he was pretty beaten up.” She rubs my back in small circles. “Maybe he didn’t want to go out in public while it was that bad.”
“Having a black eye has never stopped him before.”
“It was worse this time,” she says gently, even though I already know this. “He might even just have a cold or something. He has no way to contact you so I’m sure it’s just getting blown way out of proportion.”
I take a deep breath and wipe my eyes with toilet paper. My face must look like a swollen mess, but we have to leave for Math now or we’ll be late. “Fine.” I sniff. “You’re probably right.”
Anna’s words only make me feel better for a little while before the sinking sensation that something is off returns. By last period I have such a sick feeling in my gut that I’m clenching my stomach to try to quell the pain.
Is Zayn’s absence unrelated to his home life? Is it because we had sex?
I can’t help my mind from conjuring up all the possibilities that could be keeping Zayn away. My mum had warned me about boys who only wanted one thing, and when theygot it, they dropped you like a hot potato. But Zayn’s not like that, is he?
No, Gianna, you know he isn’t.
Then where the hell is he?
After schoolI don’t even think; I just grab my bag from my locker and head straight to our gazebo, even though it isn’t Tuesday. I told Tony I had a debating meeting, and he was more than happy to spend his now-free time making out with his girlfriend at the shops rather than walking his annoying little sister home.
‘Be home by five and don’t bloody tell mum I left you here alone’were his parting words as he ran to catch Lia before she got on the school bus.
I’ve been sitting here alone, staring blankly at the grass for the last ten minutes, when I hear a noise to my left.
My heart almost lurches out of my throat when I turn to see Zayn step out between the bushes of the dirt pathway that leads down from the street.
“Zayn! Oh my God!” I rush over and slam into him, gripping him tighter than a life jacket on the titanic. “Where have you been?”
I pull away and look up into his face. His left eyelid is now so swollen I can barely see his eye behind it.
“Gianna, I’m being sent away,” he says quickly but clearly, like he’s in a hurry but needs me to understand. There’s a tremor in his voice that makes my heart clench.
“What? Sent away?” I stare at him with my mouth open and closing, not grasping what’s happening. “What do you mean?”
“Child Protection Services were waiting for me when Igot home on Saturday. Apparently the neighbours called and told them they heard a disturbance.” His words are cold now, fury lacing his every movement. “They decide that now, after seventeen years, is the time to say something.”
His jaw ticks furiously and he steps back so he can see me clearly. “They made me go stay with a foster family for the last two nights while they locate my dad. They’ve been watching me like a hawk but I finally managed to slip away to come here.” He swallows and runs a hand through his dishevelled hair. “They found my dad in Perth. I fly out tonight.”
“What?”My head spins and I double over, stumbling into Zayn, who steadies me with his hands on my shoulders. He pulls me into him. “What do you mean you leave tonight? ToPerth?That’s on the other side of the country!”
My heart beats frantically as I stare into the face I love so much.
“I know, Gianna. I fucking know.”
