“You’re ridiculous,” she rolls her eyes at me as she breaks off, stepping toward the door to her classroom.
“You love me,” I sing-song as I continue down the hall toward my class and watch as she flips me off discreetly.
I chuckle, pretending to grab the gesture from the air before fake stuffing it into my pocket.
“Have the best time in there, Hades,” I shout over the bustle of students in the hallway, blowing her a kiss as she shouts back, “Later, my sweet Persephone.”
5
Cadence
Istill haven’t texted him. It’s been two days and I’ve still been hesitant on what to say, so I haven’t said anything at all. And thank goodness Ryen’s car is finally out of the shop and she let me ride with her these past few days because I just know that I’m creating some kind of weird tension and I have a feeling Bray would have picked up on it just as quickly, so it’s best I avoid that situation all together.
But despite the fact that I feel completely out of my league and quite frankly, maybe even a little out of my comfort zone, I still find myself staring at Zach's photos on his Instagram. I come here from time to time, just to see what he's been up to when he'snot around. Most of the time he just posts his football photos or highlights of games and practices. But my favorite pictures to look at are the candid ones of him when he's not playing. The rare ones where he’s relaxing, tattoos showing and just hanging out with his friends or . . . the ones of him with his bike.
Zach has had a motorcycle for a few years now and he’s one of the only guys in the school to have one. Which is another reason why he’s so popular with the girls. Hell, with the guys even. It’s why fighting for his attention seems rather impossible, if I can even put it that way. I mean, I never really tried to fight for his attention but I just always knew that there’d be a challenge. He’s probably the most popular when it comes to the girls at Harper High and often even at the away football games. Girls from other schools know who he is too and they have no shame in their game when it comes to fawning over him.
Some say that Zachariah had aglow upduring middle school. I never really saw it as that. But he began talking more in elementary school and he started getting closer to Bray and eventually, that’s when the two of them begged to be put into football together. They started off with flag football and then a few years later, when they went into middle school, they joined a tackle league. That’s when I could tell that his belief in himself started to grow. He became more assertive with himself and with others, wasn’t afraid to use his voice and display his talent confidently. More and more people—girls specifically—started to flock toward him. Well, himandmy brother. But I noticed one thing about him over the years . . . he never really fully opens up. He's always been a bit, reserved isn't the word but closed off. Like he doesn't want to let anyone get too close. Still, he walks around like he's got nothing to hide but I see right through him. Well . . . kind of. I don't really know what it is he's hiding but I know he's guarding something.
Regardless, he and brother both started to gain more attention through middle school and my brother definitely let it fill his ego more than Zach did but it was noticeable just how popular they started to become. And they’ve always been viewed as the dominant, dynamic duo; every team they’ve played against, playing the same positions of quarterback and wide receiver, has always deemed them the pair to look out for. They’ve only been defeated a handful of times over the years and it really started to piss some people off.
One year, I think it was possibly eighth grade, the coaches for the opposing team they were playing raised concern about whether or not Zach was actually eligible to play for the league they were in due to his age. Now, Zach was two years older than me at the time and a year older than my brother and a combination of age differences between the other players. The coaches didn't understand why he was playing in the middle school league when technically, he should have been a freshman in high school. Their concern might have been warranted if Zach really did age out of that league, but even though he technically should have been a freshman, he was still eligible. Looking back on it now, I know that the coaches just didn't want to play against him or my brother so they were stalling and trying to raise false awareness.
I remember being on the sidelines just minutes before that game was supposed to start and I watched in discomfort as parents on both teams started arguing with each other and the coaches nearly got into a fist fight. The refs had to pull Zach aside and ask him if he'd be okay to sit the game out until they could make a decision but eventually Zach’s parents had to step in and explain his situation. Ultimately it was decided that he was still within the age range to stay and play and the other coaches didn't like that.
I’ll never forget that day, recalling the memory of having to watch Zach’s parents try to defend their son, having to explain the reason why Zach was older than most kids his grade when that story hadn't really been shared by anyone. And though I did my best not to listen, Zach walked over to where Bray and I were standing and explained it to us anyway.
“Man, you know you don’t have to explain anything to us. We know you’re within the age to be on this team. They’re just mad because they’re all tired of losing to you,” Brayden says, trying to be reassuring and cheer up his friend.
Zach has a defeated look on his face. His age difference gets brought up a lot and kids used to make fun of him and call him stupid for it and claiming he was held back a few times; a topic my brother knows all too well. So whether or not that's the case with Zach, he's doing a good job at trying to ease Zach's frustration.
The arguments are still going on behind us, while Zach’s mom and dad do their best to diffuse the situation and the players of both teams just wait around, hoping they'll still get to play football.
“Yeah, but you guys are my best friends." He looks between Brayden and me. "You're like my family, so I think I’m ready to tell you what happened." Zach closes his eyes as he unstraps the gloves from his hands, letting out a deep sigh before starting, still keeping his head down.
I can't lie, I have been wanting to hear his story but I never wanted to ask or bother because I knew when he was ready, he'd tell it. And I think with the way things have unfolded just now, still echoing behind us, he believes he has no choice.
"You don't have to, Zach. Bray is right. If you're not ready, that's okay," I say to him, causing him to look down at me and a small, gentle smile caresses his face before he takes a deep breath.
“I don’t remember much of that day, or that year or much after really. But I do remember what was on the police report. I remember what they told me had happened when I got older.” Zach lifts his eyes, his hair falling over his brows and I swear I see the start of a tear pooling in the corner of his eye, but he shakes his head and when he looks back at us, it’s gone.
“My birth mom had apparently abandoned me in our apartment for forty-eight hours while she went out to do whatever it is she was doing. Police say she was selling drugs. Other rumors I heard say she was selling her body. Doesn't matter I guess because at the end of the day, she didn’t really have intentions to come back for me.”
“Zach,” I whisper, my voice cracking with sadness. I can sense Brayden getting tense as well, not really knowing how to respond to what we’re hearing. I would have never imagined that that's how his story began, with someone who was supposed to love him and keep him safe just flat out abandoning him.
“No, it’s not a big deal. I’m just lucky the neighbors heard me. I guess I’d been screaming and crying so much, I nearly lost my voice at that point. But they came home one day and finally. someone heard me.”
I feel sick. Not like a true nausea but just sick from heartbreak while listening to him talk. I can tell he's trying to be calm aboutrecounting his past, but in his eyes it shows just how deep that pain runs.
“How old were you?” Brayden asks, and I look between the two of them, a few beats passing before Zach answers, “Three.”
I clamp my hand over my mouth trying to muffle my gasp. I guess the age doesn't matter because that situation is gut-wrenching no matter how old he was but picturing a three-year-old Zach crying for help brings tears to my eyes.
“Dude, I’m so sorry.” Brayden places his hand over Zach’s shoulder but Zach just shrugs.
“Not much I can do about it now. But after the neighbors called for help, the police eventually came and broke down my door. Guess they found me soiled in an old diaper and I hadn’t eaten in days obviously. They also found all kinds of stashed drug paraphernalia.” I can tell he’s struggling with this next part, not really wanting to admit what he’s about to say, but he takes a deep breath and lets it out. “She was okay with leaving me like that. Like she didn’t love me or care about me at all.”
“Zach, don’t say that.”
