Chapter 13

~Zayne Beckett~

"So," I began hesitantly while rubbing my knees, trying to keep my eyes from staring at her wings, "what was that map? Is it a kind of... satellite thing that helps you see the world properly?"

Aurora looked at me as she handed me a glass of water. "I haven't really thought about that. It just happens."

"And- and the thing, when I see it, is- is that normal?"

"I don't know," she sat next to me, "I know as much as you know about that."

I took a small sip of water and my pounding headache quickly dissipated. It came once Aurora exited her ritual of sort and she took it away with ease.

"Did you know that would happen?" I asked.

"No," she said, "I've had human contact before, but not while trying to locate the pieces." She opened out the map on the coffee table and peered at Mexico. "Did you see exactly where it was like I did?"

"Um," I tried to pull my thoughts back. With my eyes looking over the map, I was able to remember where it was. "Here," I pointed to the place I saw the dot.

"Mexico City," she mumbled to herself.

My phone suddenly rang which sent my heart flying out of my chest. When I checked the caller ID, I didn't have a choice to decline it. "I have to take this, excuse me," I say quickly before moving towards the edge of the rooftop.

I answered my phone to my Mom's voice. "Zayne, where in the world are you?" she asked harshly.

"Kansas," I rolled my eyes. I said that just to give me extra time to think about my excuse. "I'm at a friend's place to-"

"'A friend'? Come home and we'll talk about this."

"But-"

"Now, Zayne."

A sigh left my lips and I looked around. "Okay, I'll be home in a bit." I hung up and looked at Aurora. "Hey, um, I gotta-"

"Go ahead," she smiles, "your mother must be worried."

I was confused for a moment, then I remembered her enhanced senses. Why couldn't I remember it? I nodded before grabbing my bookbag. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Bye Zayne," she giggles, making me chuckle.

I quickly descended the fire escape and speed-walked home. I was in for a good scolding. It was inevitable.

While I walked home, my mind raced to find an excuse for coming home late. I made the stupid mistake to call Aurora "a friend" when my mom knows all my friends. She knew I don't accept just anyone in the group. She knew just how picky I am.

I walked through the front door and the first thing I saw was my mom. She grabbed my ear and painfully dragged me to the living room.

"Where were you, young man?" she asked as she sat me on the couch. Her foot tapped at the ground impatiently as she stood in front of me with her arms folded under her chest. The infuriated glare she gave me stung even my own eyes.

Did I dare lie to my mother?

"I was at a friend's place," I held onto my ear, foolishly making the same mistake twice. "My teacher assigned her to be my tutor."

Yes, I dare lie to my mother.

With hope in my heart that she bought it, her foot stopped tapping and her glare turned serious. "Tutor?"

My mind clicked. "French, apparently."

My mom's expression turned from serious to suspicious in less than a second. "You're lacking in French?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Wait, it's a girl?"

Again, I nodded slowly.

"She's not Nadia?"

I shook my head.

"You have a mouth for a reason, Zayne."

"She's new," I say to use my voice. "We had her around our group for a while."

To this, her eyes lit up. "You mean you had her around your group?"

I nodded again.

"Zayne."

"What?"

"Use your words."

"Sorry."

She sighed before talking again. "What's her name?"

I had gotten myself into this mess, and there was no way to escape it. So I gave up and looked away, feeling the slow burn rise to my face. "Aurora."

"Well, I'd like to meet her."

My eyes shot toward her. "What?"

"Invite her to dinner on Friday. That's when I have time off from work." She turned her back to me and headed off into the kitchen. "I want to know who my son getting tutored from. We're having pizza whenever you're ready."

My own mother wanted to meet Aurora.

Aurora of all people.

What was I going to do? Whenever my mother met someone I thought would be a good friend, there was no doubt they'd stay away from me. For example, I had Carter and Nadia. She met Nadia a month after she started dating Carter. And that was years ago.

But Aurora? I had no choice. I had to invite her. If I didn't, my Mom would threaten me. And I knew that for a fact.

Getting my thoughts together, I took a deep breath to calm down. I am just inviting her for dinner. How hard can it be?

◇◇◇

I casually walked up to Aurora at school, and she stopped right in front of me with a small smile. "Hey, Aurora," I said.

"Hi, Zayne. What's up?" her smile gradually expanded.

My mind went blank. My ears weren't working. The pounding in my eardrums soon turned to noise. My heart raced with panic and dread. The words just wouldn't come to mind. My brain was scrambled with thoughts. Every nerve was searching everywhere for the right words, but there weren't any. I swallowed and tried to peel my eyes away from her. I couldn't.

"Zayne?" She called as her smile fell, just a little. "Are you okay?"

"Pfft- oh, yeah, I-I'm great!" I smiled awkwardly as Aurora gave a confused look. "I just wanted to know how- how doing you are?" She looked more confused as I realized what I had said. "I-I mean doing are you how?"

"Are you sure you're okay..?" she asked, looking concerned.

I groaned and hung my head back, mentally punching myself. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't really punch myself in front of her. "Forget it," I said before walking off.

Okay, maybe too soon. I thought I'd try again the next day, and hopefully, I had my shit together.

◇◇◇

The last time I had to ask someone new for dinner was when my mom wanted to meet Nadia. And Carter asked her for me. When it was with Carter, I had no problem. Maybe that's because he's a guy.

Aurora was walking in my direction and my heartbeat flooded my ears. I could've felt the sweat droplets forming on my forehead. My blood ran cold as she approached me. I was very unprepared for the situation.

"Hey, what happened yesterday?" she asked.

"I- uh..." I blanked out and my knees started to shake. "Nothing! I just- um, had a‐ a test. I was nervous for the- the test."

"Oh. Okay," she gave a small smile. "Are you feeling better today?"

I stared at her. Why couldn't she just listen to my thoughts? Was it because it was in chaos? Was it because she couldn't understand the chaos? Or was it because she wanted me to tell her myself? If that were the case, that would've been harder on my part.

No, she wouldn't torture me into saying it out loud. She was an angel. It wouldn't seem right. Maybe she couldn't understand my scrambled mess of a brain. Maybe she couldn't hear it clearly. Maybe it was both. Who knows?

"No," I said. "Excuse me." I moved away from her.

I couldn't do it. I could not have done it.

I didn't have my shit together.

Maybe I should practice before asking? Would that have helped me even a little bit?

That day, I went home in front of my bathroom mirror and stared at myself as if my reflection was Aurora. The difficulty in imagining Aurora was my reflection was greater than I thought. Instead of staring at myself like an idiot, I just blurted out words.

The longer I stood there, the more pathetic I felt. Not once have I asked a girl to dinner at my house. Never have I asked a girl to dinner at all. Even If I did want a true girlfriend with a long relationship, how in the world was I supposed to do that if I couldn't ask Aurora?

After what felt like hours, I couldn't go on for longer. I washed my face and climbed into bed, with the conclusion to just be who I am stuck in place.

◇◇◇

At school, as usual, I kept an eye out for Aurora. But I chose to not look so urgent. I realized that other students would look at me strangely whenever I looked for her. I figured maybe that was the issue. Maybe the onlookers were lowering my confidence. Maybe it was because I was being watched while I ask her.

She wasn't at our table for lunch though. I wandered the halls after eating to look for her, but not to look so obvious. But who am I to judge how obvious I looked? I'm sure seemed to be lost, on the prowl for my next prey.

I facepalmed mentally as I wasn't even thinking to check by her locker. When I turned the corner, she was right there, switching out her books. My heart skipped a beat just at the little realization of how quickly I recognized her.

With a deep breath, I shoved my hands in my pockets and lowered my eyelids, lazily striding across to her. I slammed the locker door shut as I was sure she finished. She jumped as I leaned on the locker with a blank gaze.

"Oh, Zayne." She breathed. "You scared me."

I grinned. "You didn't see me coming?" I whispered.

"I didn't expect you to... slam the door in my face," she fiddled with her thumbs.

I punched myself in my mind. Wasting no more time, I said, "I'm here to ask you something."

"Really?" she said. "What is it?"

I stared at her. Her violet eyes pierced mine going straight to my heart. My blood ran cold with my knees going numb. The sparkle in her eyes caused my mind to be more cluttered than ever before. Just a glance down at her perfect, glossy lips was enough to set me on edge.

Then I asked the most out-of-timing thing I could have inevitably asked.

"Did I tell you that you're pretty?"

She blinked. Her eyes flickered to the scarce hall and then to my forehead before meeting mine. "Are you being sincere?"

I froze. "What?"

"Did you mean that? Or was it just part of your game again?"

I finally realized what she said and tightened my eyes shut. My head hung in shame as I tried to recollect my thoughts. Why did I choose to say that? Was I really not thinking? Was I in an entirely another part of my mind?

My eyes opened to glance at her. She was trying to listen in on what I wanted to say. But even my thoughts weren't in order. She frowned when she heard the madness in my mind.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, just..." I sighed and punched the locker with the side of my fist, pushing off one time, "forget about it." I pushed my hands into my pockets again and walked away.

Tugging at my hair in frustration, I stormed into the boys' washroom. I locked myself in a stall and sat on the closed toilet with my hands on my head. At this point, I knew that I didn't want to invite her for my Mom's sake. I wanted to invite her. I wanted her to be there and that was a rare feeling.

I kicked the door in frustration, not knowing how to ask her. I ran out of ideas. I couldn't think of anything else. But sitting there in a stall wouldn't allow ideas to pop into my head. I could've felt it overheating.

I shoved the door open and immediately washed my hands in the sink before splashing my face with the cold water. Maybe it was just me, but I felt the sizzle on contact. I sighed and stared at myself in the mirror. Why couldn't I talk to her?

I grabbed some napkins and wiped my face and hands with them. I felt calmer now. More at ease. I would've been able to think more clearly now. With the damp napkins in my hand, I wondered why it wasn't falling apart in my hands.

Suddenly, it hit me.

◇◇◇

It was the last day I could've asked her. There was no turning back. Now or never, as they say.

During a free period, I had written a little note on a piece of paper. I wrote, "Will you join me and my family for dinner tonight?" Under the question, I drew two boxes and wrote "yes" and "no" beside them. For the finishing touch, I wrote my initials at the top right corner.

As I was writing it, I thought of other words I could've said. Such as, "Will you have dinner with me tonight?" or "You are invited to have dinner with me tonight." It seemed like she would've gotten the wrong idea if I had written anything along those lines, so I chose the simple and honest one.

I finally spotted Aurora while roaming the halls. She quickly walked up to me and grabbed my wrist, not allowing me to leave. "Zayne," she began, "you've been acting really weird for the entire week and I'm very concerned. Are you okay? Did something happen?"

I stared at her, gulping down the lump in my throat. I couldn't respond to her. I couldn't tell her what was on my mind. I couldn't get my mind in order for her to listen to it.

"Here," I gave her the folded paper. Making sure it was in her hands, I was ready to leave. "This is what I've been trying to say."

She looks at me curiously before letting go of my wrist. She began to unfold it, but I couldn't be there. I walked off. Maybe it was a bad idea. My heartbeat was flooding my ears. I just had to get out of there, whether it was a good idea or not.

Later that same day, before the last class, I opened my locker to switch out my books. Instead, I found a familiar folded piece of paper falling at my feet.

I picked it up and opened it, realizing it was the same note I gave Aurora. Only this time, there was a checkmark in the 'yes' box with a small pink highlighter heart next to it. And on the bottom left corner, there was her first initial.

Who knew a single letter could be so beautiful?

I smiled to myself, happy to know that she accepted my offer.