“In the morning, we’ll get your car fixed and you can drop me off.”
I’d forgotten about the car. “You don’t need to bother with that. I can take it in on Monday after school.”
Zack growled, low and deep. “Autumn, we’ll fix it tomorrow. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Fine.” I waved my hand in surrender and rose from the couch. “Goodnight.”
“Autumn,” he groaned.
A part of me hoped that at last, knowing that tomorrow we’d barely see each other, he’d finally realize what a mistake he was making by turning me away. “Yes?”
His mouth thinned to a straight line. “I need to morph tonight.”
“Right.” I turned away, my eyes misting. Stupid Autumn. “Sorry. Shouldn’t we stay in?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” And like the night before, I closed the house up tight.
† † †
Sleep hadn’t come easy. In the morning, the sun filled the room and bright light shined through my eyelids. I turned over, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep. I didn’t want to face the hole in my heart and what my life had become. I wasn’t looking forward to anything in my future.
When I opened my eyes, I saw my bedroom door standing wide open, which meant Zack had checked on me during the night. I wondered if he was still downstairs. Would he be anxious to get away from me? Or would he be as happy to continue as friends?
He appeared in the doorway, his arms spread to embrace the doorframe as if it would fall any second. “Hey,” he said.
I tried to smile, but couldn’t make my mouth do that particular function. Hopefully, he’d think my odd facial expression was because I wasn’t fully awake yet. “You were in my room again.”
“Yeah, so? You’ve had a rough week. I was just checking on you.”
I squinted, thinking his week had been twice as stressful. “Well, I didn’t have to stick a nozzle in Daniel’s sockets to destroy his eyeballs. I think you win.”
“Yeah, I guess I do.” He didn’t smile, watching me another moment, then he disappeared.
I didn’t want him to leave without saying goodbye and didn’t know how much more time I had with him. So I jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. After racing down the stairs, I searched the house for Zack. He had the fridge open and glanced over when I entered the kitchen.
“Up for an omelet?” I asked.
He grinned. “Always.”
I licked my lips, suddenly aware I hadn’t even checked myself out in a mirror. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”
When I was pretty sure my face and hair were no longer scary, I headed downstairs and something caught my eye. Zack’s duffle bag, box of books and other things waited by the front door. This was it. The end. I could swear there was an imaginary blanket over my face, suffocating me.
“After breakfast, we can go straight to the shop, then I’ll go home. You know, rather than breaking up our day.”
“Right.” I mustered up a smile from God knows where and headed to the fridge where I could hide in the omelet process. Ten minutes later, I called Zack for breakfast and set a plate in front of him.
He nodded, taking a bite of food and chewing. “Mm. This is good. I’m going to miss your weekend omelets.”
But would he miss me?
I rose to put the cheese and other items away, then grabbed a sponge to wipe the counters and wash the pans. By the time the kitchen was clean again, Zack’s food had vanished.
“You know…” He placed his plate in the dishwasher. “It’s silly to drag you to the shop with me. There will be nothing for you to do there anyway.” Seeing egg bits in the sink, he turned on the water and swished it around. “I’ll go by myself, then bring your car back as soon as I’m done.”
“Okay. Call me when you’re on your way back and I’ll have lunch waiting. It’s the least I can do.”
“Nah.” He shrugged. “No offense, but the vegetarian thing isn’t working for me.”
I knew he didn’t mean it as a subliminal message, that this vegetarian wasn’t working for him. Zack was too open and straightforward to hide behind cruel remarks under the guise of help or friendship. But his reminder hurt just the same. He had to go.
I tossed him the keys and forced a smiled. “Thanks so much for doing this.”
“No problem. I don’t think I’ll be gone more than an hour. If it ends up being complicated, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded and closed the door.
† † †
The first part of that hour after Zack left couldn’t have been better spent. What could be more awesome than worrying if your neighbors hear your gut wrenching cries of anguish and fearing that they’ll call the police for fear you were being attacked? Soaking your pillow and going through two boxes of tissues was reason to be grateful for being alive.