Dark Before the Dawn

3 weeks into March and there’s just under a week before the event that everyone on campus is talking about – Spring Break. I hadn’t given it much thought up until I heard a couple of girls talking about what they were going to do while I was in the library. It seemed like someone else had given it a lot of thought though, as I found out as soon as I entered my dorm room.

“Hi Zack!” Pat said cheerfully, swinging round in John’s desk chair.

“Uh, hi, Pat. What are you…”

“Doing here?” Pat interrupted, still spinning.

“Uh, yeah. That,” I nodded, putting my bag down on the end of my bed.

“Well, I wanted to speak to you but John said you weren’t back from the library yet so while he’s taking a shower in there, I’m waiting in here,” Pat grinned, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, to mine and John’s shared bathroom.

“He let you stay alone with our stuff?” I mused.

Pat isn’t exactly known for being…careful.

“Well, he told me not to touch anything and not to break anything, but I just had to make his bed because he’s a slob and I’ve been spinning in this chair, but I haven’t broken anything so I count that as a win,” Pat shrugged.

He really does ramble. Holy shit.

“Fair enough,” I snorted, sitting down on my bed.

Silence. Pat kept swinging.

“You wanted to talk to me?” I prompted.

Pat stopped swinging.

“Oh yeah! Uh, Zack, can I ask you something?” he said hesitantly.

Huh. Strange.

“Sure,” I shrugged.

Pat looked a little nervous as he got off the chair and sat down next to me, which only made me more curious.

“I was just wondering…what are your plans for Spring Break?” he asked.

What?

“I don’t know really. I was just going to go home and mooch around my dad’s house for week. Why?” I frowned.

“Well…my momma’s invited you to come stay with us for the week. If you wanted,” Pat blurted.

Stay with them? In Arizona? Was that a good idea? What about my friends back home? What about my dad? But…what if Alex was back? I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that. Maybe it would make a nice change to spend a week somewhere different. I think I’ve earned a break, right? Surely I deserve to have fun with my new friends? With John?

“I mean, I know it’s probably a stupid idea and you probably want to see your other friends, but I think it would be really cool if you came back to Tempe with me and the guys because then you could see where we grew up and what made us all so weird and you could meet my momma and…”

I held up my hand to stop Pat’s ramble, smiling slightly as he blushed a little.

“I’d love to stay at yours for Spring Break…but I’d better ask my dad first,” I said softly.

Pat’s eyes lit up and his lips spread into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Okay! Are you going to call him now?” Pat asked hopefully.

I guess I could? With a nod I pulled my phone out, dialling the familiar number. After 3 rings, my dad picked up.

“This isn’t really a good time to call, Zachary,”

I winced. He’s probably on shift. Whoops.

“Sorry, I just wanted to ask if I could go to Arizona for Spring Break. Pat’s mom invited me to stay at theirs for the week,”

I heard my dad sigh softly, and I bit my lip. I know he’s been worried about me ever since I told him about me and Alex, and this probably won’t help.

“Pat’s the boy from your classes, right?”

“Yeah, he is. I just…I think it could be fun. To spend time with him and the rest of my new friends,”

Pat squealed slightly, making me smile again.

“Well…okay. I want to call Pat’s mom to talk over details first, but that’s fine. I know you wouldn’t do anything stupid. Anymore,”

I winced slightly at that last dig but nodded.

“Thanks, dad. I’ll text you her number later today, okay?”

“Alright. Talk to you soon, son,”

“Yeah, see you,”

I ended the call with a small smile, and Pat clapped his hands together happily.

“Give me your phone, I’ll text your dad our home phone number now!” Pat cheered.

“What are you so happy about, ratboy?”

I looked up at the door to the bathroom, seeing John standing there with an amused smile on his face…and I immediately froze. Why? Because all he had on was a small towel wrapped around his waist, his hair still damp and his skin still pricked with water droplets. I looked away with a blush on my cheeks as my mouth went dry. Holy shit! How is it fair that he looks that good?!

Luckily, neither of my friends seemed to notice.

“Zack’s coming back to Tempe with us with Spring Break! His dad just agreed!” Pat said happily.

“Y-You’re coming back with us?” John asked, eyes wide as he looked at me.

I nodded, smiling shyly. “Pat said his momma invited me to stay with them, and seeing as I didn’t have any others plans, I said yes. I hope you don’t mind,”

“Of course I don’t mind,” John said quickly, beaming at me.

“This Spring Break is going to rock! Hey, John Ohh, now you can finally introduce Zack to your momma!”

John blushed slightly and threw a balled up pair of socks at Pat’s head, making him laugh. I just smiled – maybe going back to Arizona with them would be a good idea after all.