Weightless

Chloe was freaking out. The minute she stepped through that door, she could smell them. Cookies. She froze, releasing Zack’s shirt from her hands. Don’tmove.Don’tmove.Don’tmove. They were so inviting. She wanted to run, sprint, to wherever the delicious smell was coming from. But she couldn’t. No. Instead, she drew the overlarge sleeves on the sweatshirt Zack had handed her to her nose. The smell was still invading her mind, but something about it was off this time. Before she could figure out what it was, Zack turned around. Chloe forced her expression to remain neutral. He gave her a strange look, but she stayed rooted to the welcome mat. She banished the alarm from her eyes as he dragged her forward. She kept her gaze on the ground until they came to a stop. Chloe lifted her eyes and the fear came flooding back. She turned her abhorred gaze to the cousin she thought knew her so well.

Zack flinched at the look in Chloe’s eyes. She jerked her arm out of his grasp. He reached to pull her back but she stepped away.

“Chloe…?”

“What is wrong with you, Zack!?”

The screech tore itself out of Chloe’s voice box before she could stop it. His hazel eyes became wide. Chloe bit her tongue before covering her mouth. A silence filled the room for a few seconds before a cough erupted from lungs. Covering her face with her hands, she doubled over and tried to inhale properly. Zack lifted her up as her coughing spell ended.

“Is everything okay down – woah. Uh, sorry, Zack. Didn’t know you had someone with you…” Rian trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Chloe scurried to hide behind Zack’s back. Zack sighed but didn’t pull her forward.

“Rian, this is Chloe. She’s my cousin.”

An awkward silence filled the space as Chloe refused to step out from behind her cousin. The young men stood there for a few moments before shouting sounded from just a few feet away. Chloe jumped at the noise. Suddenly, Jack burst into the room with Alex right behind.

“I WIN!” The skunk haired boy declared.

“You pushed me down the stairs, asshat. That hardly constitutes winning.” Alex huffed, scowling at the floor.

Chloe shrank even more against Zack. He pulled her forward, but she buried her head in his chest. Jack and Alex turned their attention away from each other as each boy caught the movement from the corner of his eye. A moment of shock and silence punctuated the room before both boys broke out in smiles.

“Zacky has a girlfriend!” Jack screamed, running around the kitchen.

“You stole my sweatshirt for your girlfriend?” Alex chuckled, grabbing a cookie off of the counter, "Classy."

Chloe’s eyes instantly darted to his hand, her mouth beginning to water. Youdon’treallywantthat. She hid her face in Zack’s shirt again.

“Jack, calm the fuck down.” Zack rolled his eyes, his deep voice rattling Chloe’s bones. “Chloe is my cousin. She gets cold, that’s why I needed the sweatshirt.”

Jack came to a halt. He turned to face the girl and jumped forward, arms outstretched for a hug. Chloe’s eyes grew wide as she clung to Zack’s shirt. As his hand touched her arm, she screamed, flitting out of his grasp to hide again.

“She doesn’t really like to be touched.” Zack whispered, stroking her hair as the coughs flew out of her lungs.

Jack shot him a puzzled look, but Alex had fixated on the girl. Something about her was familiar. It tugged at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“C’mon, we’re here to practice right?”

Zack’s voice cut through the awkward silence. The rest of the boys nodded and filed out of the kitchen down to the basement. Chloe followed behind Zack like a puppy. He sighed, he knew he should have just taken her home. Chloe curled up on a ratty couch, wrapping Alex’s sweater around her to keep warm. It was then that she realized what the off smell had been earlier. The sweatshirt hadn’t smelled like Zack. She peeled it off, shivering in the cool musty air, and quietly walked up behind the lanky kid adjusting a microphone.

“Uhm…Alex?” She whispered.

At the soft, almost scared, hum of a voice coming from behind him, Alex slowly turned around. The girl, Chloe, Zack’s cousin, was standing with his jacket outstretched. He studied her for a moment. The oversized sweater she was already wearing, the bony knees clad only in tights, her red, red lips and white, white flesh. As his brown eyes locked onto her pale blue ones and he realized that he knew her. She was the same girl that had snuck out of his second period class, the one that he had seen walking down the road. This information surprised him for a moment, how had he not recognized her immediately?, before he shook his head. Not wanting to startle her again, he slowly pushed the sweatshirt back to her.

“Keep it.” He murmured. “It gets cold down here. I wouldn’t want you to freeze.”

The smile he shot her was comforting. Chloe thanked him, her returning smile warming him from the inside out, before slipping back into the purple cloth and returning to the couch.