Status: Complete! Merry Christmas! ❤️
Home for Christmas
one - the 'hate me' train
A few days went by pretty uneventfully. Zane managed to just stay in her high school bedroom and hang out with her parents around the house.
"You need to get out of this house, Z," her mom told her on the third day, motioning to the sweatpants she hadn't really changed out of since she'd gotten there. "Did you bring any real clothes?"
"Of course I did," Zane replied, not liking the direction her mom was going in.
"Go put some one. We're going shopping," her mom said, smiling at her.
"Shopping right before Christmas?" Zane asked and her mom rolled her eyes.
"It's only December 4th, Zane," she said sarcastically, and in that moment, Zane knew exactly where she'd gotten her attitude from. She rolled her eyes back and started trudging up the stairs dramatically. Her mom's laughs echoed up the stairs behind her.
When she entered her room, she checked her phone for the millionth time since she'd gotten there, looking for some sort of notification from her on-again-off-again boyfriend Max. Nothing. He hadn't texted her once since she'd left. She should have expected that, she guessed. They were technically "off", and he hadn't really said anything at all when she'd told him she was coming home for a month.
"You're an ass anyway," she whispered in the phone's direction as she got changed, giving it her best evil eye. It was true. He was an ass, and she knew it but for some reason she just couldn't seem to let him go. He was the only guy she'd ever really gotten serious with. At one point she'd convinced herself that she'd loved him, but now she wasn't really sure if that had even ever been true.
Leaving the phone in its spot on her desk, she made her way back downstairs to her mom. They left right away, going to get some food first and then wandering to the mall. Zane was relieved as they walked around, it was surprisingly almost empty. She asked her mom about it and was told that apparently a bigger and better mall had been built somewhere nearby so the old one didn't get as much business anymore. All the better for Zane. The emptier the mall was, the less likely she was to see someone she didn't want to see.
A few hours passed as they wandered around and bought presents for friends and family members. The trip was actually pretty successful for the most part. They separated at one point, setting out to look for things for each other. Somehow, Zane ended up at Starbucks, her coffee craving making it hard for her to concentrate on presents. She ordered and waited a few minutes. Her name was called and she went to grab her coffee. A few moments later, there was a chuckle behind her.
"Zane Weston," a masculine voice said, and she recognized it at once, freezing in her spot.
"Shannon Leto," she said, turning and having to take a moment to take him in. For the most part he looked the same, except for the fact that he seemed to have aged exceptionally well. His dark hair was tied in a bun on the back of his head and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off ridiculously muscular tattooed arms. A pair of dark sunglasses hung on the front of his shirt, pulling it down slightly so that she could see his equally-toned chest. He smiled at her, his bright hazel eyes shining at her.
"It's been a while, huh?" he asked, and she scoffed.
"Good conversation starter," she said, automatically on the defensive. She and Shannon hadn't gotten along well when they'd known each other, to say the least. They'd actually been close friends through most of elementary school and middle school, but then he'd just kind of faded away from her and gotten more and more popular and mixed up with more and more of the kids that she hated and the ones that had made her life miserable like it was their job. She couldn't remember him ever actually saying anything awful to her himself, but he sure as hell hadn't done anything to stop it, either. He'd even dated her main tormentor for a while. In her mind, he was worse than most of them because of it. He'd had the power all along to at least try to make her life easier, and he never had.
"I see you're still on the 'hate me' train," he said, smiling again like she was supposed to laugh.
"Pretty much," she told him, turning on her heel and walking away from him. She knew she was probably being childish, but she just couldn't force herself to care in the moment. She'd never had the guts to do anything like that when she'd been a kid. It somehow felt so much better as an adult.
"You need to get out of this house, Z," her mom told her on the third day, motioning to the sweatpants she hadn't really changed out of since she'd gotten there. "Did you bring any real clothes?"
"Of course I did," Zane replied, not liking the direction her mom was going in.
"Go put some one. We're going shopping," her mom said, smiling at her.
"Shopping right before Christmas?" Zane asked and her mom rolled her eyes.
"It's only December 4th, Zane," she said sarcastically, and in that moment, Zane knew exactly where she'd gotten her attitude from. She rolled her eyes back and started trudging up the stairs dramatically. Her mom's laughs echoed up the stairs behind her.
When she entered her room, she checked her phone for the millionth time since she'd gotten there, looking for some sort of notification from her on-again-off-again boyfriend Max. Nothing. He hadn't texted her once since she'd left. She should have expected that, she guessed. They were technically "off", and he hadn't really said anything at all when she'd told him she was coming home for a month.
"You're an ass anyway," she whispered in the phone's direction as she got changed, giving it her best evil eye. It was true. He was an ass, and she knew it but for some reason she just couldn't seem to let him go. He was the only guy she'd ever really gotten serious with. At one point she'd convinced herself that she'd loved him, but now she wasn't really sure if that had even ever been true.
Leaving the phone in its spot on her desk, she made her way back downstairs to her mom. They left right away, going to get some food first and then wandering to the mall. Zane was relieved as they walked around, it was surprisingly almost empty. She asked her mom about it and was told that apparently a bigger and better mall had been built somewhere nearby so the old one didn't get as much business anymore. All the better for Zane. The emptier the mall was, the less likely she was to see someone she didn't want to see.
A few hours passed as they wandered around and bought presents for friends and family members. The trip was actually pretty successful for the most part. They separated at one point, setting out to look for things for each other. Somehow, Zane ended up at Starbucks, her coffee craving making it hard for her to concentrate on presents. She ordered and waited a few minutes. Her name was called and she went to grab her coffee. A few moments later, there was a chuckle behind her.
"Zane Weston," a masculine voice said, and she recognized it at once, freezing in her spot.
"Shannon Leto," she said, turning and having to take a moment to take him in. For the most part he looked the same, except for the fact that he seemed to have aged exceptionally well. His dark hair was tied in a bun on the back of his head and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off ridiculously muscular tattooed arms. A pair of dark sunglasses hung on the front of his shirt, pulling it down slightly so that she could see his equally-toned chest. He smiled at her, his bright hazel eyes shining at her.
"It's been a while, huh?" he asked, and she scoffed.
"Good conversation starter," she said, automatically on the defensive. She and Shannon hadn't gotten along well when they'd known each other, to say the least. They'd actually been close friends through most of elementary school and middle school, but then he'd just kind of faded away from her and gotten more and more popular and mixed up with more and more of the kids that she hated and the ones that had made her life miserable like it was their job. She couldn't remember him ever actually saying anything awful to her himself, but he sure as hell hadn't done anything to stop it, either. He'd even dated her main tormentor for a while. In her mind, he was worse than most of them because of it. He'd had the power all along to at least try to make her life easier, and he never had.
"I see you're still on the 'hate me' train," he said, smiling again like she was supposed to laugh.
"Pretty much," she told him, turning on her heel and walking away from him. She knew she was probably being childish, but she just couldn't force herself to care in the moment. She'd never had the guts to do anything like that when she'd been a kid. It somehow felt so much better as an adult.