Zenon's Game Chapter 137

I woke up on time for school. I had to, since the laundry had to be done that morning and it was my job to do it.

Heidi leant over my shoulder as I hung the clothes up to dry and picked out a shirt. She then got dressed next to me. Meanwhile, my mom's work papers were scattered all over our dining room table.

I thought companies were going paperless.

Her recent promotion was really stressing her out. She gathered them all into her binder as she told us, "I didn't have enough eggs to make breakfast for you girls. But I left two protein bars out on the counter."

Heidi went over and picked them both up, "You go to the Coffee Bean before school, don't you?"

"Yes but I'd still like-"

"You should really try harder to lose weight," she chastised.

"OK, but I'd still like-"

"Besides, it's thanks to me that you and Zenon are a couple, so you owe me."

She wasn't just calling that favor in for a protein bar. She'd been lording that over my head ever since Zenon and I first started dating. Which admittedly, was not long ago.

I don't know how much Heidi played a part in our relationship. In Zenon's opinion, zero.

But I do remember at Axel's $1 Dollar Party, when she told me to go after him – he and I kissed that night. After all my indecision, my insecurities, my lack of trust, I did need a little push.

I sat down at the bare dining room table. The laundry was done, and my stomach growled. There was no wall between the dining room and the living room. I could see out the window and across the street, through the Albert's large kitchen window.

It was Mrs Albert's birthday today. I saw Mr Albert in the kitchen, making waffles or pancakes. I couldn't tell which, but I saw the golden stack on a plate.

Jake was spraying a tower of whipped cream over his and I saw Zenon with a strip of bacon between his lips.

Charlotte must be in college. She comes back so often that I forget she's a freshman in college.

Their mother walked in, dressed in pink silk pajamas. They serenaded her with birthday songs and presented her with a birthday cake. She blew out the candles and opened the cards. Her husband presented her with flowers and tickets of some kind.

I was now next to the window, staring out. How I longed for pancakes or waffles...

Jake handed her his present next and it was a beautiful necklace in the shape of a heart. She hugged him. Then Zenon handed his and I recognized my wrapping paper. It was the present I had bought her because he'd been too lazy to do it himself.

She unwrapped it and stared down.

A mug.

It was a giant, pink mug with the word I LOVE MOM on it.

Everyone stared at Zenon, who looked embarrassed. He mumbled something and his mother gave him an awkward side hug. After they moved on to the food, he revolved his chair round and stared through the window. He stared through the window and into mine.

Our eyes locked.

He mouthed the words:

I'm going to kill you.

I dove under the window. My sister accidentally kicked me as she passed by with more clothes.

Later that day, I walked across the street to the Albert's house. School had been a flurry of tests and stressful encounters, that I hadn't seen him.

SAT subject tests were this Saturday, so people were getting nervous. I'd signed up for Math.

"Candace," Mrs Albert greeted me when I knocked on the door.

She had some friends over to celebrate her birthday. They were all drinking tea in the living room.

"Hi Mrs Albert," I smiled, "Happy birthday. I hope I'm not disturbing you. I was wondering if Zenon was in?"

"He won't be back until late tonight, Candace," she answered, "He's at the coach's house with my husband. They're talking about his college offers. He didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. No he did not.

No wonder Zenon didn't care about his last basketball game. No wonder he was so relaxed about his homework getting crushed inside the broken laptop...

He'd gotten college offers.

Is it right he never told me? Maybe he texted me and I have no data again... still getting those candy crush notifications though.

Or maybe he crafted a very long and elaborate text and forgot to hit send.

Maybe he took a detour on the way to coach's house and ended up in Yakutat without cell service.

Yeah, he just didn't tell me.

I tried to not imagine Zenon next year, in college somewhere far away. I didn't want to think about it. That's right, I've just developed a Peter Pan complex.

"Hey Candace, it's not often I see you alone these days."

Jake had just pulled up on his motorcycle. He took the helmet off his head and shook his hair.

"Maybe that's a good thing. I'm practically a safety hazard," I answered, still standing outside his doorstep.

He laughed and didn't disagree. He pushed his bike into his parking space on the driveway, before pulling the keys out. "I, uh, saw you wrote about a dead cat for English. That's a creative approach to the assignment."

I was grateful he didn't ask me why I was standing outside his door. He probably knew why.

"The teacher didn't really appreciate my emotion," I answered. He also probably saw the fa-t B- land on my desk, "What did you write about?"

"I submitted one of my songs. Something I wrote a few months ago," he said.

"Cool," I nodded and started to walk down the street. There was no need to loiter around the Albert's house any more than I already do.