Zenon's Game Chapter 17

There was a bear in the distance. A mother fricking bear.

I tensed up and pressed myself against Zenon. His arms tightened around me and he pulled me back, a step at a time. Slowly.

"We're in such shi-"

"Ssh," he whispered, his eyes trained on the bear, "Stay quiet, Candy."

"Candace."

"Now's not the time."

"I'm freaking out."

"Don't," he said, "We're f*cked if you do."

The grizzly bear was getting closer. He wasn't focused on us, but he was definitely heading in our direction. I've never seen a bear like this in real life. They're huge, with matted fur that made his movements deceptively bulky. Those animals can run fast.

I whispered, frozen in place, "Winnie the Pooh liked honey you know."

Zenon tried to pull me back. "This isn't a cartoon."

"Seriously," I repeated, "Bears like honey."

"That's a fun fact," Zenon said, barely paying attention to what I was saying.

"Do you think he can smell the honey in my bag?"

"The what?!"

Oops.

Maybe I shouldn't have packed that.

I held on to Zenon, my arms wrapped around his right arm. He peeled my hands off him and slowly, gently, rested his hands on the straps of my bag.

"You're a moving target," he whispered, slowly sliding the bag off my body.

My arms tingled as his fingers moved along them. The bag made a soft landing on the grass. Zenon took my hand in his and pulled me into his arms. We stared ahead at the giant bear, who was sniffing the earth, getting closer and closer towards us.

I had accidentally packed a pot of honey in my bag. Well, it wasn't accidental. It was very intentional, because everyone loves honey... but I didn't realize that everyone includes an 800lb bear.

My hands held onto him again. Zenon's strong, protective arms could not shield us from a grizzly bear.

My mistake put us both in danger.

It's strange to think that Zenon and I only met a week ago. I've been his neighbor my whole life, but we never really exchanged words until a week ago. I still question whether he knows my name. And yet here we are.

Zenon's been in every girl's dreams and, here, right now he was holding me in his arms, just like a dream... except that the background was a nightmare. This was the worst possible scenario.

Dying in your arms tonight...

It's amazing how life-or-death situations really bring people together.

Morbid thoughts aside.

I don't even think he realizes how close we were standing. How romantic it looked. I saw the arrogant side of him disappear. Normally, he considers me the most annoying kid he has to deal with – and yet here he is, protecting me.

I guess Zenon Albert isn't such a bad guy after all.

Except that we were only united by the fear in front of us.

"There's a little mound behind that pine tree," he whispered in my ear, his hot breath on my skin, "Hide behind there. Move slowly."

I followed his lead. We were very careful to not make any big movements or sounds. I actively avoided every big twig on the floor. Now was so not the time for my clumsiness.

We crouched behind the mound, our shoulders touching. I looked at him, at his perfect profile as he stared ahead. His eyes were monitoring the bear's every movement, focused.

I dared to speak. "I read somewhere that if we make a lot of noise and scream and make ourselves look big it'll scare the bear-"

"Candace, if you make a sound louder than a whisper, I'll attack you myself."

"I'm just trying to help."

"We haven't talked about the f*cking pot of honey you decided to bring into a forest."

"Can we table that convo?" I asked politely.

I know I messed up.

The bear was on my bag now, sniffing inside and pawing at it. It was only a matter of time before my bag would turn into shreds.

My hands were clammy from nervousness. "This isn't meant to happen. It's so unlikely we'd run into a bear."

"Bears can't hear well but you need to keep your voice down."

I went quiet and stared down at my hands.

"Zenon, you came back for me," I whispered. 

He was the only one to have noticed when I needed help. Ironic that the guy who has all the attention actually pays attention to those of us in the shadows. 

I added, "Thank you."

I was used to having no one see me.

I don't know if he heard me. If he did, he pretended not to.