Zenon's Game Chapter 185

I had so many questions to ask her, but her mom's voice called out from the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready! Come lay the table, C!"

Cynthia had a big family. Her four siblings clambered onto chairs on one side of the table, while the adults sat on the other side. Cynthia and I were in the middle.

A massive dish of jambalaya was placed in front of us, steam rising from the top. I stared down at the red sauce, prawns, chicken, chorizo, rice and peppers. Green onions were chopped on top as garnish.

"Can you take spicy?" Cynthia's mom asked me as she lifted a wooden spoon to serve.

"A little, thank you," I nodded, holding up my plate.

Cynthia's dad was handing out cornbread to the younger ones. That got messy.

"Mom grew up in New Orleans," Cynthia told me as she was served her plate.

"That's right," Cynthia's mom said with a smile, "Cynthia keeps asking if we can go for mardi gras, but I tell her, after she turns 21, she can do anything. Until then, no way."

I've never been, but it sounded incredible.

The food was equally incredible. The spices set my senses ablaze and the mixture of flavors blended into each other. It was so filling. The moment I finished my plate, Cynthia's dad served me a full new helping.

"Cynthia tells us you're good at math," he said, "You take part in math competitions, is that right?"

"I just started," I told him, "I'm not that good, but I like it."

He laughed, "Be confident, Candace. I can tell you're a smart girl so pursue your passion and-"

"Dad, you're embarrassing me," Cynthia stopped him, "Don't give her a lecture. She came here for dinner."

Her younger siblings banged their small hands on the table, "Dessert!"

It sunded like a mini revolt.

I left Cynthia's house at 8PM, just as the kids were being tucked in bed. Cynthia and I had helped to wash the dishes after dinner and tidy up the living room.

I can't remember the last time I've been invited to a friend's house for dinner. Jake invited me once and Zenon invited me to the jake house, but aside from the Dawsons... it's been a really long time.

Cynthia's parents were kind and warmhearted. They had a lot on their plate as working parents with 5 kids, but they were very attentive to Cynthia in the time they spent together.

They knew about the subjects she was taking, the grades she was making and the activities she'd signed up for.

I called her up.

"Didn't we just say goodbye five minutes ago?" she asked as she answered the phone.

I put the volume on speaker before starting to drive. "Yes! Sorry about that. I just realized that I forgot to ask you something. Do you know why people in school were staring at Zenon and me today? It felt odd."

Axel and Bianca told me their theory at lunch today. But Zenon, Axel, Bryce and Bianca are the center of gossip - so how do they know what's trending?

"Oh we totally forgot to speak about that," she agreed and I could hear her close her door for more privacy, "Yeah, you guys have been a hot topic over the last few days."

"Why?"

"Well," Cynthia's voice picked up in pace, "How do I say this nicely? Bianca's gorgeous. Bianca and Zenon have always had a little thing. You know better than me but apparently it's been pretty casual. I think Bianca called him her boyfriend at one point."

This was hard to hear. I pulled over, just in case whatever Cynthia was about to say would have some surprises.

"Sooooo," she continued, "the weekend you were at the lake house, she went over to Bryce's."

"Bryce?" I asked, thinking I must've misheard.

How many Chads do we have at school?

"Yeah. It's real news because that means Zenon and Bianca are really over," she said, "Which is contrary to what a lot of people thought. I think people thought that you and Zenon were casual and Bianca and Zenon were casual and-"

"How recently were they together?"

"That's a question you should ask your boyfriend."

I'm out here writing break up songs in my head.

My curtains were closed and the lights were off. I sat in the corner of my dark bedroom, with my arms around my knees. I'm feeling sad, listening to sad music so I can feel even sadder.

I know that's a meme and I'm here for it. I pressed shuffle on my phone and let Adele fill the void.

I don't like how people at my school were laughing at me behind my back. I thought I was in a committed relationship with someone, while they all thought I was a side piece in Zenon and Bianca's love story.

Just when I feel like we're getting irreversibly close, why do we have to take ten steps back?

I've laid on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It felt raw and true. I felt like I'd met someone so different to me and yet connected, like we were cut from the same cloth.

His strengths were my weaknesses and his weaknesses were my strengths.

Why did I have to jump into the deep end like this? Where's my lifeboat? I forgot a safety jacket.

OK, this is too much. I'll reign in my melodrama.

I wanted to let out my emotions now, delve into my own sadness so I can release some tension and face him with less emotion. I wanted to jump to conclusions now so that I won't do that later.

I exhaled a giant and long sigh.

Player habits die hard.

I rolled my eyes at my own subconscious and turned the music off. It was obviously getting to my head.