I shook my head, not willing just then to get into the intricacies of the effects of high school bullying on people as he started clambering through my window. Because it was an argument that was lost on the popular kids who only saw it from one side. It was also an argument we’d had plenty and I didn’t have the energy to get into it with him just then. Sometimes I just wanted to pretend he was still just the little boy who’d brought me his favourite teddy when I was sick and not a completely different person around his friends.
As Zane was halfway through my window, my stepdad strode into my bedroom door. Zane paused as we both turned to Brendan.
Brendan looked up from his phone and nodded to the boy with one leg on either side of my window sill. “Oh, hey, Zane.”
Zane nodded back and finished climbing into my room. “Hey, Brendon.”
I looked between them in feigned surprise. “Bren, a boy is sneaking in my bedroom window and I’m half naked… Should not the parental figure send him packing?”
Brendon looked confused for a moment. “That’s not a boy. That’s Zane.” He smiled. “Forget your key, mate?”
Zane shrugged. “Didn’t want to wake you.”
“It works on the backdoor, remember.”
Zane grinned and tapped his nose. “Key next time. Got it.”
Zane had a key to our house like I had a key to his house. But we almost never used them. I’m not sure why he didn’t, but there was always a part of me that was worried if I just walked in that he wouldn’t want me there and that would be far more awkward than the occasional ‘sorry, busy. Talk later?’ at the window.
I crossed my arms in a huff. “Did you want something, Bren?”
He looked at me and pointed once he’d remembered what it was. “Tomorrow. I’ve got a meeting first thing so need to leave early. Can you be ready at eight?”
I groaned. “Leave for school at eight?”
“I’ll take her,” Zane said, helping himself to my bed.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’d rather leave for school at eight.”
“Why?” Zane asked in actual surprise.
“Because you drive like a wannabe rally driver and I don’t want to be seen with you in public.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked.
“Ideally, I’d love to leave earlier…” Brendan said slowly.
I sighed. “Earlier than eight?”
“I bet a rally driver’s looking pretty enticing right now,” Zane said in a persuasive sing-song voice as he put his arms behind his head.
“It’s that or Zane, kid.” Brendon looked at me apologetically and I grunted in annoyance.
“Fine! Zane it is.”
Zane grinned. “Sweet. I win by default. My favourite. You spoil me, Charley.”
I pointed at Zane accusingly. “If you kill me with your awful driving, I’mma come back and haunt you. And every time you’re about to have sex or jerk off, I’m going to whisper ‘pickles’ in your ear,” I threatened and Zane burst into giggles that were spluttered with his attempt to control them. The same way they always did when he heard the word ‘pickles’.
“And I’m out,” Brendan said with a wry smile. “Don’t be up too late, kids.”
“Night, Bren!” Zane called as my stepdad waved and walked out.
“What do you want?” I asked Zane.
Zane shrugged, hands still behind his head. “Didn’t feel like sleeping.”
“So, you thought you’d annoy me?”
“Yeah. I figured if I couldn’t sleep, why should you get to?”
I nodded. “Of course, you did,” I sighed, then said resignedly, “Get your shoes off my bed and you can stay.”
“I love it when you tolerate my presence,” Zane groaned. It would have been sexual…had it not been Zane.
And now I’d grossed myself out.
I went to my drawers to rifle for a clean t-shirt.
“I love it when you get your shoes off my bed,” I said pointedly.
As I pulled a possibly semi-in-need-of-a-wash t-shirt on, I heard the couple of thunks that signalled his shoes dropping onto the floor.
“Thanks.” I turned to see him on his phone. “And you couldn’t do that at home?”
He shrugged. “The beauty of a mobile phone, Charley, is that it’s mobile. I can do this anywhere.”
“Sarcasm is lost on you, isn’t it?”
He spared me a mock-confused look. “Was…? Was that sarcasm?”
“Funny. Were you expecting me to talk to you when you invaded my space?”
“How about we just coexist in the same space?”
As a rule, I enjoyed coexisting in the same space with Zane. But I enjoyed giving him shit more.
“And while we’re coexisting…did you have expectations?”
“Netflix and chill?” he asked hopefully.
I frowned at him. “Hold the chill and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Ugh. Yes. Talk dirty to me, baby,” he teased.
I snorted as I picked up my laptop and dropped onto the bed next to him. “I hate to think how exhausting Thea must find you in bed.”
He gave me a mock-cocky smirk and eyebrow raise. “Yeah, she does have trouble keeping up with my wicked stamina.” He finished it off with a super realistic, “Rawr.”
I failed to keep in any laughter as I sat back against the pillows. “She’s discovered your incredible abilities then?”
“Oh, definitely.”
“Naw, your first. How sweet.”
Zane gave a little wriggle of pride. “I am good. But…”
“Mmm?”
“No one sleeps like you.”
“Oh, really?” I chuckled.
“Really. The big, bass snores just show your total commitment to the very highest sleeping standards.”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “You’re just jealous. Over there with your little high-pitched whimpers.”
He nodded. “I am. My greatest wish is to snore like a grizzly in winter hibernation.”
I gave a single nod. “Damn straight, dude.”
He snorted and we looked at each other. Both of us burst into laughter.
This. This was who Zane used to be. This was my Zane. This was the guy I couldn’t let go of.
I nudged him again, trying to shake off the tinge of melancholy I’d thrown over myself. “Pick something or I’ll kick you out.”
“Okay. But remember, you brought this on yourself…”
Chapter 2: Zane
The first thing I noticed was that my neck hurt. The second thing I noticed was that it smelled like I was waking up in Charley’s room, not mine – than lingering smell of freshness and florals was a dead giveaway. The third thing I noticed was I was still dressed. The constricting feeling of my trackies and jumper had the added benefit of overheating me.