Chapter 11 #2
He doesn’t ask questions. He immediately steps up to the sink and starts in on the dishes.
I shrug, honestly surprised, and get to work on the dining room table.
There isn’t a ton to do, but that means I’ll have more time tonight to FaceTime Kaitlynn, maybe play some Sims, or work on my tarot game.
I really need to improve. I keep forgetting what the cards mean.
Using the reference guide has to stop. What type of witch can’t competently read tarot cards?
Five minutes later I’ve moved most of the boxes from the table to the floor and managed to sort the and Ulta packages. I might open a few of them and see what I can find a home for later.
“You always this quiet when you clean?” Zachary breaks the silence.
“I don’t usually have help.” I want to take it back the moment I say it. That makes it sound like Mom does nothing around the house, and that’s not true, at least not always. I guess I do a lot of the cleaning, but she does too. Still, it was too quick an answer.
“Really?” He stops drying the plate in his hand.
“Yeah.” I shrug.
His nose crinkles. It’s sort of cute, but there’s a question behind it.
He doesn’t say it, but I know what it is.
I look behind me toward the hallway. The sound of the television is just loud enough to hear from the other room.
He wants to know why I do the cleaning and not Mom.
I bet his mom even cleans his room for him.
“She’s busy with work a lot.” I stretch the truth a bit. It isn’t work that keeps her busy. It’s all the junk in her head, but he doesn’t need to know that. She’s just not always…here. “So I help out. I don’t mind. I like cleaning.”
“Ah.” He shrugs, wide-eyed.
“I take it you don’t?” I ask.
“Not if I don’t have to.” Zachary laughs. “Do you usually clean in silence though? No music?”
“Oh! You want music?” I ask. I can play some music, I just didn’t know what he’d like and honestly, I didn’t want to ask.
“Please!” he begs. “The silence is killing me.”
I roll my eyes and laugh at him before connecting my phone to the Bluetooth speaker by the sink and starting my usual playlist. He can deal with whatever comes on. I dare him to question it.
Zachary’s eyes glow a little after the first few notes of TXT’s “Deja Vu” graces the kitchen air. He grins. “You like K-pop?”
“Yeah.” I lean against one of the tall wooden dining table chairs, propping it on two legs. My eyes slim into slits and I eye him down. “You?”
He doesn’t hit me as the type, more country boy.
Not full-on country boy, but definitely country.
He and Hayden both carry that twang most of us do up here, and there’s the blue jeans and plaid, just like the red and white shirt he’s wearing now.
I used to get bullied for liking K-pop. It was a whole thing.
One more that I had to build up a wall to and decide I was living for me and not them anyway.
“I love K-pop!” He jumps. “And no joke, you just turned on one of my favorites. Tomorrow X Together is amazing! Who’s your bias? Mine’s Taehyun—”
“Uh, Soobin, duh.” I look at him like it’s a stupid question before a massive grin covers my face. “I can’t believe you like K-pop! I can’t even get Kaity to listen to it. Who else do you listen to?”
“So many! RIIZE, BoyNextDoor, Jungkook, ATEEZ…” His eyes peer up toward the ceiling in thought. “AMPERS&ONE—”
“Really? I love them.” I start to jump excitedly, but I stop myself with a firm grip on one of the dining room chairs. “All of them! And of course Seventeen and XG, and you can’t forget the idol of idols.”
“Taemin!” We yell at the same time.
“Whoa! Maybe you’re not so bad,” I say with literally no thought.
“Uh,” he grunts, his shoulders deflating, and licks nervously at his lips.
I should say I’m sorry. That was mean. Too mean, but I just can’t.
If I do, I might spill everything, and I’m not ready for that.
Instead, I pick up another box, but before I can figure out where to put it, Zachary speaks up. “Sorry.”
“Huh?” I freeze. Box in tow, I turn to face him.
“Sorry,” he says again.
“You already said that,” I tell him. This just feels awkward now.
“I know, but—”
“I mean earlier. You don’t have—” I want him to stop. I don’t want to feel bad for him.
“That was…” He grunts, sort of like a laugh but quieter, and shakes his head with a tiny reserved smile. “But that was on the phone. I need to apologize in person. I feel really bad about how I acted, I didn’t mean to be an ass—”
He throws a hand over his mouth and his eyes burst wide.
A smile breaks across my face and I giggle.
“You’re good. The TV’s too loud,” I assure him. “She ain’t going to hear shit.”
“Wooh,” he breathes through O-shaped lips and finally laughs with me.
“You’re okay though, I get it,” I tell him. I’m the bad one here after all. Gods, I really am the bad one here.
“Okay. I don’t want to be your boyfriend’s asshole brother.” Zachary grins.
* * *
Two hours later, Mom and I are clearing the Chinese takeout from the table. I’m scrubbing the silverware while Mom rinses and puts them in the rack to dry. Zachary’s at the table looking like a lost puppy.
He asked to help and I said he could do Mom’s part, but she told him to sit back down. This is probably the most time I’ve spent with Mom in a while, actually doing something together other than watching TV. It’s nice even if it is cleaning up after dinner.
Zachary’s been pretty cool too. Oh, and he’s a sci-fi and fantasy fan.
Before Mom stole his attention, we were going on and on about Rebel Moon.
It’s epic, and he even agreed that Nemesis is the coolest character.
Then he mentioned loving the fantasy parts, and Mom mentioned Game of Thrones, which he seems to love, and I became a silent bystander for a while.
I’ve only seen a few seasons. Now they’re going on about his cats, something I can fully get into.
One is even named after one of the GoT dragons or something.
“Rhaenyra is a ragdoll. She’s so fluffy,” Zachary says.
“Aw,” I sigh. They sound so cute.
“I love that name,” Mom says. “And your other?”
“Artemis,” he replies. “He’s a Russian Blue.”
“Those are gorgeous,” Mom says, handing me the last cleaned fork.
The light in her eyes and the exuberance in her voice feels so foreign. I like it, but it’s like some distant relative coming to visit. Someone I’ve not seen in ages who warms my heart. I wish she’d stay like this.
“Arty is a cutey. He’s still a kitten too.” Zachary is nearly cooing over the cat.
At least it isn’t a snake, or worse, insects. I don’t want to be ten feet from any pet insect.
“Have you met Arty?” Mom looks at me.
“Uh…n-no,” I stutter.
“Maybe you can soon.”
“Maybe,” I say, giving Zachary a funny look.
He actually returns the expression and then gets up. “I need to get going, actually.”
Oops! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Good job, Kenzie.
“There’s no rush, Zachary,” Mom assures him.
“Yeah, you’re good,” I say.
“Nah, I need to get home. I’ve got homework,” he tells us. His eyes settle on me. “But Mom did want me to invite you over for dinner tomorrow.”
“Oh,” I say. Suddenly I don’t know how to respond. I don’t need to keep going over there. Silence bounces loudly between us while we look awkwardly at each other until Mom nudges me with her elbow. What? Oh! “Uh, yeah. Sure. What time?”
“Think she said seven,” Zachary says. “I’ll make sure.”
“Okay, yeah.” I nod.
“Well, I’m going to get going,” he says to me and then looks to my mom. “Thanks for dinner, ma’am.”
“No problem,” Mom says.
I slide between them. I swear it looks like she thinks I’m dating him instead of his brother, which…actually whatever. I grab his arm and pull him into the hallway and then to the front door.
“Thanks for the help,” I tell him, trying to urge him to go before Mom can say something stupid. He stops and faces me, his hand on the knob. Okay, like why is his nose so cute and perfect? He smiles and I glance away.
“Of course.” He nods and twists the knob. The click makes me jump just before the wind slips inside and chills my arms, and he crosses onto the porch. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see ya,” I say and let the door shut behind him.
I huff. Okay. Fine. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It could have been so much worse, but like…Mom! Wrong boy!
“He’s cute,” Mom says from behind me.
I swing around and spring my eyes open at her.
“Mom!” I say.
“What? He’s your boyfriend, right?” She shrugs.
“Him? Zachary? No!” I blurt. Then I lie, which is feeling too normal at this point. Well, I tell the truth on top of a lie, I guess. “Hayden’s my boyfriend! That’s his brother!”
“Oh.” She shakes her head. “That’s right. The one who’s…in a coma?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “A coma.”
“You seem pretty uh…struck by Zachary though,” Mom comments.
“What? Mom!”
“Sorry,” she says. “They look alike?”
“Uh…I mean…” I grumble.
“Okay.” Mom wobbles her head and shrugs. “Be careful, then. Don’t go falling in love with the brother while your boyfriend is sleeping.”
What the hell, Mom?