Page 7 of Aveke

Still undoing. A second tear got out.

He wiped both away with his thumb, but he was still holding my face. “Talk to me. I’ve known you for a long time, but I’ve never seen you like this.”

He was right. I worked. I was strong.

I never broke, ever.

Not when my grandfather was finally arrested and we were safe.

Not when my father left us.

Not when my mom lost her legs.

But today—I was losing everything.

“My grandmum is going on hospice.”

I felt Zeke tense, and I closed my eyes, waiting for him to pull away.

I didn’t really know Zeke. It was a weird budship that started with us because he was just as lonely as me. He, who had the world at his feet. He could go anywhere in Fallen Crest and people wanted to talk to him, be seen with him, but he’d begun changing.

I knew he was fierce about some of his friends, one of his best friends, but that best friend was in Europe. Was that it? He was missing that friend?

“You changed when your best friend came to town.”

He stiffened again, but a surprised chuckle left him. “What? Topic change there.”

I relaxed a little. This felt safer to talk about. “You both were gods at your school. I watched. I saw everything. You were such an asshole, but then Blaise came to town and a different side of you came out.” I was back to whispering, confessing, “I liked seeing that, though you terrified me.”

“I did?”

He didn’t sound surprised.

I nodded. “You were a bully, Zeke.”

He frowned, his body still tense, but now going rigid. “I know.” His tone was rueful. “That changed, but I never should’ve been what I was.”

“Was it your best friend who changed you? What happened?”

His eyebrows went up, and he was almost talking to himself. “Man. I… Yeah. Blaise coming back helped because he stood up to me, put me in my place, and I was a jackass. I needed that, but it was other stuff too.” He laughed a little. “My dad caught me taking something I shouldn’t have, and well, he kicked my ass. Not physically, but he took everything away. Like house staff, my car, money. Everything. I had to take care of the house. It was normal what he did, gave me structure. I needed it. He humbled me a lot, but I realized he actually loved me. Like real love, where he gave a fuck if I was growing up to be a future white-collar criminal or not.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Nothing super traumatizing or anything. I just got some love that was missing. My dad stepped up. Blaise was back in my life. And I made a conscious choice to look for good guys to be like. I didn’t want to be lazy. I wanted to be a better person and yeah. Fast-forward a few years and I guess here I am.” He grew more focused. “What about you?”

I tensed. “What do you mean?”

“What happened to you? You were always quiet, hardworking, but you weren’t jaded. I saw you too.”

Flutters moved through my belly. He had?

I thought about all the hard times, and I shook my head. There was no beginning and the end… I couldn’t go there. “Life. That’s all.”

“Life?”

I nodded. Pain sliced me, and I felt a knife being shoved into my throat. “My mom told me today that when Grandmum goes into hospice, she’s going with her. She’s going into a facility, said it was time.”

“What about Grandmum?”

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