• I

    “Are you sure this is okay,” his mother whispered from the other room, a hint of terror lingering in her tone. “I’m afraid we’re just repeating the same mistake we did before.”

    His father sighed and gave an audible shuffle of his feet. “You’re worrying too much Shanna. The doctor wouldn’t have released him if he hadn’t thought he was ready.”

    Zac leaned his back against the other side of the kitchen wall, listening with resentment as his parents argued once again about his health. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary these days. The only difference now was that he could listen to it all the time from home instead of from inside his hospital room. Which was better, he couldn’t decide.

    “I know,” his mother replied as if through her nose, an obvious sign of her imminent crying. “It’s just…I don’t know what I’d do if—”

    “Shanna,” his father scorned sharply. “You know how voices carry in this house.”

    Their voices were suddenly replaced by the sound of their feet moving across the kitchen tiles, followed by the door of their bedroom slamming closed. Zac clenched his teeth, glaring at the floor so intensely that he believed he might actually be able to burn a whole through it.

    Of course they didn’t want him to hear. God forbid Zac hear the truth for once.
    Grabbing his backpack off the floor, he stumbled over to the couch and plopped himself down, dropping the bag and allowing himself to stretch as much as his body would allow. His legs were almost long enough now to touch the end of the couch. Even he was amazed at how much he’d grown in the past year. At least one thing was for sure. His condition wasn’t stunting his growth.

    Zac sighed heavily, wondering to himself how great it would be if he had a remote that could control the speed of life. He’d definitely fast forward himself through this whole day. His first day of middle school, and his first day of public school in three years. Since fourth grade Zac’d been homeschooled because of his falling ill.

    The year he was diagnosed with his current condition, which, by that point, wasn’t big news.
    After undergoing major surgery, he was cautioned to take it easy for a while. Of course, neither his parents nor his doctors would tell him how serious the condition actually was. And they refused to let him watch or read anything about the disease. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing to worry about.

    What a load of—
    “Zac,” his mother said from behind. “Ready for school?”

    Forcing himself out of his position on the couch, he took one look at his mother and did everything he could not to roll his eyes. She had obviously been crying, and by the look on his father’s face, he was just as sick of it as Zac was.

    He felt guilty because he knew his mother would literally make herself sick with worry, and the origin of that worry was him.

    “Yeah, mom, I’m ready,” he said with much more optimism than he felt. And for a seventh grader he wasn’t that bad of an actor. Maybe I should go professional…that is if I live long enough. He had to stifle a sigh at that one.


    The drive to the school wasn’t a long one…unfortunately. And on top of that, the school was absolutely huge. There must have been over a hundred students roaming around the front of the campus. Some were upper classmen and others he could tell were around his age. The last school he’d been to had been fairly small, probably no more than thirty students in his grade alone. His parents had told him, though, that there would be a good three-hundred kids in his seventh grade class this year.

    He swallowed nervously as his mother pulled into the drop-off lane.

    “Well,” she said, her voice weary. It seemed that was all she sounded like these days. Tired.

    Zac could tell she was gripping the steering wheel too tightly because her knuckles were turning white. He just prayed she wouldn’t start crying here.

    She finally forced herself to look at him but only shortly. Almost an instant later she averted her gaze toward the windshield. “I suppose I’ll see you after school.”

    Zac nodded without replying. When he started walking out his mother stopped him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”

    He stared into her pleading blue eyes. Of course she’d like that. There’d be no chance of Zac getting into any trouble then. And to be completely honest with himself, he wanted desperately to take her up on that offer. But unfortunately for him his pride outweighed his sanity.

    “No, mom. I’ll be fine.”
    He couldn’t help but feel guilty at the obvious wall of tears forming behind his mother’s eyes. “Alright,” she sighed. “Just promise me—”

    “I won’t do anything strenuous, mom.”
    She smiled that dismal smile again. “Okay. See you after school.”

    “See you,” Zac said, but the sound of the car door slamming probably drowned him out. He looked back to give his mother a reassuring smile before following the crowd of students into the building.

    It was as overwhelming as he’d suspected. Before he even had a chance to enter the building, he’d been shoved aside several times…as if he didn’t even exist. Fortunately he made it inside in one piece, and the principal’s office was just to the right.

    His mother had begged him to allow for her to take him inside and get him ready, but the last thing Zac wanted was to be seen with his “mommy” escorting him around. With one final thought of self-encouragement, he walked into the principal’s office.

    Immediately the woman behind the desk eyed him with obvious content. Zac didn’t blame her. There were several students in the office with their overly hectic parents trying to register them. All Zac needed was his class schedule.

    “What do you need, kid?” the woman asked him without sparing another glance.
    Zac cleared his throat nervously. “I’m a new student, and I’m not sure where my classes are.”

    The woman sighed lazily. “Name?”
    “Zachariah Shaw.”

    She pursed her lips as she typed away at her computer only to slowly return her gaze back to Zac with a curious look in her eyes.

    He shuffled nervously, realizing that his condition was probably in the database. It was national law. The woman arched an eyebrow at him and shook her head before printing off a sheet of paper. “Here,” she said handing him the slip. “This is your class schedule. Give it to each of your teachers to sign.”

    “Yes, ma’am,” he said politely.
    The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Zac could practically feel the weight of her stare. He turned around and awkwardly walked out of the office, knowing full well that the secretary was staring him down the entire time.

    Typical.
    The crowd of students by that point had died down a bit. No doubt because classes were about to begin. Zac unfolded the sheet of paper the secretary had given him and looked for his first class.

    Pre Algebra.
    Great, he thought. Math definitely wasn’t his favorite subject, and on top of that he had no idea where to find the class.

    He roamed the halls aimlessly for the preceding minutes in hopes of finding room 108, but his prospects weren’t looking too good. By this point there were only a couple of students here and there, but he didn’t have the guts to ask any of them where the class was.

    Just what he needed. Late on the first day.
    Zac cursed to himself after hearing the tardy bell echo down the hallway. There was no other choice. He had to return to the office and ask for directions.

    Right as he turned around, though, a student shoulder-checked him, and his schedule fell to the ground. With a roll of his eyes, he bent down to pick up the paper and proceeded to stand when he was stopped abruptly by what was entering into the building.

    A red head.

    Zac swallowed the knot forming in his throat. He’d noticed girls before, especially since
    entering puberty, but this was different. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

    Her crimson red hair hung in loose curls down her back, and he could tell even from this distance that her skin was a flawless porcelain white.

    Who was she?
    And why was she now looking at him?
    Approaching him?

    Zac swallowed hard and stood up, forcing himself to turn the other direction. There was no way he’d be able to form words in front of a girl like that.

    Walk fast, Zac. Walk—

    “Excuse me?”
    His body paused, and he winced. What should he do?
    There was a tap on his shoulder. “Excuse—”

    “Yeah,” Zac said carelessly as he turned around. Once again, he was lucky at how good his acting skills were. But staring into the sharp blue eyes of what must have been an angel was definitely giving him a run for his money.

    She smiled, and Zac felt his thirteen-year-old body respond immediately.
    “Do you need help? I couldn’t help but notice you drop your class schedule.”

    Zac’s jaw muscle worked as he spared the thought to actually accept the girl’s offer, but unfortunately his pride would get the best of him once again. “No, thanks,” he said with little consideration.

    He immediately turned around to walk away, but the girl’s slight hands were quickly wrapped around his wrist. Goose bumps spread across his arms as she snatched the slip of paper from his hands. Zac watched in complete dismay as she scanned his schedule and nodded, obviously pleased with herself.

    “You’re not even in the right hallway.”
    Zac pursed his lips.

    “Go down this hallway, take a right at the end, and then a left at the end of that one. You’re class is the second door on the left.” She reached the slip of paper out for him to take, a smile still playing on the edge of her perfectly rounded lips.

    Grinding his teeth, Zac retrieved his schedule when his eyes met hers. It was only a split second, but the way her eyes glimmered under her light, brush-stroked eyelashes nearly left his heart pounding right through his chest and onto the floor beneath him.

    A sharp pain lashed through his rib cage. “Ah,” he moaned as he grabbed his side.
    “Are you okay,” the girl asked, concern now clouding the glimmer in her eyes.

    Zac swallowed hard and stood up. “I’m fine. Thanks for the help.” He turned around and walked away without waiting for her to reply.

    He couldn’t help but notice that she never did.

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