Camden grabbed Chloe in a hug as soon as he saw her, leaving his friend standing under the tree and waiting open-mouthed. “Hey, little one!” she said as she got out of his embrace. For a boy who was just eight years old, he sure was tall, but not at tall as she was, because he was only reaching her shoulder. Chloe wasn't a really tall girl, but she had long legs that seem like they went on forever, the keyword being "seem”. She smiled with a shake of her head when Camden look at her like she had just called him something bad. Well, to him, being referred to as little wasn't exactly a good thing either. There was nothing little about him anyway, especially not his brilliant big brain. “What are you doing here?” he asked her and that got her to smile again. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that he wasn't happy she was the one that turned up picking him up. It was the first time she was picking him up from here, but it definitely wasn't the first time she would be
Zach was filing off the last shred of furniture he was working on in his workspace when he heard his phone ring. Squinting his eyes, he dropped the filing machine after he turned it off and then he walked to the shelf where he had placed it before he started work. On the screen, he saw that it was Liam and he sighed. What the heck was he calling him for when he knew he always took his Wednesday afternoons more seriously than any other afternoon? Wednesday was the day his mother died, and he had always tried burying himself into work since then until he just made a habit out of it, and turned it into a thing. It was better working then than having to think about his mother and having his hurt and pain grip him like a glove, molded to his heart, and squeezing out the little life that was there. His shoulders went limp as he sighed and then he picked up the call, pressing the phone against his ear. "Hey, Liam. What's going on?” he asked. He knew better than to call him like this witho
"There's no milk, no sugar,” Chloe said as she checked the cabinet and the fridge simultaneously. She was going grocery shopping soon and would be needing to buy some stuff for the cereal they sometimes have for breakfast as well. She wrote it down in her planner. Oh, yes she had one because it was her job to get those things for the people in her house if they don’t want to starve. It was her responsibility to feed her sibling when and every time her parent have to work late or something. For some reason, her father wasn’t coming home until maybe after dinner or something and her mother was working night shifts. She was kind of the mom of the house, and she had always taken her job, or maybe a better fit was duty, so seriously. There was one time she forgot to get milk for the house, and she told her mom about it. She and her siblings are their cereal bland without milk for a whole week. She had learned her lesson and know never to rely on them to get them fed.It wasn't as if they
Coming here wasn’t part of his plan this afternoon, but he just couldn't get out the things Liam had told him over the phone. He just couldn't get it out, because there was no way he could overlook the relationship between them, whatever it was. It wasn’t until he got to the door of the house that he thought of not actually going through with it. It doesn't make any sense, but this was Chloe’s doing. Ever since he knew her, she had made him do unreasonable things, things he wouldn't normally do. His sense of reasoning and logic seemed to have been thrown out of the window. There was no explanation enough to act like a fool though, but his blinding anger raised his hand to the doorbell and he pressed it, then he waited patiently until the door was open. He heard the running footsteps coming towards the door and he tried to calm himself just before the door was open. The fact that he had no idea who would open the door and what to expect added to his need to calm himself. For all he
Using her left hand, she picked up his free hand and squeezed it, to reassure him. She realized what he was talking about, and, although she had no control over what happened with his family, he didn't either as well, but she surely understand the place where his request had come from. It was a place of hurt, and desperation, trying as much as possible to grab hold of whatever was available for holding unto until he was able to heal."I'm so sorry to hear that Zack, truly I am." She said, using the pad of her thumb to run circles against the inside of his wrist.Chloe's grandmother had taught it to her when she was little; it was a kind of calming technique with soft pressure against the pulse beating at the wrist, and so far, it had been effective. "Just stay far away from her,” he said, his voice calmer than it was a few minutes. For a split second, Chloe wondered how Zach knew about her meeting Ally, but she realized that it wasn't important. Besides, this town had its way of get
Zach drove away, his jaw trembling. He had certainly knew he was going to cry, but he realized doing that in front of Chloe would make him appear a weak person. He wasn’t weak, in fact, he was far from being a weak boy, but if he had tried in front of her, then it would have said otherwise. As he drove off, the tears he had been holding off streamed down his face, and all he could do was let it. For a moment there, when Chloe grabbed his hand and patted it as if she was reassuring her that things would be fine, he had found it so comforting, and warm, so much that he had wanted her hand on his for a long time, but when she removed it, his anger had replaced it. He was angry that he had let himself feel that way, and that all of what he felt was gone just as soon as her hand was gone. His happiness or comfort shouldn't come from anyone but himself, and he surely wasn’t going to let anyone become his weakness. It was also why he had been so hurt and angry when she said what she said.
Chloe had no one to talk to in this class, she realized as she looked around, then she walked up to the empty chair and sat down. As she did, she looked around one more time to see someone she didn't see before. Zach was sitting in the corner with Liam, and they were facing the back of the class with their back to her before when she walked in. That must be why she had missed them. Quickly before he saw her, she turned back to face her front, telling herself not to look in that direction again. She sighed, defeated and then she turned to look again, but this time, Liam saw her. He leaned over to Zach and whispered something to him, causing him to turn to look at her as well. He smirked as soon as his eyes met hers and Chloe whipped her head to face the front so fast she heard a pop sound in her neck. Thankfully, she hadn't broken it, so it wasn’t painful or anything. Chloe heard someone talking behind her and she looked over her shoulder again to see Zach standing there. “Give me
During lunch, Zach walked into the cafeteria to look around for Chloe and then he saw her sitting with a girl from one of her classes. He had maybe seen her in math class or something like that, he wasn’t sure. He started to walk towards them, then he heard the girl talking to Chloe.“Hey, Chloe.” She said cheerfully. “Hey, Hailey.” Chloe smiled at her as she saw her sit beside her. Hmm, so that was the girl's name. He must have seen her somewhere before math class, but he wasn’t sure. Well, he hadn't really been interested in any girl’s affair until now. Chloe Miller’s affair. “What's up, Chloe? What's up with that guy, Zach?” she asked as she move to inch closer to her. He watched as Chloe lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Huh, not much I guess?” She said, and it sounded more like a question to her than an answer. “Well, I don’t think I can believe that. I was kind of late to science class, so when I came in, I had to sneak in. Saw him offering to pay or something in exchange