There and Back Again
Chapter 7: Answers
I woke up with the feeling that there was a pit in my stomach. I struggled to get out of bed. I wasn't tired. I just didn't want to face the day. I thought to myself for a moment. My Dad would be ashamed of me if he saw me being so weak. He was always so strong and courageous. I decided to stop acting like a bum and pick mine up. I opened my door for Rusl and grabbed my school clothes to bring with me to the bathroom.
After showering and brushing my teeth, I grabbed my lunch from the counter and began to head out to the car, but I heard Rusl call my name.
"Link? Can you hold up for a minute?" Huh? What'd he need? "What is it, Uncle?" I heard him jump out of his chair. He appeared from behind the wall and came over to me.
"What is it?" He looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
He was in my head again.
"Look, Link. I know that you're study date didn-" I cut him off.
"Session. It wasn't a date." For some reason that was really important to me. It was probably because hearing it being called a date got my hopes up when there were no hopes to be had.
Rusl smiled. "Yes, session." He took a deep breath. "I know that it didn't go well. Judging by your behavior yesterday, I'd say that she didn't show. Am I right?"
This guy was a wizard. How did he always know what was happening with my life?
I simply nodded my ahead, confirming his suspicions.
" I see. Well, I want you to know this Link. Just because she didn't show up, it doesn't make her a bad person or a bad friend. You need to hear her side of the story." Sometimes I wondered who I was more similar to. My own father or Rusl. He was saying exactly what I'd gone over last night in my head and what I'd said during lunch.
"Now, I may have only met Zelda once, or twice if you count that mess of a housewarming present." I sighed. "All I'm saying is that she seemed like a really sweet girl. What happened with the study dat-... session probably wasn't her fault. I just want you to go in with an open mind when you eventually talk to her and get the answers." I hadn't noticed, but he'd put his hand on my shoulder. Rusl was the best man I knew. He was always looking out for me and putting others before himself.
I smiled. "Thank you, Rusl. I'll be sure to keep all of that in mind. Have a good day at work." I went to leave but was stopped again.
"Actually, I won't be going into work again today. Something came up that I have to deal with. I'll tell you when you get home. Don't worry about it. Now, run along."
Not going into work again? What's going on?
Never mind. I have a more important issue.
Getting answers.
I picked Sheik up and always. He and I talked, but not about Zelda or anything that happened yesterday. We decided to pretend it didn't happen. It made things less awkward since I'd told him to shut up. That never helps anything.
We arrived on time and went through the day as always.
I got to lunch and wondered whether Zelda was going to be there or not. To my surprise, she didn't show up. Maybe she had to get extra help or something from a teacher. I mean, she did miss her study session with me.
Lunch ended and I made my way to calculus. I took a seat and pulled out my notebook. We were supposed to have a quiz today so that should help to keep any awkwardness down.
Zelda walked in with her head slightly hung and her shoulders held low. Goddesses, she still looked guilty. She took her seat next to me and quickly burrowed her face in a book.
Hmm. She doesn't seem like the reading type. It's probably just so she doesn't have to talk to me or look at me.
Class went on as usual and we took our quiz. Every now and again, Zelda would look to her side to try and see if I was looking at her. I obviously was if I noticed her looking to her side. Just me being a creep. The usual.
The quiz was simple just like I had expected it to be. After we finished, the teacher let us sit quietly or put or heads down. I took out a piece of paper and started to write a note.
Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. I sprung to my feet and walked past Zelda's desk. I placed the note on her desk and waited for her to look up at me. Our eyes met. She looked so sad. I gave her a light smile and walked away.
The note read:
Meet me outside by my car in the student parking lot in 15 minutes. I just want to get this all behind us.
-Link
I turned around to see Zelda reading it. Objective one, check. Now I need her to actually show up.
I got the necessary books for the homework I had out of my locker and then proceeded outside. I made my way to my car, through my backpack inside, and told Sheik, who was waiting for me, to go back inside for a few minutes.
"Aw. I don't get to see you go nuts on Zelda?" I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm not going to go nuts on her. It wasn't a big deal. I just want to talk to her." He reluctantly agreed and walked back inside.
Just as he got inside, I saw Zelda emerge from her car. She must've put her backpack down.
She was almost here.
Here we go.
She walked up to me and paused. She looked so scared. Her cheeks were red and her eyes watery. She was almost trembling. What the hell was going on? I'm not that intimidating!
I decided to just start. "Hey, I just wanted to ask you why you didn't come to the library after school two days ago. It's not a big deal. I just need to understand." I let out a light chuckle. "I like to have closure."
Zelda began shaking more and more. What's happening?
I reached out to her. "Zelda, what's wrong? I noticed you looked upset in Calculus today and during lunch yesterday. What's going on?
Zelda ran up to me and hugged me.
I just stood there for a moment with her arms wrapped around me. What do I do?
"I-I...I'm s-so sorry, L-Link. I never meant for this to happen. It'a not my fault." She was hysterical now. I wrapped my arms around her in an attempt to console her. This was not at all what I was expecting.
She backed off of me and pulled herself together. "My boyfriend is the reason I couldn't see you."
Well, duh. You think I didn't know that? I was about to open my mouth but she continued.
"And I know what you're thinking. But I had nothing to do with it. Once he found out that I was staying after school to get help from a guy, he lost his mind. He forced me to cancel and completely stop talking to you. If I didn't, he said he'd do bad things to me."
What? Okay, this changes everything. All of a sudden, Zelda was the victim. I felt all the pain from the past two days wash away as if it had never happened.
But now, I had to help Zelda. She's in a dark place and she needs my help. That's what friends are for, right?
Friends?
"Zelda... I'm sorry." She snapped her head up at that. "You're sorry?" I didn't answer her. Instead, I walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. She accepted it. "H-how can you forgive me so easily?" I felt her start to get hysterical again.
"Zelda, it's okay. Stop crying. I forgave you because your story makes perfect sense. It explains why you couldn't say anything and why you couldn't tell me why you didn't show. You were being controlled by your boyfriend." I felt her sigh in relief. "It's not like it was a big deal anyways. Sheik made it into a big deal." I laughed to try and lighted the mood, but it didn't work.
She took a few deep breaths. I offered for her to sit down with me. We leaned up against my car. "Thank you, Link."
I smiled. "Don't mention it. Everything that happened these last few days, forget it. Water under the bridge. Now if you don't mind me asking, who's your boyfriend?"
She looked happy that I accepted her apology. It must've been a lot of weight off her shoulders. "My boyfriend said he doesn't want you to know who he is. I'm sorry, Link."
Doesn't want me to know? Is this guy scared or something? He must be pathetic. "Hey, don't worry about it. As long as you're feeling better, that's good enough for me." I smiled at her warmly and gazed into her beautiful blue eyes.
I helped her up and hugged her goodbye. She said she'd at least text me in secret in order to make up for what had happened. She told me she had to be the one to start the conversation though, just in case her boyfriend was around at the time.
I watched her walk to her car which was parked a few spots down from mine and waved goodbye. After she drove off, I called Sheik.
Not five seconds after my call, he came running out of the school. Oh man. I laughed. He ran up to me and started asking a billion questions.
"What happened? Did you yell at her? What happened, dude!?" He was out of breath.
I took a deep breath. "I told her I was sorry." And here it comes in 3... 2... 1...
"Wait, what?" Oh goddesses this was going to go on forever.
"Dude! I have answers! Just get in the car." I laughed and got in. Sheik looked beyond confused. We got in and he just stared at me.
"Okay, it's not her fault." Sheik nearly blew up again. "What do you mean it's not-"
"Let me finish. It's not her fault because her boyfriend forced her to cancel the study session once he found out about it. Then he made her stop texting me. That's why she never showed up or heard from her. It's also why she looked so guilty." I sighed heavily. So much drama.
"How do you know she isn't lying?" That was a good point. She could've been... but no. No, she definitely wasn't. "No, she was way too hysterical. I've never seen a girl look so sad in her life. She felt horrible for what she did to me despite it being so insignificant." Sheik nodded his head and accepted my answer.
"Okay, okay but even if she did tell the truth, why didn't she just tell us in the first place?" This one I knew I had the answer to. "Simple. She's clearly embarrassed of how she lets her boyfriend control her. I would be if I was a girl." Sheik sighed in disappointment.
"I guess you're right. Damn, her story is rock solid. I guess she really didn't do anything wrong." Wow, what a relief that was to hear.
I smiled and we drove home. I dropped him off and departed for my house. Right after I was about to walk in my front door, I felt my phone vibrate.
It was a text message from Zelda. All it said was "Thank you for understanding :)"
I smiled to myself and walked in the door.
I felt like things could start over now.
A/N: Okay, I clearly love writing this story if I'm updating this quickly. I hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am. I actually wrote 75% of this chapter on my iPhone in class today because I wanted to get it out to you all so bad. This chapter is a real turning point in the story since Link and Zelda are now on good terms. It'll allow for some interesting things to occur. As always, please review. It'll take 30 seconds and it makes my day whenever I see a new one. New chapter soon? That's up to you guys. Thank you!
