It was implied we were dating, Zane and I. He sat next to me on the bus. He held my hand as we walked from class to class during the day. He hugged me good-bye at the end of school. At first it felt weird. I wasn't used to so much touching, so much emotion. He honestly seemed to like me and for the life of me, I couldn't see why. But he did. I went to his baseball games, we went out to eat with Charlotte and Brian. We went out on a few dates, just the two of us. Movies, out to eat. I thought in the beginning that having a boyfriend would be awkward but I felt comfortable with Zane.
Sometimes I was afraid I would say something dumb and he would come to his senses and break up with me. But about a month went by and we were still together. Charlotte and Brian teased us in the beginning and Charlotte still won't let me forget she had been right. But if anyone was annoying about it, it was Jack and my mom. Every morning when Zane came over before school, Jack asked embarrassing questions, like why Zane liked me and whether or not we had kissed yet.
But my mom was worse, always staring at us when she thought we couldn't see like she anticipated us to start making out right in front of her. There were times when she was real quiet around Zane, other times when she wouldn't shut up. Mornings turned into a huge embarrassment for me but if it had any effect on Zane at all, he didn't say so.
I also noticed quickly Tammy was not happy about my relationship but she didn't confront me about it. Probably scared out of her mind, and with good reason. I still hadn't forgotten what she did to my brother and I was waiting for the day she would mess up and I could get her back for it. Eric still made fun of Zane and now that he was going out with me, Zane only got picked on more. We tried to avoid Eric as much as possible but when you have every class with him, it's hard not to notice him. That was another thing I was afraid about. Zane would get so sick of being laughed at he would ditch the cause of his embarrassment.
It was on the bus ride home that talk of Homecoming first came up.
"So Alice, what are you gonna wear to Homecoming?" Charlotte said, leaning over the back of my seat.
I turned around and looked at her. "What am I wearing to what?"
"Homecoming silly! What are you going to wear?"
I chuckled and shook my head. "Homecoming? As in the dance? Getting all dressed up isn't really my style, sorry."
"But you have to come!" Charlotte exclaimed. "You even have a date!"
I turned to Zane. "You want to go?"
He shrugged. "Kinda. But if you don't, we don't have to."
I turned and faced Charlotte again, then looked back at Zane. "Looks like I don't really have a choice do I?"
"Yes!" Charlotte squealed. "It's in three weeks so we have to go dress shopping soon."
"What?" I exclaimed, turning back around to her. "If it's in three weeks, why do we have to go so soon?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "So all the good dresses are still there, duh. You don't want to show up in a half-ass dress no one else wanted, do you?" She shook her head and plopped back down in her seat.
I closed my eyes and sighed. Then I turned to Zane. "Really?"
He laughed and put his arm around me. "You'll have fun, I promise."
I smiled and leaned in closer to him. With Zane as my date, there was no doubt in my mind I wouldn't have fun.
We got off the bus at out stop and started walking. "Hey" I said to Zane when we got to my place. "Do you wanna come in for a while? I don't think my mom will mind."
Zane nodded. "Yeah, sure."
"Well," Brian called. "You two lovebirds have fun." He and Charlotte laughed as they walked away.
"He's one to talk," Zane smiled as we started walking up the drive to my house. "He spends more time at Charlotte's house than he does at his own."
I laughed and pushed the front door open. "I'm home!" I called out. "Zane's here too!" No reply. "Mom?" Still nothing. I threw my bag into my room as I passed, looking in the living room and the dinning room.
"Hey Alice?" Zane called from the kitchen. I followed his voice and saw him holding up a note. I took it and read it out loud.
Alice,
I had to run to the resteraunt but I'll be back by the time Jack gets home. Please stay in the house and wait for him. Be good.
Love, mom
I put that note on the island and looked in the fridge. "Cool," I said, pulling out the jug of milk. Then I went to get a bowl and Lucky Charms out of the cabinet. "You want some?" i asked Zane.
"Sure," he shrugged. "What did she mean in the note?"
I poured two bowls of cereal and got two spoons. "The resteraunt? She owns a place downtown called Panda Village. It's like her third child."
Zane took one of the bowl from me and shook his head. "Not that part. I mean the part about staying in the house and being good."
I took a bit of my cereal and smiled. "Oh that! Yeah, she doesn't want me leaving the house when she's not home."
Zane chuckled. "Why not?"
I shrugged and took another bite. "Something about her not wanting me to kill the neighbors." I shook my head. "I swear, she treats me like a child."
Zane threw his head back and laughed, his mouth full of cereal. "I wonder why!"
I shrugged again and continued eating. "Me too."
He smiled at me and I smiled back. Then he took a bite of cereal and opened up his mouth, showing me his half-chewed food.
"Gross!" I exclaimed. Then I took two bites and did the same. This contained until we ran out of cereal, which didn't take long. I took his bowl and put his and mine in the sink. Then we walked into the living room. Today, though, I didn't sit in my usual seat. I sat next to Zane on the couch. I grabbed the remote off the coffee table and started flipping channels.
"What do you wanna watch?" I asked.
Zane shrugged. "Don't care."
I landed on Spongebob and threw the remote in the seat next to me. Zane looped his arm loosely around my shoulders and I smiled to myself. One month in and I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was going out with him. That he liked me even. And, despite my earlier protests, I was happy to be going to Homecoming with him. But I was a little nervous. I've never done anything that required dressing up, I didn't even have a nice dress!
"Do I really have to go to Homecoming?" I asked.
Zane nodded. "Yep." I sighed and he squeezed my shoulders. "Come on, you'll have fun, I promise."
"Whatever," I muttered.
"Do you seriously not want to go?" he asked.
I shrugged and turned to face him. "I don't know. It sounds like fun and all but it's just not my thing, you know?"
Zane nodded and turned back to the T.V. "Well, if you don't want to go, we don't have to."
"But you want to go," I said. It wasn't a question cause I already knew the answer.
He nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Why?"
Zane shrugged. "I guess I just want an excuse to be with you," he said, turning back to face me.
I smiled. "Can't understand why," I laughed.
He laughed to and pulled me closer to him. "That's my secret," he said. I smiled and snuggled closer into him. And for a good ten minutes, we sat there like that, holding each other, just being together. Then the fun began.
First, I got up to get a drink. Zane was in the living room. No sooner had I opened the fridge, did Zane come running into the kitchen.
"Something's wrong," he said.
I looked over the fridge door at him. "What do you mean? What is it?"
Zane sat down at the island and looked at the floor, rubbing his temple. "I don't know. I feel something." I left the kitchen and went to the front door. i didn't see anything there, so I moved to the other side of the house to the back door. Nothing. I walked back into the kitchen to find Zane in the same position he was when I left.
"I didn't see anything," I said.
"No, it's out there," Zane replied.
I looked at him. I was starting to get a little scared. "What's out there Zane? I don't know what you're talking about."
He shook his head. "It's an animal I think. And it's coming here." He looked up at me. "We need to leave the house."
"What?" I asked him. "This is crazy! I can take it, whatever it is." Then, I heard the scream of a panther. I looked around to try and find the source of the sound but didn't see anything. I started to walk towards the kitchen window but Zane grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. Something about this felt familiar.
The same anger rushed through me as I glared at him. He rose slowly from his seat, a worried expression on his face. He put his finger to lips to silence me and my temper rose like mercury in a thermometer. Then his hand slid down my arm and took my hand in his, and I felt my anger be replaced by guilt.
The scream came again, sounding closer this time. I looked at Zane. "What the hell is that!" I hissed. Zane squeezed my hand to silence me and started walking towards the back door, me in tow. But we didn't get a chance to leave the house because a big black panther burst through the door as we rounded the corner down the hall. It didn't take a genius to figure this out.
"Get the hell out of my house you bitch!" I screamed, wrenching my hand from Zane's grasp. I stared walking towards Tammy and she took a swipe at me. I waved my hands and a gust of wind deflected her blow.
"Alice," Zane yelled. "Get back here!" He sounded scared and worried but I ignored him. I had a score to settle.
