Author Note

Hello, I'm back!

A long wait, yes but that's because I've had a lot irl. luckily it has been good stuff but it has kept me busy. I'll have an Q&A in the end of this chapter about that, Now let's go on to the story.

Flaria: While our author is being lazy we want to thank the following persons.

Valerie: For likes Bad Luck Andrew, AnonDavid, Sdarkynecro, Lukefasc, mussona17, drakewilde1234, Rotor576, Pridam, actionmaxjackson13, Soldier Excellent and UltraNova1225.

Flaria: For follows dominic0401, Nyees, Bad Luck Andrew, Sdarkynecro, Lukefasc, mcleitgen, drakewile1234, TaiChiXWarrior, Rotor 576, Pridam, actionmaxjackson13, nightwolf65 and UltraNova1225.

Valerie: Also some important info: Our author is still alive.

Chapter 14

A New Turn

Zane stumbled backward into the dim alleyway while trying to break free from the grip. The perpetrator had one arm around his neck and the other one over his mouth to cover his cries for help. The choking feeling of a strong hand over his mouth made him nauseous. The only sound that his ears could perceive was the breathings from the attacker. During the struggling, he was slowly dragged backward further and further away from the lit up street. The panic in him grew and the hope faded away.

Suddenly the attacker stopped dragging him and instead shoved him forwards. He fell down on the rugged asphalt and a sting of pain emitted from his front paws and propagated through his arms. Zane didn't waste any time on worrying about his discomfort, instead, he rose from the ground and sprinted forwards away from his attacker right into another person.

He bumped against the chest of the figure and looked up at the face. To his surprise it was familiar. Even though the darkness in the alleyway made it hard to see he couldn't miss it. He just stood and glared at her with his gape wide open.

"Valerie?"

Valerie stood in front of him with a little smug on her face. "A neat surprise, wasn't it? We felt that you needed to be a bit on the edge before this," She pulled her hoodie tighter around herself while Flaria walked closer to him and put her arm around his shoulders. "Is our little guy going on a date tonight?" she laughed and.

Was she the other one? B-but why are they creeping up on me in a place like this? Zane thought and looked up at Flaria. Even through the momentary panic was over his heartbeat still raced and he couldn't stop himself from over and over again throw glances behind his shoulder. She gently turned him around so he stood face to face with her. "We heard that you had a little date today and felt that you needed to be on the edge,"

After a few moments of speechless silence he answered."I-it's not a date! We are just meeting up as friends because she called me." Zane said and took a step backward from Flaria. Flaria and Valerie just laughed in unison before Flaria spoke again.

"The first thing you need to know: look proper," Flaria said while Valerie started to adjust his crimpy shirt and pants.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let me go now." Don't they have any respect for my private life? I know they want to help me but… His protests and squirms didn't have any effect on Valerie as she let her fast hands move over his shirt in practiced movements.

"Second, smile and be kind," Flaria continued and gave him a joyful smile. Zane didn't even keep trying to protest anymore, he knew that the fight already was over for him. He tried to smile but since it was just a few seconds aga they attacked him it looked horrible. I bet that they were the ones that gave Nicole the number too.

"Third, pay for her;" Flaria said and handed over a bill to him. Valerie finally stopped touching him and took a step aside. He sighed took the bill and gave the both of them an annoyed look before walking away against the street again. Thanks to them I'm upset and angry.

Zane walked with hasty steps against the cafe where he was supposed to meet Nicole. Flaria's and Valerie's intervention made him on the edge because he was jumped on.

The surroundings already made him uneasy from the beginning and as he walked alongside with dark empty shops and abandoned buildings he didn't feel more comfortable. No wonder that Umbria has told me to avoid this part of the city as much as possible.

Zane came to a part of the street where it was a bit more activity. A few open shops and a cafe, some people walking along the street and the sound of cars that rushed along the street now and then. A little cafe was squeezed in between two buildings.

The windows had a grey tint that exposed the years of mismanaging.

Zane slowly approached the cafe and opened the door with care. This doesn't feel good at all. Why do we need to meet at creepy places like this?

When he walked through the door a faint smell of mold hit his nose. The cafe was a shabby little place which had seen its best days many years ago. Scratched wooden tables and chairs were spread out in the room and behind a desk stood someone and served the guests. Cracks in the tile walls had been covered up by paintings. To Zane's surprise, it was crowded with people and much more alive than the street on the outside. The noise from cutlery hitting porcelain and people that engaged in conversations nearly drowned out the sound of someone that called out his name.

Zane turned around and saw Nicole sitting in a corner of the room and waving at him. Her face lit up in a bright smile when they made eye contact and he tried to smile back even if he felt a bit uncomfortable with his surroundings.

She leaned back against the backrest, put her arms behind her head and started talking as soon as he sat down.

"So you were going to tutor me?"

"Uh, yes," Zane said and threw a look over his shoulder.

"Don't look so afraid Zane, it's just a cafe, maybe not in the same standards as you are familiar with but it's not dangerous because of that," Nicole said with a slight hint of annoyance over his behavior.

Zane tried to suppress his feelings and focus on the tutoring instead but before that, he couldn't stop himself from asking a question. "Why this place out of all of them?"

The questions blurted out from his mouth before he realized that the answer was quite obvious and that his question wasn't so respectful. Nicole crossed her arms over the chest and gave him a piercing look before answering.

"Everyone isn't born with working parents or wealth," she simply said and didn't show any interest in continuing to talk about the subject.

Wow, I didn't know that it was that bad. She has at least managed to hide it from me all the time. I think I shall avoid that subject in the future. No one likes to talk about stuff like that.

"Let's start," Nicole said and picked up gave him a book from her bag.

Two hours later Nicole and Zane walked out of the cafe on the street. It was now pitch-black outside aside from the streetlights. Zane had done his best to learn her something new, with varied success. Now they stood in silence and looked at each other.

"Mind to follow me to my door?" Nicole said and grabbed Zane's arm while letting her tails seductively serpentine around his back. Not this kind of behavior again. Hasn't she understood that I don't like it? Still, he was a bit curious about how she lived so he couldn't resist saying yes.

"Sure I'm in," Zane said. She released him and they walked side by side alongside the street against Nicole's home. After walking for a while in silence she started talking.

"Ever been in these parts of town?"

"No, they told me to avoid it since it's dangerous here," Zane said after a small hesitation.

"Mhh, it is if you don't know the rights streets and doesn't avoid certain persons," she said nodded while the turned around a corner to a smaller road.

"I couldn't guess that you lived here, you are hiding it well," he said and paced down as she started to slow down.

"I've hidden it because I don't want people to judge me. I am already judged enough with my body. I don't need anything more than that. Here, around the corner and we see my apartment,"

They turned around a corner and walked out on a little plaza made of stone bricks. Right in front of it was a long grey three-story apartment house. It was worn down and it was easy to see that the apartments were cheap to buy. Cracked roof tiles and unwashed windows decorated the house.

"Here it is. My tragic family and their apartment," Nicole said and made a halt. That doesn't look good. She can't have it too easy there. Zane thought and noticed how she avoids his gaze hugged herself tight.

"It's okay to be poor. We all have all different bases when we are born and we can't change it," Zane said and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's just the constant feeling of needing to hide it. I know how people look at me know and if they knew this it would be ten times worse. I need to take every job I can and save for months to even get decent clothes," Nicole said and slid her hand up to his.

And how am I supposed to handle her now? Hug her? Before Zane took action, she started to speak again. "It's so much pressure all the time. Some days I'm wondering for how long I'll manage to keep going," Nicole said and sighed.

"That's why you have friends that help you," Zane said and thought: Here goes nothing. With the hand on her shoulder, he gently turned her to face him and put the other one around her shoulders and used it to nudge her forward into a hug with him. Nicole laid her arms around his waist and let her head rest on his shoulder. "Thanks, Zane, you mean a lot to me, I hope you know that," Zane didn't respond just kept hugging her.

Soon Zane slid out of the hug and gave Nicole a reassuring smile. She smiled back a bit and waved him goodbye while turning around and start on the walk against her house.

Zane felt a warm sensation in his body as he saw her disappear in along the road. He turned around as well and started on the long walk home. Why do I feel so lonely out of sudden?

It was dawn and the sun could be seen disappearing under a few mountaintops in the horizon. The sunlight made the whole room shine in orange. In the mansion, Glory sat in her room in silence. She was still trying to get over her behavior against Andromeda and get down to why she acted as she did. As she was deep down in her thoughts someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she muttered and threw an annoyed glance at the opening door

Lavender entered the room. She threw herself down beside Glory on her bed. "Have you heard about what Flaria and Valerie did?" she asked and put her head in her sister's lap. Glory stated to casually stroke her sister's hair.

"No, what are they up to?"

"They tricked Zane into a date with Nicole. Can you imagine it? The hottest girl on the school with someone that isn't known at all. The fun thing is that he isn't even liking it and refuses to believe that it's a date,"

Glory just mumbled some silent words before speaking up. "No, I can't let that happen, she is, so, so, annoyingly popular and too good to be true. She has everything and expects everything forms everyone. She doesn't belong with nice people like Zane,"

Lavender waited a few seconds before answering. "I suppose you are right. She looks good but from what I've seen she isn't so nice against other persons, just being egoistic,"

"That's why I want her away from us. She won't do him anything good,"

Zane was sitting on his room with a lot of thoughts about the meeting he had with Nicole, and especially the parts of her life he didn't know anything about, that her life wasn't as flawless as it looked. I suppose I'm going to see her from new angles from now and on. It was a bit surprising but other than that the da...

Date? You just admitted that you looked at it like that!

No, we are just friends. I, d-didn't say that.

You are just trying to hide the unavoidable.

The inner conversation was cut off by his beeping phone. He picked it and answered. Andromeda greeted him with an up voice.

"You know what I've done?" she said with anticipation in her voice. Sounds like something good has happened to her.

"Something funny?"

"Better than that," she said and tire dot suppresses a laugh.

"Uhm… what is it?" Zane said.

"I'm searching for permission to leave this place for a few days, I persuaded them that my recent problems are because I'm missing the outside,"

Zane immediately became worried, he knew that she wasn't really stable, especially not around new people. I hope she is going somewhere safe.

"I'm wondering a thing, Zane… if this goes through can I come to your house and the family you live with? I miss you and it's close by…,"

Zane was first filled with happiness, meeting Andromeda again would really make him happier. "Sure, I can ask Umbria and see what she thinks,"

They talked a bit before saying goodbye and Zane proceeded to think about the best way to present Andromeda's idea for Umbria. Then the reality hit him. The moment where Glory and Andromeda had a face off against each other in the center. The memory played in his head for a few seconds before they faded away. God, I can't have these two in the same house. I don't know why Glory is so upset about Andromeda but letting them live under the same roof won't make it better. Especially since Andromeda is so frail.

But you can't let your best friend down after all she has been through. You can't just reject her like that. She will be hurt by it. Her current state isn't good and she needs you. You must get her over here.

But then I'll create problems for both Glory, myself and Andromeda.

Zane sighed and threw himself face flat on his bed. Why do I always talk without thinking first?

Nicole stood leaned against a pillar that held up the upper parts of the apartment building and looked at the corner where Zane had disappeared moments ago. A cold breeze blew through the plaza and she huddled together under her jacket. It'll be fall soon. Other than her breathing the plaza was completely dead. Not a sound or movement. Only Nicole and her thoughts.

It's good that you open up a bit for someone. He is at least kind to you.

No, he is just one of all these others that takes advantage of me.

So why are you the one that invites him, not the other way around? You are after all the one that tries to make contact not him. He can be a close friend to you if you start trusting him. Give him the chance he deserves. You need it, you have never had that close friend.

Close friends? Ever time I've tried they have turned out as people that only care about the benefits of being friends with me, never me. I've tried, so many times and I've failed. I just don't manage to continue, see yet another person leave me.

But he is different, he never came to you. You came to him.

Don't try to, I know how this will end. This is the last time I reveal something like this about me for him. The least painful thing to do is just letting him go. End of discussion.

Nicole snorted, turned around, and walked into her apartment.

She was laying in her bed under a timeworn cover. The former user hadn't cared much about the room. The once white wallpaper had now faded to a slightly yellow one. Here and there it was different stains on it. The room was sparsely decorated. A bed, a wardrobe, a chair with a stack of clothes on it and layer of dust on everything. No one had cleaned here in weeks.

Nicole dragged the cover tighter around herself to keep out the cold and sighed before burying her head in a cushion. The familiar smell of her own scent entered her nose. You did at least open up a bit for someone… even if only for a while. Still, there is so much he doesn't know about you.

And he will never know it. No one will.

You would feel so much better if you told some-…

It's not my fight, I was born to this. I don't deserve to have any friends. I was just a mistake, something my mother and father never cared about, just wanted to dispose of. They never planned to have me and when it was too late my father left. I've never seen by him, not even on a picture. The only thing I know about him is that my mother says that it's best that way. Sometimes the thoughts just overwhelm me. It's so much I don't know anything about. She herself is just sitting here and complaining about how much of a mistake I am. I'm just stuck here because she fails with every job. I can't change my faith.

You can, you are a good person. The only way out of this is to fight, and for doing that you need supporting friends like Zane.

He isn't better than the others…

Her eyelids became heavier and heavier as her body relaxed. She took her pillow and turned it over to the cool side, then she closed her eyes and drifted away against the dreams.

Author Note

I appreciate reviews, favs and follows.

Here are some common questions some people have asked me while I have been gone.

Are you dead? No. Someone published this chapter.

Will you continue with the story? Definitely, I'm in love with it and will keep writing. Nothing stop me, I won't let it die without a proper ending.

What will happened to the story in the future? I will update more often from now and on since I can afford to spend more time on writing. I'll also start to post the progress on the chapters under my profile soon.

Why have you been so inactive? Because a lot of things has happened during this part of the year and kept me busy. It has been good stuff so don't worry about me.

You changed name? Yes, it fits me much better than the old one.

Hope this covered a few questions. If you got more don't be afraid to dm me.

Anyways, see you later! - Paarthurnax