Chapter 9: Last Dance
"Breath, Zeph. Just take big, deep breaths." Odd whispered as he sat beside her, rubbing her back soothingly. He took in a gulp of night air, inhaling slowly and exhaling at the same speed. His friend was sitting up, taking deep breaths, the cool air catching every so often in her throat.
"I still have to go back there, don't I?" She asked, shuddering as she began a full recovery from her outburst. Though she'd repeatedly apologized for it, Odd brushed it off with great softness and an arm around her shoulders as he'd leaned down to get a better look at her tear stained face.
"Zephyr…She shook her shoulder gently and spoke softly, as if attempting to wake her. That was what he wanted more than anything; to be woken up while the stars still blinked indifferently above her without being hit or kicked or getting opaque green glass thrown clumsily at her.
Even more than that she wanted to wake up and find that her bruises were just a dream. Just a bad dream.
"Zephyr…I told them," He whispered into her ear.
"T-told who?" She asked, remembering her father's promise.
"Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, Aelita. And the principal and nurse. They're coming, Zephyr. They're coming to save you." He was still whispering. She liked that he was gentle, but she liked the playful Odd. The hyper Odd, the Odd who seemed to have slowed down. They hadn't played since that streetlamp night, back when they were twelve.
"Odd…"
"Hmmm?" He said nonchalantly, glancing at the stars as his hand moved from being draped around her shoulder to rubbing her back again.
"I think it might be too late to save me."
"No," He shook his head calmly, "You're strong. You'll get through this. And even when you think you're not strong enough you can lean on me."
"I'll be leaning on you a lot then," She whispered, resting against him tiredly even as she said it.
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Odd stared up complacently at the sky, mirth flickering in his amber orbs. He clearly remembered the night when the police had been called, Zephyr's bruises revealed by Nurse Dorothy, and Jack had been arrested. He could still smell the alcohol. He cools still hear the police sirens whining as they came upon the small house. The neighbors rushed out, covering their mouths with their hands, most in robes. He could still see the police shaking their heads sadly at his friend, whom he'd been very protective of that night. There was that pivotal moment when they'd brought her wall-eyed father out of the house, pushing him along towards the police car. He's turned his bloodshot spheres of pure hate towards Zephyr, and as he spit on her Odd had stood between them, nostrils burning when he smelled the filth of alcohol and meanness. He'd been snarled at by the greasy black haired monster, and he was ready to just about punch the man when Zephyr stepped between them, spitting on Jack as he had spit on her.
For now the principal had allowed Zephyr to board in a spare room, and she was adjusting well to the lifestyle change. She no longer spooked at little things, and she had gained a healthy weight and filled out. Her eyes were no longer hollow and her face was softer and smoother, not as harrowed as it once was. Kadic had worked wonders for her. Granted she woke up screaming from nightmares for a couple nights in a cold sweat and sometimes even vomiting. This phase, however, had soon passed.
Yes, life was starting to piece itself back together, as it always had and always would without fail. He continued to look up at the teeming, indecisive gray sky as it started to rain, very softly, then harder, so hard he knew that the purple gel had disappeared from his longish blond hair. He looked at the edge of the parking lot where Zephyr was standing, without shaking, without looking around nervously. He sucked in his breath. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in the rain.
She spread her arms out, shrugged, and let them return limply to her sides.
"Well," She said conclusively, "They're taking me away." Odd tilted his soaked head.
"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brow at her. She stepped forward until they were only a foot away.
"Exactly what I said. It's my last day here. They're coming to take me to some place in the French speaking part of Belgium. Then I'm going to be in a foster home."
"W-what?" Odd sounded absolutely devastated as his happiness, his world cascaded down around him like the rain. "How long did you know?"
"Principal Delmas told me a couple days after Jack was arrested. I didn't tell you because…"
"Because what?" He asked, turning away mood sinking further.
"Because I didn't want your smile to go away. I didn't want for the last weeks we had to be washed away by dread." Odd turned back to look at her, face full, once again, of unsaid apologies. He flashed a winning toothy grin, much like that of a cat.
"Excuse me, m'lady," He bowed low, "May I have the last dance?" She curtseyed awkwardly in her went cargo pants.
"Yes, kind sir," She almost laughed, "But only because you're so handsome." She stepped forward on the soaked asphalt, letting her arms slip around his neck, feeling his around her waist. The position made both of them blush and avert their eyes.
"May I ask what song we are dancing to?" Zephyr continued the joke.
"The rain," Odd bent down and whispered in her ear, strangely enjoying when she shivered in response. The pair began dancing slowly to the steady beat of the raindrops dieing on the pavement. They sped up to a swinging waltz, hands clasped, as the downpour worsened.
It kept pouring down in buckets. They kept waltzing, smiling at each other, swinging in time. They were absolutely saturated; sheets of water pouring down their faces. They waltzed until they finally allowed their hands to part as they collapsed on the grass bordering the asphalt surface, breathing laboriously. Their clothes hung heavily on them as they allowed the wet grass to cling to them as only wet grass can.
Zephyr found herself feeling his hair with her fingers.
"Your hair's really soft when it's wet and doesn't have that purple crud in it," A soft smile played on her lips as she looked at it. Her hand seemed detached from her body, but she kept fondling his golden hair, wet and darker from the rain.
Odd wound his own fingers in her long, silky red hair, feeling its cool dampness.
"Zephyr?" He whispered, almost fearfully, but still knowing he was taking his only chance. "What would you say if I kissed you right now?"
"Depends on what kind of kiss," She replied quietly.
"What if it was this kind of kiss?" Odd nudged his body closer to hers and placed his lips to hers. It was feather soft and short, but Zephyr felt something click. Something magical in her head that made her even more attached to Odd.
"I would ask you do it again," She breathed. This time it was her lips that were pressed to his, and the kiss was longer and deeper. They still played with each other's hair absent-mindedly. They found themselves French kissing, and finally pulled away, breathing heavily more from wonder and shock than the need for air that the kiss caused.
"We're not natives of France but I think we did pretty good, don't you?" Odd joked, stroking her face.
"I think we did better than pretty good," She whispered with a smile. Their moment was interrupted by car headlights illuminating them as the vehicle parked sharply. A woman, pinched and sharp even in her wrinkles and brown hair pulled into a bun, stepped out of the car. Even though it was raining she wore a business skirt and button up top. The two fourteen year olds flipped themselves over on their stomachs as she walked up to them, heels clicking on the asphalt. Odd couldn't help but receive a bad first impression. He'd been waiting for this moment ever since that impulse in front of Zephyr's house to brush her hair back, ever since that starlit September night when he'd brushed his lips against her soft skin and had held her as only a friend could. But he didn't want to be just a friend. This angled lady had ruined their moment.
"Excuse me," Her voice was high and authorities, feigning friendliness, "Are you," She glanced with dead mahogany eyes at a clipboard she held in her bony hand, "Zephyr Blitz?" She said the name as if it tasted horrible and vulgar, but she swallowed it down as if to be polite.
"Yes." Zephyr said numbly, glancing at Odd. He grasped her hand, weaving his fingers with hers.
"Well my dear, the principal told me I'd find you here. Now let's go. You have a long train ride to Belgium," She smiled, revealing old, yellowed teeth.
Zephyr had no choice but to stand, and she took Odd with her. She brought her clasped hand to her lips and kissed his hand, then hugged his middle tightly, as if she let go the world would come to an incredible crashing halt.
"What about the others?" Odd breathed so the intruding lady couldn't hear.
"I said my good-byes," She breathed back, her warm breath tickling his ear. He looked up as she pulled away, looking up at him, shrinking back also from the lady's dagger grip. He saw them, four shadows in the steadily pounding rain. He pulled his friend into a hug, not a romantic hug but a hug he'd often given her over the years.
"I know you," He said, voice at a normal level, "You're that tough kid. The kid who can make it through Hell." She smiled briefly but the woman's grip dragged her away and into the backseat of the car and shut the door. The woman then wobbled in her heels to the driver's seat and started the engine as Zephyr pressed her fingers against the cold glass, and he did the same, as if their hands were touching. But, just like the glass, fate got in the way.
And the car drove away with Odd's heart in the backseat, away from the childhood Zephyr'd known before she was forced to grow up, away from the place where they'd played and laughed. Away from the place where they'd kissed and danced.
Away from the place where a skinny pale eyed girl ran into a hyper amber eyed boy.
Don't worry…it's not over yet!
Glory