To Find The Future, Find The Past

Chapter 10

The Moral? Never Show Affection in Public

Zelda's eyes fluttered open when the alarm went off. She groaned and rolled over, shielding her ears from the noise with her pillow. In her groggy mind, memories of last night came crawling back. Slowly at first, then with alarming clarity.

She bolted up, and turned the alarm off. Bounding out of bed, she made her way down to the bathroom to have a shower.

AT BREAKFAST

"Baby," 'Baby' was Zelda's mother's affectionate name for her, "Why are you so happy this morning. Not that I mind, of course. It's just that you're usually irritable in the morning." She added quickly, seeing the upset look fleeting onto Zelda's face. She truly had no wish to upset her daughter.

"I dunno." Zelda shrugged, "I just am." She flashed a smile at her mother. Meanwhile, her mind was screaming 'liar', but she couldn't tell her parents about her meeting with Link last night. Then they'd never let her near him ever again. In fact, they wouldn't even let her go to the same school as him. So it was best that they didn't know.

"I'm off." Her dad stood up, and pecked her mother on the cheek. He simply looked at Zelda, and inched his way out of the room, eyes never leaving hers. This did not go unnoticed by Zelda's mother.

"What's going on between you two?" she asked, when the front door closed, "You've been cold towards each other since you came back on Sunday. Did you think I hadn't noticed?"

"Ask him." Zelda refrained from making a comment that she might regret, "I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

Zelda left her mother shock as anything at the kitchen table as she left for school.

SCHOOL (8:30 am)

Zelda sat on the park benches. Alone again. She kept wondering if Link would turn up, and if he did, what would he say? Zelda didn't want to admit it, but she did value his opinion quite highly. Even higher than her mother's opinion.

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers. She needed more sleep. She may have been feeling fresh as a daisy this morning, but the freshness was disappearing fast. The daisy was certainly well and truly wilted by now.

"Hey," Zelda felt someone slide onto the bench next to her, "Why are you here, by yourself?"

Zelda looked at Link, and shrugged.

"Well, unless you're going somewhere…" she inquired with her eyes, "I'm not alone, am I?"

"I guess not." He laughed. The sound of his laughter sent Zelda sky-high. It may have seemed to be a normal laugh to others, but it was the most beautiful thing Zelda had ever heard.

"Come on," he surprised her, "let's go over there." He pointed to a bunch of guys playing soccer. Zelda shook her head.

"I'm afraid of any guy with some form of ball." She stated, "Be it a tennis ball, or a soccer ball. I'm mortally afraid of the things."

"But we're not going there." He chided, "Look further away, past them."

Zelda looked, and saw the group that Link had taken her to yesterday.

"I'm afraid of them, too." She said, half-jokingly.

Link laughed again. He sat there and shook his head. Then, he stood up, a wicked look on his face.

Zelda sat back nervously, trying to guess what he might do. He surprised her by shrugging, and walking away.

"Wait a minute!" she called from her seat on the bench, "Where are you going?"

"Well," he turned around, and flashed her a cock-eyed grin, "Since you don't even want to try, I'm going to find another girlfriend. One who's willing to try to get along with my family."

"Fine," Zelda huffed, knowing what he was trying to do, "You do that! See if I care!" He was not going to get the better of her with that old trick. She might've liked him, but she wasn't going to follow him around like a lovesick puppy.

She made a decision right there and then. She was going to let him stew. She wouldn't talk to him all day. Silence was useful for more than one thing.

RECESS (10:55 am)

"Come on, talk to me…" Link whined, prodding her in the side. Zelda just looked away, and smiled. He certainly made it difficult, but she was not going to cave. Not until he apologized to her. What he was apologizing for, though, she had no idea. She just wanted an apology.

"Fine!" he huffed, "I'm sorry! Now will you talk to me? I don't know what I'm apologizing for, but will you talk to me now?"

"Yes." Zelda laughed, looking over at him.

"Oh. My. God." Zelda heard a vaguely familiar voice come from behind them, "It's Zelda Hilyan, the old school freak! And look who she's with. My man! Link, how could you?"

Zelda turned, and saw her worst nightmare. Ruto Waters. She may have changed in the past two years, but Zelda recognized her instantly. Zelda groaned.

"Piss off, Root." Link dismissed her.

"But—" Ruto tried to gain his attention, but he cut her off.

"But nothing! I said piss off! Now make like a tree, and leave!" He was even more annoyed than he was on Sunday.

Ruto thought that it might be wise to comply. She walk away, sulking.

"I hate that bitch." Link muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Well, I've probably seen a lot more of her than you have." Zelda muttered back.

"How?" Link was intrigued. Didn't they just meet?

"Well," Zelda looked over her shoulder, to make sure Ruto wasn't anywhere near, "She used to go to my school, back in England. She was the school's 'cool' girl. The girls wanted to be her, and the guys wanted to be with her. It was quite disgusting, really. I watched them follow her around like puppies, analyzing her every move. She was a real bitch. Especially towards me. She was one of the major reasons that I didn't make any friends back in England."

Link let out a low whistle, and patted her on the shoulder.

"I take my hat off to you." He joked, "Or, I would. If the teacher hadn't confiscated it off me. Anyone who can put up with that deserves my respect."

Zelda laughed, and closed her eyes. It was strange. If anyone else had said that to her, she would have rolled her eyes at them. When she opened her eyes, however, Link's face was alarmingly close to her own.

"What are you doing?" Zelda whispered.

"This." He muttered, as he kissed her.

Again, the world melted away as Zelda was absorbed by the kiss. She even forgot that they were in public. She scooted closer to him on the seat, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She'd just wrapped her arms around his neck, when…

"P.D.O.A!" Some senior called out, pointing at them.

Both of them sprang apart, crimson cheeks and all. They looked around at the small crowd that had gathered to watch the proclaimed 'P.D.O.A'. Whatever that was.

"Rack off, Dick!" Link yelled at the senior. He, for some reason, slinked away into the back of the group. One death glare from Link, and the rest of them disappeared as well.

"Who was that?" Zelda inquired, embarrassed as hell, "I wanna know what name to put on the death warrant."

"My older brother, Richard." He tried not to laugh, "Affectionately know as 'Dick'."

"Why?" Zelda cocked her head to look at the guy on the other side of the asphalt.

"Because he acts like one." He looked over at him, too. They both laughed as they saw him really trying to get some girl's attention.

"What's a P.D.O.A?" She had a few more questions, but she wouldn't ask them.

"'Public Display Of Affection'. Don't you know anything about social terms?" He raised his eyebrow at her, making her giggle nervously.

"Nope." She answered truthfully, "You'll have to teach me, wont you?"

"I guess I will…" he laughed.

AFTER SCHOOL

When Zelda got home that afternoon, both of her parents were waiting for her at the door. Her mother took her by the ear, and led her to the car. Forcing her in, they drove off. To where, Zelda didn't know.

"What's going on!" Zelda demanded from the back seat. When they looked back at her, she began to feel fear beginning to gnaw at her mind.

"Explain this." Her mother threw an orangey-brown envelope at her. Zelda opened the envelope, and looked at the contents.

"You had me followed!" Zelda couldn't believe it. She was enraged. How could they do this to her?

"You have always been followed." Her father told her, never taking his eyes off the road, "Ever since you started high-school. Even in England."

Zelda started spluttering, and looked down at the contents of the envelope again.

There were pictures in there. Pictures of before she rejected Gonzo, right up to today's kisses in the schoolyard. They even had pictures of when she snuck out last night. It seemed the only time she wasn't followed was when she went to the toilet, or had a bath.

"How could you!" Zelda screeched, mainly to her mother, "How could you!" Zelda started to cry there and then.

"Stop crying." Her mother said sternly, "You've sinned. You must now face the punishment."

"How have I sinned?" Zelda demanded to know. She hadn't done anything wrong! Not really, anyway. She'd just acted like a regular teenager. It wasn't like she had slept with him, or anything.

"You've obviously had sex with that boy." Her father said, in a disturbing manner, "No self-respecting girl would let a man grope her as such otherwise."

"How was that groping?" Zelda demanded, "he had his hands around my waist. Big deal! You wanna see groping, you should look at the magazines I found under Grandpa's bed last summer! That's groping, not this!" She held up the pictures.

Zelda's mother turned again, and hit Zelda over the head with something. Zelda wasn't sure what it was, but it hurt. The next thing she knew, she was fighting to stay conscious. In the end, the darkness won over, and Zelda fell, face first, on the floor.