Jem sat waiting the next day at her spot for Zero, nervous. She had not considered what repercussions might come of her stunt, a result of spending too much time with Jude. She couldn't even read, she was too nervous that Zero would just send her back to her room.
She pulled at her skirt, constantly glancing in the direction Zero usually came from. When she finally saw him, she stood up quickly and anxiously, holding her books tightly against her chest, partially as a defense. When he was close enough, he stopped and put his hands in his pockets. Looking at her, he sighed, in a very what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you sort of way. "Do you mind telling me why the boys in my dorm all stopped by my room to ask for chocolate this morning? And more importantly, how I had more than enough to give away?"
"Well," she began, obviously the start of a long story.
"It was more of a rhetorical question," Zero stopped her.
"Please don't lock me in my room!" she burst. "It was just for fun, I promise I won't do anything like that again, so long as you let me stay there."
He lowered his eyebrows at her comment. "Why would I lock you in your room?"
She tilted her head, wondering why he would ask something that seemed so familiar and obvious to her. "As punishment." She studied him for a moment as he still tried to make sense of her words. Then she asked, "Didn't your parents lock you in your room when you did something wrong?"
He sensed something was off and tried to bait her into sharing more information. "You mean for like a half-hour?"
She laughed. "A half-hour? Man, you got off easy."
He dug just a little more. "Why, how long were you locked in yours?"
"Mm, it could be weeks, depending on how much I offended my father," she answered. Then she started to read the look on his face. "...That's not normal, is it?"
Zero did not answer her question, he simply said, "Come on, you can keep sanctuary in my room," as he turned. She caught up with him, but her eyes turning down a bit as she processed. Zero decided to distract her from it. "Here," he said, pulling another book out of his front pocket, "I didn't realize your nickname was 'Jem.' The brother's name is Jem in this."
Jem took To Kill a Mockingbird from his hands. As she did, she realized that whenever Zero had addressed her in the past, he had always called her 'Jemmea.' "What did you think my nickname would be? Thanks for this, by the way."
"I don't know," replied Zero. "I guess 'Mea,' if anything."
Jem thought about this for a moment. It made sense, that was the stressed part of her name, and a more common name at that. "Well, everyone seems to call me something different. You can call me Mea, if you want."
When Zero came back that night, Jem was passed out on his bed, her homework in a pile on the floor, her thumb barely holding her place in her book. He found her asleep on his bed almost every night, but usually he would wake her up. He looked at her and sighed. Tonight, he just didn't have the gall to bother her.
He gathered his things to shower, as he did every night before he woke her (just to let her be a little longer). When he returned, he went and sat at his desk, pulling out his homework. He saw the notes Jem had left and pulled them over to help him. He noticed that she had, again, written at the top, 'To Zero, Love Jem' as a part of her strange sense of humor, yet he knew it was also an endearment of him by her.
Soon he grew too tired to work and crossed his arms on his desk, determined to only close his eyes for a minute.
Jem woke up the next morning to find him still there. Though she was more surprised to find herself still there. It was the best morning yet.