Chapter 06 — Waiting For Tonight

Zoey yawns as she makes her way down the stairs that morning. She had worked her first shift at the Talon the night before and was thankful that Nell and Lana had given her a ride home. Max had convinced her to find a job. Zoey had also talked with him about going to Gotham over the summer, which Max agreed to on the condition she start birth control. And that was a conversation she had been dreading to have with Martha.

Zoey stops, seeing the kitchen table covered in food. "Good morning," a voice greets and she turns to see a boy a couple of years younger than herself. He had bright hazel eyes and dark brown hair.

"Zoey, this is Ryan," Martha introduces. "He's staying with us until a family member can be found."

Zoey nods and sits down at the table. "Hi."

"Hey, what's the occasion," Jonathan greets, entering the kitchen and sitting down at the table.

"I wanted to make myself useful," Ryan replies. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Hey, you can stay as long as you want. Maybe some of you will rub off on Clark and Zoey."

Zoey knew that would never happen. Between her new job at the Talon, being newly selected as the FBLA president, and trying to figure out how to talk to Martha, she barely had time to breathe, let alone make a table full of food. 'This is what private chefs are for,' Zoey thinks.

"What does everybody want? Let me guess," Ryan says, staring at Martha. "Pancakes with powdered sugar, not syrup."

Martha brightly smiles. "How did you know that?"

"I saw you eyeing them when you came in." Ryan turns to Jonathan. "Scrambled eggs, bacon, coffee with milk, and a little bit of honey."

"Well, that is some trick there, kiddo," Jonathan replies, taking the plate.

Ryan turns his attention to Zoey. "Blueberry pancakes with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and light on the syrup."

Zoey stares at Ryan for a moment before taking the plate. "Thank you," she says, taking the plate. The last time she had this exact breakfast was the day before her parents died. It was a vivid memory for Zoey. It was one of the few times where she remembered her mother being happy. There was something off about Ryan that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Hey, Mom," Clark greets, entering the kitchen. He eyes the table full of food. "Going all out for the new kid, huh?"

Martha smiles. "Actually, Clark, Ryan took care of all this himself."

Clark nudges Zoey. "You're making us look bad."

"What do you want for breakfast," Ryan asks, staring at Clark. He frowns. "Don't you want anything, Clark?"

"I'm just gonna have some pancakes," Clark replies, stabbing his fork into some pancakes in the center of the table. Clark shoots him a smile as Ryan just stares at him.

Martha frowns. "Ryan, you okay?"

Ryan nods but keeps his gaze on Clark. "Ryan, are you sure you don't remember anything about last night," Jonathan questions. "You see because I-I still can't figure out why you were out on Route 90 at ten o'clock at night."

Ryan tenses. "I said I don't remember."

Zoey grabs a piece of bacon off a plate. 'Kid is totally hiding something. Even I can see it.'

"I'm not hiding anything," Ryan defends, then stands up and walks away from the table. Zoey raises an eyebrow.

"No one said you were, buddy," Clark calls after him.

Zoey stands up and grabs another piece of bacon. "I have to meet Lana and Nell. They're giving me a ride this morning. I'll see everyone later."

"Zoey, you've barely touched your breakfast," Martha points out.

"Not really hungry," Zoey says, then quickly makes her way out of the house. She didn't know what was going on with Ryan, but her gut was telling her not to trust him. No one knew the exact breakfast her mom would make her. Not even the Kents.

Zoey smiles as she hands the customer their to-go order. The Talon was packed like it always was on a Saturday afternoon. She sees Ryan sitting on one of the stools at the counter. Clark was showing Ryan around town, though he was currently talking with Lana. She sees Lex walk into the Talon and goes to start his usual order. "Warrior Angel," Lex reads, moving to stand next to Ryan. Ryan glances at him, then turns back to his comic book. "I'm a fan myself. You must be Ryan. I'm—"

"Lex Luthor," Ryan interrupts. "Clark told me all about you."

"You know, I have one of—"

"Original first edition panels framed in your house."

Lex chuckles, amused. "How did you know that?"

"You're rich. That's what rich people do, collect stuff."

Zoey grabs Lex's to-go order and places it on the counter in front of him. "Here you go, Lex," she tells him. "Your usual."

Lex shoots her a smile, then glances once more at Ryan with a perplexed look. "I see you've met Ryan," Clark says, joining them.

"Apparently, we're both big Warrior Angel fans," Lex replies.

"I didn't know you liked comic books," Clark tells his friend.

"A strange visitor from another planet who protects the weak? When I was young he was my idol, not to mention the fact he's bald. I have the whole collection." Zoey shakes her head and walks away, leaving them to their conversation. The last thing she wanted was to spend more time around Ryan.

Zoey takes a deep breath and walks into the kitchen. Ryan was sitting at the counter while Martha was peeling apples for a pie. In Zoey's opinion, Martha made the best apple pie. "Um, Aunt Martha, can I talk to you," she asks, glancing at Ryan.

"Of course," Martha replies, brightly smiling at her.

Zoey shifts. "About girl stuff."

Martha smiles. She shoots Ryan a pointed look. "Ryan, how about you go outside and shoot some hoops?"

Ryan glances at Zoey before reluctantly getting up and walking outside. Zoey takes a deep breath. It was time for her to rip off the band-aid. "Can you take me to the gynecologist," she quickly asks.

"I was going to wait to bring it up after your sixteenth birthday. Is there a particular reason why you want to go now?"

"Um, to get birth control."

Martha sets down the apple she was peeling. "Zoey, you are too young to be having sex. Now, who is this boy that is pushing you to do this?"

Zoey face's turns beet red. "Um, it already happened last month."

"Zoey! Who?!"

"Bruce…Wayne."

Martha stares at her in disbelief. "Zoey Stella Carmichael York, you are grounded until the end of the school year," she angrily says.

Zoey's eyes widen. "Aunt Martha—"

"No," Martha interrupts. "School and the Talon. That's it. I will be making an appointment with the gynecologist. And I will be telling Jonathan."

Zoey sighs. She knew it was no use arguing with her godmother. "Okay," she softly says. "Can I go up to my room to do my homework?" Martha nods and Zoey runs up the stairs to her room. She quietly closes the door behind her. She flops down onto her bed, face first. She didn't like that she would be grounded until summer vacation, but at the same time, she was excited. She was looking forward to spending a couple of weeks in Gotham.

"So," Chloe greets, running up to where Zoey was standing at her locker. "In between all the stuff that was going on with Ryan and his criminal parents using him to rob Lex Luthor, Clark said that you're grounded for the rest of the school year. So, what did Zoey York do?"

Zoey sighs and closes her locker. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Chloe grabs Zoey's arm and drags her down the hallway to the Torch office. She closes the door and turns to her friend. "Zoey, I promise not to tell anyone."

"I just…I don't want to talk about it, Chloe. It's personal."

Chloe's gaze widens. "Did you…you know?"

Zoey bites her lip. She did want to talk to someone about what happened. She was tired of keeping part of her life a secret. "Yes," she quietly admits. "But he doesn't go here so don't ask."

"Wow! Holy shit! I-I-I never would have thought you would be the first. Wait, you weren't forced, were you?"

Zoey rolls her eyes. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? No, I wasn't forced. I wanted to do it."

"How was it?"

"Um, disappointing." She shifts. "I mean, I think I had this big grand picture in my mind. You know, a romantic time. Fireplace. Bear skin rug. And it wasn't that."

"Wow. Did you at least get off?"

"Chloe," Zoey exclaims, surprised at her friend's question. "I…" She trails off. She replays her first time in her mind. She lets out an annoyed breath. Chloe laughs. "It's not funny."

"How did you not realize that until just now," Chloe amusedly asks.

"Realize what," Pete questions, walking into the Torch's office with Clark.

"Nothing," Zoey quickly answers, glaring at Chloe, who makes a gesture signaling that her lips were sealed. Pete and Clark exchanged a look, clearly curious as to what was going on.

"Zoey, this arrived for you," Martha says, handing the plain box to Zoey. She exchanges a look with Jonathan. Neither of them approved of her budding relationship with Bruce. And they didn't like the idea of Max encouraging them.

Zoey opens the box to find a powder blue box inside of it. She digs through the packing material to find a card.

'Happy birthday - B'

Zoey sets the card down and pulls out of the powder blue box. She opens it to reveal a pair of diamond stud earrings.

Jonathan clears his throat. "I think we need to meet this boy who is sending you diamond earrings," he pointedly says.

"I'll make sure to let Bruce know," Zoey says, grabbing the card. She quickly makes her way up to her room. She sets the box down on her desk before opening her laptop.

'Thank you for the earrings. They're lovely. My godparents want to meet you. FYI - My birthday is in December. - Z'

Zoey's halfway through her homework before she gets a reply.

'You're welcome - B'

Zoey snorts. She had a feeling that Bruce would have zero desire to meet Jonathan and Martha. She picks up the box and looks at the earrings, curious as to why Bruce would even send her a pair of earrings. Her laptop dings and she finds another email.

'Looking forward to this summer - B'

Waiting for tonight, oh
When you would be here in my arms
Waiting for tonight, oh-oh
I've dreamed of this love for so long
Waiting for tonight
Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh