"Zane, I called you to tell you that I'm going." My voice was barely a whisper. I didn't want to lose him but of course, like always, I had to.
"What did you say, Kim? I couldn't hear you!" "Zane, I'm going!" "Going? Where? What... what is going on?" I told him that my father had been transferred from New York to India. "Where in India?" "A city named Jodhpur. I saw the pictures; it's really beautiful!"
I tried to hide my pain behind that excited voice but he knew me too well. "You can't deceive me. You're hurt, aren't you?" I told him that I didn't really want to go but I had to. So he invited me to his house for one evening so that he and his sister could see me for the last time before I left New York.
When I went to their house, Lara welcomed me with such a big smile on her face that it seemed her face is struggling to accommodate that smile. She hugged me tight and led me to her room. Zane was sitting on her bed with his arms crossed. As soon as he saw me, he got up and hugged me tightly. He hugged me! That's a first! Electric sparks flew from where he touched me. He let me go and then went to the table to fetch a beautifully wrapped present. "This is for you. I specially bought it for you and that too with my pocket money." "Oh Zane, you didn't have to do this!" "Open it, Kim!" Lara chided. I carefully unwrapped the present and opened the box which contained... how does he know that I wanted this pearl bracelet so badly? "This is so beautiful! Thank you so much!" I hugged him in excitement.
"Oh, Zane's blushing! Look look, his cheeks are getting red!" Lara spoke gleefully. I moved away from him and saw that he was indeed blushing. I just smiled at him and went to meet their mother. She hugged me and said that Lara and Zane were really unhappy on learning that I was going away from New York. "Who will go to Luzzo's with them now? And who will photograph skyscrapers with Zane? Who'll console Lara when she gets sad?" she said. "Stop mom, you're making Kim sad! Come here, let's go play some games in my room!" With that, Zane took my hand and took me to his room.
His room was full of photos. He had hung photos of skyscrapers, sunsets, fast-moving cars, his family, his classmates and... me? ...from the ropes with the help of clips. His shelves were covered with books, CDs, pens and other random stuff.
"What shall we play?" Lara asked. "Let's play hide and seek!" Zane replied promptly. They went and called their twin cousins Nathaniel and Samuel. They liked to be called Nate and Sam respectively. They joined us in our game. For the first round, Lara was the seeker. I hid on the windowsill which was concealed by curtains in Zane's room while he hid in a cupboard. She caught us all quickly.
It was Zane's turn next. I again hid on the windowsill behind the curtains in his room. I thought that no one would have suspected it but, alas, Zane caught me almost immediately. He walked into the room, looked cautiously and then hit me on my knee, almost making me fall on him. I leaned on to him for support. He was looking directly into my eyes. Something changed.
He was about to say something but his mom shouted for us to have some food. We all wolfed down the crisps and orange juice and resumed our game. It was my turn to be the seeker. After counting till 100, I quietly moved around. The twins were the first to be caught, followed by Lara. Only Zane was left. I searched for him everywhere but couldn't find him. Suddenly, it struck me that he must have hidden in the attic.
I went there to find him. It was pitch dark and I couldn't see a thing. I bumped into something. A warm, muscular body which embraced me as soon as I touched him. "Zane?" "Shh..." His lips were close to my ears. I felt a jolt of electricity flow through me. His lips traced my ears and then my cheeks and then...
"IS HE THERE?" Lara shouted beneath us. "UH... UH... I THINK SO!" I screamed in panic. "Oh, she caught me!" Zane shouted and then led me out of the attic. The twins got bored of hide and seek after that round, so we took photos and chatted for a little while.
***
The last time I met Zane was when he came to collect my old books from my house. He was at my house for 5 minutes only, but those 5 minutes meant the world to me. Why? Because he confessed that he had a crush on me for 3 months then.
"Kimora, there's something I need to tell you privately." "What is it?" I asked after dragging him to my room. "Kim, see, I know it's late and I should have said it before, but I really like you and I can't get you out of my head. You're the only girl whom I've loved this deeply. I know you're going and so I won't ask you to be my girlfriend because that's stupidity, but if I had a chance, I'd have proposed you."
I didn't know how to react when he said this. The books in my hand almost fell to the floor. Zane continued, " I know you like me too. But maybe, being together... it wasn't meant for us. I don't know why I wanted to tell you this badly but it feels better now that you know."
"Zane, I like you a lot. I wish I had more time together but - " "Eventually, you had to go. So go. I just wanted to confess my feelings for you so that I had no regrets." He picked up the books from my arms and walked off to his car without saying goodbye. And that was the last time he and I talked to each other.
A/N: There was a guy in my life whose name wasn't Zane but he behaved like him. Yes, the idea of Zane is inspired by that guy. He never confessed to me that he liked me but I knew. Don't ask me how - it was just a feeling. A very strong one. I never talked to him again after our last meeting.
YOU ARE READING
Love Escape ✔️
Teen Fiction"Were you scared?" she asked as our foreheads collided together. I shook my head no. I have to act brave and masculine, right? "No. You're lying," she said as she wiped tears off my cheeks and showed me her wet fingers. Wait, I was crying? "I didn'...
