Characters: Zayne and April Setting: Tuesday, January 16, 2018, late afternoon, April’s place Summary: Planning, walking and food Rating: low
April had been hiding out for a while now. Hearing about all the bad things that happened on New Year’s made her afraid of what was happening out on the island. And being afraid like that had turned her little for too long. Which made her tired. So tired that she slept for days, and when she woke up, she was old. April did not like that much at all, but she couldn’t seem to find a way to shake it. So she’d gone to the support meeting on Monday, hoping that being there around nice people would make her feel better so that she could get back to herself. It hadn’t worked.
Sitting home now, April was pouting and trying not to worry too much. She would change back to her usual self sooner or later, right? She’d never been stuck for a long time before. That she could remember. That was the worst part of this. If she could remember how this whole age thing worked, then she wouldn’t be so upset about it. So for now, she hid away at home again, hoping things would get better soon. Because this was the pits.
Zayne wanted to check in with April. He managed to speak to her briefly at the meeting but there was a lot going on and he hadn’t been able to talk as long as he wanted to. So he made special drinks for them and headed over to April’s. He knocked on her door, hoping she was home. He wondered if she had changed back yet. It was a bit weird talking to differently aged April because it looked like someone else but she was still April and he would keep that in mind. He knocked again.
Checking the peep hole first, April opened the door and smiled seeing her friend. Stepping aside to let him in, she looked at what he’d brought curiously. “Hi! What’s all that?”
Zayne stepped into her home and smiled, “Super special hot chocolate? Whipped cream, peppermint and caramel. Plus I made it with real chocolate, not the any powdery stuff. So how are you?” He pulled the drink out of the tray and offered it her.
Closing the door behind him, April smiled brightly and took the offered cup. “That does sound super special. Thank you! It smells delicious.” Leading Zayne further inside, she brought him to the living room so that they could sit and talk. “I’m okay, how are you?”
Zayne smiled again and said, “Let me know if you like it. I’ll bring you some more often then. Or I’ll keep trying different things.” He followed her into the living room and took a seat. He took the lid off his drink and blew on it, “I’m good. Thinking a lot about last night. I didn’t get to talk to you much. Did you stay long?”
April shrugged. She was never really good at time unless she was specifically paying attention Which she wasn’t. “I don’t know? I know I left when a lot of other people did, I didn’t want to be walking outside alone.” April knew she could have asked someone to walk with her, but she didn’t want to be a pain. “It was nice of you to do all that, I think some people liked it.”
“That’s understandable,” Zayne took a sip of his drink, “I was talking with a friend and we were saying that we should be walking in pairs, or bigger groups, when we go out. It’s a sad reality but,” Zayne shook his head, “I didn’t come here to be a downer. I wanted to see how you were doing. Hang out. I missed you.” He smiled softly to her.
April nodded in agreement, carefully tasting her drink. She smiled, liking it. “That’s a good idea, but sometimes people don’t know who to ask to walk with.” She just left it at that, drinking more of her hot chocolate. “I missed you too! How is everything?”
“You can always walk with me,” Zayne offered. He knew also Remy and Thursday were good people to walk with too. But that was a good thought too. Could they do a sign up? A group walk around or something? He would think on that later. He took another sip of his drink.
“Everything is good,” Zayne said, thinking of Remy for a moment, “Busy lately,” he paused, “You still just hanging out here lately?”
April nodded a little and gave a small smile. “I figured it’s safe in here, even if it’s kind of lonely and boring a lot of time. Better than getting hurt or in trouble or something, right?”
This was why they needed support. He put his drink down and reached over and hugged April.
“I know that makes sense but you can’t keep hiding,” Zayne said, “We should go out. I’m not sure what we can do exactly. But we need to go outside and remember that there are good things out there.”
April returned the hug warmly, because hugs. Sitting back, she listened to Zayne and nodded a little. “I guess you’re right. I don’t like sitting in here by myself, it’s not fun or nice. Did you know a lot of people who went to that meeting?”
“Maybe we can do a group thing? You’ll get to meet new people and it will be fun,” Zayne suggested. He paused and shook his head, “Not really but I introduced myself to everyone. I wanted everyone to feel welcomed. I really hoped I did.”
April nodded and smiled again. “I think you did a good job. I bet everyone felt welcome and safe, just like you hoped. You’re so nice and you did so much to help, I don’t know why they wouldn’t. But a group thing sounds like a good idea too.”
“I guess the real test is if people want to come back,” Zayne said, “I’m going to keep trying even if they don’t. I just… well, I want us to all feel safe and I know this island makes it hard. So what do you think we should do for an outing? Movie? Or something else?”
April nodded and shrugged. “A movie sounds fun. I’m not really good at planning things or knowing what people like. But, there isn’t a lot to do around here, so probably anything together would be better than just staying by ourselves? I don’t know.” April didn’t thinks he was very good at ideas.
“I wouldn’t count those ideas out,” Zayne said. He almost asked her what she liked to do back home but then he remembered. “Movie marathon maybe? But I feel like we should get out. Not hide up, you know?” He smiled softly, “I wish there was live music here. I miss seeing live bands.”
April thought about it and then shrugged. “I bet there’s probably people here who could play live music. You could do that at the coffee shop? Have people come and play things?” April didn’t really get the concept of open mic night, but she was pretty sure it was a thing and she hadn’t just made it up.
Zayne grinned, “That sounds really awesome. I should try that.” He would probably want to play. He had been wanting to play a lot more lately. He needed to turn that creativity to his drawings. That was better. Zayne laughed, “Maybe we need to close the shop for a night and do dance party.”
April smiled brightly. “That sounds like a lot of fun, I bet people would like that. Dancing is fun, right? And there can be music, it would be nice.”
“Dancing is a lot of fun,” Zayne said. He reached for his drink and took a drink, “Can you imagine if there was a dance club on the island? I bet a lot of people would love it. Plus a safe way to burn of energy.” He gave himself a shake, “I’m daydreaming. What else can we do? Board game nights? Monopoly? Sorry? Card games? I’m terrible at card games. My oldest sister always tried to teach me how to play poker. I wasn’t good at it.”
April smiled, she wasn’t sure if dancing was fun because she hadn’t done it that she could remember. But it sounded fun, and like something that would make people feel happy, if even for a little bit. “I don’t know how to play any of those games, but I bet someone does and can teach us.”
Zayne really shouldn’t be surprised at that reveal but he still was. He tipped his head back and thought, “Don’t think I owe any of those but I’m going to have to order them. Maybe the shop can do it and we can have game night.” He smiled to April, “You are giving me all the ideas tonight. Thank you for that.”
April drank more of her hot chocolate and smiled, glad to have helped in some way. Although she also thought that Zayne was just being nice to her. “You’re welcome, I’d like to help but I’m not very good at most things.”
Zayne was not just being nice. He shook his head and said, “I don’t believe that. I’m sure you are good at lots of things, we’ll just have to find it. But first things first, we need to get you out of this house. Not an exciting group adventure, but do you want to go out for a walk?”
April hesitated a moment before nodding. “Okay.” She was still nervous about going outside, but walking with Zayne wouldn’t be quite as scary. Plus it was daytime, so maybe bad things wouldn’t be happening in the daylight.
Zayne stood up and offered a hand to April before grabbing his drink. He took a sip. They could always swing by the shop and get a refill.
“I can’t wait until spring comes,” Zayne said once they were outside, “I always loved spring the best. Things warmed up. You can get away without a coat. The days are longer…” he trailed off, with a small smile.
April stood and followed as she took the offered hand. Bringing her cup along with her coat, she nodded in agreement. “I don’t remember much of spring, I was inside all the time and I didn’t have a window. But it sounds very nice, I can’t wait to see it.”
Zayne felt like he said the wrong thing completely. He nodded and said, “It is wonderful. I also like fall. The leaves, the smell. I’m going to stop gashing about the weather now. Though one more thing? I wish we had snow here. If it’s going to be chilly, I want snow.”
April smiled and looked to Zayne. “Snow sounds like it would be nice. Is it not cold enough to snow? I don’t know how the weather works. I would like to see snow, and to build a snowman, maybe. But that sounds like it could be hard to do.”
“It needs to be around freezing,” Zayne said, “But I’m with you. Maybe if we can ever leave, we can go up north and play in the snow there. We can build a snowman and a snow fort and everything else. Then go for a fireplace and warm up. Oh! We can go skiing too! I’ve always wanted to do that.”
April looked around carefully as they walked, sipping from her almost empty cup. “That sounds nice. Although I don’t think I know what skiiing is, so I probably don’t know how to do it. But I would like to learn.”
“It’s fun. I think,” Zayne said, “I’ve never been. My mother thought it was too dangerous and she didn’t want me to get hurt.” He shrugged. He tried to ignore the pain that flickered through him at the mention of his mom, “What about ice skating? We could try that too. Maybe.” He could keep dreaming, right?
April noticed the brief look on Zayne’s face and frowned. “Are you okay? You look sad.” April didn’t like it when people were sad, but it was worse when it was a friend. She wanted to make Zayne feel better.
“I miss my mom. A bit. We had a… hard relationship. We always had,” Zayne said with a shrug, “It’s hard sometimes.” He put a smile on, trying to shrug it off. His family was always complicated.
April tilted her head curiously as she watched Zayne. Without hesitation, she gave him a quick hug, hoping that would help a little. “Are you allowed to contact her while we’re here? I don’t know how things like that work, really.” After all, she’d never had a reason to look into it.
Zayne hugged her back and he shrugged, “I don’t know. I am trying to get in touch with my sister but I haven’t heard anything back,” he paused, “My Mom and I haven’t talked in several years. She had a very different idea of what I should do with my life and she didn’t listen when I said I didn’t want that. Or at least not the version she had planned out for me.”
Stepping back, April watched Zayne curiously. She wanted to ask him more about his family and his life before the island, but it seemed like a sore subject and she didn’t want to upset him any more. “Well, hopefully you can get in touch with one of them and talk to them again. It would probably be nice, right?”
Zayne smiled softly. It would be. It could be helpful too to their cause. He knew Dorothea never expected to hear from him again but this was different. They needed connection with the outside. Dorothea would be perfect for that.
“I hope so,” Zayne said, “I just need prayers on my side.”
April offered a small, hopeful smile and gave Zayne another hug. “Things will work out. You’re such a good person, good people should have good things.” It was just that simple to April, even though she knew that sometimes things didn’t work out so simply. She could still believe.
Zayne returned the hug. He always thought that too even though he knew it wasn’t true. Not always good things happened. He squeezed her shoulder and said, “Absolutely. That goes for you too. You get all the good things, April.”
April smiled a little and nodded. “I hope so.” April really didn’t know what to expect from things, so she didn’t try to think too much about it. It would be nice if things were good though.
Zayne glanced to April and asked, “Can I ask you a question? You don’t need to answer it if you don’t want to but,” he paused trying to figure out how to word it, “Do you know why you have aged? Or if there is a trigger for it?”
April frowned a little and then just shrugged. “I don’t know. I was little for a long time, like days, almost a week. I was stuck little, and then I got old and now I’m stuck this way. I hope it goes away soon, I don’t like it at all.”
Zayne wondered if it was emotional based. He wished he could do something. He looked down at his hands. They had these abilities and yet it felt like they had nothing at all. Diseases.
“If it helps, you look very wise,” Zayne said, “Maybe we need to bake cookies. It’s something normal and you enjoyed it. Maybe something normal will help.”
April wrinkled her nose at the ‘compliment’ but she knew Zayne was just trying to help. “Maybe, I don’t know. But before I got old, I slept for a long time, so when I do change back to usual I will probably be really really sleepy.”
“So I shouldn’t be too concerned if you sleep for a long while?” Zayne asked. “Or I’ll just bring you something with a lot of sugar to help you wake up.” He smiled to her. He hoped whatever it was, he hoped if she wanted to go back to herself, it would be soon.
April nodded with a little laugh. “Oh, and then when I wake up, I am super hungry. Like, more hungry than usual. And I am usually always hungry. But this is even more. So all the food is good, but I especially like the ones with sugar.”
“Sugar and food it is,” Zayne said, putting his arm around April and giving her a little squeeze, “Which that now has me thinking about pancakes. Or waffles.” He laughed. He was going to make himself hungry if he kept talking about food.
Smiling, April hugged Zayne a little. “Pancakes and waffles sound delicious. Oh, with strawberries and whipped cream, or blueberries. Or anything.”
“Then it’s a date,” Zayne promised. He would bring by all the food and drinks. He glanced to her, with a smile. Plus it would give them another chance to hang out and he didn’t want so much time to go between that.