Chapter Ten
Wind could hear it again. Sarah and Taylor were fighting again. They were screaming at each other. Sarah was throwing things. It was worse than anything she’d heard them do ever before. She sat up, listening carefully, and tapped Zac. Zac’d been dozing lightly with a book lain out on his chest, and woke with a start when Wind tapped him.
“What is it?”
Wind hushed him.
“Listen, Zac.”
Zac shushed and listened to the screaming on the other side of the door.
“No, you know, they TOLD me you’d say this, and I didn’t believe them! I trusted you! You’re SO lying!”
Taylor’s voice was cracking from screaming so loudly at Sarah. Sarah recoiled, though.
“Then Aries told Wind that I was pregnant, and Wind told you otherwise just so you wouldn’t believe me! I cannot believe you would listen to Wind over me! The stupid bitch probably doesn’t even know what the word pregnant entails!”
Wind made a small, sharp noise like she’d been jabbed in the ribs with a wooden ruler. Her lip began to tremble, and Zac slid his arms around her.
“Shh…not now, sweetie, don’t cry. It’s not worth it.”
Wind rested her forehead at the base of his neck and the two were silent, eavesdropping on a conversation that wasn’t meant to not be eavesdropped on.
“No, Sarah. No. Never. I can’t believe you. You have abused her so badly since the day you arrived that it’s all I can do to not kick your ass! You gave your friend her ticket, you called her a stupid whore for making me feel better, you PUNCHED her, and now you’re calling her a stupid liar! The girl wouldn’t hurt a FLY!”
There was a lull in the conversation, then the slamming of a door. Apparently one of the two were sleeping on the couch tonight.
Zac looked at Wind.
“Are you okay?”
Wind nodded a little, but did nothing more. Zac sighed a little and stroked her hair.
“Everything’s going to be alright,” Wind whispered softly, to a familiar melody. Zac nodded.
“Yeah…it is. I promise. Taylor knows now. Hey…here. You should get back to sleep.”
Wind nodded and sighed a little.
“Zac…will…will you sing to me?”
She looked up at him with soft eyes and Zac knew he couldn’t say no.
“Sure…what?”
“Lullaby.”
Zac chuckled a little.
“Somehow I knew you were going to say that.” He let Wind lay back down, then curled up beside her with his arms around her. “She grew up with the children of the stars… her parents threw big parties, and everyone was there…” Wind’s quickly onsetting sleep distorted her hearing, and she only caught slips of the song before she fell asleep. “…Sonny and Cher…everything’s gonna be alright…rockabye…be a whole lot prettier if she smiled once in a while…but even her smile looks like a frown…she’s seen her share of devils in this angel town… everything’s gonna be alright, rockabye…”
Zac whispered the last line of the song into her hair, and watched her eyes close. She mercifully fell asleep, breathing deeply and nuzzling her face into his neck.
“Everything’s gonna be alright…I promise.”
“Look left.”
They all looked left.
“Look right.”
They all looked right.
“Jump.”
Zac stopped.
“How high?”
The photographer’s head snapped up.
“Pretty damned high, Zac, “ she snapped in a harsh New York accent. “Because if you don’t I’ll make you.”
Zac jumped. The photographer took about twenty more shots, then turned the camera off.
“Alright, boys, that’s it for today. Have a nice day.”
Walker appeared, herding Aries, Wind, and Sarah off a couch in the corner and got the boys together.
“Okay, folks. Canada’s our next stop, we’ve got to get to Montreal, Charlottetown, Saskatoon, Vancouver, and finally Toronto.”
“Home,” Wind whispered sadly. She missed home deeply. And this wasn’t the end of the tour, either, so they weren’t leaving the girls there when they were done. Zac heard her mumble it and slid an arm around her shoulders.
“I know, baby…I know you miss it.”
She looked up at Zac.
“It’s so pretty this time of year…I won’t get to see any of that until you’re done here.”
Zac sighed.
“We can leave you there when we get to Toronto, if you…”
“No. I’d miss you.”
Zac shrugged.
“Alright…but if you ever get homesick, I promise I’ll take you home.”
"No, wait, let's potentially assume there's a point to this. Go ahead, Ross."
- Ms. Stenhouse
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