The homecoming game was a day away. The last week flew by fast, nothing really eventful happening. Same with work. Though it was funny when Zeke ended up spilling a little of flour on us that was meant for breading the chicken content we use.
That was about the most eventful thing happening so far. Right now I was with my mother at a mall picking out some nice attire to wear tomorrow since it was a semi-formal dress code for the dance.
It didn't take long for me to find something. I wasn't a very picky person. Preferring things to be simple. My mother kept insisting on this bright pink dress, but I passed on it because I ended up finding a really nice emerald green coloured dress. It went a little below the knees, had a heart line bodice that had thin straps. It was made out of a soft material, nothing that would scratch me if I decided to move around and dance. The dress had a nice green bow on the front near the waist. Giving definition to my waist.
I found simple black flats and a simple black clutch. I was a simple girl. Plus I didn't really feel like trying to stand out too much. For both Zeke's and my own sake.
My mother and I decided to go to the food court to get something for lunch. All we purchased was some pizza. And a few drinks. Pepsi for her, and Dr. Pepper for myself. Then we seated ourselves at one of the tables in the cafeteria. My blonde haired mother with noticeable graying hair talked to me about some random things like where I could get my nails done if I wanted.
I loved my mother no doubt, but, sometimes she's overbearing on the whole extremely feminine topic. I get it, she's excited for me and highly supportive of my active side. Sometimes I know my mom feels she misses out on the things that a lot of moms and daughters do together. So I invited her out to help me today.
It can be fun, so I'm just letting my mother enjoy herself with this bonding time. Which I can say I needed too. I could have easily gone by myself to get a dress but, knowing my mother would have felt left out so of course, I brought her to help. We agreed that if I get to pick the dress, she gets to choose what to do with my hair and other things she thought were necessary. As long as it wasn't going over the top. Either way, my mom was overjoyed that she got to do some girly crap with me. I was happy too.
I was beginning to zone my mother out once she began talking about how one of her friends just recently gone to Australia or something of the sorts. Focusing on a male sitting alone at another table not too far from here. Wearing an all too familiar red hoodie. Who had his head down on his arms. I could see the wires that formed a pair of earbuds.
"Pattie. Are you listening?" My mother asked while waving her hand in front of my face. Breaking me from zoning out. I blinked a few times and watched her look back at what I was starting at. More like who I was staring at.
"Oh, sorry mom. I just zoned out a little, that's all." I said.
"Who's the boy in the hoodie you've been staring at? Do you know him?" She asked excitedly, wiggling her eyebrows.
I shook my head at how my mother's eagerness was going to become even more hyper after what I'm about to tell her. "Yeah, I am pretty sure I know who that is. That's Zeke Jensen. The boy who I just so happened to ask to go to homecoming with me." I whispered to her,
"Really!?" My mom squealed loudly. It was loud enough to catch everyone's attention in the cafeteria. Including Zeke's, even with music blasting from his earbuds. I physically hunch into a ball. Meeting eye contact with him. He looked confused at first. Zeke immediately recognized me, giving me a small, apologetic smile. Knowing I felt embarrassed by my mother's sudden outburst.
"Pattie! Go invite him over! I want to meet the lucky guy who is the date of my daughter. Shoo!" My mother attempted to be a little quieter at least and rushed me out of my seat.
My face heated with embarrassment. I pretty much just waddled over to the shaggy-haired boy with one eye covered with his long bangs. I was at his table, and I nervously pushed my hair behind one of my ears. And all that came out was a squeaky little 'hello'.
He gave me a small smirk, while leaning his head to the side, nodding for amusement. "Well, hello to you too. You've got quite the spontaneous mom there. Compared to you, little wallflower."
"Yeah, I know. I'm also over here because my mom noticed that I was staring in your direction. After I noticed you were here too. That grungy hoodie can be spotted a mile away. My mom kinda knows that you're attending homecoming with me. She is kind of forcing me to introduce you to her. If you wouldn't mind of course." I asked shyly.
Zeke just shook his head a little, amused. "Don't diss the sweater. This is my statement piece. Plus, I kind of figured.. So, sure. Got nothing better to do and I don't think I want to make even more of a scene for you." He whispered while chuckling at me. I only rolled my eyes to his response.
I waved him over as I left to go back to my table and Zeke slowly raised out of his seat. He had hunched over, looking to be in pain. Holding his stomach for a second, then regained his strength and walked over.
"Are you ok? It looked like your body was going to give out." I pondered.
"I'm fine, I just slept in a weird manner last night that my body didn't like. Putting strain on me. Nothing to get your little heart concerned about." He said with a soft tone.
"Ok, just making sure because I do care about you. I've been pretty concerned about you lately." I reveal. Zeke smiled sadly while his one eye that appeared behind his hair, was washed over with emotion.
"That's kind of you. Honestly. Just, you don't need to worry too much about me. Sometimes people have a crappy time. I'm going through that right now, but it'll be dealt with in time. Just remember, I'm the clumsy guy who'll always pick himself back on his feet." Zeke denoted. Confessing that he's been having some rough times lately.
"Well, even the strongest people need someone to lean on. If you need me, I'm here for you. As long as you feel decent then I guess I'll lay off a little. I hope your hard times get swept away soon."
"Thanks for that Pats." Zeke rejoiced.
We walked even closer to the table and saw the excited look on her face. "Hi, mom. This is Zeke Jensen. Zeke, this is my mother." I introduced myself.
"Hello, Mrs. Clarence. I've heard a lot of nice things about you. You have a great daughter." Zeke verified politely.
"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest thing. You can call me Lorna. Thank you very much for attending the homecoming dance with Pattie tomorrow. She needs a nice friend like you. You need to keep this boy." My mom said to Zeke. Then she waved him closer to whisper something to him which I managed to catch some of it.
"She's never really had any proper friends, so knowing that there's someone willing to befriend my daughter is all we could ask for. She's been hurt before yet her heart is still so big. I can tell you're a good person. You seem like a genuine boy. Unlike a lot of the hormonal teen boys, there are these days. You look like you need a good friend too.
I felt my privacy had been violated as my mom told Zeke that. Even now, Zeke and I have never really confirmed that we were friends. Just allies I could say. I did personally consider Zeke a friend in my eyes.
"Well, I'm glad that I've been able to come across Pattie to fill in that role then. She's been a pretty good friend towards me too. Knowing how to get me to laugh and all." Zeke added.
"I'm glad that you two can help each other out. Looks like the both of you could both need it. You two go run along for a bit. Pattie, text me in a few hours." My mom suggested to both of us.
"Thanks, mom. I'll keep in touch. I promise." I cooked happily.
"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here you crazy kids." Was all she said. Zeke and I walked away from her table. Zeke managed to keep up with me. Since I was rather a fast walker for my size.
"So, what do you want to do? With this sudden hang out your lovely mother planted on us?" Zeke wondered. That was right, I didn't even know if Zeke even wanted to hang out or can. It's one thing to invite him over for a quick moment to introduce him to someone.
"My apologies. I didn't even get the chance to ask if you ever wanted to "hang" out. If you don't I completely understand. I don't want you to feel pressured by my mom. She's pushy for sure." I babbled on.
"Pattie, you can relax. It's completely fine. I had nothing planned. Sure, it was last minute but, it's not affecting me in any way. She meant well and I can appreciate that. I figured it's time to actually socialize like normal friends do, am I right?" He reassured me. I nodded in agreement. My heart swelled with warmth as he confirmed again that we were indeed friends.
I stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out something interesting for the two of us to do, then it came to me. "Why don't we go to that arcade that's on level three? Could be fun to try to beat your butt at Pacman." I suggested. Zeke looked rather excited at my idea.
"That's a great idea Pats!"
"Then let's go!"
I took a hold of Zeke's hand and began running throughout the mall, dragging an off guard Zeke with him. He probably thought I was crazy. Especially due to an introverted person running through the mall, and gaining attention by others. We ran to the escalators and noticed no one was above us, so I dragged a shocked looking Zeke up the escalators to the third level of the mall. We turned to the left to get out of the way in case people were trying to get off it. Coming to a stop, both of us hunched over, panting.
"I think I did all the exercise I need for the year," Zeke stated breathlessly. I just laughed at his goofy complaint.
"Sorry about that. I had a sudden burst of adrenaline." I apologized. Zeke just waved my apology off.
"It's alright. You apologize too much. It was within the moment. And was rather fun, to be honest. I'm just not a very active person. Compared to you, I'm a lazy sack of potatoes. My back and stomach are tender, so running wasn't the best, but I don't care. Don't apologize for that either Pattie." He chuckled and turned to me, grinning. His long fringe was pushed to the side due to wind pushing in his face. It revealed his green eyes.
And something else which made sense to why he tried to use his hair like a curtain. His right eye had dark purple and brown bruising underneath. With a bit of swelling. It was almost healed but, nothing less, still a black eye. Above his brow was a little cut. It looked like he had been punched by someone.
I cover my mouth with both my hands. Shocked by this discovery. Zeke's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. I walked over a little closer and moved some more of his hair out of the way. Instantly making him scurry away from my touch. Now understanding why I was shocked.
"What do you think you're doing?" Zeke yelped as I touched his wound. Clearing tender to the touch still. His defence mode came forward as I put him on the spot.
"I'm sorry Zeke. I didn't mean to anger you. Or hurt you. I noticed you had a black eye and that would bring anyone to worry. I shouldn't have touched your face but, all I could think about was examining it and the severity. Did someone do this to you?" I interrogated more.
Zeke became even more defensive. "No one did anything to me!"
He had silenced himself and tried to become unnoticeable with the surrounding people. While pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down. Disliking any wandering eyes. Zeke became discreet with his speaking. It was rather chilling at how quickly he became silenced.
"I was just being accident-prone like usual with my bicycle ok?"
Zeke looked conflicted with himself. Probably due to some of the troubling things in his private life. Now he was having a nosy female annoying him with her worrying. I felt like there was something more to his troubles, but I couldn't figure out what it could be. Choosing to leave him alone for now was the best option. It was too public to be interrogating him. Knowing this upsets him, and I don't want to make him even more distressed. Previously Zeke had stated he was good at handling himself. Possibly too well.
"I'm sorry for always annoying you with my concerns. Something isn't adding up with you lately. It's gotten me worried about your well being. If you got that black eye from a bike accident like you said then that's what happened. I won't pester you any more about it." My throat went dry. Knowing I probably pushed too far.
I slipped my hands into my pocket and took a couple of steps away from Zeke. Feeling discouraged inside.
"I was always that girl who had been left out and pushed to the side growing up because I was overbearing with worry and no one likes a worrier. I got taken advantage of and have been manipulated because I just feel everything. Trying my hardest whatever I could to impress people. Being what they wanted me to be. I wasn't authentic to myself as a person. Either way, I always got hurt in the end. I guess I don't really know how to interact with others well." Confessing to him, as he was somewhat facing his back to me. Once a social outcast, always a lonely one. I told myself.
My feet drifted away from where I was standing, knowing it was just better if I left him alone. While staring at the white tiles of the mall floor, I was only about five feet away before I got yanked back by someone's hand. I wasn't even the littlest bit startled because I knew who it was. I was only taken back.
"Pats, wait. I'm sorry for lashing out at you. I'm just not used to people being so interested in what goes around in my world that I've kinda built a wall around myself. You have a generous heart that tries to bring some light to people. You just like helping people. And that's an excellent trait to have. I'm sorry for being aggressive when you ask how I am. Don't blame yourself and don't shut that down because of one idiot. More like a bunch of them for not giving a chance to know you. Or appreciating you. I'm sorry you've been hurt before, and for me hurting you now. The stuff I'm dealing with is just a bit much for others to handle and I'm doing what I can fix that. You don't need to worry too much about me. I'd still really love to have your company today. And if you're still up for it, the homecoming." Zeke choked a bit, feeling regret for his sudden mood.
I could see it in his green eyes filled with sadness. More than I've usually seen. His hair was pushed up so I could see both eyes. One with normal skin and the other with purples, browns, and blues. His bushy eyebrows were snug together, giving a really sincere sad expression. An apologetic one that was. Zeke obviously needed a friend too. It just spoke out of him, no words needed. So I nodded in agreement
. "Sure. I'd love to still hang out with you today and tomorrow evening. I accept your apology. Yet again, I'm still sorry. I'll lay off a little more, but not completely because that is just how I am." I cooed, feeling lighter in the heart.
"Thanks. And don't be sorry. How about we go and I take that bet to kick your ass at retro video games huh?" Zeke suggested.
"Oh, you're so on. Don't get angry when I beat your guy ego so badly that even ice won't help the burn." I brag. With that he makes a head start, dashing into the arcade, while I follow after.
Knowing that both of our hearts had been lifted a little by troubles and secrets that we both held. The only major thing the two of us had to deal with was going to an extremely social event at school tomorrow. It was a nice distraction from dealing with our own deeper, inner struggles. At least for a little while, they were at bay.