Page 38 of Lost
“Best lookin’ nerd I’ve ever seen.” Chris closed the refrigerator, a new beer in hand. He winked at Lysander. “If you were a girl, I’d date you in a flash. So, ah…when’s your sister getting here?”
Before Zack had a chance to say anything, Lysander was grinning and saying, “Sorry, Uncle Chris. She’s a B-Savage fan girl.”
Brendan and Aaron both laughed, the former victorious. Chris looked disappointed; Zack was thankful to know it was for the fan girl comment rather than the fact that he wouldn’t have a chance at dating Dakota.
Chris shot him a half apologetic look, as if he could tell what the guitarist was thinking.
“We’re done for the day,” Zack told the two boys, “so whenever you’re ready, we’ll head off.”
Five minutes and several farewells later, they were back in the car and on their way to the Avery residence. Jack didn’t live too far from where Zack himself did. It was a good part of Mapleton Beach, with quaint little houses and a welcoming atmosphere. They found Jack’s place in the middle of it all, two storeys of red brick and a garden that looked like it could have used a little more tending. A car not dissimilar to Zack’s was parked in the driveway. A light-haired woman was just climbing out of it, handbag slung over one shoulder and a handful of files held tightly under the opposite arm. She looked up when they stopped outside of her house.
“My mom,” Jack said fondly. “She’s a real estate agent.”
He waved at her through the window.
“You won’t be in trouble for getting suspended, will you?” Lysander asked.
“Nah,” Jack assured him. “She knows what it’s like for me at school. …she’d probably thank you for it, actually.” He scooped up his school bag. “Thanks for the ride, Mr. Bennett.”
“Not a problem,” Zack replied. “It was nice meeting you, Jack.”
“And you. Call ya later, Columbus.”
Lysander waved. He and Zack watched Jack greet his mother with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before taking her files from her and following her into the house. Zack didn’t pull away until they were both safely inside.
“So you’re not mad?”
Zack glanced at his son. Now that they were alone, Lysander looked uneasy again. His hands gripped his knees tightly as he waited for an answer.
“I’m not mad,” Zack told him. “So you got into a fight — big deal. I used to do it all the time. I was suspended more times than I can even remember. And like you said, it was for a good reason.” He reached out to give the boy’s shoulder a squeeze. “If you’d called me, I would have come and held the kid down for you.”
He pulled into his own driveway and cut the car’s engine. In front of them, the lower half of their house was lit up — warm and welcoming.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay with it,” Lysander said as he grabbed his bag. “If I’d been suspended back home, no matter what the reason, Mom would have been furious.”
Mom would have been furious.
He climbed out of the car for the last time, leaving Zack momentarily alone so he could sit and wonder, for what must have been the hundredth time that week alone, whether or not he was doing this parenting thing right.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Is it okay if I go to a party tonight?”
Zack looked up from his phone, dark eyebrows raising into his hairline, and Lysander repressed the urge to groan. It had been stupid to ask. Of course he wasn’t going to be allowed a Saturday night out when he’d spent the latter half of the week being suspended from school. It was enough of a blessing that Zack hadn’t grounded him for it. Mom would have. Grounded himandmade him work his butt off at the hospital with her to make up for the lack of school. Why would he push his luck and ask to go to a party? He was an idiot. He opened his mouth to tell his father to forget he’d even asked.
But then Zack shrugged and said, “Sure.”
Georgia must have been just as surprised, because she lowered her book into her lap and gave Zack a stern look that rivalled the one Lysander knew his mother would have given him for asking. But Zack had already gone back to staring at his phone, caught up in reading a series of messages. Probably from the band.
Lysander looked to Georgia. He’d made an effort to spend time with her the day before, knowing that his relationship with her was one that definitely needed some work. He wasn’t a fool. He knew once the band had finished recording their new album, a tour wouldn’t be far behind. And with Zack gone, it would just be him and Georgia in the house. He wasn’t dreading it, but he wasn’t looking forward to it, either. He and his step-mother still had a long way to go before then. She’d seemed happy enough to have him join her for a little lunch outing and an afternoon movie.
But now she was looking at him with indecision on her face. She wanted to tell him no, he realised. To override Zack. To act like his mother. Lysander braced himself for it.
“Just don’t be too late,” she said instead.
Lysander nodded.
Melinda Farah’s party was in full swing by the time he and Jack showed up. Her house, Lysander was amazed to see, was even bigger than Zack’s, with wide, open windows and a perfectly manicured front garden. She was nowhere to be found when they entered her house. They were greeted instead by the smell of alcohol and a booming song that Lysander wasn’t familiar with, one that had people dancing wherever they could find the space for it. He took his time to look around.
