Hidden Destiny- Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Forging On

Thankfully for Roselle she would have a dreamless sleep that night.  Normally her dreams were alright, but when she was stressed out or upset she often had terrifying nightmares.  And those two words didn't even begin to describe how she felt after reading her mother's letter.  So as she woke fully rested after not having tossed and turned all night she would wonder if the day before had just been a nightmare.  However, that thought would be quickly proved wrong as she noticed that in the night she had moved, and so had Zach.  When she opened her dark emerald eyes she was in for a surprise as she found Zach's face mere inches from hers and his arm wrapped loosely over her.  Swallowing hard she tried to think of the best way to slip out of his arm without waking him up. Roselle didn't want him to wake up with her so close to him. A bright blush colored her cheeks as she thought about being so close to him and how nice it felt to be held by him.  Unable to help herself, Roselle studied his face in repose from his forehead to chin.  It was hard for her to believe she was that close to such an attractive boy.

After a few moments of her silent admiration of his features she was about to try and move, but before she could Zach yawned and stretched out his arms.  Taken aback her eyes widened as she froze in place.  His eyes opened to show his gorgeous dark blues as his mouth closed from yawning, before he blinked rapidly at waking up to Roselle being so close.  At first he seemed confused to see her there, but as he fully woke up it passed.

"Ah, good morning Roselle," Zach greeted her as he smiled a little and propped himself up on an elbow.  Roselle backed up a little and sat up, pulling the blanket up around her.

"Morning," She squeaked out the word as she blushed brightly and looked down to her hands.  Having him wake up to her really close to him was embarrassing for her as she wondered if he thought that she had been the one to get closer to him.  Although from what she could gather they both had moved.

"Sorry about that, I guess I still like to cuddle up to things in my sleep," Zach gave a soft laugh as he spoke and Roselle could've sworn that she saw a light blush in his cheeks.  However she wouldn't get any longer to check if she saw correctly as the turning of the doorknob caught her ear.

Suddenly the door swung open as a person stepped inside Zach's room.  He was a tall person that looked a lot like Zach and a pair of black rabbit's ears as well.  A wide grin sat on his face as he walked in.

"Zach it's –" The man started to say something to Zach before spotting Roselle sitting up next to him and with a blanket over her, cutting himself off then.   She thought that he would get mad for sure and Zach would be in trouble for having had her over, but to her surprise all the man did was burst out laughing.

"Dad! I told you to knock before entering!" Zach seemed completely unconcerned with the fact that his father had just come across his son in bed with a girl, even if they were fully dressed. He seemed more perturbed about his invasion of privacy more than anything.  Roselle would just look confused as she sat there, clutching the blanket she had used.

"And I thought I would never see the day you had a girl in bed Zachary!" His father just grinned as he went on, ignoring Zach's words about knocking.  At that time Zach would blush brightly and rolled his eyes.  Roselle only managed to stare at him in stunned amazement.  A father that encouraged their son to be sexually active?  That was definitely new to her.

"It's not what you think dad; she just needed a place to stay for the night and refused to let me sleep on the floor.  And of course I couldn't let her sleep down there either.  I'm not going be like that," Zach's voice took on a weary sound as he explained what had happened, making her think that this was not the first time the subject had been brought up.

"But it's perfectly fine for you too and is normal Zach!  You need to go out there and sow your wild oats as long as you do it safely!" His father went on about it as he leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"Dad, I don't know how many times I told you, I don't want to be like that.  I'm not going to sleep with just anyone!  So just drop it please! This is why I don't ever bring Tamako to the house," Zach glared at his dad as he rolled over to sit up.  Hearing Zach mention Tamako's name, Roselle would wonder who she was and if she was his girlfriend.  Not that she thought she had any chance, for who knew what was going to happen from that day forward, but she couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment that welled up in her.  Of course she said nothing as she continued watching the father and son.

"Ok, ok!  I give, for now. So who's your friend?" As his father gave in to Zach's wish not to continue on the subject, the focus turned to Roselle.  She didn't know why but she was suddenly so shy that her mouth dried out and she couldn't bring up enough courage to introduce herself.

"This is Roselle.  I just met her last night at the park, which was where she was going to sleep if I hadn't brought her home.  I didn't think it would be very nice of me to just leave her like that," Zach informed his dad without telling him the reason why she'd been in the park in the first place.  His father nodded at what he was told before turning his gaze on Roselle, giving her a smile.

"It's nice to meet you Roselle.  I'm Charles Reino and as you have no doubt guessed by now, I'm Zachary's father," He gave her a warm smile as he introduced himself from the door way.  Although from what she'd seen he was a bit strange, she did think he was a very warm person.  

"It's nice to meet you too," Roselle smiled a little as she spoke, her voice soft and timid so it was a little hard to hear her.  Charles chuckled softly as he heard her bashful words.  Even though it turned out to be the opposite of what he had thought, he didn't have a problem with the girl.  In fact he was glad his son had made another friend considering he didn't have many.

"Anyways Zach, it's getting close to when you have to be at school so you'll want to start getting ready.   I assume you'll be getting a ride with us Roselle?" He reminded Zach about having school that day and then turned to Roselle to see if she would be going with them to the school. Zach just nodded and slipped off his bed as he started gathering some stuff up, although he did stop at his father's question to Roselle.  He was very interested in seeing her reaction and what she said.

"Um, actually I just arrived in town yesterday.  I don't know if I'm even registered at the school," Roselle admitted, feeling ashamed about that fact.  She really didn't know what Zach's father would think when she told him that, and if he would just kick her out.  Charles blinked at what she said, a little taken aback as he was sure she was definitely still school aged.  He didn't intend on kicking her out or anything like that, but it was certainly odd to him that she did just arrive in town and didn't have a place to spend the night.   Silent for a moment he studied Zach's friend, and noticed that she didn't seem to be comfortable and so wouldn't ask her what was going on.

"Alright, why don't you come with us anyways and we'll see if you are.  If you are registered at the school, Zach will be able to show you around," His words would make Roselle lift her head up as she blinked at him, stunned by how he didn't try to force her story out of her and just offered to help.  It really felt nice to her to have someone be so kind to her.  

"O-ok," Roselle murmured in reply and nodded her head.  Pleased, Charles nodded and looked to his son.

"I'll meet you two upstairs.  If you want breakfast you won't have time to fool around," He got in a last playful jab as he turned and left Zach's room, closing the door behind him.  Zach let out an exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes at his father's words before turning to Roselle who was still hiding behind the blanket with a red face.

"Sorry about him Roselle.  My dad has this idea that I should get that kind of stuff out of my system as a teenager and so when I do settle down I know how to please my girl.  But honestly I don't want to be like that," Zach apologized for his father's behavior as he confided in her about how he really didn't want to do so.  She nodded to him as she pulled back his blanket and stood up, giving a stretch to her tired muscles.  Watching Zack packing up his bag and such for going to school she wondered what to expect.

"What's your school like?" She asked him curiously as she sat down again on his bed, but at the end where her bags sat on the floor.  Leaning over she unzipped one of her bags, digging around a moment before she pulled out her hairbrush and brought it out to brush out her hair.

"Hmm, well I guess I'd say it's actually really big since it has every grade and is the only school in town.  In fact it even has some housing on grounds for teachers or older students I've heard.  Maybe we can get you a place there to stay?  I mean since you have to wait for your dad and all, and if he does live in town that'd be where you'll go," Zach mused as she spoke, telling her about how large the school was.  As he remembered about the on campus grounds the idea occurred to him about her staying there, probably the best idea for her.

"Maybe," Roselle agreed with him slightly, nodding her head once she finished brushing out her hair and placed her brush back in her bag.  She was still lost in the whirlwind of all the problems that had happened to her in the last two days.  Hoping that things would get better is pretty much all she knew at the moment.

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Zach reassured her with that self-assured smile of his that never failed to stop Roselle from blushing lightly.  For the first time since they'd met the night before, she returned his smile with a bright one of her own.  Roselle turned away from Zach then to zip up her bag and gather the two of them up right after and wouldn't see the soft surprise on his face.  It was his turn to blush, although he did hide it by turning around and closing up his backpack that he slung over his shoulder when done.  Once they both had their things Zach led her up the stairs to the first floor where his father waited for them.  

Zach first led Roselle to the front hall that they had entered into the night before for them to put their bags down there and then they went into the kitchen.  Roselle would be surprised when they walked into the kitchen to see the table laid out with cutlery and a full breakfast served for each of them.  Zach of course was used to this sort of thing so just walked in to sit himself down at what was his usual seat.  She hesitated a moment as she took it all in and Zach gave her a questioning look.  Seeing that she smiled sheepishly as she started again and meekly took a seat that she hoped wasn't Charles'.

"Hope you like the breakfast I made for you guys," Charles commented as he appeared in the kitchen, coming to sit down across from them both and pouring himself a cup of coffee.  As he had downstairs, he wore a large grin meaning that he meant it positively.  Picking up his fork he began to serve himself pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage and toast.  

"You know I always do dad," Zach laughed as he followed his dad's lead, piling his plate full of food and pouring himself juice before he dug right in.  Roselle was still a little stunned, but once she had seen the two of them serving themselves and starting, she gained enough confidence to serve herself as well.

"It's wonderful.  Thank you very much," Roselle answered demurely, and truly thankful for the kindness shown to her.  She took some of everything, but took care to make sure that she didn't take enough to look greedy.  As she ate she looked around the kitchen, taking in the large room that looked like it had been designed to Charles' specifications.  It was a marvelous room.

Before long the three of them finished up everything that had been made to eat, and once they had cleaned up the table and after themselves they were in the front hall getting ready to leave. Roselle stood back and watched the two of them as they interacted together.  Despite the fact that they disagreed on such a large issue they got along greatly, joking around and laughing together.  Roselle found herself admiring their relationship at the same time that she envied it.  Turning away quickly she had wiped away the tears that formed in the corner of her eyes and threatened to spill over.  She didn't want to break down in front of them and ruin their time.

She trailed after them as they made their way out the door and to the car that his father drove.  It seemed like quite a nice car, and appeared fairly new with its flawless dark green surface.  A four door car there was certainly enough room for them all to sit on its chocolate colored seats.  As they reached the car Charles would pop up the trunk before Zach turned to her and grabbed her bags from her.

"Just let me get them Roselle, I'm going to put my backpack in there too," Zach chuckled as he saw that she was about to protest him taking her bags.  When he told her to let him get them she gave up and let him take them from her.  She waited by one of the back doors as she watched him go to the trunk and place their things in it, before closing it firmly.  

"The doors are unlocked, climb on in!" Charles leaned out the open front door of the car and announced that to her.  Because Roselle was watching Zach intently she would be startled by Charles voice, but she tried to cover it up by turning to him and smiling and nodding. Turning to the door she opened it and slid onto a seat in the back before closing the door behind her.  She relaxed a little in her seat and did up the seatbelt around herself, putting her hands nervously into her lap.  Thinking that Zach would sit up front with his father she would be a little amazed when he got in on the other side and sat in the back with her.  Blinking at him she was astounded that he sat in the back with her, but all he would do is flash her a smile that she returned hesitantly this time.  

"Don't worry.  I'm confident things will work out," Zach told her again to reassure her, probably taking her surprise as nervousness about going to the school and possibly starting there anew.  Roselle would smile a little wider at him this time and nodded. Although she stayed silent, she was grateful for how much Zach had helped her so far and his confidence. It gave her some courage that she needed.  The soft vibrations of the car moving made her turn her eyes to out the window to watch the scenery that they passed by.  Roselle couldn't help but wonder how things were going to turn out and what the day held for her as they made their way towards the school…