Chapter Text
"Zeke!" Tina called as she raced through the halls of Huxley High School.
She came across the crowd of students and stopped, her heart racing in her chest. Her breathing stuttered looking at them, but she took a deep breath and kept pushing forward.
Even on her toes she couldn't see over the mass of bodies. Everyone was shouting and crowding around each other, and the noise was almost too much for Tina. It made her feel small and helpless, but she reminded herself that if she could just get through it then everything would be okay. It had to be okay. She elbowed through the crowd until she could just barely make out the red of his varsity jacket.
"Zeke!"
She yelled again as she burst through the last couple of students, but he didn't look at her.
"Stay down," was all he said.
The growl of his voice carried through the shouting and cheering around her and sent a shiver up her spine, but she ignored it. As the other students went wild she wondered how she even heard him over the mess. He wiped blood off his lip while glaring at the other boy, sprawled across the floor and clearly half conscious.
Content that he wasn't going anywhere, Zeke turned and trudged off. The crowd parted around him as he went, cheering and clapping him on the back as if he had won the Olympics. As Tina looked at the bruised form on the ground, she wondered how this was something to celebrate.
She thought about running after him.
She thought about checking on Jimmy Junior, just starting to come to his senses, but as the crowd surged around her she lost sight of him. The few teachers present were desperately trying to gain any control over the situation, and Tina had to act fast before she got caught in the middle of the storm.
She saw an opening and ran, just catching sight of Zeke turning down the hall. Her heart was in her throat as she watched him slip away.
She looked back over her shoulder, back at the chaos left in his wake. Even with the crowd beginning to disperse, the hall was packed with bodies.
I should check on Jimmy Junior, she thought he looked hurt.
Her feet carried her forward until she was sprinting down the hall. Running in the halls was against the rules, but she didn't care right now. She didn't know why, but she needed to reach him.
She thrust an arm out and barely caught the sleeve of his letterman as he opened the school doors.
"Zeke!" She gasped, breathless from the run.
A sudden burst of cold air stung her face. She blinked back tears as he turned to look at her, a deep scowl set in his jaw.
She had her words mapped out in her head. She knew exactly what she would say to him, to chew him out for beating up Jimmy, but the look in his eyes made her forget it all.
His mouth was set into a frown and his brow was furrowed. He was pissed, that much was obvious, but she couldn't see it. As he looked at her, his eyes were soft.
From this close she could make out the greens and browns and oranges in his eyes that blended together to make hazel. Her mind went blank as she noticed how well the amber parts of his eyes matched the glow of his curly hair in the sun.
She blinked up at him, eyes burning from the cold, and he tensed beneath her hand.
"Zeke… Why did you do that?" She asked incredulously, still gasping to catch her breath.
He shrugged roughly, dislodging her hand from his arm, but his eyes never left hers.
"Don't matter," he said. His drawl was exaggerated, as if he was trying to make every word count.
It was confounding. He was obviously in a rush to leave, yet he couldn't seem to pull himself away from her eyes. Time slowed as she tried to find the words, as the two watched each other carefully. The wind caught his hair, and the curls shook the same way she did.
"It matters to me." She finally said. "I thought you and Jimmy Junior were friends, and here you are…"
She gestured with her hands, hoping it would convey everything her words couldn't.
"We ain't anymore," he said through gritted teeth.
"Zeke... Please." Tina said softly, grabbing his hand and clutching it tightly.
He stiffened as she did so, and she knew she was making a mistake. He was a delinquent and everyone knew it. Today hadn't been his first fight, and it surely wouldn't be the last. They weren't even friends. She had always been cold to him, so he had no reason to talk to her.
Yet despite all of that, here she was holding his hand and asking him to share with her.
He gingerly lifted his other hand to her face, a whisper of a touch as his fingers hovered over her skin. Her breath hitched when he dropped his hand, finally turning away from her.
"We ain't friends no more. That's all you gotta know."
They stood frozen in the doorway. Tina held her hand to her chest, trying to get her breathing, her heartbeat, her thoughts to slow down.
"We just broke up. He needs a friend right now," Tina said softly, her voice breaking as the bitter memory came back to her.
Zeke stiffened at the words, turning sharply towards her.
"That ain't your concern." He said roughly, causing her to edge backwards into the school.
She stood frozen for a moment, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over.
"Take care of yourself, T." Zeke said after a moment, finally walking away from her.
Tina looked on as the door slammed shut in front of her, tears rolling down her cheeks.