Zyan
"How do people end up in relationships?" Carol asked.
They were sitting on a bench near a small lake. Ava and Jessica had separated from their group to flip rocks across the lake's surface, which left Zyan and Carter stuck with Carol. Or rather, Carol stuck with them. They barely knew each other, and their conversational buffers were off having fun by themselves. It felt a little awkward, at least to Zyan.
"I mean…how do they get the world to work in their favor like that?"
"Luck," Carter said. Zyan could feel his shrug where their shoulders were pressed together.
Zyan continued to observe the couple—the way the wind brushed through their long hair as cherry blossom petals swirled through the air. It looked like a scene out of one of those Japanese cartoons Ava loved to watch when she was sick. Normally, Zyan wouldn't bother going to a park, but no one else had wanted to end their time together so soon, leaving Zyan to either make the two and a half hours walk home or join them. Needless to say, he'd settled on the latter.
But where Ava had immediately headed for the lake to search for frogs and nice rocks to skip, he, Carter, and Carol had claimed a bench for themselves. Jessica had stayed with them at first but had gotten up to join Ava within a couple of minutes.
"You'll find a person that fits you eventually," Carter added, after a few seconds of silence.
"What about you guys?" Carol asked. "Are you bitter singles like me?"
Carter sounded unsure when he answered. "Uh, yeah…not bitter…but, yes, single."
Zyan could see Carol lean forward in his peripheral vision. She was looking at him, but he kept his hands in his hoodie pockets and kept facing ahead. "What about you?"
"Same boat as him."
"Are you okay?" Carol asked. "You look irritated."
"Sorry, I'm just tired. I didn't get too much sleep tonight."
"Did you party with the lovebirds?"
"No. I don't do alcohol."
"Bad experience?" Carol asked.
"No, nothing like that."
Carol dropped the subject. "Well, how about we keep going and give the girls some privacy? We can just come circle back and have them rejoin us again."
"Sounds good," Carter said.
Zyan merely shrugged.
Carol jumped to her feet. "I'll go tell them."
Zyan watched her approach them. It was strange, seeing Ava and Jessica with their soft smiles, the light in their eyes, and that air of intimacy that made it seem like they existed in some other plane, where no one could reach them. He could remember what it was like to be in that place himself. On his bad days, he allowed himself to miss it.
"Hey, you two lovebirds!" Carol interrupted them. Ava and Jessica both shifted their attention to her, but the happy, wide smiles never wavered. "The boys and I were talking about going for a walk. If you don't mind, we'll just circle back in about thirty minutes to pick you up."
"Oh, yeah—sure!" Ava took a small step away from Jessica. "I hope the guys are behaving and treating you nicely."
Zyan couldn't see Carol's face, but she sounded like she was smiling. "Yeah, no worries."
Zyan stopped eavesdropping and turned to look at Carter. "How can you look so awake? You can't have gotten more sleep than me."
Carter shrugged. "I'm a naturally energetic person, I guess. And I ate a ton of sugar while you were in the shower. You're out of Oreos, by the way."
Zyan elbowed him in the ribs, but all he got was cheerful laughter that made his stomach flutter.
"Come on, let's start walking," Carter suggested after a peaceful moment of silence. His fingers wrapped around Zyan's wrist before he got up and gave it a tug. "Carol will just have to catch up when she's done chatting."
Zyan nodded and pushed to his feet, relishing in the small point of contact.
Carter didn't let go immediately. His hand lingered as they approached the closest path and only fell away when a jogger came up behind them. Zyan hoped the small flare of disappointment didn't show on his face.
"So," Carter started after they'd been following the path long enough for the jogger to disappear from sight. "Carol seems nice."
"And lonely."
Carter didn't deny it. "Well, it's understandable."
"I suppose."
"I mean, Jess and Ava really seem to have found each other, and she's clearly happy for them. But…if she's been single for a long time and not by her own choice, it could be hard for her to see them this way. She clearly craves a loving relationship, but finding the right someone who is also willing and available is out of her hands."
"Mmhm." Zyan could sense Carter's gaze on him but refused to let his emotions show. He wasn't about to show how lonely he'd been when the person who had made him feel that way was right there next to him, prying for a reaction.
Carter looked back ahead with a sigh. "Look, Zyan, I know you're not a big fan of talking it out, but if there's still something bothering you, something I should know, or help could you understand, or—"
"Hold up, guys!"
Zyan grabbed hold of Carter's wrist to force him to stop. "The mortal," Zyan said, part of him glad for the interruption.
Carter groaned and rolled his eyes. Zyan wasn't sure whether it was at Zyan's choice of words or Carol's intruding, but the moment Carol reached them, his happy-go-lucky self was back.
They continued walking, though at a slower pace, for Carol's sake. They made their way toward the park's center, where a large fountain was placed in midst of a colorful flowerbed. As they got closer, more and more people started to pass by—families, couples, friends, and people babbling into their Bluetooth earpieces all roamed the place. Zyan caught snippets of conversations every few steps.
When the fountain came into sight, he saw a large crowd gathered around it, or rather, gathered around the person strumming a guitar right in front of it. They were singing their heart out. Their voice was strong and the song distinctly familiar, but from where he was standing, the singing was drowned out every time the chorus kicked in and the audience's loud singing and arrhythmic clapping increased in volume.
"I'm not a fan of crowds," Zyan muttered.
"And why is that?" Carol asked.
"People are stupid. And noisy."
"Valid reasoning."