ZOE

CHAPTER 03

Tadeo came to the courtyard.

“What happened here?” he asked.

“Mom came and wanted me to go to her,” Zoe answered sadly.

“And hey—that’s what I was afraid of! And what did you tell her?” he insisted.

“I told her I wasn’t going anywhere with her, that I was staying here because I’m happy here and I don’t miss anything!”

“Really? I thought you would go with her!” Tadeo was very surprised.

“How could you possibly think I would go with her? I love you and I wouldn’t leave you!” Zoe said in a raised voice, not caring what the faces of those who heard her looked like.

“Zoe, I love you so much!” Tadeo answered with a trembling voice.

“Me too!”

Zoe had already turned around and wanted to go to her room, but her father stopped her.

“Where are you going?”

“I wanted to go to the village to see Kristla.”

“Then go—have some fun too, and sleep over at Kristla’s. You’d wake up at night and go to the lake anyway. If you go there with Kristla, I won’t be so worried.”

Zoe gave her father a beautiful smile. “Thank you, Dad, you’re so nice to me. Have a nice day. I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, just promise me that nothing will happen to you.”

“I can’t promise you that, but I promise I’ll try to make sure nothing happens to me.”

“That’s enough for me. Have a nice time there.”

“You know I will! For now, stay here. If anything happens, send for me.”

“Nothing will happen,” her father assured her. “Have a nice day,” he said goodbye to Zoe and hugged her.

Zoe immediately went into the house. She took a bag and threw clothes into it—one dress, a white shirt, brown pants, and a ribbon for her hair.

She literally flew out of the house, ran to the stable, and went straight to Darko. The other horses turned and looked at her indignantly. She put the bag in the corner of the stall and went to get a saddle, bridle, and a few apples and carrots.

She saddled Darko quickly and led him out of the stall. “Wait here for a moment, I’ll be right back,” she said to Darko and disappeared behind the stable door. She went back to Darko’s stall and took her bag from where she had left it.

She didn’t even notice that Mark, who had gone to check on the horses, was watching her the whole time. He was smiling. He had never seen a girl—especially one Zoe’s height—saddle a horse so quickly. He was surprised that Zoe hadn’t noticed him. But when someone is so in love with their horse, they can’t hear or see anyone else.

Zoe jumped on Darko and spurred him on. In a moment, they were galloping through the forest—it was shorter that way. After about fifteen minutes, Zoe arrived in the village.

In the village, she was greeted by familiar faces she knew and liked. She jumped off Darko.

“Hello,” she greeted an elderly woman. “Is Kristla here?”

“I was expecting that question. She’s home,” the woman answered with a smile.

“Thank you,” Zoe said and headed straight for the house where Kristla lived.

She hadn’t even had time to knock when Kristla opened the door.

“Hello, I saw you coming,” Kristla explained when she saw the puzzled look on Zoe’s face.

“Hello, Kristla. Can I come in?” Zoe greeted her without hesitation.

“Sure—you can always come in,” Kristla replied with a smile.

Zoe walked in and looked around. Nothing had changed here. How could it, after all? She had last been here just two days ago. But something had changed—Kristla wasn’t alone.

Adam was there too. He was Zoe’s friend, sometimes her boyfriend, and her second “willow” (the first was Kristla). Zoe was having a strange time with Adam lately; they were both acting differently than before. Zoe was in love with him but didn’t want to admit it. Adam was no different.

“Hello,” Zoe said quietly in greeting toward Adam.

“Hello,” Adam replied reluctantly.

“What the hell is going on between you two?” Kristla asked sharply. “You’re both weird!” She looked at them both searchingly. “If you want to say something, then speak! I’ll go away,” Kristla snapped, already losing her patience.

“Kristla, calm down!” Zoe said firmly. “Come help me with Darko,” she added.

Kristla understood and obediently followed Zoe.

“So what’s the matter? Speak. You know I won’t tell anyone,” Kristla said, this time more calmly.

Zoe, while unsaddling Darko, began to speak.

“I don’t know, but something is different. I guess I don’t see Adam as a friend anymore. I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” she confided.

“Zoe, you’ve fallen in love with Adam!” Kristla shouted triumphantly.

“Shh! Be quiet!” Zoe scolded. “I can’t be in love with Adam. He’s my friend!”

“No, Zoe—not anymore! You love him!” Kristla insisted. “And he loves you too,” she whispered in her ear.

“What? That can’t be true!”

“But it is. Don’t stop him. He’s afraid that you don’t like him, that you’re in love with someone else, because you’ve been more withdrawn than ever.”

“What an i***t!” Zoe exclaimed, though she was smiling now, feeling relieved.

They didn’t speak anymore; both were lost in their own thoughts. Zoe fed Darko while Kristla cleaned his saddle and bridle. When they were done, Zoe went to put her things in her room—she slept in the same room as Kristla.

Meanwhile, Kristla was in the kitchen preparing dinner. After about five minutes, Zoe came in.

“Do you want to help with that?” she asked her friend.

“Sure, but I have a lot to do. I have to cook for us and for my siblings, so if you want to stay here, Adam, come help us too,” Kristla ordered.

“Okay, what should I do?” Adam asked resignedly.

“You can chop the vegetables and boil the water,” Kristla said, glancing around.

“Okay,” Adam said without protest.

They cooked in complete silence—until the last moment, when Kristla dropped the knife and had to pick it up. She didn’t realize it would hit Zoe, causing her to stumble and fall straight into Adam’s arms!

There was an awkward silence for a moment, but then everyone started laughing. The tense atmosphere between Adam and Zoe was gone.