Chapter Seven: Sparks Fly

"Take away the pain 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

~Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift~

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Revised: July 3, 2022

Warnings: abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment/assault, language, violence, and other mature themes

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Zion's POV

Class ends and I go over with Aisha and Miguel to talk to Hawk. I have to admit that I was glancing at him all class; I can't believe how much he's changed.

"Your hair... wow, it looks awesome," Miguel tells him.

"Badass!" Aisha exclaims.

"What do you think, Zion?" Eli, er, Hawk addresses me directly.

"Hell yeah. I think the new confidence looks good on you," I say. He really does look attractive. Confidence looks good on him. I think Demetri was wrong.

"Thanks," he stares at me a moment, more confidence even in his stare, but it's still with a implicit meaning like before. I can't really describe it... It's like a connection.

"So," Miguel snaps me out of looking at Hawk, "Eli, I'm glad you came back."

"It's Hawk now," he tells us. "And yeah, what was I going to do? Be a pussy?"

I laugh slightly and he gives me a tiny smirk.

"Did you want to sleep over at my place again?" Miguel asks me.

"Wait, you slept over at Miguel's?" Aisha asks.

"Well, yeah," I nod. "My mom has been out of town." 

 lie through my teeth. I don't want everyone knowing the truth about my mom. I glance over and see Hawk looking between Miguel and I. I hope he doesn't think it's anything more than us being friends.

"Thanks to both of you for giving me a place to stay," I tell mainly Hawk.

"You stayed with Hawk?" Miguel tries to piece this together.

"Yeah, one night," I explain.

"Oh! That's my mom. I'll see you guys later," Aisha waves goodbye and runs out of the dojo, giving me a look of suspicion about the boys on the way out. I shake my head because I don't like Miguel that way.

"You can spend the night at my place tonight," Hawk offers.

"Sure, thanks," I say without really thinking.

"Cool. We can watch movies all night," Hawk suggests. I smile at the idea.

"Okay, I'll see you guys later. I'm going to head home. Text me if you need something," Miguel says, putting his hand on my shoulder before walking out.

"I can drive you," I say to Hawk.

"Okay, cool," he nods and we hop in the car. "You really like it?"

"What? Oh! The hair. Yes, I do. Yes. You seem happier."

"It's not just the mohawk that makes me happier," he says.

I glance over at him and see him looking at me. I blush.

"Zion, what if we did something before going back to my house?"

"Like, what?" I ask.

"Like... going to the beach," he smiles.

"In the dark?" I question. I glance at him again and see his confidence diminishing as he tries to think of what to say next. I shot down his idea and I need to fix this. "Yeah, let's do it."

I merge onto the highway and it only takes ten minutes of us talking about what teachers we like and hate before we make it to the beach. I park and we hop out of my car.

"I've only been out here once since I moved," I admit.

"I'll need to bring you out here more, then."

"I'd like that," I smile.

"Come on," he takes my hand and runs.

I catch up to him as we make it onto the beach. The moon reflects on the water and I smile as a light breeze kicks up sand around us. It's magical.

"You look really beautiful," Hawk says softly. I turn to him and see his gaze fixated on me and not the beach around us.

I blush at his compliment and his forwardness, "Oh." Eli is Hawk now, so he's a badass with a good heart. "Thank you, Hawk."

"You're welcome, Z," he replies.

I look at him in surprise, "A nickname?"

"O-Oh, well, only if you would like. I can just call you Zion if you don't like it," Eli comes back, mumbling and apologizing.

"Nah," I say and he looks at me with his big eyes, "I like Z. Zion was picked out by my bitch of a mother for a boy she never got. But, Z is like.. my version of flipping the script, of regaining control of my life."

"You are so amazing," he whispers.

"You are, too," I refer to his mohawk.

"Well, I'm okay, I guess. I'm not that good at karate yet, but I will be," he smirks.

"I'm looking forward to it. Just don't be too disappointed when you can't reach my level of awesomeness," I tease him.

"Oh, I could beat your ass any day," he says, his Hawk attitude showing.

"Then do it," I say in a challenging tone that has a hint of flirting to it.

I'm a bit surprised at my level of comfort with Hawk. Well, I've always been comfortable with Eli and Hawk just seems like there confident version of the boy I became friends with, so it makes sense.

"All right," he says and throws the first punch.

I block it and spin into him, my back to his chest. He tries to grab me with his free arm, but I flip him and he lands on the sand, but not too hard. I straddle him, smiling.

"Oh, you're right. You sure taught me a lesson," I laugh sarcastically.

Suddenly, he takes advantage of me letting my guard down and flips me so he can straddle me. I let out a shriek at that and his face shows concern for a moment. I smile to let him know I'm okay.

He smirks and leans in close to my face. I look at his mouth and realize his scar really isn't that bad. I also realize in that moment how badly I'd like to kiss him. I wait for him to make the first move since I have a feeling he's new to this. I see uncertainty flicker in his eyes, surely because of his scar.

He cups my face with his hand and I close my eyes in anticipation. Then I feel his weight move off of me and his hands stop touching me. I open my eyes to see Hawk standing up.

"I think I did teach you a lesson."

I sigh and then laugh slightly. As much as I wanted to kiss him, that was also kind of hot. After my fling last summer, it's nice to take things slow.

Hawk extends a hand to me and I reach for it, yanking him back into the sand with me. He groans and then bursts into laughter. His laugh is adorable.

He lays next to me and I turn to face him. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asks.

"For everything tonight. I really needed this," I say. It feels good to laugh.

"I'm glad I could help, Z," he says and I blush AGAIN. I love the new name.

"Hawk, can I tell you something?" I take in a deep breath.

"Sure."

"My mom... She isn't out of town," I say.

"I figured that," he mumbles.

"She's kicked me out of the house. Again. I just want to check on her the other night because she's the only family I have left, but she..."

I stop talking to hold in my tears.

"She... hits me. And throws things at me. A-And I... I try to help her because my dad died and I know a lot of it is grieving for her. My dad was the parent who raised me and so it's been hard and I've been taking care of my mom... I barely allowed myself to grieve."

I realize I'm trauma dumping and try to get back to the point of all this.

"And, well, it's felt like the world has been against me. Kyler, Walker, and them attacking me like three times after I just moved to crappy Reseda almost convinced me I was cursed... but I just... I've had so much fun tonight and it's been a while since I've been this happy."

I can't believe I managed to get that all out. It feels so healing and wonderful to get it off my chest. I wipe my tears.

"You don't deserve that, Zion. Nobody does, b-but especially not you. You're the sweetest, hottest, and most badass person I know. I'm really sorry about everything that happened to you, but I-I'm glad I could make it a bit better," he says and I scoot closer to him in the sand, still laying down.

"You made it a lot better," I whisper.

And then it happens. Hawk comes closer to me and closes the gap between our lips. I feel sparks fly; I just know they are.

I pull him in even closer, because we both don't show signs of stopping. It's a bit sloppy at first, but we get the hang of it and I tower over him, making out.

When we pull away for air, I'm surprised. Not only did he kiss me first, but it wasn't just a single peck. It was full of passion. It was full of passion I didn't fully know I had for him until that moment, and it makes it that much better.

Then I remember we're out here without telling his mom and she'll be so worried. I don't want to be a bad influence.

"We should get home before your mom starts to worry," I say, trying to stand up. Hawk is under me and he yanks my hand back down towards him.

"Screw what my mom thinks, Z," he says and I smile at his badass attitude.

A loud noise sounds. A ringtone. It's Hawk's phone. He grabs it frantically, then answers the call.

"Mom?" he asks, his cute Eli voice back. "I know, I'm on my way home with Zion. We went to get some food. Yeah. Okay. I'll hurry." He mutters the last part in hopes that I don't hear, "Love you, too." Then he hangs up and I burst out laughing. He frowns and I try to stop laughing.

"No, no, I'm not laughing at you. Well, I kind of am, but it's just the contrast between Eli and Hawk is new and different... and I like it," I say candidly.

"I'm sorry for being such a pussy," we stand up and he hangs his head. I jump up after him, slightly grabbing his arm.

"Hey," I say and he looks at me with those wounded puppy eyes, "loving your mom doesn't make you a pussy. You should be thankful. You have a great mom. Always let her know how much you love her."

Hawk nods. I see how flushed his face is and decide to take the flirting and teasing easy on him for the rest of the night.

"Now we really should get going. It's a school night," I shrug and drag him with me back to the car, my cheekbones about to burst from smiling so much. What a night!