"Wherever your soul was before, mine was there too." - Hira
He's Jackson. But he's also:
Daniel.
Theodore.
Nathan.
Nicholas.
Zachary.
She's Aaliyah. But she's also:
Grace.
Kathryn.
Jessica.
Amaya.
Eve.
It's the same story every time. They meet, they...
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"C?!" Eve squeals at the grades test Zach just handed to her. "Oh my god! I️ knew you could do it!"
"All thanks to you!" He suddenly hugs her, spinning her around, making her giggle. He put her down and they both looked at each other with gleeful smiles on their faces. "Thank you."
"Hey, don't thank me yet. You still have two more tests to pass-"
"A-hem," a voice says behind them, startling the both of them apart. Maddie stands behind them, scowling at them both. "What are you doing?" She asks him.
Zach looks over at Eve. "Meet me in the parking lot after school?" He asks her.
"Yeah, sure," she nods, passing by Maddie who flares at her as she walks off.
Maddie's scoffs and walks up to Zach. "What are you doing with her?" She points behind her in the direction that Eve walked off in. Zach rolls his eyes at her and walks past her. "Zach!" She grabs ahold of his letterman jacket, stopping him.
"What do you care? I'm not your boyfriend anymore," he hissed at her.
Maddie rolls his eyes at him. "Don't be stupid, okay Zach?" she harshly whispers to him. "Of course you're still my boyfriend. I️ just can't be seen with you right now cause. You know how it is," she waves him off. "But..." she softly pushes him against the lockers and runs her hands down his chest, really catching his attention now. "Just two more tests and then we can hang out in my room again like we used to," she smirks at him, leaning up against him. She backs off and waves as she walks away. He sighs and runs a hair through his head before heading off to class himself.
After school, Zach meets with Eve at his car and opens the car door do they could both get in. "Hey..." he speaks up, getting her attention. "Why is it that we have to pick your siblings up everyday at 5?" He asks, looking over at him.
Eve looks at him in confusion before answering. "Um, it's because Mrs. Johnson works a night shift so I️ have to get them by that time or else I️ risk her just leaving them outside," Eve answers him with a slight shrug.
Zach starts the car and backs up. "Well...why don't we just get them now and they can stay with us while we study," he suggests, making her eyes widen. "We have a tv. They could like, watch Sesame Street or...whatever kids are into these days, you know?" He tells her.
"That...that would be awesome," she stammers slightly. "Yeah, we could do that, thank you," she says gratefully.
So they arrived to Mrs. Johnson's early and told her that they would be picking up Eva and Eddie early for the next couple of weeks, which delighted her older neighbor. They drove back to Zach's so they could get right on to studying so he could get ready to pass another test. Eve placed Eddie and Eva on the living room couch while Zach turned on the tv and put PBS Kids.
"Listen to me, do not move from this couch unless you need something. Okay?" She instructs the two of them. "Me and Zach?," he points at herself and Zach. "We're gonna be busy. Do not bother us. Just watch tv." Of course, Eddie understood this perfectly. But Eva had other things in mind.
