Chapter 43: Coincidence or Fate?

~“Nothing ever goes as planned. Everything will break. People say goodbye in their own special way. All that you rely on and all that you can fake will leave you in the morning but find you in the day.”~

Chapter Theme Song: “In My Veins” by Andrew Belle.

BLAZE

“Say hi, Blaze.” My dad instructs as we stand in front of my mother’s grave. Or rather, the ~woman’s ~grave.

~Is he kidding?~

I sigh. “Say hi to who?”

He looks at me as if I’m the one spouting nonsense, when he’s the one asking me to talk to a headstone.

“Your mother,” he says through gritted teeth.

I roll my eyes and shove my hands in my pockets. If I’d known he was going to make me talk to a pile of dirt, I would have stayed at Homewood.

“Blaze.”

“I’m not going to talk to a chunk of stone like I’m losing my mind. Sure, I have a mental condition, but I’m not insane, Blake Xander.”

“You need to drop the attitude, Blaze. This isn’t the place for it. Say hello.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Blaze.”

“Hi,” I mumble reluctantly before turning away defiantly. I hear a soft sigh from him, but he decides to let it go. Once again, he knows it’s pointless.

“Please forgive him, Liz. He’s still trying to find himself.”

I scoff in disbelief.

~This man is nuts.~

I shoot him a glare. “I’m sorry, but that woman doesn’t need to forgive me for anything. I’m the one who should be forgiving her. She’s the one who needs to seek forgiveness.”

“Blaze, please—”

I turn to the grave. “Hello? Ma’am, yeah, I need an apology for you beating me with a wire and then leaving me at your friend’s house to be molested.

“I also need an apology for that time you hit me in the head with a glass plate until I bled.

“And let’s not forget that time you gave me stale food because you were too busy getting high to cook, so I ended up doubled over in pain, and all you did was step right over me.

“Yeah, I need a fucking apology!”

“Blaze, Jesus!”

I run a hand through my hair and look away while my father takes a deep breath, rubbing his face in distress.

“Could you not do this at a graveyard? Are you serious?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have asked me to come!” I yell.

“Or maybe I should just stop trying with you!”

I smile mockingly, shrugging my shoulders. “Yeah, maybe you should. I wouldn’t mind—trust me, I wouldn’t! Not like you cared when I was being beaten to death anyway.”

His face twitches at this, the comment apparently hitting a nerve. He quickly composes himself and shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. “You are hard work.”

He knows this, yet he still tries. I hope he puts this much effort into arresting criminals daily.

I sit on a nearby stone to wait until he’s done talking to the gravestone.

I have nothing to say to that woman, not when she’s the one who ruined my life like this.

HARMONY

I wipe away my tears and stand up after kneeling at my dad’s graveside for nearly an hour. The one-sided conversation was just what I needed to feel a bit better.

I want to talk to him about Blaze, but my mom is nearby, so that’s not a good idea.

She’s drying her eyes too while Eli, who barely understands what’s going on, is driving his toy car on the headstone. I guess that’s his way of saying ~“hi”~ to our dad.

My mom rubs my back comfortingly. “Okay, let’s head back.”

“Bye, Dad.” I sniffle.

“Say bye to your father, Eli.” My mom pulls my brother in front of her, rubbing his shaved head as he waves his small hand at the grave, mumbling his goodbye.

We turn away and start our walk through the long aisle of graves. The evening is cool and sunny, but my current mood is the complete opposite.

Someone once said that the weather influences your mood, but despite the pleasant atmosphere, I’m feeling quite down and heavy-hearted.

I’m walking ahead of my mom and Eli, idly counting the cement blocks beneath my feet, and as soon as I round the narrow corner, I bump into someone headfirst.

“Oh, sorry.”

I look up, and my body freezes as I find myself staring into two familiar eyes.

~Blaze?~

~Wow. Wait.~

He’s blinking at me quietly, equally speechless. I take in his attire, and he’s wearing a loose white button-down shirt tucked into dress pants with a black jacket draped over it.

~Did he come to visit his mother’s grave?~

His red lips part, but no words come out, and I try to speak but I’m not sure what to say, so we stand there staring at each other like two statues.

“Ooh, it’s you, right?” The question comes from next to him, and I shift my attention to the man standing beside him, quickly realizing it’s his father.

“I didn’t get to say a proper hi the last time I came to Homewood to visit my son.”

“Oh, hi.” I smile shyly.

“I’m Blake Xander. Blaze’s father,” he says, extending his hand for me to shake.

I mentally note how similar their names are as I take his hand in mine, my small hand disappearing in his. “Harmony Skye.”

Mr. Blake gives me a wide grin, and I notice his teeth are just as white as his son’s. I can tell he was just as handsome and charming as Blaze is when he was younger.

“Oh, nice name,” he compliments.

My mom looks completely taken aback. “I’m sorry, but who...?”

“This is my mom,” I interject quickly. “Mom, this is...”

I glance at Blaze, unsure of how to introduce him. He seems to understand my hesitation, meeting my gaze with a knowing look.

“This is a friend from college,” I finally manage to say. “And this is his dad.”

Mr. Blake grins. “Hello.”

“Hello. I’m Haylee Skye, Harmony’s mother.” She reaches out to shake his hand, and they exchange pleasantries, both wearing bright smiles.

I sneak a peek at Blaze, only to find him staring at me. It’s so strange and unexpected to see him here. ~Did he come to visit his mom? I wonder what made him change his mind.~

Mr. Blake and my mom start chatting. Adults always seem to find something to talk about, even when they’ve just met.

I seize the chance to say hi to Blaze. After all, it’s pretty hard to convince anyone we’re friends if we’re standing here in silence.

Even though we didn’t exactly part on good terms last night, we need to at least pretend to be civil. This isn’t the place for hostility. We can go back to hating each other when we’re back at school.

“Um... It’s weird seeing you here,” I say, my voice uncertain.

“Yeah. It’s weird seeing you here too.”

His response comes quickly, and I let out a sigh of relief, glad that he didn’t choose to ignore me. That would have been mortifying.

“Came to visit your dad?” He tries to keep the conversation going, and I feel my nerves start to settle.

I nod quickly. “Yeah. Came to visit your mom?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “Something like that.”

Eli is spinning around me, lost in his own little world, and Blaze’s gaze shifts to him. “This is your brother?”

“Yeah. Elijah.”

He smiles genuinely. “Oh, I see.”

I find myself staring at his smile, captivated by his good looks.

Then Eli bumps into me accidentally, and I stumble forward, my body crashing into Blaze’s. His arms come up instinctively to steady me.

My eyes widen as I realize how close our faces are, and Blaze is looking down at me, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.

I swallow hard and quickly step back, just as a chuckle sounds from behind me.

“What are you kids doing?” Mr. Blake asks, his voice filled with amusement.

“She almost fell, that’s all,” Blaze explains, scratching the back of his neck.

“Harmony, Mr. Xander is heading back to the school with his son. You should ride with them,” my mom suggests.

I blink in surprise. She barely knows them. A few minutes of conversation with Mr. Xander and she already trusts him? Wow.

It seems Blaze’s father has the same charm and persuasive power as Blaze. They both have a knack for making you agree to things you normally wouldn’t.

“Yeah, you can ride with us,” Mr. Blake agrees. “I’m dropping him off at Homewood because he didn’t drive today.”

“Um....” I rub my arm, unsure.

“So we’ll go get your backpack and you can go with them,” my mom insists. “At least I can save a little on gas.”

Mr. Blake nods. “Yeah. It’d work out for everyone.”

He glances between me and Blaze, a smile playing on his lips.