Because of You

by David Horne

  John shook his head, took a deep mouthful of his coffee then a nibble of a cookie, an appreciative hum after. Placing the cup and cookie down on the countertop.

  “Zack has an anxiety disorder, his therapist said that he has a mild case of it, probably to do with how he was orphaned. He doesn’t take well to big changes. He takes time to get used to new people and places.” John explained as he took another sip.

  Daniel looked confused.

  “How can such a young boy already have an anxiety disorder? How old is he anyway?”

  Brenda looked into her cup. “He turned seven two days ago.”

  Helen looked down at Tom. “He’ll be in the same year as Tom, maybe they can be friends.”

  Smiling, Tom gave a happy nod as he took a big mouthful of his juice before he took a bite out of a cookie.

  Zack’s parents hoped for the best, that Tom would befriend Zack. He needed a friend his own age.

  Chapter Two

  The rest of the weekend was quiet regarding the Mason family, John going out to get groceries was the only time the car was used.

  Monday came and it was time for school. Zack only missed a few days of the new school year, luckily. Brenda took him to school on his first day to try and help the boy not be so nervous but she could see the tenseness in her son's shoulders.

  At school, Brenda went with Zack to the administration office to get all the papers in check as well as help Zack to his first class. That was all she could do sadly.

  Zack waved his mother goodbye as he stood at the door, the teacher standing before him. He looked nice enough; he kind of looked like his dad, which made him feel a little more comfortable.

  Looking at the new faces in front of him, Zack felt a little light-headed with the sudden feeling of being the center of attention. He was about to start panicking when he saw the boy from before, the boy next door happily waving his hand at him.

  "Hello there, my name is Mr. Sanders. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" The teacher said as he watched the boy look at him with a look of dread.

  The little boy looked back at his class. He took a deep breath and tried to remember what his dad told him to say.

  "Hello, my name is Zack Mason," He shuffled his feet where he stood. "And I like cars and science."

  Mr. Sanders smiled at the boy, already proud of the clearly uncomfortable child. His voice shook when he spoke but he got it out and the class clapped their hands.

  "Why don't you go sit next to Tom." Mr. Sanders said, pointing at Tom, who was now waving far more eagerly.

  Giving a relieved sigh, Zack moved to the desk, it was in the middle of the class, not too far from the front of the class. Tom had pushed his chair out for him, a big smile on his face.

  Homeroom went quickly after that, Zack decided to stick to Tom out of pure comfort. Zack was surprised at how easy it was to get along with Tom, the other boy seemed at first glance to be a loudmouth but he wasn't. He likes to make jokes, to get Zack to laugh.

  He wasn't in your face and liked to ask Zack all sorts of questions to get to know him better, Zack being curious himself asked questions back. As the day went on, Zack grew more comfortable.

  Then lunch happened.

  Here Zack met Tom's other friends, Steve and Cody. They were thankfully also very calm compared to the other boys. They were obviously curious about the boy.

  Lunch went down fine with Tom having a lunch far too big for one child, which confused Zack at first but then Tom explained his mother liked sending him to school with more than enough food to give to his friends.

  He had a sandwich, a fruit, and some juice. What his mom packed in were some small cupcakes and what looked like little pastries. Tom distributed the cupcakes and pastries between them all, they were very delicious.

  The rest of the school day went pretty much the same.

  When the end of school approached Zack started to look a little nervous. The final bell rang and hordes of children moved to the exits.

  Outside the school, the school buses were ready and waiting. Cody and Steve had already climbed onto the bus but Zack didn't want to go on the bus.

  Tom looked at Zack and saw the look of dread on his face as he stared at the bus. Looking at the parking lot, he saw his mom standing at her car, waving at him. He looked at Zack and then back at his mom. She seemed to click what he wanted to ask from a distance and nodded her head with a smile.

  Tugging on Zack's sleeve to get his attention. He pointed to his mom.

  "Want to go home with us?" Tom watched as Zack looked back and forth between his mom and the school bus before slowly nodding.

  Happily smiling, Tom took Zack's hand and led Zack to his mom. Helen watched as her son brought Zack closer, the boy still looked somewhat uncomfortable but better than the last time she saw him.

  "Hello, Zack, nice to see you again." Helen said as she opened the car door for the two boys to get in.

  "Hello, Mrs. Miller." Zack greeted with a small smile. "It’s no problem taking me home?" Zack asked, looking a little hesitant. It made Helen smile.

  "Of course dear, you do live next door."

  That was enough for the boy, he climbed into the car and with the help of Helen, both boys were buckled in and ready to go home.

  The cul-de-sac was peaceful as Zack and Tom where the only younger children, the rest of the kids were pre-teens and teenagers. Once Helen had parked in her garage, she helped the kids out of the car. Zack was looking in the direction of his house.

  "Is your mom or dad home?" Helen asked, a bit concerned that the boy would be home alone. Zack looked up and her and nodded.

  "My dad is at home."

  "How about you and your dad join Tom and me for a bite?" Helen asked as she led the boys to the front door of Zack's home. Zack looked happy at the idea of a tasty lunch. "Yes, please."

  Helen knocked on the door, a few minutes later the door opened, John looked confused at first but then saw Zack and smiled. "I completely forgot that Zack would have a boy his age next door."

  "Hello John, I was wondering if you and Zack would like to have something to eat with us?" Helen asked as she patted Tom's head.

  John smiled and nodded, he looked behind him and grabbed his keys and phone. They all walked to Helen's home in silence. Once there, they entered the home. It was open and airy, light colors and decorated with little nautical knick-knacks.

  "You have a lovely home." John complimented Helen as the three males took a seat at the kitchen table.

  Helen looked back over her shoulder, her hands already in the fridge. "Thank you."

  John and Zack watched as Helen took out some fresh vegetables and chicken breasts. Helen chopped the vegetables into thin pieces, then did the same to the chicken. She then took out a large pan that had no defined edges and small and medium-sized pots.

  She then went to the pantry and started taking out bottles and other small packages.

  Before the two Mason males knew it, they each had a tasty looking plate of steaming chicken stir-fry.

  Tom tucked in with glee after a hurried thank you. Zack and John thanked Helen before tucking in at a slower pace. Helen watched their reactions before she ate herself.

  Zack's face lit up as the flavors filled his face, not before long he was giving Tom a run for his money in how fast they were gobbling down the food. Helen smiled and started to eat herself. John enjoyed the meal as well but ate at a slower rate.

  "Hey there Zack, slow down a bit. The food isn't going anywhere." Zack nodded and slowed down considerably. Tom slowed down as well, looking at his mother with a happy look on his face.

  After the food was eaten and dishes placed in the dishwasher, they all went to the living room where the two boys got out their books and started to do their homework.

  John sat and watched his son. The two boys seemed to get along well, Zack didn't seem so stressed.

  "Helen, I'd like to ask if you wouldn't mind if Zack came here in the afternoons? I w
ill have to start working soon, and I don't want him to be home alone." John rubbed the back of his neck as he watched his son talk to Tom about a question.

  "I'd be more than happy to pick him up. I pick up Tommy so it won't be out of my way and Tommy can have a friend while I work in the kitchen." Seeing the curious look on John's face.

  "I am a baker. I work from home." Helen said as she opened her phone, swiped a few times and a few taps, she showed the phone to John. It was a three-tiered wedding cake, it was iced with a pale rose pink and had paler colored roses starting from the top in an arrangement that looked like it was tumbling down the one side.

  "That's a beautiful cake. If you're sure that it won't be a bother, it will put Brenda and my mind at ease." John said as he reached over and ruffled Zack's hair.

  The boy looked at his father with a questioning look. "From now on, every afternoon after school you will be going home with Mrs. Helen and Tom until either your mom and me comes home. That way you and Tom can do your homework and Mrs. Miller can make you some tasty lunch." John told his son; Helen saw the happy look on Tom's face and smiled.

  "Would you like that?" John asked Zack.

  Zack seemed to think it over. "That would be awesome." He said with a grin.

  It was a done deal after that. Every morning Zack and Tom would take the bus together, and then Helen would pick them up and take them home.

  Tom found out that Zack was very smart and clicked theories easily and when he struggled with something Zack would explain it as best he could.

  The two boys became good friends, Cody and Steve joined the two to form a group of friends that had many smiling faces when the other friends came for sleepovers. Cody, Steve and Zack went to what was Zack's first sleepover at Tom's house.

  It was a fun night of movies, popcorn and lots of fun board games and video games before they all crashed in the mass of sleeping bags, pillows and two side by side air mattresses.

  The sleepovers happened more frequently but only at either Zack's or Tom's houses at the beginning with day visits at Cody and Steve's houses. Brenda had explained to their parents that Zack needed an adjustment period before he would be comfortable enough to sleepover at their homes.

  It did happen eventually; it was just as fun as the other sleepovers.

  Then came birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, dinner parties and then Christmas parties.

  ***

  Years went by and soon, middle school was upon them. They still kept up with the two boys going to school together on the bus, but the middle school was just too far away for Helen to be able to pick them up, take them home and then cook for them. So, they took the bus home and Helen was at home making food.

  Unfortunately, in the first year of middle school. Zack had a massive panic attack at school when someone thought it smart to shove Tom down the front stair when the other boy took offense that Tom was the taller boy. Zack reacted very badly. Simply put, he broke the other boy's arm.

  Using a maneuver, he should not have known. When all three boys' parents came to the school, the boy who pushed Tom down the stairs' parents frothing at the mouth, they were quickly shown that Tom, the boy their son pushed, had also broken something, his foot.

  It was explained that Zack had an anxiety disorder but where their son learned how to subdue someone that way, they didn't know. Some kids said it was like the things they saw fighters use in movies.

  Merely asking the boy, held results. The three pairs of adults looked at the squirming boy. He looked guilty with tear tracks on his face and tears still clinging to his lashes.

  "I can't… r-remember a-a-a lot from before I-I-I was adopted b-but, I remember I had karate lessons. When I saw Brock push Tom, I… just reacted…" The boy drooped in his seat, guilt all over his small frame.

  Brock's parents didn't have the heart to be mad at the boy; besides, it was their son who started it all.

  The whole thing was dropped, Brock's parents agreed that Brock would need to see a therapist to try and see what caused such a violent outburst, Zack and Tom's parents were just happy to leave the whole thing in the past.

  John and Brenda asked if Zack wanted to continue his karate lessons, the boy was more than happy to do so. Brenda did sit down with him and ask if there was anything else that he could remember from before.

  Zack thought long and hard on what he could remember.

  "I remember…" Zack started, a heavy frown on his face, Brenda leaned slightly forward, an encouraging smile on her face.

  "Go on, anything is good." She encouraged vocally.

  "I think… I remember my old bedroom, I spent a lot of time in there, I had a lot of toy cars. I can see my mom in the kitchen, she was making…" Zack's frown deepened as he thought hard on what his birth mother made.

  "Dumplings," Zack said with a small smile.

  "I can hear her voice, telling me what they're called." Zack leaned back on the couch. Brenda smiled and sat closer to Zack, patting his shoulder. "Do you remember your parents?" She looked at Zack, carefully categorizing all the small shifts and signs her adopted son gave.

  "Small things, I remember my mom had long brown hair, kinda like mine, I remember my dad was a big man, I remember some of the food my mom made me. I also remember my dad wasn't around a lot, but I was never sad about it. It was like he had to be somewhere," Zack said and shrugged his shoulder.

  "It doesn't matter much, I have parents now who love me, I don't need any more than that," Zack said and smiled at his mom.

  Brenda yanked Zack into a fierce hug, holding him close. "Adopting you was the best thing John and I could ever do in our lives."

  ***

  John walked in later that day to Brenda telling him what Zack remembered.

  "Did he tell you what those noodles are called?" John asked in the hope that Helen would know how to make them.

  "Yes, he said it's called fideos. I asked him if he wanted to take Spanish since he knows a few words without being taught a thing from the orphanage or us," Brenda said as she made a simple dinner of macaroni and cheese.

  "Does he want to learn?" John asked as he poured a glass of water for himself.

  "Yes, he said he wanted to learn,” Brenda told her husband as she drained the pasta.

  "Getting him lessons shouldn't be hard." John said after downing his glass of water. He kissed his wife on the cheek, he then walked off to take a shower.

  Dinner was called and the two male Masons came to sit down at the table. They ate in comfortable silence.

  "So, Zack, your mom tells me you want to learn Spanish?" John asked Zack to make sure. Zack, having food in his mouth, looked up at his dad and gave an affirmative nod. John just smiled at his son.

  "One of my workers is Spanish. He said his wife is a tutor. I'll ask him tomorrow if I can hire her to give you lessons, how does that sound?" Both Brenda and John watched as Zack's face brightened at the idea.

  "That'd be epic." Zack gave a happy grin, it stayed on his face all throughout dinner and when he came to say good night.

  ***

  Time went on, middle school went on with no real drama. Zack's Spanish lessons went splendidly. He took lessons as seriously as he did his schoolwork. So, by the end of middle school, he was pretty much fluent in Spanish and starting on French lessons.

  When puberty hit the four boys. Tom was the one who shot up, even more, his normally taller by an inch or two body grew to become nearly a full head taller than everyone around him.

  Zack had started to call him beanpole for a while, always with a smile, he had to look up at Tom as he had hit puberty first, was the one to have his voice break. The lower voice was pleasant to listen to.

  Next to get hit by puberty was Cody, his height shot up as well, not nearly as much as Tom. The blonde boy with dark blue eyes got a girlfriend rather quickly due to his all-American boy look.

  Steven was next, he sadly didn't grow all that much as he was from a short family. Steve's voice was deeper than
Tom's when it broke. His dark eyes and ash blonde hair made it also easy to get a boyfriend as Steve was first to openly admit that he was gay. He was scared at first to tell his friends but they just said to him that he was still Steve.

  Zack was a bit of a late bloomer but, when it did hit, it hit Zack hard. He went through the ugly duckling phase, luckily not for long before his skin cleared, voice broke to a smooth voice that people loved to listen to. Zack was roughly as tall as Cody. He also was the one to fill out first oddly enough, but that was because of his karate classes and that he had started to help out at his dad's auto-shop.

  It was also at this time that Tom realized that he had a crush on Zack and he didn't know what to do about it. High school came and with that, Zack's first girlfriend.

  Chapter Three

  Rebecca Jones was a sweet, bubbly girl, with long strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was loved by everyone and had most boys’ tongues wagging at the end of middle school.

  She was the one to ask Zack out, he had agreed, not having a reason to say no.

  Their relationship was strong from the start, they dated in high school, going to the same high school as Tom, Cody and Steve.

  The three other boys didn’t like Rebecca from the start, they never said this to Zack and he never hung out with his girlfriend and friends at the same time. Rebecca had never really cared much for Zack’s friends.

  Zack wasn’t the greatest fan of Rebecca’s friends, being people that he didn’t have anything in common and generally didn’t get along with all that well.

  It was what their first argument was about. Zack wanted to hang with his friends but Rebecca wanted Zack to hang out with hers. Zack looked at Rebecca, where she was sitting opposite him at the café table.

  “Why don’t you want to hang out with us?” She said, taking a sip of her latté. It made Zack sigh and leaned back in his chair. His drink sat forgotten.

  “Because Becca, I haven’t seen my friends for a while beyond school. I want to hang with my friends.” Zack sighed again when Rebecca started to pout and wobble her lower lip.