• Chapter I

    Part 2

    Stupid!
    Zac was still cursing himself for the way he’d acted in front of that girl. She must have thought he was a complete idiot, not even knowing where his class was.

    He never even got her name.
    He gasped as another wave of painful pulses erupted in his chest. Clutching his heart, Zac took in several long, deep breaths in an attempt to calm his body. If things got too bad he’d take himself out of the class.

    “Hey, you okay,” a voice whispered from the side.

    Zac swallowed his pain and looked over, feigning a carefree expression. “Yeah, I’m good.”

    The boy sitting across from him, obviously concerned, nodded and returned his gaze to the front of the room hesitantly.

    With an internal sigh of relief, Zac forced himself to forget about the pain. He could practically feel his ribs vibrating under his skin. The feeling made him nauseous, and now a new problem surfaced.

    Don’t puke…don’t puke.

    But there was no stopping the regurgitation dangerously making its way up his esophagus. Zac raised his hand.

    “Yes, sir,” the teacher asked.

    He gasped for air. “May I—go—to the restroom, please.”

    Everyone in the class was now staring at him, and Zac clenched his teeth, embarrassed.

    The teacher frowned, most likely not buying the phony expression on Zac’s face. No one could fake pain like this. “Go ahead,” she replied.

    Zac didn’t even hesitate. He jolted out of his seat and nearly sprinted out of the classroom down the hallway. Now there was even a bigger issue. Finding the restroom.

    At that instant, he nearly lost it, but he forced himself to swallow what little bile had made its way out. That didn’t make his situation any better.

    A snap in his ribs caused him to double over in pain. Please no one see me like this. Please…
    There was suddenly a soft hand on his back. “Hey!”

    He immediately recognized the voice and couldn’t help it…everything he’d eaten that morning for breakfast was now splattered across the tile of his school’s hallway and probably onto the shoes of the prettiest girl he’d ever seen in his short life.

    What a first day, he thought as he blacked out.



    When Zac finally opened his eyes, the world around him was a fiery blur. Red flames burned all around him. Did he die and go to hell?

    “You’re awake,” a small voice said.

    Rubbing his eyes frantically, Zac shot up into a sitting position, his face suddenly even with a red-headed angel. He was at a complete loss of words.

    The girl smiled awkwardly and shifted slightly in her seat next to his cot. “You threw up in the hallway,” she began. “I called the nurse, and the nurse called your mom. She’s on her way now.”

    Zac closed his eyes and fell back onto the cot. Great…so much for public schooling.

    A fit like this would surely get him kicked out of the school, despite the fact that he wasn't even contagious.

    “You must be sick,” the girl continued.

    Zac forced himself not to roll his eyes. “Yeah. No duh, Sherlock.” He immediately regretted the cold statement, but instead of getting the reaction he expected, she did something that surprised him.

    “My name’s Alena,” she said kindly. “If you ever need help finding your way around campus, just let me know. I’ll be around.”

    Zac looked up at her, confused.

    She smiled. “Feel better, okay.” And with that she walked away.
    He was still staring out the door long after she left the room.



    About ten minutes had passed when his mother came stumbling into the nurse’s office. “Zac!” she yelled before embracing him tightly.

    He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I’m fine, mom.”

    She gaped at him with an incredulous gaze. “Okay? You puked all over the hallway!”

    “But I feel fine now! It was nothing, really.”

    Her jaw muscle worked as she scanned his face for any signs of lying. “How can you say you’re okay?”

    Before Zac could answer, the nurse walked in, followed by an elderly man with a stern expression.

    The principal most likely.

    “Mrs. Shaw,” he said shaking his mother’s hand. “Principal Jackson.”

    Principal Jackson was a tall man with a strong build for someone whose age was evident by the streaks of grey in his full head of black hair and trimmed beard. He looked more fit to be a businessman than a middle school principal. The man could probably intimidate the president given the opportunity.

    A knot formed in Zac’s throat at the mere sight of him.

    “Ah, principal Jackson, it’s nice to meet you again.”

    Principal Jackson’s eyebrows merged, and he shot Zac a stern look. His face looked like stone compared to his mother’s soft features.

    “Zachariah,” he said in his deep baritone voice. “How are you feeling?”

    Scratch that, Zac thought. This guy’s more fit for the mountains. “I’m fine,” Zac said pleasantly.

    Principal Jackson grunted and proceeded to scan over Zac’s body with a skeptical gaze. “Mrs. Shaw,” he said without averting his eyes. “Could you meet me in my office, please?”

    Shanna’s eyes met Zac’s for only an instant, but he could tell she looked defeated. As if it was her fault. Zac clenched his teeth and met the principal’s cold eyes, his blood pressure rising dangerously.

    “Yes,” his mother said quickly. “Of course.”

    Mr. Jackson didn’t budge. He continued to hold Zac’s challenging stare, but Zac didn’t lose resolve.

    He was sick of the condescending. Sick of the judging. And he’d be damned if he was going to get kicked out of school on the first day. Maybe staring down the principal isn’t the best strategy.

    The corner of Mr. Jackson’s lip turned up slightly before forcing himself to stop the staring game. “This way,” he said pleasantly.

    Shanna spared her son a stern look before following Mr. Jackson out of the room.

    Zac sighed a breath of relief. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he couldn’t ignore the image of throwing Mr. Jackson across the room that had appeared in his head. It wasn’t the first time he’d fantasized about violence. It usually happened when his blood pressure went up. The doctors had told him it was only a side effect of having a heart that resisted his body’s tendency to raise in blood pressure.

    His eyes closed slowly, and his hand felt its way around his chest until he finally felt it.

    The scar.

    His fingers followed the protrusion all the way from the top of his breast bone to the bottom.

    Zac remembered suddenly how frightening the whole experience was. Major heart surgery, the doctors had said, was incredibly risky, and since he’d be receiving an artificial heart, it would be even riskier. That there was a huge chance the heart would immediately reject his body.

    Comforting for a little boy to hear.

    After the surgery, though, Zac had woken up with a brand-new artificial heart engineered for people with his same disease. The doctors had told him that the new heart would resist any effort his body made to display symptoms of his disease.

    Zac could immediately feel the difference. His chest felt heavier, his breaths shorter. His
    body felt weak and tired. Any attempt to be physically active would be nearly impossible. This new heart wouldn’t be able to pump blood quickly enough to keep oxygen flowing through his body.

    It was like being handcuffed around the wrists and the ankles.

    Unfortunately, even though the new heart suppressed his symptoms, it didn’t phase them out completely. Anytime his blood pressure or heart rate sped to much too quickly, his body would start showing reactions, and it was never pleasant.

    Today was a prime example. The scary thing about it, though, is that it didn’t take much of a change in heart rate to display symptoms. It seemed the older he was getting the harder it was to contain himself.



    Shanna returned first, followed by Principal Jackson with an obvious smirk on his face. “Well, Zac,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say you can return to class.”

    Zac returned an inquiring gaze to him mother, who was looking off to the side in somewhat of a daze, thinking about something they’d talked about no doubt. He looked back at his principal with a glare.

    They’d been in his office “talking” for way longer than necessary. The clock to the side was evidence that they’d been gone for almost an hour, and by the look on Jackson’s face, they hadn’t spoken about anything pleasant. Zac’s mother looked more tired than usual, and he noticed that her hair was slightly unfixed compared to before.

    She looked up at him, and that’s when he noticed the mark on her neck.

    Zac’s blood pressure shot up so quickly there was no preparing for what came next. He jumped out of his bed, ready to knock his principal off of his feet and slam the back of his head against the cabinet behind him, ending his pathetic life, but right as he was about to act, the door opened.

    “Hello,” a tiny voice asked.

    Zac paused just in time, his eyes fixed on Jackson’s.
    “Oh, good morning, Principal Jackson.”

    Mr. Jackson smirked once more at Zac before looking over at the new guest. “Ah, Alena, good morning.”

    Zac’s heart did somewhat of a flip when he heard the name, but he refrained from acknowledging her arrival.

    “I was told to escort a new student to your office, but you weren’t there. Your secretary said you’d gone to the nurse’s office.”

    Zac could see her red hair out of his peripheral and tried not to act nervous.

    “Yes,” he replied. “But I’m heading back now. Thank you for letting me know.”
    “Your welcome.”

    Zac felt relieved when he noticed the girl beginning to leave.
    “Wait, Miss. Alena. I have a favor to ask of you.”
    Zac’s heart began pounding in his chest.
    “Would you mind escorting Mr. Shaw to his next class, please?”
    There was a pause before an answer. “Of course.”

    Zac wanted to curse himself. She sounded so hesitant. Maybe if he hadn’t mocked her…


    “Thank you, ma’am.” He turned to his mother. “Mrs. Shaw it was…a pleasure.” As Principal Jackson held his hand out to his mother with that despicable grin on his face, Zac wouldn’t have liked more than to knock the man right off of his two feet.

    But he refrained.
    Shanna shook the man’s hand with a look of death in her eyes. “Yes,” she replied. She then walked over to Zac and motioned to kiss him on the cheek, but he recoiled immediately. It wasn’t about being embarrassed. He was just too disgusted by her to allow for her to kiss him.

    The hurt on her face couldn’t have been more heart wrenching. Zac wanted to take it back, but it was too late.

    “I’ll see you after school,” she said.
    “Yeah,” he replied coldly.

    If only he’d known you don’t always have a second chance to say good-bye.