CHAPTER TWO

ProtoZoa tapped lightly on the door and heard her shift from her bed. The light footsteps that got slightly louder, stopped and then continued their path to the door. With a woosh, the door slid open. Standing behind it was a puffy-eyed Zenon. The smile he had on his face quickly vanished when he saw the splotches of red and the swollen eyes. He knew she was upset, which was why he chose to visit, but he had no idea it was this bad.

He stepped forward, lifted her chin with a simple movement of a finger, making her look at him.

"Zenon, Love, whats the matter? C'mon you can talk to 'Zoa! Please?" He pleaded with her, not being able to withstand the Zenon he saw. What happened to that self confident, proud girl he knew a few short months ago? Looking into her eyes, he saw more tears forming. As if of their own accord, his arms wrapped around her. She pulled on the folds of his jacket and buried her head into his chest and sobbed. He held her and vowed that he would hold her as long as she needed.

Once the reserve of tears was cleared, she looked up at him. He still had his arms around her and was still looking at her.

"Zenon, please, tell me," He begged. She could see he wanted to know, as a friend. She released his jacket and walked into her room, shaking his arms off as she went. She took a seat on her bed and he sat across from her in a chair, waiting for her to explain.

"All of this started when Nebula moved to earth. She ended up meeting this majorly inky guy here, and he tried some inappropriate stuff with her. Well, she turned him in for his behavior, but because nothing actually happened, he couldn't get in trouble. But they wouldn't let it slide, he and his rads. They tortured her. They called her names, spread rumors about her, it was never enough, they had to make her life terrible. So she asked her mom to ground her. She now goes to an all girls school in Switzerland, and never data-zaps me. She did twice, but that was six months ago. I leave her messages, but she never called me back. She has a new best friend I bet..." Zenon managed to get out the first part of her problems without a stumble. It happened a while ago, but the next part was what was ruining her life now.

"Then I got back together with Orion. He was the one I was with last time you were here. We broke up a week after you left because..." She then realized it was him she was talking to so she couldn't be straightforward with her answer, "it just wasn't working out. Then he did those things to Neb. I could have killed him for it, but then he turned nice major to me. Not just to have me back on his side, but he would carry my books and a whole lot of other things that made me fall for him all over again. So we got back together two months ago. Shortly thereafter, he started cheating on me. about 2 weeks ago, he started trying to do inky stuff with me, and I refused. Now he goes to Margie for that kind of attention, and she willingly gives it to him. Right now, I can't even imagine what the two of them are doing in their habitation units, but I guarentee you, where you find one you will find the other. Thats why I am so upset, the way they treat me...." She broke down sobbing once again, and it was all ProtoZoa could do to keep a soft and concerned face when all he wanted to do was beat the pulp out of that twit Marge and that idiot Orion.

"Zenon, Love, you always have a friend in me. You should have zapped me before now, you could have come back to earth and stayed in Nova Linen Cove, gotten away from it all. Now perk your chin up, Love. I am going to spend the next three weeks with you, if thats ok with you.." he added. "I have been in a funk again with my writing, and maybe up here I can get my thoughts together, and spend some time with you, make you feel better," and beat the living crap out of that jerk and twit, he thought.

"Really? You would take a vacation to spend time with me? But why? You are Proto Zoa, the most gorgeous and most wanted rock star in the world, self declared and by others! Why would you want to be friends with me? I seem to have a repellant on.. what makes you different?" She had a metric ton of questions for him, and he wanted to answer every single one.

"Answer to number one and two: yes, of course Love! and number three: because you treat me like a person, you make me want to be around you," He said, boosting her confidence a little.

"You really are going to stay?" She asked hopefully, a smile showing on her face.

"Yes, Darling I am!" He said, surprised by the sudden hug Zenon leaned up and gave him, and he was more than willing to return it.

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Soon after Zenon had completly dried her eyes and made herself more presentable, she and Proto Zoa made their way to the lab where her parents worked. Her parents were stunned to see a Zenon that had a smile on her face and was radiating happieness, and they knew she hadn't been like that for a long time. When they saw what was causing the happiness mode major, their jaws completly dropped. Zenon was dragging a mystery guy behind her, well, he was a mystery guy until he removed the hood of the jacket, revealing neat rows of bleach-blonde spikes.

"ProtoZoa!" Astrid gasped. " What, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see my space girl Zenon!" he said with a chuckle.

"Mom! He came to see me! I still have a friend!" Zenon was absolutely exhilerated. At the hearing of the words in her daughters last sentence, Astrid no longer cared that he came, she was in fact glad of it. It had been no secret Zenon hadn't been herself lately, and that she had been quite depressed. This had been a break in the clouds covering her for nearly a month! To say the very least, Astrid was nearly as glad to see ProtoZoa as Zenon was.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Karr, Mr. Karr," ProtoZoa directed that sentence, the majority of it to Mr. Karr, who had been silent thus far. ProtoZoa only hoped it wasn't because of the sudden appearence, and that it most definatly wasn't because he was mad. ProtoZoa searched for an emotion on his face, hoping to see one, and that it was a good one.

"Zenon, sweetie, would you excuse us for a few minutes?" Mr. Karr asked seriously. Zenon's face fell. She thought for the first time that they might not let him stay. Zenon slowly left the lab, like her feet had just become a ton of bricks. ProtoZoa watched her sulky figure stalk out of the lab, hoping for what she was hoping for.

"Mark, what was all that about?" Astrid asked, obviously annoyed.

"I want to clear some things up with Mr. Zoa," Mark said assertivly. "Now, Mr. Zoa,--"

"Please, call me ProtoZoa.. I don't like being thought of as a superior to you," Proto Zoa said with the utmost respect.

"Ahem, ProtoZoa, tell us exactly why you came to see Zenon," Mark stated.

"I've been in another funk with writing lately, and she always influences me with some of her adventures. Plus, I had just had an inexplicable feeling I should call her, and when I did, she was really upset. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong, so I took matters into my own hands. I came up here. I would like to, if its alright with you that is, stay for 3 or 4 weeks. Spend some time with her you know, make her feel better maybe. And I was thinking, maybe, she could stay out of school for a few weeks, still do the work, just not go to class? It would give us more time, and, and...." He tried to make his case strong, and only hoped it worked.

"ProtoZoa, you can stay," Astrid approved.

"Just, don't make her sad? I know you won't but, just try to keep her happy, which I have no doubt you'll have no problem with, but watch over her, ok?" Mark double checked.

ProtoZoa said his thanks and ran out of the lab. Zenon was sulking outside the door, and he stooped down next to her. She looked up into a sad looking face, and realized it was ProtoZoa!

"Their not gonna let you stay are they?" She asked, not waiting for an answer. " I knew it! I hate them! I hate them!!" She proceeded in her stings of mean things about them, hitting the walls as she stood up, towering over the crouched ProtoZoa, whom, she failed to notice, had a smile playing at the corners of his lips, as he joined her in the standing posistion. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up just before she hit the wall again.

"Ah! What are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"Keeping you from doing damage to something for nothing, Love!" He explained

"Nothing?! nothing?! Them not letting you stay here is NOTHING to you!?" She really didn't understand him, and was beginning to think he was glad because he wasn't staying.

"Who said I wasn't staying?" He teased, drawing a smirk on his lips.

"The- You- ugh! Zoa!!!!!" She said, playfully angry. He smiled and carried her back to the habitation module. In through the door and down the spiral stairs to their rooms, and dropped her on her bed.

"Oh yeah, Love, I forgot to mention the best part! I am not staying with you only two weeks, but four! And, you won't have to go to classes for those four weeks! We will spend all that time together, Love!" He said with a giant smile, looking at her for her reaction.

"Are you serious!? Are you serious major?!" She couldn't believe it either.

"Yea!" ProtoZoa knew that she was unaware that every time he called her Love and Darling, it was a sign of hope. She thought it was just because he was British. Huh, what irony.

They talked for hours it seemed, but it didn't matter, Zenon didn't have to go to school tomorrow. The conversation came to a lull and soon ended with ProtoZoa laying across her bed, belly up, and Zenon stretched from the foot of her bed to his well defined stomach. After dozing, Zenon began having some interesting dreams, involving ProtoZoa. Even in her dream she shamed herself for such thoughts as those. Besides that, they were just friends.