Hi guys!
It's Britt, and I am super excited to be writing a few more one-shots for Captured again. This particular one-shot is going to be the Zach POV I keep talking about, so bear with me while I get through this author's note. Or you can skip it, it's up to you. :)
The plan for Captured is to make it a series of five one-shots. On my profile, it says I'm going to update "once a month", but I'd like to finish something for once, so I hope to finish this collection in the next few weeks. I don't like working on more than two to three fanfictions at a time (it gets confusing with all the overlapping characters/plot points), so I'm eager to finish this up and start something new.
Also: In this one-shot, Becca and Zach are not dating. This might be confusing because in the first one-shot they went out on a date, but in this one-shot, Becca is dating Theo.
Review and request POVs or scenes that you would like me to write in the comments! I'd be happy to write scenes from The 7th MDBC in a different POV if anyone else would like to read that.
Britt :)
Quickie summary for this one-shot: In which Zach contemplates women, men, women and men, and being friend-zoned while being forced to be in close proximity of the object of his affections...
Fooling
Zach
Women. What is it about them that makes them so confusing? I mean, everything was easier when boys and girls could be friends without hormones and emotions getting in the way, and now something as simple as hand holding means something totally different.
And what about us guys? I can't deny that I've been attracted to some girls, okay, one girl, but she's been so blunt about her feelings towards me that I've pretty much been friend-zoned.
Even worse, we aren't even friends anymore.
I probably shouldn't be daydreaming while rehearsing for an Alcott Theater Production, especially since the object of my affections is literally standing in front of me, but I guess I can afford to drift off.
My scene doesn't start until Jess is done with her impossibly long solo. She's still skipping around the stage, braids flying as she sings and dances to the tune of a country dance.
My gaze shifts to Cassidy, who is waiting for her entrance on the wings of the stage, opposite of me.
She's still beautiful as always, but I've conditioned myself to stop thinking about her since our break up. It hasn't been the most effective method for getting over her, but I guess I don't have a choice since she's happily dating Tristan Berkeley now.
"Zach!" Mrs. Crawton motions for me to make my entrance on stage.
Taking a deep breath, I transform into Almanzo Wilder as I step into the spotlight. I can see Cassidy out of the corner of my eye, and I watch as she comes up to me, uncharacteristically giggling as she skips right past Jess.
"Mannie!" she says, flipping her hair over shoulder and giggling again, "Let's go for another buggy ride!"
I watch as Jess stands on the side of the stage, as she frowns at her friend. Her frown doesn't hide the fact that she's about to burst out laughing though, and pretty soon everyone has broken character.
Cassidy grins at her friend as Mrs. Crawton tells us that practice is over, and we all depart from the stage and grab our backpacks.
Things get even more awkward when I'm suddenly forced to make conversation with Tristan himself. I don't know him that well, as he's a year older than me, but having Simon there helps the conversation from stalling.
I watch as Tristan and Cassidy head off, hand and hand, from Darcy's car, and I don't miss Simon's curious glances at me. He doesn't know much about Cassidy and my break up, so I bet he's wondering about how I'm feeling right now.
As usual, I'm right about Simon, and a few hours a later, I get a text from him, telling me to come to Kimball Farm.
Some of the lads are going, he texts me.
Who? I text back, I might swing by.
Not my brother, if that's what you were wondering, he says.
I glare at my phone. Shut up, dude, I'm coming.
See you in five, Norton, he texts back.
By the time I get to Kimball, most of the guys have already finished eating.
I nod in greeting as Simon approaches me. "Hey Zach," he says, "About time you got over here."
He grins at me, and I laugh. "I had play practice earlier, what do you expect?"
The conversation lulls as the guys begin to throw away their cups, and I head outside with Simon.
"Where's your car?" I ask. Simon's just standing on the curb, hands in his pockets, staring at the cars passing by.
"My brother's picking me up," he says nonchalantly. "You can go if you want."
I begin to head off in the other direction, but suddenly I hear my name being called.
"Zach!" I hear Emma Hawthorne call my name as she steps out of a car, "Get over here for a second, would you?"
I turn around, only to see Tristan and Cassidy get out after her. Great.
Emma doesn't seem to notice my obvious discomfort as she motions for me to come over.
"You need to take some pictures of the Alcott football game coming up. It's this Saturday at 11:00. Can you make it?"
She glances at me ruefully, "Sorry I didn't tell you at yesterday's meeting. It completely slipped my mind."
A second later, she snaps her fingers in front of my face, her normally smiling face set into a frown.
"Pay attention, Zach," she says, exasperated, "You keep getting distracted. What's so exciting that's causing you to keep looking behind me?"
I return my gaze to her, and mumble an apology.
It's hard to pay attention with Cassidy giggling as Tristan wraps an arm around her shoulders. Yep, they're kissing now too.
It takes some effort to drag my gaze from their PDA session and meet Emma's worried eyes.
"I probably should get going," I say hurriedly, "See you around, Emma."
"Bye, Zach." Emma turns around and heads back to her friends. I watch from a distance as they all get back into the car, laughing and chatting away.
A few hours later, I get a text from Emma.
You weren't fooling anyone, you know. :)
Wow, I think I've had enough of Zach to last me a lifetime. The rest of these one-shots are definitely going to be about some of the other characters so I can preserve my sanity.
As for this scene, I tried my best to make Zach sad but not sappy because I don't think it would be part of his personality to mope. Other than that, this scene kind of hints at an Emma and Zach friendship, which I think is great, considering Emma's awkward crush on him when she was in sixth grade. That also explains why she is so comfortable joking around with him.
Also, I've begun to use my profile a lot now, so if you want to check that out, I've started listed out updates on my stories there as well as some other stuff like my inspirations for writing. You can access my profile by clicking on my name. :)
Thanks so much to my beta, Charlotte (dreaminitiate) for editing this! Review, favorite, follow!
Britt
