2: On a date

Age: 17

Zack didn't have a great track record with relationships.

Then again, he only had a few loves in his life; Maddie, the Red Sox, and money. But Maddie was too old for him and he realized they would be nothing but friends—she still owed him a dance at his prom, though. The Red Sox managed to crush him with a loss just as much as they made his heart soar with a win. And then there was money; he loved getting money, he hated spending it, but he was a sucker for material goods.

Then there was the dozens of girls he had dated for a day, a few hours, a week, a month, for what could've been a serious relationship but never got that far, all going through the alphabet from A to Z and the whole thing with Max was certainly a testament to that. Then again, they were sort of fated to not work out because of the way they started; based on a lie. She had kissed him at a basketball game due to the sheer excitement she felt over his winning shot, he was—in a way—forced to go out with her, started to like her when they were on their date, she found out he was 'taking one or the team', broke up with him, and they continued that little song and dance over the years.

All of those different relationships made him, admittedly, evade the idea of commitment. So how he managed to have Riley interested enough to date him was beyond him. But he wasn't complaining.

"What are you doing tonight?"

Riley smiled as her boyfriend turned away from his locker, obviously mentally scrolling through the things he was probably supposed to be doing that night—homework—and would not even touch. If the momentary panicked expression that rocketed across face was anything to go by. "Nothing," Zack finally replied as he closed his locker door and pressed his back against it before reaching out his hands and resting them on his waist, glad she was over the impulse to punch him whenever he so much as touched her. "Going out with you, I hope."

He flashed a charming smile, the one that always managed to make the cauldron of emotions she held to spill over, long before he was aware of the effect it has on her.

"Good answer," she replied with an even cheekier smile before grabbing onto the straps of her backpack. "Because I'm taking you somewhere." She reached out and lightly tapped him on the chest and he brought his hand up, wedging his fingers between hers.

His eyebrow rose though his smile didn't falter. "I don't get a choice?"

"Nope."

He thought for a moment. "Am I picking you up?"

"No."

"Am I driving?"

"No."

"Am I paying for it?"

"No."

His eyes lit up. "Sounds like my kind of date." He leaned in and gave her a peck, causing her smile to widen. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Zack liked surprises, he could roll with that. He was a bit worried though. The smile on Riley's face meant the date could be just about anything. And the curiosity that settled into his gut wouldn't go away until later that night when he heard a knock at the door to his suite. He barely had the chance to say goodbye to his mother or brother—who continued to shake his head in disbelief that Zack and Riley were finally going out, considering how long he had been threatened to keep her feelings a secret—before she had pulled him out of the door and pushed him into the passenger seat of her car. She kept her word on that part of the date so that was a good sign.

His interest was piqued even further when he spotted boats out in the distance and realized that she had driven the two of them to the harbor. He glanced over at her as she pulled the car up to a stop, noticing her childlike giddiness—maybe nerves—as she clambered out of the car and hurried over to the passenger seat to pull him out again. He allowed himself to get dragged around to a dock until she slowed her steps, now anxious. His eyes widened when he spotted a mall picnic setup complete with lit candles.

"Wow, this is for me?" He asked her.

"Yep." Riley squeezed his hand, as if trying to let him know what she was saying without having to say it. "I know it's kinda cheesy—"

"—and not much like you at all," Zack broke in.

Making a show of sticking her nose in the air, his girlfriend crossed her arms over her chest and walked on without him. "Well, if you can't be appreciative of my hard work, boofhead, just say so, yeah?" She walked over to the picnic blanket and sat down Indian style. She pouted, the flickering flame in front of cast a shadow over her increasing the depth of her frown. "I try to be nice and make you a romantic dinner and you just complain."

Even in the dying light Zack could see the blush in her cheeks. She reached out and started to pick at the blanket in front of her. Zack walked over to her and pressed a kiss to the back of her head before stretching out on the blanket across from her. "Anyone that'll save my life from my mother's cooking is good in my books, Ley." Then again, anything was better than his mother's cooking. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She brightened a little as she sat up straight. "But you don't deserve it."

"Duly noted."

The rest of the evening went by in a flash—or else he had managed to fall into a food coma after having eaten so much shrimp, coleslaw, fries, and ice cream for dessert. Then they watched the illuminated boats coming into the harbor, waving to tourists that took the dinner cruise around. And they talked; about nothing and everything until they had nothing to talk about anymore and sat in comfortable silence his arms around her shoulders and gently playing with her hair, and she leaned against him, resting her head against his chest as she listened to his heartbeat.

She'd laugh evilly every time she would move her hand closer to a sensitive area on his body and she could hear his heartbeat quicken then slow as she removed her hand. Then he removed his hand from her hair and absentmindedly ran his fingers over hers, tapping the tips of hers in a sort of dance as he watched the silhouettes of the boats move further and away on the horizon.

Finally Riley packed everything up saying, "Better get you back before you turn into a Pumpkin, yeah?"

To which he replied by reaching his arm out and wrapping it around her waist, "Unlike Cinderella I've never actually made my curfew," and gave her a long kiss that left the two of them breathless and smiling like loons when it ended.

"D'you want to do this again next weekend?" She asked as they leisurely strolled back to the car. "I mean, I'm not sure if I'm a better date then Bob, but—" She laughed when Zack let out a loud cry of annoyance.

"I never went on a date with Bob, alright?!"

"That's not what he's saying."

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Zack insisted. "I only asked him to the nightclub so that he would help me get with Jolie."

"well, you must've done something right , boofhead, because he keeps saying you never called him back."

"Shut up."

Zack smiled warmly as Riley laughed again; he had a tendency to shy away from serious relationships, breaking them off before anyone got too attached. But this time around, he decided he may as well take the risk.

"To answer your question about going out against next weekend…you got it, Sweet Thang."