( day 20 )

The sun was already high in the air and it was only nine in the morning. Zach-along with all the other soccer players-was gearing up in the locker room for their first game of the season. They were all feeling pumped and excited.

"Is your girlfriend coming to the game today, Zachy?" Grant teased as he sat down next to his best friend on a bench.

Zach looked up from the cleat that he was tying and rolled his eyes, "she's not my girlfriend. Yet." He smirked and stood up to go to his locker. He dialed in his combination and pulled the door open, grabbing his jersey. He slipped it over his head then straightened it out.

Grant looked over at his friend and laughed, "I'm assuming last night was good?"

"More than," Zach commented with a nod and closed his locker door.

"Ooh, details dude," Grant smirked, stretching his arms up.

"It was a nice night. We had dinner and then took a walk in the park," Zach shrugged as if it was no big deal. But it was. It so was.

"You were definitely on your game last night, huh?" Grant let out a low whistle then said in a low voice for just them to hear, "Did you and her… you know… do something special afterwards?" He winked.

Zach rolled his eyes, trying to remember why he was friends with Grant in the first place. "No, we didn't sleep together."

"Did you even try?" Grant asked.

Zach glared at him, "No, and I don't want to."

"Fuck man! You're so whipped it's almost embarrassing." Grant let out a laugh, slapping his thigh.

"Who's whipped?" One of the other guys asked as he passed by holding his cleats in his hand.

"Goode," Grant nodded at Zach. Zach shot him a glare and then gave him the finger. But Grant just smiled and the passing guy nodded. "Cool."

Once he was gone, Grant asked, "So you're not even going to try to get into her pants?"

"Please. Shut up." Zach said as Grant stood up. They both walked out of the locker room and onto the field. Today was going to be a good day. Small crowds of people were already situated wherever they pleased on the bleachers.

"I'm just saying that it's so not unlikely that you get in a girl's pants." Grant said, remembering Zach's track record with girls. But it wasn't that bad, it's not like Zach slept around with every girl he went on a date with. It wasn't like that. But let's just say Zach's no stranger to those kind of things.

"Hey, there's Macey!" Grant raised a hand and waved over at the pretty girl sitting on the bleachers with two people Zach's never seen before. She stood up, stretching her skinny arm up and waved excitedly. Grant smiled and Zach just stood there. Macey was in a pair of denim shorts that emphasized her long legs and a gray short sleeved shirt. Even from the distance, Zach could see her glossy hair shine under the sun's natural light.

"Goode! Newman!" Their coach shouted after blowing his whistle. He waved them over from their end on the field. Zach smacked Grant's arm lightly, "Come on dude, let's go."

Grant pulled his gaze away from Macey and nodded with a devious smile, "Let's kick some ass."

::

By the time Cammie got to Zach's soccer game, they already started playing. She did not wake up early that morning. But that was only because she spent most of her night listening to sappy love songs and re-living her night with Zach in her thoughts. It was kind of crazy, but she was happy. And happy was something she wanted to be.

Cammie couldn't help but notice her sneakers dip into the wet grass. Gross. The sun was bright and burning already and no windy breezes seemed to be going by. Even more gross. But she was glad she was there for Zach. She climbed her way up the bleachers, looking for a seat. She now wished she asked Liz or Jonas to go with her but she knew she couldn't. How could she explain her sudden interesting in the boys' soccer team to them? Too complicated.

"Cammie over here!" A familiar voice pierced through Cammie's ears and she immediately froze. She looked up and there smiling at her like the Wicked Witch from the West was Macey McHenry, looking as perfect as ever.

She gestured for her to come over with her two fingers then patted the empty spot next to her. Cammie bit her lip, wishing she could pretend she didn't hear her. But it was too late. Cammie tried to force a bitter smile but then it completely burned away when she saw who was seated next to her bitchy ex-best friend. Josh and DeeDee. Just fucking great.

Macey's smile was still plastered on her face, her eyes burning through Cammie.

Cammie started to move her feet, wondering if she was going as slow as she felt she was. Her feet moved only an inch, dragging their way towards the trio. She finally made it, after what seemed like forever. Macey looked up at her and giggled, "Geez Cammie, I thought you'd never get here. Maybe it's time to work out, huh?"

Cammie bit the inside of her cheek and sat down next to her but scooted a bit away. She needed to keep a distance. She wanted to keep a distance. She stared ahead, barely acknowledging Josh and DeeDee's presence. But she could still feel Macey's hawk eyes on her. Then she felt Macey's bony elbow shove into her side. "Cam! Are you like blind?" She shrieked loudly, "Josh and DeeDee are here!"

Cammie turned around to face them. And then she was caught by Josh's gaze. It was like she was a fish being reeled in by a fisherman. She couldn't pull away, not just yet. She was allowing the hook and line to drag her across the tides. Josh stared back at her though, this intense gazing was not just one sided. His eyes couldn't leave Cammie's and there were a thousand thoughts running through both of their minds.

"Hey Cammie!" DeeDee said cheerily, snapping both Cammie and Josh out of their thoughts.

Cammie stared at the blonde girl and nodded slowly, "um… hey."

"Your school is really good at soccer," DeeDee commented, shooting a side glance onto the field. Then she extended her hand out and pointed to Zach. "Is that your boyfriend? Macey's talked a lot about the two of you." She chuckled, "It's almost like you guys are married or something."

Cammie's face instantly heated up, "Oh what?"

DeeDee repeated exactly what she said the first time, not even sounding annoyed. She just smiled perkily and Cammie wanted to wipe that happy smile off her face. She was so damn polite, it was almost nauseating.

"Um… well, yeah…" Cammie replied weakly, she had no idea what to say back. Zach really wasn't her boyfriend. It wasn't official or anything. But if she declined DeeDee's accusation then that'd seem fishy to the trio in front of her. Besides, she wanted to be Zach's girlfriend. Probably more than she'd admit out loud. As Cammie said this, she tried hard not to meet Josh's eyes. It's not that she still cared about him. Or she did. She probably always will. How can you just stop caring about someone who used to mean so much? Cammie never understood how some people could do that.

"We should go for pizza after this!" Macey clapped enthusiastically.

Cammie looked at her, surprised. Where was all her energy coming from? If Cammie's memory served her correctly, Macey hated waking up early on Saturdays to watch any kind of sport games. Macey hated being near public schools, and especially hated pizza or anything that greasy.

"Sounds good!" DeeDee chirped happily, taking Josh's hand.

Cammie nodded, not trusting her mouth to speak. She turned to face forward and noticed Zach running down the field with the ball, a group of guys tailing him. Cammie was impressed as he kicked the ball letting it glide through the grass and into the opponent's net. Everyone on their bleachers stood up and cheered. Cammie beamed, feeling so proud of Zach.

::

After the game was finally over, all the fans rushed down the bleachers to congratulate the winning team. Cammie remained seated, watching as the soccer team all shouted with joy and exchanged the highest of fives. Macey tapped Cammie on the shoulder, a smile playing on her lips. "They did great, huh?"

Cammie nodded, "yeah. So Macey, are you and Grant serious?"

Macey stared at her as if that was the funniest thing anyone could say. She shrugged, "Well, he's cute. But I don't know if serious is the right word right now. It's nothing like you and Zach though." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Cammie could feel her face heating up and hoped it wasn't turning red. Macey always made her so nervous about herself. Cammie just stared at her, shrugging a little. Macey turned to DeeDee and Josh, her hair swaying in the wind.

Just then, Zach raced up the bleachers even skipping a few steps. Cammie assumed he was used to it from all the soccer practices he had to attend. He waved at Cammie, slowing his pace, and then stopping right in front of where she was sitting. "Hey Gallagher Girl! Happy Saturday." He grinned down at her then looked over at Macey and Josh and DeeDee. "I'm really glad you guys could come."

Macey smiled, "Of course! We wouldn't have missed it for the world!" She nodded happily, searching the field for Grant. DeeDee nodded after her looking enthusiastic but Josh looked the opposite.

Zach nodded, extending a hand out, "I'm Zach."

DeeDee took his hand into hers and smiled, "Hey! I'm DeeDee! And this is my boyfriend, Josh!" She glazed her eyes over at Josh then smiled back at Zach. DeeDee was a sweet girl, so sweet that she could give anyone diabetes from her prize winning smile.

"Wassup guys?" Grant's voice said as he came up to their circle, slinging a hand on Macey's shoulders. She smiled at him, but Cammie could tell she flinched at the feel of his sticky with sweat arm on her nice blouse. Macey said to him, "We should all go out for pizza to celebrate your victory!"

Cammie forced a smile; this was going to be a long day.

::

Once they were inside and seated at a pizzeria down the street from school, they all began asking each other questions back and forth. Grant told lots of stories about Zach on the field and Macey talked a lot about Gallagher. That included embarrassing stories of Cammie during freshmen year that made her face turn red. Zach just chuckled and thought she was adorable. But Cammie knew from his smirk that he was going to use it for mocking points.

Josh seemed rather distant, keeping quiet and only ever talking when DeeDee said something to try and include him in the conversation. Other than that, he was silent. Cammie didn't mind though because she honestly had no idea how to handle with both Josh and Zach at the same table.

Zach looked over at her and smiled then said in a low voice, "do you want to do something later?" Cammie turned to him with a smile and nodded slowly.

DeeDee spoke up just then, "so when's the next game, Zach?"

Zach turned to her and said, "Oh two weeks from now."

"We should totally go!" Macey said with a bright smile and batted her long lashes over at Grant. Grant smiled at her as he took another monstrous bite into his pizza.

DeeDee nodded then Josh looked over at Zach, "how long have you been playing?"

Zach looked at him surprised he was talking to him. Everyone was surprised since Josh hadn't said much to anyone except DeeDee since they got there. Zach replied quickly, "a few years."

Josh nodded, looking not impressed or interested. He then glanced over at Cammie and she stared back, feeling her heart thumping hard. For some reason, Josh talking to Zach was very nerve wracking.

Macey smiled deviously, reminding Cammie of a cat ready to catch a mouse. "It looks like Josh has some competition." She winked over at Zach who looked over at Cammie.

Cammie just stared at him then turned back to Macey, restraining the urge to kill her. Macey just smiled innocently and looked over at Grant. Josh just stared back at Cammie who kept her eyes down. Zach looked at Josh and asked, "So how long have you two known each other?" His voice sounded different, it still sounded friendly but there was a hint of competition lingering with each word.

Josh responded quickly, "since freshmen year. We were in the same World Cultures class."

"That's cool," Zach replied with a careless shrug. He looked over at Cammie; he didn't look angry or upset. He looked jealous and Cammie had to admit it was adorable.

"So how are you doing now, Cam?" Josh asked. "Do you still draw?"

"You draw?" Zach looked over at her with surprised eyebrows. Zach didn't know Cammie drew, and he liked to think he knew a lot about her. Apparently he didn't though.

Josh smirked like it was funny Zach didn't know that small detail about her. But he tried to cover it up with an innocent smile, "Yeah, she used to always draw. She'd draw in her notebooks, on her arms, on napkins at restaurants… everywhere."

Cammie shrugged, "Oh that was just a hobby I guess. I don't draw much anymore."

"Bummer, you were really good," Josh said like he was just talking to her and no one else was around.

"Not really," Cammie shrugged.

"I didn't know you drew," Zach said to her, meeting her eyes. She looked back at him, "It's not like I was a pro or anything, and they were really just doodles."

Josh just smiled triumphantly like he won some award or something. DeeDee stared at him, shock plastered on her face. Could Josh be any more obvious? His girlfriend was right there next to him!

Macey raised an eyebrow and smirked, "We should all hang out again!"

"We have a victory party tomorrow," Grant nodded, "One of the guys' parents wanted to host one."

Macey smiled, "Sounds like fun!"

a/n: um wow guys, I am so sorry for leaving you hanging for more than a month! And no, it's not a sign I was giving up on this story. I'm very determined to finish it! I guess some weeks I was just busy. Other weeks… I guess I was really lazy and didn't have the time. This chapter has been typed but incomplete since March and I only found the time to finish it today. But yeah, I'm still finishing this story and I'll also finish My Escape (which ends in like, 6 chapters or something).

I'm watching The Avengers for my birthday :D I'm excited! Again, I'm really sorry for the mini-hiatus D: So how is everyone doing? I hope you're all doing well (: