"So you and Zach are good now?" Rose repeated for about the billionth time since I explained to her why I ended up disappearing last night from the football game.
"Yes, we're good," I said, blowing out a breath. I relieved breath. I couldn't help smiling.
"So…what are you guys now?"
I looked up at the cloudy sky, immediately crossing my arms over my chest against the morning wind.
"We're friends and I'm just going with the flow," I admitted with a shrug, glancing over at Rose as we walked over to the dining hall for breakfast.
"Going with the flow for what?" Stephanie interrupted; appearing on my other side with Cosette by her heals.
"For the school year," I answered nonchalantly.
"Just letting things happen. I told Crystal not to bury herself in studies too much this year and she agreed," Rose said too cheerily.
I sent her a quick glare, knowing Rose has been on my case with studying too much too. She knew my situation with my parents and trying to be the perfect daughter, not wanting to worry my parents since they were really affected by Chris' death. But Rose wanted me to have fun too. I couldn't blame her.
"You agreed?" Stephanie asked surprised but with a smile on her face. "Good. You should have fun. We should find a boy for you."
Stephanie sent me a coy smile and I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. The only person that knew about me and Zach was Rose. And whoever Zach told.
"Crystal needs all the help she can get for trying to get a boy," Cosette piped in, "Good luck Stephanie and Rose," she said condescendingly, instantly filling the air with tension.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I blurted out, the instant anger at Cosette building up in me. Cosette's underhanded and uncalled for digs at me were growing annoying.
"I'm just stating a fact," Cosette defended herself innocently as we entered the dining hall. "You've been anti-social and guys don't like that," she continued with a nose in the air.
I scoffed mentally. As if Cosette should talk. Who was the one who shared a kiss with Zach, the irresistible boy girls seem to be obsessed about? Me.
I slightly blushed from the memory last night and hoped it wasn't apparent on my face. Sure, I liked Zach and he obviously stated he liked me. But I couldn't get ahead of myself. I didn't want to be one of those giddy girls who couldn't help thinking about some boy. I had priorities and I wasn't desperate enough to only think about boys the whole day like some people.
"Crystal hasn't been anti-social, she's just been busy," Stephanie defended me, surprising me to no end since Stephanie would usually back up Cosette in any argument…except for this one.
"Well good luck," Cosette said in a condescending tone before she headed towards a few of her other friends across the room.
"I honestly don't know what her problem is," I muttered.
"Don't take it too personally. She's just having her own boy problems," Stephanie spoke up with a shrug. "Let her be."
"Who is her mystery boy then?" Rose wondered.
"Heck, she still hasn't told me!" Stephanie exclaimed in frustration. "What about you Rose? Any boy?"
"Who knows," Rose sighed with a laugh.
"Um…where's Hunter?" I asked confused as I looked up from my math homework to stare up at the brown eyes practically laughing down at me.
"Wow. I'm hurt," Zach deadpanned. "No 'hey Zach' or 'it's good to see you' or 'I missed you. I'm glad you're here though' but the first thing out of your mouth is about Hunter."
I slapped Zach in the arm and glared at him as he dropped himself in the seat beside me with a sheepish grin on his face. I continued to stare at him, wishing to slap that grin off his face.
"Well, if you desperately need to know," Zach drawled, turning his body towards me in his seat, "Hunter said he didn't feel up for studying at the library. Coach worked us hard for practice today."
"So Hunter sent you here to tell me he couldn't come," I stated with a dubious look.
"Actually he texted you," Zach laughed. "I was there to witness it. I came here because I wanted to see you."
I immediately blushed at his last comment before scoffing, taking my cell phone out of my bag.
"What? You don't trust me?" Zach chuckled beside me as I fished out my cell phone to see that indeed, Hunter texted me he couldn't make it.
"I was just checking," I rolled my eyes but with a smile on my face. "So what? You're not tired from practice?"
"Nope," he confirmed arrogantly before letting his eyes scan the library around us and the other students milling about.
"So what now?" I asked as I turned back to finish up the last few problems of my math.
I was conscious of Zach leaning back into his seat, stretching his arms out in front of him. He let out a yawn. Today wasn't too eventful but I've got to admit it was nice talking and hanging out with Zach after the past few days of avoiding him. Sure, sometimes I'd find myself glancing at him during science or art class and daydreaming about…him. But I'd stop myself from letting my imaginations go too far.
"What? I can't stop by and see you studying at the library like a book worm?"
I snapped my head up and immediately smacked him in the arm causing Zach to let out a laugh. A few students hunched over their own books glared over at us. I sent an apologetic smile before glaring at the guilty boy next to me.
"That's not funny," I stated, closing my notebook. "So you came by to see me?" I asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, is that so hard to believe?" Zach asked sarcastically, meeting my gaze head on.
"Maybe," I muttered, sticking my tongue out at him.
"Anyways," Zach said rolling his eyes at my immature tactics, "are you done?" He pointedly glanced at my closed notebook on the desk before looking back at me.
"Yes I am," I smiled back at him before stuffing my notebook and pencil case in my bag. "And I can't wait to get out of here."
I stood up, shouldering my bag as I snatched up my math and history books from the wooden desk I occupied for the last few hours. I looked down at Zach, still in his chair, and gave him an expectant look.
"You coming or what?" I asked, motioning him to get up. Zach smirked up at me as he got up and took my books from my hands before he headed towards the exit.
"I can carry my own books you know," I stated with a small smile as I walked beside him, letting him lead the way.
"I know you can. I'm just trying to be nice is all," he explained, glancing down at me as if he were waiting for me to argue. I was too busy looking into those eyes of his that his hand enclosing on mine took me by surprise.
"Well…thanks," I stuttered out of shock as his hand held mine as we walked down the path towards his dorm. I quickly looked away from him, attempting to hide his view of my surprised face. My eyes glanced past the few students milling about the campus or simply lounging around on the grass area.
"Is this too fast for you?" he teased, holding up both of our hands.
I immediately glared up at him, taking notice of his mocking tone, but I noticed a bit of seriousness in his eyes despite the teasing smile on his lips. I lowered both of our hands since he was still holding them up.
"It's fine," I shortly replied, my heart suddenly beating faster. I sent him a smile as he squeezed my hand. He continued to look down at me a small smile playing on his lips before he cleared his throat.
"So we're having a soccer game tomorrow," he spoke up as we passed a few students going the opposite direction.
"Really? Are you guys ready?"
"As ready as we can be. Coach worked our butts off today. We're on a winning streak right now so he doesn't really want to lose that," Zach explained as we approached the his dorm and entered into the lounge where teenagers were hanging out in front of the television and lazily sprawled on the sofas.
"Your friends are coming to watch," he stated casually as he led me to the corner of the lounge where I spotted my friends and his friends.
"They're your friends too," I laughed.
"But they're more your friends. Are you planning to watch along with them?"
"Uh…I never really thought about it. I honestly didn't even know you guys were having a game tomorrow," I admitted sheepishly, looking over at Zach.
"Well, I think you should come and watch," Zach smiled as he let go of my hand to place my books on a side table by the sofa our friends had occupied.
"Hey Crystal," Hunter greeted me as he came from behind me with a drink in his hand. He pulled me into a hug. The rest of our friends turned away from the television and their conversations to notice me. "Sorry about ditching you today. I'm exhausted," he apologized before pulling away from me.
"It's alright," I smiled back. "Zach explained it to me."
"So that's where you were? Over at the library with Crystal?" Cosette asked Zach, jumping into the conversation. He took a seat on the sofa next to Grant who was texting on his cell.
"You were at the library again?" Grant exclaimed sarcastically, glancing up at his best friend.
"Don't be so surprised," Zach retorted, smacking the back of Grant's head causing Rose to let out a laugh who was sitting on the carpeted floor in front of them.
"Dang Crystal," Grant whistled. "Look at what you've done to my best friend. Having him go to the library. I'd say he's whipped."
With that, Zach immediately punched Grant in the arm causing Hunter to let out a laugh before setting himself down on the carpet beside Rose. I followed suit, trying not to blush.
"What is he talking about?" Stephanie asked to no one in particular.
"Whipped?" Cosette echoed, as she cast looks between Zach and me. Confusion and skepticism was written on her face. I'd say she's an open book with her emotions.
"Grant talks too much," Zach dismissed as he shook his head causing Rose to let out a laugh before sending me a knowing look. I shrugged, acting clueless.
For the next hour or so, we simply talked and watched whatever was playing on the television in the lounge. I obviously didn't take part in any side conversations that involved Cosette. When she wanted to tell me what her problem was, that was when I'd talk and listen.
The next day...
"Better late than never I guess," Rose greeted me as I dropped next to her on the bleacher. My eyes quickly glanced around me to see that the bleachers were quite packed and I cringed when I couple of girls in front of us cheered—or at least in my eyes screamed—for our soccer team.
"Sorry," I mumbled as I leaned forward. "Hey Stephanie."
"Hey! Glad you can make it to your first soccer game viewing," Stephanie greeted me with a smile causing me to laugh. She always wanted me to attend more sports games arguing that it was good to have school spirit. She practically went to almost all sports games that were held on campus.
I noticed Cosette a few bleachers down with a group of her other friends. Lately, she's been jumping from our group of friends to her other group. Sure I missed her as a friend because she was a good friend but lately I couldn't have been relieved to have her with another group of friends because that meant, no awkward silences with her or digs from her.
"So what's the score?" I asked, turning my attention towards the soccer field.
"We scored right before you got here and now it's 3-2," Rose answered with a rushed and excited voice. She beamed at me. "This game was so nerve-wracking."
"It is nerve-wracking!" Stephanie corrected, her eyes glued to the field. "I thought we were going to lose!"
"The game isn't over yet. Anything could happen," I added as I, along with the rest of the audience, cringed when the opponent took a shot out our goal.
"No!" I yelled along with Rose and Stephanie and the rest of the audience as we watched the ball sail towards our net with a swoosh.
"3-3," Rose muttered with a shake of her head. My eyes scanned the field to see Grant muttering to himself—probably profanities. I watched as Hunter jogged over to Grant, clamping a hand on his back in comfort.
"Go Zach!" the group of girls, which included Cosette, in front of us cheered in annoying high pitched voices.
"They've been doing that the whole game," Rose grumbled in annoyance. "They cheered for every boy but mostly Zach."
"He's a charmer," I deadpanned as I searched the field to see that Zach had the ball and tried to make his way towards the goal, outrunning and sidestepping the opponents. He passed the ball to a teammate when a bunch of guys attempted to gang up on him.
"I'm sure he is your charmer," Rose snickered.
"Ha! Very funny," I replied sarcastically as I realized that Grant now had the ball.
"So I've been meaning to ask you," Stephanie started but stopped when Grant took a shot at the goal but unfortunately blocked by the opponent's defense. "Ugh. That stinks. But Crystal, I've been meaning to ask you about you and Zach. I mean, is there something going on between you guys? I noticed a bit of it yesterday and today."
Of course Stephanie would notice. She wasn't blind. She was very observant…almost about anything. It was surprising to know that she hasn't figured out whose Cosette's crush is.
"Um…" I looked away from the field to see Rose's and Stephanie's eyes on me. "I don't know," I found myself saying. I didn't want Stephanie to start spreading stuff because she was known for that.
"Well, I think you guys are cute together. Total opposites though and unexpected but cute," Stephanie admitted with a small smile towards me. Huh.
We all turned back towards the field to see the soccer ball fly into the opponent's net and immediately our whole bleacher practically erupted in cheers.
"Who scored that?" Rose exclaimed, her eyes searching the field to see who on our team scored.
"It was Jeff," Stephanie answered after we all watched the boys on our team tackle a blonde guy to the ground. And just then the whistles blew, ending the game.
"We won!" I exclaimed along with Stephanie and Rose, smiles on our faces. "Winning streak is still continuing."
"See? Wasn't that a fun game? Even though you made it to practically the last ten minutes of the game," Stephanie turned to me with a smile. "You better go to the next one."
"We'll see," I said, smiling. Sure I was already planning to attend more soccer games but I had to make sure it wouldn't distract me from my priorities. Yes, I'm a killjoy. Whatever.
"We won! We won! We won!" Grant exclaimed, attacking Stephanie into a hug. Then he attacked Rose into a hug. Then he attacked Cosette. I slowly took steps backwards, not really looking forward to a hug attack with an overexcited boy screaming in my ear, but Grant's eyes connected with mine as he pulled away from Cosette.
Oh crap.
"We won!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face as he pulled me into his arms and squeezing me to his chest.
"Congrats," I squeaked as I saw my friends and huge group of other students who watched the game congratulate the boys. After the game, the boys rushed into the locker room for a meeting with the coach and quick showers. The spectators, including me and my friends, mingled and chatted on the soccer field as we waited for the guys to come out.
"Let her breathe," Hunter chuckled as Grant pulled away from me to socialize with the rest of the teenagers hanging around.
"Great job," I smiled at Hunter, noticing his hair damp from a quick shower.
"I know. Crystal was lucky to come to such an intense game," Stephanie added in, appearing on my other side.
"Hey, you came," a voice from my side startled me. I found myself staring up at Zach, his dark brown hair damp like Hunter's.
"Why do you seem so surprised?" I asked, giving him a glare.
He let out a laugh before shaking his head in amusement.
"Just happy to see you. Never said I was surprised," he corrected me, raising an eyebrow as he challenged me to argue.
I rolled my eyes as I looked away from him to see an amused look on Stephanie's face. Hunter seemed to have disappeared, leaving just the three of us.
"Well, I'm happy you came," Zach laughed, trying to make amends with me. I looked back towards him to see him smirking at me before he glanced over at Stephanie. "Hey, hope you enjoyed the game Stephanie."
"I'm sure I was as nervous as you were," Stephanie laughed, knowing all too well that the boys on the team were probably nervous as hell when the opponents tied the score 3-3. "But I'm glad Crystal was able to come to a very intense game, let alone it being her first one this year," she continued as she watched Zach wrap his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug.
"I know. I'm glad she could come too," Zach agreed, his eyes scanning my face with a tint of a smile on his lips. My heart beat erratically in my chest and I was so sure he could feel and hear it since he kept his arm around me, pressing me against his chest.
"But it really wasn't my first game. Technically," I spoke up, attempting to disengage myself from him. He only loosened his arm around me but made sure to keep me by his side.
"She practically came the last ten minutes or so," Stephanie confirmed with a nod and a shrug. "But at least she came."
"The last ten minutes? Really?" Zach grimaced at Stephanie. "Figures. It is Crystal we're talking about here." He deliberately slipped his arm off of me.
"But at least I did come. Like what Stephanie said," I defended myself, looking up at him.
"I'm hurt."
"Oh come on," I laughed, he was obviously being ridiculous. He knew I had other things to attend to before I could allow myself some fun and enjoy a soccer game. He scratched the back of his neck, scanning the crowd around us—obviously trying to find other people to hang with. I rolled my eyes and caught Stephanie glancing between me and him, her eyes full of attention as she took in what was happening. I knew then what she was thinking: a fight or at least bickering between me and Zach, which she thought something was going on between us.
"Don't be such a cry baby," I let out a light laugh as I looked back up at Zach who was still scanning the crowd, intently trying to ignore me. "I came. Doesn't that mean something?" I asked.
"Hm…Do you hear something Stephanie?" Zach asked, acting clueless as he looked over at my friend's face. "Because I don't hear anything."
"Very funny," I deadpanned before I made an attempt to turn away and go over to Hunter who I noticed was a couple yards away chatting with Rose and Grant. But I felt his fingers circle my wrist, pulling me back towards him.
"You're just fun to tease," Zach admitted with a sheepish smile. "Don't you agree?" he directed, glancing over at Stephanie as his arms pulled me into his chest for a hug.
"Very," Stephanie agreed with an amused tone. Even though I couldn't see her expression, I was sure her eyes were twinkling with amusement. My heart beat nervously, knowing I'd get some interrogating from her. But at that moment, I didn't care. Usually I was too guarded up, afraid people would learn about my personal life but right then I didn't care.
"I'm just teasing," Zach reassured me as he looked down at me with his arms around me as I left my arms by my sides in stubbornness—unwilling to hug him back. "Well…I'm happy you came," he admitted for the billionth time, with a smile he knew made girls' hearts stop.
"Even if it was only for the last ten minutes?" I asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. Sure, I wanted to be there once the game started partly because he said the day before and earlier today he wanted me to come and watch him play. And yes I admit I couldn't help but blush and try to control my heart rate when he told me that. But I couldn't get distracted.
"Wow, is Zach making you feel like the third wheel?" I heard Grant ask Stephanie from behind me as he observed how Zach had his arms around my shoulders, hugging me to his chest. I had to tilt my head back in order to see his face and he had to peer down at me. I instantly blushed as I escaped Zach's hold to see Grant smirking.
Stephanie simply let out a laugh as she cast me a glance letting me know I had some explaining to do. I groaned mentally.
"How inconsiderate of him," Grant smirked, challenging Zach. And just like that Grant made a run for it with Zach chasing after him. This left me alone with Stephanie.
"So there is something going on between you guys," she stated, looking at me and I was surprised to not see that look she got whenever she found something gossip worthy. And trust me. Anything with Zach was gossip worthy.
"I guess," I mumbled, playing with my hair.
"That's so cute!" she exclaimed, causing me to look up at her with shock. "But just watch yourself with him. I'm sure you've heard about the things going around with him being a player and all."
She looked at me with a concerned look. Like a genuine friend. I couldn't help but smile at her. Sure she was a gossiper and I watched what I did or said in front of her, fear of having it spread around the school, but she also had genuine loyal friend qualities in her.
"Thanks," I smiled, and surprised myself by hugging her. She laughed as she hugged me back and when she pulled back she whispered in my ear, "You're one lucky girl. He's hot."
"Just don't say anything. Please," I blurted out with I'm sure a vulnerable look on my face. I saw her face soften. "We're not really anything and I'd hate it if people started talking before anything really happened," I found myself spilling my fears out to Stephanie.
"My lips are sealed," Stephanie promised with a sincere smile towards me before she looked away to greet Cosette who had just appeared. "Cosette! My gosh, you better had seen those abs of Jeff," Stephanie gushed about what happened in the first quarter of the game—which I had missed—when Jeff took off his jersey for some reason that was still unknown to me.
Stephanie and Cosette continued to gush and retell about the highlights of the game with me simply standing until a panting Zach appeared out of breath in front of me.
"Let's go," was the first words out of his mouth when he reached for my hand, attempting to lead me away.
"Oh hey Zach!" Cosette greeted, interrupting herself mid-sentence to Stephanie. He turned towards her with a smile. "Hey Cosette. See you guys later. Bye Stephanie."
"Are you running away from Grant?" I laughed as he tugged my hand, leading me away before I had a chance to say bye to Stephanie. Although I did catch the smirk on Stephanie's face as she watched us leave.
"Maybe," Zach chuckled as he picked up his soccer bag by the bleachers, slinging it on his shoulder. He glanced at me, slowing his pace once we left the crowd of kids still socializing on the soccer field.
"What'd you do?" I asked curiously, glancing down at his hand in mine before glancing back up at him. He was watching me and I quickly looked away.
"Nothing," he answered after a while as we walked along the path back towards the dorms. I looked up at him, making him laugh. I rolled my eyes, deciding for myself that I didn't want to know.
"So I'm sure your coach is excited you guys won," I spoke up.
"Of course. But you should have seen him at half time," Zach grimaced, playing back the memory. "We were losing and I swear his veins were going to pop."
"Did you score?" I looked at him expectantly and I noticed his eyebrows crease for a moment.
He looked at me before answering, "It was a tie, 2-2 but I scored giving us the lead."
"That's great!" I smiled up at him as we approached my room. I absentmindedly opened my door, letting him in as I continued, "That was an intense game. I was getting nervous there."
He shut my door closed, dropping his bag by the foot of my bed before taking a seat at my desk chair as I sat on my bed.
"Yeah," he nodded. "You should have seen me score though." He looked up at me, his eyes bright as he recalled his play. "It was a tie for so long and honestly the whole team was losing its hopes on winning. I had no idea how I got the ball but I did," he explained, his eyes glancing from the floor to me. "My adrenaline was pumping so badly as I dribbled the ball down the line. All the cheers from the bleachers totally disappeared as I took the shot. Man, it was amazing!"
I smiled, watching the excitement and the emotions Zach was feeling cross his face. He finally looked up at me, looking like a little boy who just got the news that he was getting a new toy.
"Man, I wish you were there to see it," He admitted as he got up to sit beside me on my bed.
"Sorry," I apologized, suddenly feeling bad that I wasn't there. It was evident how much it meant to Zach. But then again, he knew I had other priorities. But I still felt bad. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach but couldn't quite decipher what it was.
"Don't apologize. There are many more games in the season anyways," Zach assured me as he scanned my face before his brows creased. "Hey, what's wrong?"
I reassured him with a quick smile, taking a hold of his hand and squeezing it. "Nothing. I'm fine."
He glanced down at our hands, realizing at the same moment as I did that I was the first one to initiate anything. Usually it was him. He looked back at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling when he grinned at me. I blushed, rolling my eyes at him, as I felt the bad feelings in my stomach disappear.
"Well I'm proud of you," I smiled, leaning over to close the distance between us as I kissed him on the lips. I pulled away to see him opening his eyes, stunned. He raised his eyebrows at me. I sent him a look, daring him to challenge and question me.
"I should make you proud more often," he whispered, his eyes glancing own at my lips and back to my eyes. "But really. What's wrong?"
I frowned at him, causing him to laugh humorlessly.
"I'm not stupid," was all he said as he looked at me, playing with my hand as he intertwined our fingers together. I let out a sigh, looking away from his face to see our hands together.
"You can tell me you know," he whispered. "You can trust me."
I wasn't stupid to know that he was still trying to prove that I could trust him in order to actually be with him. I suddenly noticed the huge burden my shoulders seemed to have been carrying and all I wanted was to just let someone help me with it. Maybe it was time to stop having my guard up and just let loose…
"So I can borrow your calculator Rose?" Cosette asked, with Stephanie right behind her, as they burst into my room, practically giving me a heart attack.
"Yeah, go for it!" Rose laughed as she entered after them, but immediately stopped just how Cosette and Stephanie did as they stared at me and Zach. Zach's hold on my hand didn't loosen enough for me to remove it.
"Hey girls," Zach greeted smoothly with a smile towards my friends….and Cosette. I looked over at him and I never figured out how smoothly Zach could do that—not act startled and act casual almost all the time.
"Hey," Rose broke the silence first, sending me an apologetic look. "Just came by to get my calculator since Cosette needs to finish all her math homework still."
She crossed the room and snatched up her calculator from her desk and acting as casual as ever she said, "By the way Grant's looking for you."
"Of course he is," Zach laughed.
"We're all going to hang downstairs in the lounge. Hunter and Grant are already there," Stephanie informed with a nod before sending me a smile. "We'll see you guys later."
"Thank God. Since Hunter needs to help tutor me," Cosette finally managed to speak, looking at me.
"Hunter's great at math," I agreed, the first words we've spoken to each other in a while.
"Yeah," Cosette trailed off with a nod before exiting my room, a look on her face that bordered on shock, disappointment, and irritation.
"I guess I now know who her mystery guy is," Stephanie muttered, sending me a slightly panicked look but shrugged as if she couldn't do anything about it. Rose and I shared a look with her. Zach was definitely her mystery guy. My hand practically felt as if it were burning in Zach's. Not in a good way at all.
"See you guys later," Rose dismissed with a shrug as she and Stephanie left the room after Zach said, "See you later."
"Want to explain to me what that girl thing was about?" Zach asked with an uncomfortable laugh, letting go of my hand as he ran it through his hair. Of course Zach noticed the look my friends and I shared. He was observant for a guy.
I scooted back onto my bed so my back leaned against the wall, he followed suit—our shoulders touching.
Well…here's a step to this whole trusting thing. Usually I didn't share many personal things with Zach due to my trusting issue but even though I did trust him enough to tell him about Sam hitting on me, I didn't tell him anything else.
"Well for the past few weeks, Cosette has been acting weird towards me lately," I explained.
"With her little digs and all?" Zach asked knowingly. I guess her digs weren't discreet at all.
"Yeah and lately she's been saying how there's this boy," I glanced at Zach to see him staring across the room listening. "Stephanie said she was just taking her anger out on me or something because things weren't working out between her and this certain mystery boy."
"Uh huh."
"Apparently the mystery boy is you."
I watched Zach's face go from a blank face to a slight smirk on his lips. He glanced at me with an amused look in his eyes.
"So instead of little digs, I think you should prepare yourself for some cat fights and jealous bitchiness from her," he stated. I made a disgusted look.
"That's not funny," I stated, angry at how arrogant he was sounding. I made an attempt to get up from the bed but he pulled me back down. I crossed my arms immediately in stubbornness. He let out a sigh.
"Will you look at me?" he asked gently. I looked up at him, waiting for him to say something.
"It's not funny!" I ended up breaking the silence. "Cosette was a good friend of mine and then she started—"
"Started acting bitchy towards you," he filled in.
"Yes. And apparently it's because of a guy. Which is stupid. But what makes it worse is that it's because of you. I'm not saying it's your fault or anything but it's stupid and I just don't want that kind of drama. Like in those books where the girls fight over a guy and then jealousy kicks in and ruins everything—" I was ranting and I couldn't help but rant along with my hand gestures as I sat criss-crossed beside Zach as he listened to me, his back leaned against the wall.
"You read too many books," Zach interjected, causing me to stop my rant and look at him. He continued, "You don't have to worry about jealousy because she's no threat. I don't like her like that. And also…" he trailed off.
"And also what?" I retorted, feeling myself calm down from my rant.
"You look sort of cute when you're frustrated like that."
I glared down at him but couldn't help but let a smile break onto my lips. He smiled at me, flashing me his white teeth.
"Look," he started, sitting up so he sat across from me on my bed. "I'm sure things will be better after you sit and talk with Cosette. Get things cleared up."
"Why do you sound so mature?" I grumbled.
"Besides I'm sure she'll find some other guy to crush over and maybe a guy who'll like her back. She'll have to forget about me anyways because I'm taken," he said ignoring my question as he stared into my eyes, sincerity in his face and tone. My heart stopped.
"Taken," I echoed, searching his face.
"Look," he sighed, "I know you want to take things slow and that's fine." He reassured me. "But I want you to know that I'm not going to be with other girls or anything. Except for you."
"Are you sure?" I asked stupidly, a pit in my stomach appearing again.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Then his face faltered, "Unless…" And just then I saw him very vulnerable. It was different than his usual confident demeanor. "Unless, you don't want to be with me—"
I let out a laugh, causing him to look at me as if I were crazy. I smiled at him and couldn't believe that he liked me. Liked me so much that he only wanted to be with me…especially me out of all the other girls he can get.
"Well, I like you a lot," I admitted, looking away from him at my embarrassment at my truthfulness. "I just want you to make sure it's me you want," I trailed off into a whisper.
"I told you the other day why I liked you. Do you always have to keep questioning it?" Zach asked with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. I looked up to see him scratching the back of his neck—one of his signs of slight frustration.
"Yeah. I mean no—"I stuttered, causing him to look at me. "I just—"
I just didn't think I'd be such a good girlfriend. Like today, I came at the last ten minutes and I didn't even see him score. And he wasn't on the top of my priorities list at the moment from school, family, being the perfect daughter…
"Sometimes I just think you deserve—" but I was interrupted when his fingers pushed my chin up to look at him.
"Don't say I deserve better," he sighed, looking me in the eyes wishing me to stop the thoughts going in my head. "Don't say that because that means you're admitting to yourself that you're not good enough. It means that you're putting yourself lower than what you really are."
It was then that I realized a huge fault in myself. I always tried to be the perfect everything. Perfect daughter. Perfect student. Perfect friend. Perfect everything. And it sometimes cost me my happiness because I kept trying to achieve more and more—not that it's a bad thing but it came to a point when I stopped enjoying life; the present.
It was when I was with Zach that made me enjoy the present. And that was probably why I didn't push him away the first moment something was happening between us.
Author's Note:
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