( day 28 )
"Did I tell you I think this is a totally bad idea?" Zach said with a groan as he and Cammie waited outside the bowling alley for their friends. It was a Sunday afternoon and everyone reluctantly agreed to go along for a bowling date. But no one knew it was going to be a group thing.
Cammie rolled her eyes, and stared down at the cemented steps that led up to the bowling alley. "It'll be fine, you worry too much."
"How did you even get Liz and Jonas to agree to this?" Zach wanted to know. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans and leaned against the orange pillar that held up the bowling alley sign. Cammie leaned back against the one opposite of him.
"It wasn't that hard," she shrugged carelessly.
Correction, it wasn't that hard because they didn't know who exactly they were going with. As far as Liz and Jonas were concern, it was just a bowling day with Cammie and no one else.
"So you lied?" Zach raised an eyebrow, a smirk already forming on his face.
Cammie rolled her eyes again, "well, tell me how you got Bex to agree to come? Doesn't she hate me?"
"She doesn't hate you," Zach tried to reason.
Cammie wanted to raise a skeptical eyebrow but she couldn't help the smile that was about to form on her face. Zach sounded just like how she did with Liz the other day. It was kind of funny how in sync they were about solving problems. Then again, they were pretty much in sync with everything.
"Zach," Bex's voice came up as she walked with some boy they've never met. She smiled at him but her smile slightly faded when she saw Cammie. But she regained her composure and looked at Cammie, "Hey Cammie."
"Hi," Cammie said weakly. She wouldn't admit it to Zach but Bex scared the living shit out of her.
"And hey Bex's friend," Zach gestured to the guy right next to her. Bex looked over at him and smiled, "oh this is Charles from Biology." She reached out and grabbed his arm. He smiled at her then looked over at Zach, "Hey man."
Zach just nodded, eyeing the two.
"So is it just us?" Bex asked looking between Cammie and Zach.
Cammie shook her head, "Oh, a few other people. But maybe we'll go in first?"
"Okay," Bex said tugging along Charles. They pushed the glass double doors that led them into the bowling alley. Zach and Cammie shared a look before moving.
"You okay?" Cammie asked, concerned.
Zach just nodded, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss on her lips. "Yeah, come on." He wrapped an arm tightly around her waist and led her inside where Bex and Charles were already sitting by an available bowling lane. Zach and Cammie sat opposite of them on the round red cushioned booth.
"So… you two just started hanging out?" Zach asked, pointing his finger between Charles and Bex. Bex stared at him with a raised eyebrow then nodded, "yeah, why?"
Zach shook his head, "no reason." He then looked down at the table then back to Cammie who he tried to smile reassuringly at.
Just then, Liz came walking in with a smile. But that smile immediately melted off when she saw who was sitting with Cammie. She hesitantly walked towards them, confusing written all over her face. "Hi…?" Liz said slowly, standing in front of the table.
Cammie smiled, "I'm so glad you're here!" She stood up and Zach scooted out of the booth so she could get out. She patted Liz's arm, trying to tell her not to freak out. "I hope you don't mind a few people are going to be here."
"People?" Liz asked, still confused.
"Cammie," Jonas said as he came up behind Liz. Cammie looked over Liz's shoulder to smile at him, "Hey you." Liz turned around and came face to face with Jonas. They both froze from where they were standing. Eyes locked on the other's not daring to look away. Time was frozen for a moment, not just for them but for everyone. No one moved from where they were.
::
"St-riiike!" Grant jumped for joy as he high fived the fellow players on the other lane who looked scared and confused by him. He happily shook his butt, punching the air above him and laughing. Grant wasn't supposed to come, in fact no one even thought to invite him. Which is why he came into the bowling alley in the middle of Zach's turn to argue and whine that he should've been invited just because he was Grant. Luckily, he didn't bring annoying Macey McHenry so the already tense atmosphere wasn't as tense as it could be.
He walked over to Zach who plugged in his score and nodded, "great job man." He then looked over his shoulder to where Charles and Bex were sitting, not really talking.
"Whoa there, what the fuck was that?" Grant raised an eyebrow, punching Zach in the arm. Zach cringed at the contact, rubbing his arm. "What?" He turned to look at Grant.
"Are you actually worried about Bex right now?" Grant raised an eyebrow but hoped he didn't raise his voice. "Cause dude, I swear, if you suddenly want Bex now I will kick your ass into oblivion."
"I don't want Bex," Zach rolled his eyes.
"Then why in the world are you sizing up her date and keeping an eye on them?" Grant glared. "If you hurt Cammie, I am going to kill you dude."
"The only reason I'm concerned is because I don't want her to be with someone I don't think is good enough for her, alright?" Zach answered.
"You are acting crazy," Grant shook his head, "Bex has pretty much been in love with you since what? Middle school? And now that you found a great girl, you suddenly want the first girl who finally found a guy she might like?"
"It's not like that," Zach insisted.
"It better not be," Grant raised his eyebrows threateningly. "I worked too hard to get you and Cammie together. I'm not going to let you mess this up, Zachary Goode. I will not!"
"Do you hear yourself right now?" Zach asked, shaking his head slowly.
"So that puts Zach's team in the lead," Cammie said as she got over with a tray of drinks that she and Liz ordered. Once she placed the tray on the table, everyone's hands went to grab a drink. There were two drinks left over and Cammie held both of them, going over to Zach. She offered the drink and he gladly accepted it, "thanks, Gallagher Girl."
She nodded then looked over at Grant who stared at her with a frown. "Stop that, I'm sorry I forgot to invite you!"
"That's cold C-dawg, that's cold," Grant shook his head in fake sorrow. He turned to the side and took a sip of his drink. "I thought you and I had something special."
Cammie rolled her eyes, "Well, even if I told you that I didn't want you to come, I bet you'd come anyway."
Grant laughed, "Probably."
Liz then walked over to Cammie and poked her side, "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah sure," Cammie nodded then looked over at her team who was Jonas, Liz, and Charles. "Charles, do you want to go next?"
He detached his hand from Bex reluctantly, "Sure." He nodded and got up to go grab a ball. Liz grabbed Cammie's hand as the other's watched Charles.
"Why is Jonas here?" She whisper shouted once they were a safe distance away.
"Why?" Cammie asked, "Aren't you having a good time?" She nervously looked around, biting her lip with her drink still in hand.
"Not at all, this is so uncomfortable and awkward," Liz answered, folding her arms across her chest. "Can't I just go home early by telling everyone I got a stomach bug?"
"No!" Cammie nearly yelped. "Liz you can't. Don't you… don't you want to fix things with Jonas?"
"He's barely said anything to me!" Liz replied, frustration obvious in her words. She sighed, defeated looking down at her feet.
"Well, have you even tried to talk to him?" Cammie asked in a low voice, in fear of a random outburst from Liz.
Liz sighed, "I guess, but not really?"
"Why don't you just try harder?" Cammie offered, starting to walk away. "Come on, we need to get back." Liz reluctantly dragged her feet after Cammie.
When they got back to the group, Bex and Grant were high fiving, "We so own this game!" Grant nodded with a triumphant smile. He then looked over to Bex, "Okay Baxter, go in there and win it for us."
Bex stood up from where she was sitting and walked over to grab a ball. She picked the neon green one and walked down the bowling lane. She concentrated on the pins down her lane and then brought her arm back to release the ball swiftly. It was rolling center on the lane until it started to travel left and fall into the gutters.
"Noooo!" Grant pulled at his hair, dramatically falling to his knees.
Bex waited for her ball to come back, once she picked it up she turned around to face them. "I think I need some help with this." She frowned gesturing at her ball.
Charles put the drink he was holding down and was about to stand up before Zach got up to say, "I'll help." He avoided everyone's stare at him then walked forward to Bex. She stared at him but didn't reject his offer. He stood by her and helped her bring her arm back, "So you just gently release it." Zach said as Bex dropped the ball onto the lane and watched it roll slowly.
"What are you doing?" Bex asked, "I'm pretty sure your girlfriend isn't very pleased right now."
"Why did you bring a date?" Zach asked, not even commenting on what she just said.
"You told me to," Bex said to him as her ball hit two pins down. She picked up her ball and again and concentrated on the pins in front of her.
"I know, but I didn't think you would." Zach said lowly, running a hand through his hair.
"Did you expect me to pine for you?" Bex asked, looking back at him then releasing her ball down the lane. This time it went at full speed and hit all the pins down. She smiled happily and Zach high fived her then said, "Great job."
They both turned to walk back to the group. Bex sat next to Charles who congratulated her and Zach was smart enough not to sit next to Cammie who looked more than pissed. He sat next to Grant who raised an eyebrow knowingly but shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.
"So…" Jonas started awkwardly after no one said anything.
"Maybe we should eat now?" Bex said, "I'm starving." She rubbed her perfectly flat stomach through her pretty blouse and looked over at Zach.
Zach nodded, "Sounds like a good idea."
They all stood up, going over to the concession stand. Bex and Charles took the lead, followed by Zach and Grant, then Jonas with Liz and Cammie. Cammie folded her arms across her chest, the familiar sting of tears already in her eyes. She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry.
::
Once they all got their food, they found a table big enough by the food court. They all sat around the small circular table, knees pressed to each other because of the small space. Everyone began eating except Cammie who poked at her French fries with no energy. She wasn't hungry.
Zach kept trying to steal glances at her but she wouldn't budge.
What was he supposed to think? Zach had been acting weird ever since Bex came with Charles. He'd been staring at them and glaring at Charles. Then he even volunteered to help Bex with her bowling. He didn't offer to help Cammie even though Cammie was an excellent bowler.
She was so stupid.
But today wasn't about her; it was about Jonas and Liz. It was about finally settling things between them. She'd have to deal with her feelings with Zach later because if she thought about it now, she'd surely cry.
Liz nudged Cammie and mouthed 'are you alright?'
Cammie forced a smile and nodded. She looked at Liz then looked over at Jonas, gesturing to him. Liz took a deep breath and looked at Jonas, "Can I talk to you?"
Jonas looked at her; he looked as if he might say no. And that scared not only Liz, but Cammie too. But at the last second, something inside him changed his mind and he nodded, "sure." They pushed back their seats and got up, walking out of the bowling alley to somewhere that wasn't echoing with the sound of bowling balls hitting pins.
Once they were outside, Liz looked at him. "I'm really sorry, okay?" She said once the glass door shut out all the noise from the inside of the bowling alley. "I know that makes no sense and I'm a little late with this apology. But I am so sorry. Jonas, I didn't know… if I did, I wouldn't have hurt you like that. I'm an idiot, okay?"
"Do you still like him?" was all Jonas wanted to know in spite of everything.
"Who? Zach?" Liz asked.
Jonas nodded, "Do you still like him?" He repeated again.
"No, I don't. I did, but I don't. Not anymore." Liz said, feeling her words leave her tongue before she could even process any of it.
"Okay," Jonas nodded and the nothing. He said nothing else and that both drove Liz crazy and reassured her at the same time.
::
"Are you still ignoring me?" Zach asked once he sat next to Cammie on an empty bench. She crossed her arms over her chest then looked at him, her eyes hard and icy. She then looked forward, not a word escaping her lips. Zach sighed as they watched Liz clumsily roll the ball to the pins. He looked at Cammie again and frowned, "I know, I'm an idiot."
Cammie wanted to agree but she didn't dare speak.
"Listen, I know earlier, this whole day, I know everything I've been doing looked bad. I feel like such a douche for acting the way I did and I know you're mad at me." Zach went on. "You have every right to be mad at me but…"
"But what?" Cammie snapped, turning to him. She glared angrily at him, feeling her temper rise. "What excuse do you have for this?"
"It's not an excuse," Zach answered, "I know how stupid I was, okay?"
"Do you like her?" Cammie asked the words felt like venom releasing from her throat. Again, she felt the tears swelling up but she blinked them away.
"Bex? No!" Zach answered.
"Then what?" Cammie asked, half grateful the answer wasn't yes but still angry that there was a need for that question in the first place. "Tell me what's going on because I'm feeling like an idiot because I thought…"
"You thought?" Zach pressed, turning his upper body so he was facing her better.
She turned to him, biting her lip. She sighed then said, "I thought that you and I…" She sighed again, "Forget it. It's useless."
"No, it's not," Zach wanted to reach out to her but he knew she'd swat his hand away.
"You know, sometimes we get close to people and they become a part of us and we even start to fall in love with them without knowing. It kind of just sneaks up at us, I guess. And maybe you don't know this. But maybe there's a part of you that loves her and always will. You may think you don't but then you get so used to that person that it's natural already." Cammie said, not meeting Zach's eyes as she said any of this. "Sometimes people don't know how important someone is to them till someone else is important to that person. In this case, Charles to Bex."
Zach sighed as he took that all in. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt you or Bex or Liz or Jonas or whoever the hell else." He sighed frustrated. "I especially don't want to ever hurt you." He took a pause then continued, "But… But I'm hurting you and hurting everyone and screwing up so bad."
"Listen Zach," Cammie said, her throat knotting up. "You need to figure out what you want because I'm confused and I don't feel so great right now."
"I don't need to try to figure this out," Zach insisted, "I choose you, I want you."
a/n: longest chapter ever, hello :D
Anyway, I'm sort of in a funk right now and I wanted to write something kind of… emotional? So yeah, I hope you guys leave some reviews because this story is over soon D: but I do have a new story called "Ignite" and it'd be lovely if you read it.
