It was an early morning at school.
Zack had been searching the entire building for Lisa but she was nowhere to be found.
"Who are you looking for, Preppy?" Slater noticed Zack's disconcerting behavior.
"Have you seen the girls?" he asked, in a rush for an answer.
"I saw Kelly and Jessie, but not Lisa."
Zack stood there, pondering.
"Hey, buddies, did you guys like the beach trip?" Screech asked before opening up his locker.
"Yeah, it was great. Thanks for inviting us again, Screech," Slater thanked.
Zack kept looking around until he spotted Kelly and Jessie arguing over something absurd.
He knew he was going to find his answer through the two friends so he approached them.
"Hi girls, where's Lisa?" he asked.
"Oh, well she is-" Jessie began, but then got interrupted.
"Good Morning, Bayside. Speaking to you is the one and only, Lisa Turtle. Today after school for all seniors, we will be practicing the graduation rehearsal at 3:00 sharp in the gym. Please be there if you can make it. Also, there will be a committee meeting at 3:30 to plan for the upcoming senior party. Newcomers are welcome. That's it for now. This is Lisa Turtle signing off."
"There." Jessie pointed to the loudspeaker.
"I got it, Jess, thanks." Zack tapped her before meeting Lisa outside the principal's office.
Ever since last night, Zack has been filled with a degree of excitement after a long time of waiting. Today was the day where he was going to confess his feelings to her and even ask her out. That's why he was in a rush to find her. He was just too eager to tell her that he lov-...likes her, and wanted everyone to know, but her first. Zack was a bit nervous at first, but all those nerves washed away when he remembered that she likes him back.
The door swung open and there she was, wearing that soft smile of hers.
'She looks beautiful today,' Zack thought as he bit the bottom of his lip.
'But then again, she always looks beautiful.' He continued checking her out.
Lisa was holding a small conversation with Mr. Belding until it got interrupted by Zack's gaze from across.
A smile spread across her face.
She started walking towards him but immediately found herself blocked by a member of the party planning committee. She glanced over at Zack who was patiently waiting for her while the girl was discussing matters. The bell rang and everyone rushed to 1st period. Luckily, Zack had homeroom with Lisa so he decided to wait to walk her to class.
Lisa was finally available.
"Ready to go?" he brightly beamed.
"That's why you were waiting for me?" She folded her arms while playfully fluttering her eyelashes.
"Yeah, and because I have something to tell you." Zack grinned as they walked to class.
Not knowing what it was, "What is it?" she asked in a soft and innocent tone.
"I-"
"Morris, Turtle, you're late," the teacher interrupted.
Zack dropped his shoulders along with his smile from the sudden disruption.
"Sorry, someone on the planning committee stopped to ask me a question," Lisa explained honestly.
"And what's your excuse, Morris." Mr. Tim impatiently crossed his arms.
"I was waiting for her," he confessed.
"Mm, I guess you guys are excused," the teacher mumbled.
The pair looked at each other with faces of relief and headed towards the available seats that were left.
During their time apart, Zack was thinking of ways to get Lisa alone.
"What are you thinking about?" Screech asked, based on Zack's noticeable face.
"Nothing." He shrugged.
"What are you doing?" Zack flipped the attention.
"Writing a love poem for Violet," Screech replied.
"You must really be in love, huh."
"She's my heart, Zack. A wise person taught me that when you love someone, you would express it in every little way possible. Saying 'I love you' isn't enough compared to writing a poem that comes from the bottom of my heart," Screech passionately answered.
Zack lightly chuckled, "Violet must be some girl...don't lose her." All of a sudden, Zack became serious.
"I won't, and they were your words after all. I just took and followed," he said.
"Hey, maybe you can use that advice to get back with Kelly. You know, not giving up on her," Screech suggested.
Initially, Zack looked at his friend, then at Kelly, but his attention drifted to Lisa.
"I don't know, Screech. I think it's best for me and Kelly to stay as friends and that's it."
Screech frowned upon that.
"But Zack, you and Kelly were everything! You two loved each other and the entire school wanted a relationship like you guys. You both inspired my relationship with Violet, never giving up on each other no matter what! There is a reason you guys return back to each other and it's because you both share a love that no one else can understand. You guys are supposed to be forever and get married and have lots of children. You promised me that I could be your children's godfather!" Screech debated.
Screech was right. Out of the whole senior class, if there were to be any couple that would get married, it would be him and Kelly. Everyone knew and expected that, but one thing they got wrong was the fact of them getting back together. Zack had an eye on a special someone, and that special someone wasn't Kelly.
Zack licked his lips before answering, "Remember when you were hopelessly in love with Lisa?"
Screech wasn't sure of the direction Zack was heading.
Zack continued, "You loved her and did everything for her, but she didn't return your feelings? You were ready to give up on love but then, you found another girl who stole your heart," he reasoned.
"Yeah, but Zack, how does that relate back to you and Kelly?" Screech asked.
"What I'm trying to say is, people, move on, and it's likely that they'll find another person who'll steal their heart."
"So do you think you would find someone else who stole your heart the way Kelly did?" Screech asked.
Zack took a swift glance at Lisa before looking back at Screech.
He said nothing.
The bell rang and the students rushed out to go to their second-period class.
Zack tried to catch up to Lisa but she left with Kelly and Jessie.
At the end of the day, the seniors assembled in the gymnasium for the ceremony practice.
"Ok, settle down students," Mr. Belding spoke into the microphone.
"In order to do this in an orderly fashion, I want all those who have Mr. Tuttle on the right, those with Mrs. Franklin in the middle, and the rest of you on the left. Thank you for your cooperation."
The students scrambled and met with the teachers who were distributing the seating and numbers to them.
After the seating was done, they practiced their walk on and off stage and were handed a fake diploma. Once that was all finished, the seniors left to either go home or hang out someplace.
"Are we all going to the max?" Kelly asked while walking with her friends.
"Not me, I have a meeting to go to right now," Lisa informed.
"Oh yeah, that's right! Well, see you tomorrow, Lisa," Kelly hugged and left with the gang who said their goodbyes.
Zack didn't leave but followed Lisa.
"Hey Lisa," Zack called out.
She turned to face him.
"Will you be able to stop by my house this afternoon, and help me with a project?" Zack asked with hope filling his eyes.
"Sure, I can come at 6. What's the project on anyway?"
"It's for my interior design class. We have to build a house, which I already did, but I haven't filled up any of the rooms yet. I know that you're good at designing and stuff so I thought maybe you could help," he said.
Smiling, "Sounds good, count me there." She winked and then walked away.
At Zack's home
The doorbell rang and Zack had opened it.
"Ok, so where is this baby?" Lisa said, inviting herself in and snooping around.
Zack pointed to his living room and they entered.
"Wow! You built that? Lisa said in shock.
"Yeah, it took me a couple of days," he said while looking at his incredible work.
The house was the size of a desk and consisted of three floors with separate rooms on each.
"This is going to be a lot of fun," Lisa innocently gushed.
Zack smiled at her excitement.
"You can go all out with this bad thing." He handed her a paintbrush.
They sat on the floor and began painting the whole house. Zack played music in the background which Lisa swayed and mouthed too.
They finally finished and allowed for the paint to dry before adding accessories. In the meantime, while that was happening, Zack knew it was his chance to talk with Lisa.
Standing up, he took Lisa's hand by surprise.
They were now alone and with no distractions.
With his hand still in Lisa's, Zack looked down at their intertwined hands which encouraged her to do the same.
"See this here." He gently rocked their hands back and forth.
"This feels right. Us spending the whole weekend together felt right and everything that happened before." He stared while caressing her hand.
Lisa slowly looked up at him.
Her heart raced with anxiety.
She knew exactly where Zack was heading but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go there.
After the brief silence and intense gazing, Zack spoke, "I like you, Lisa."
Zack's gaze was hypnotizing, if only she could break away from it, but the more she looked into his eyes, the more her feelings intensified.
"I like you a lot and I want to be with you." He smiled so child-like.
Fear set itself in and gripped Lisa by the heart.
Her mind entered into a state of panic. She already knew that Zack liked her but for him to confess so suddenly was not what she was expecting, or at least now.
She gulped, speechless.
Lisa was, in fact, scared. She was afraid of suffering from a broken heart again. That fear immediately turned into a defensive mode in order to protect herself.
Removing her hand from his, she looked straight into his eyes with a guarded layer to them.
"Don't say that again," Lisa warned.
Zack was confused and felt a little uneasy.
"What are you talking about don't say that? I'm sharing with you my true feelings. That's how I feel inside."
"Well, can you not," she pleaded with a standoffish attitude.
"Let's just finish working on this project." She stroked her hair before sitting on the floor.
She began gathering the miniature pieces that were brought in from a craft store.
"Did you forget the paint still has to dry?" Zack gave off an attitude.
Feeling so ever slighted and frustrated, Zack decided he wasn't going to stand there and allow for his feelings to be disrespected.
"I don't get it? I just don't get any of this!? Am I crazy or did I miss something because I know there's an undeniable connection between us, and I know you feel it too? Why is it so hard for you to accept that?" Zack's eyes hardened. The situation felt frustrating to him and he didn't know what to do.
Lisa kept quiet and devoted her attention to decorating the house.
It was blatantly obvious she was ignoring him.
Zack's eyes remained pressed on her.
"Lisa, can I tell you something? Can I tell you that you make me happy, and I wouldn't be jeopardizing our friendship if I knew what we share wasn't real? I care a lot about our friendship but my feelings aren't as simple as that. I opened my heart to you, and you treat it as if it means nothing!"
Lisa rolled her eyes and scoffed, "No one asked you to do it in the first place, and if you really cared about our friendship, you wouldn't have brought any of this up!" she hissed and pulled her attention back to the project.
Zack probably should have stopped the fight but he didn't. He wasn't going to give up that easily despite the many punches he was taking. The bond that they share was too good to be lost.
"I wouldn't have brought any of this up if nothing happened between us on the trip, the award ceremony, and-oh yeah, the time when you touched my face at our last study session!" he provokingly mentioned.
Lisa's hand stopped moving the miniature accessory, and she hesitantly looked up.
Zack continued.
"I remembered when we were sleeping after hours of studying, and you woke up first to put blankets on us. I saw you, and when you finally came to me and Kelly, I shut my eyes, pretending to be asleep. Before you placed the blanket on us, you touched my face. That touch wasn't like other touches I've experienced before. I legit felt you radiate something to me. Something that felt so powerful and too good to be true. I wanted more of it, so I touched your hand, and then you removed it, leaving me confused and helpless as ever, but I didn't say anything until now. What we have, you can't deny it no matter how much you try."
Lisa remembered that night. That was the night her heart and body were tempting her to give in to her urging yet complicated feelings. She risked losing her dignity and her two best friends that night if she gave in.
She really wanted him then, and she still wants him now.
"I just want to make you happy, and be able to hug you and take care of you and protect you. I want to take you out to different places, even places that I hate like the mall. You can go into one of those little boutique stores and try on clothes, and I'll be right there admiring every part of you. I want to be able to touch you and kiss you every chance I get. I just want to be with you," he confessed with whatever strength he had left after taking a repeated amount of blows to the heart.
They were gazing deeply and intensely into each other's eyes. Lisa's face became bare and vulnerable with emotion which made Zack soften up completely.
Their eyes didn't leave each other even as he made his way to her.
He sat down next to her.
"I'm scared," she whispered as her eyes became glossy.
Zack slowly took in those words. He felt bad for her and would be lying if he said hearing her say that doesn't sadden him. He doesn't want Lisa to be afraid or feel as if she cant trust him.
After a few seconds passed…
"Are you scared of me," he softly asked while brushing her cheek.
"I'm scared of getting hurt, Zack. I'm really scared. I don't think I could deal with the pain again." A tear rolled down her troubled face.
Zack brushed it away and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, assuring Lisa that he won't hurt her.
That meant a lot to her and she appreciated it.
"I get it. No one wants their heart to be broken but you can't run away from me that easily because I'll be there 24/7 all around you, in school, your dreams, and even your nightmares," he joked, trying to lighten up the mood.
Lisa chuckled at his wittiness and the irony of dreaming about him.
"There's that smile I love to see." He tucked a curl behind her hair.
"But the point is, you should listen to your heart and not your fear. Don't let it stop you from making any decision in life," Zack said in a gentle and wise tone.
As she stared into his comforting hazel eyes, she finally and fully accepted her feelings for him. That area inside her heart officially opened back up again after being locked away for years. Zack, out of all people, just somehow managed to find the key and release that area into the light. Her heart tugged at her to give love a second chance and, she accepted.
Lisa switched looks between both of his eyes.
"I like you, Zack." She placed her hand on his face.
"And I want to be with you because you make me happy and make me feel so comfortable," she expressed sincerely.
A smile couldn't help but form on Zack's face. Right there, he wanted to make love to her lips after anticipating it for the longest.
He pressed his thumb on her bottom lip and slowly leaned forward, eager to get a savoring taste of her magic, however, Lisa stopped him.
"Wait," she interrupted.
Zack opened his eyes, his face inches away from hers.
"We shouldn't do this until we at least start dating," she said.
"Ok, then let's start dating today. We can go to the max right no-"
"That's not what I meant, Zack. I think it's best for us to start dating after we tell our friends, especially Kelly," she addressed the elephant in the room.
"But Kelly has nothing to do with us?" Zack cluelessly said.
"Well maybe not to you but she is my best friend and it would be violating 'girl code' if I date her ex," she stressed.
Zack looked away and nodded, acknowledging what she was saying.
"But I don't want us to not date." Lisa turned his head and exchanged looks between his eyes and his lips.
"I just want our friends to be ok with it first before we can be ok with it. One of the last things I want is for Kelly to end up hating me," she said with soft eyes.
Zack revealed a small grin, "What's the other last thing you want?"
Playfully rolling her eyes, "Losing you," she looked down at her hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Zack chuckled.
Lisa scoffed, and jokingly jerked him side to side saying, "Losing you!"
They both laughed.
"Me too."
