Chapter Four

{Zach}

The rest of the week was pretty tame, and before I knew it, the first day of school had rolled around. Normally I hated when summer ended, but this was my last first day of high school, which had me unusually excited.

That must've been something Grant and I had in common considering he had the biggest smile on his face as he approached me in the school's hallway before class started.

"Dude, can you believe it? We're seniors!" he exclaimed, hitting my arm harder than he probably intended to from all his excitement.

"Ow." Man, that guy could pack a punch.

He ignored me as I rubbed out my shoulder. "We're at the top of the food chain, man! Especially since you're the star of the soccer team. We can do whatever and whoever we want." He finished with a wicked grin that told me he was definitely going to exercise that last part as much as possible.

"Don't you already do that?" I asked, stopping in front of my locker.

"Dude, why are you trying to burst my bubble?"

I chuckled and shook my head, entering in my combination and opening the locker door.

"Holy shit," Grant muttered from behind me. "That Sydney chick got hot over the summer. Sorry, man, I gotta go. I'll catch you later." And then he was gone, chasing after the redhead with the curliest hair I've ever seen.

I placed my books and binders into the small space, clearing out my backpack except for the supplies I'd be using in my first period class.

"Hey, Zach," I heard a familiar voice purr that had me frozen where I stood. The last time I heard that voice, I was telling its owner to go to hell and to never speak to me again—something she obviously decided to ignore.

"What do you want, Aubree?" I asked, not bothering to hide my irritation.

Aubree Wexler was my ex-girlfriend who I had been dating on-and-off for two years. Currently, we were off, and I planned on it staying that way for good considering things got real messy between us when I broke up with her before the summer. I wasn't too affected by it—the only reason I asked her out freshman year was because Cammie rejected me. And sure, through all our ups and downs, Aubree and I developed real feelings for each other, but all that was ruined when she betrayed me, humiliating me in the process.

She tsked in disapproval at my response. "Testy. Can't I just say hi to an old friend?" she asked in faux innocence, an amused smile crossing her face.

I slammed my locker shut. "We're not friends." I turned away, quickly moving down the hallway in hopes of out-running her.

No such luck.

I heard her following close behind me, struggling to keep up with my rapid pace. "Okay, I deserve that," she said, dropping her flirtatious act from before.

Yeah, no kidding. You also deserve to get hit by a bus.

I didn't bother responding. I just continued down the hall, turning right when it reached a dead end and made my way towards my first period classroom.

Getting fed up with my silent treatment, she grabbed my arm to get my attention. "Zach, I'm sorry, okay?" she apologized. In the two years we had been dating, I had never heard her apologize before. It surprised me enough to not laugh in her face and tell her to fuck off like I normally would.

With a sigh, she continued, looking more uncomfortable by the minute. "I've been thinking a lot about our breakup, and I was hoping you'd give me a chance to explain myself. So, if we could maybe talk…?" Her voice took on a desperation, as if she was begging me to consider hearing her out.

I really didn't want to, but this was a different side to Aubree that I had never seen before, and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wondered what the hell went wrong with us.

I sighed, completely disappointed in myself for caving in to her yet again. "How about after school?" I asked. "I'll only have a few minutes, though, before practice, so—"

"We'll make it quick!" she promised, eyes wide with hope. Then, as if flipping a switch, she slipped on a sly smile and ran her fingers across my chest, a sudden flirty twinkle lighting up her eyes. "We've gotten pretty good at that," she finished with a wink, laying the insinuation on thick.

"We're just talking, Aubree," I clarified. There was no way anything was going to happen with us as long as I had a say in it. I could forgive, but I will never forget what she did.

"Oh, lighten up, Zach," she told me, dropping her hand and rolling her eyes. "Just because we're broken up doesn't mean we can't still joke around. Or reminisce about the good old days." That sneaky grin appeared again, making my stomach churn.

"I'm going to class," I told her bluntly, refusing to give in to whatever game she was playing. "Remember, today after school. Just talking," I told her again, making clear where the lines would be drawn with us. Without waiting for a cheeky response, I disappeared into the crowd and finally escaped to the safety of my classroom.

::*::*::*::

{Cammie}

Where the hell is he?

I'd been standing in front of Zach's locker for nearly twenty minutes after school, waiting patiently for him to show up so he could take me home. After the first five minutes, I was already cursing Grant for leaving school early for some stupid doctor's appointment, forcing me to find another ride. Lucky for me, Grant said he already found me one. Unlucky for me, who he found was none other than the guy I've made a point to avoid the rest of my life. Something told me that may have been the main reason behind why Grant chose him in the first place. I swear, sometimes I hated my friends.

Finally, Zach turned the corner and made a beeline for where I stood, although his quick pace looked more like it had to do with the anger rolling off him in waves than it did with feeling guilty for making me wait so long.

"There you are. Finally," I exclaimed, trying to keep my frustration at bay considering he was doing me a huge favor.

"What are you doing at my locker?" he asked, letting his backpack slide off his shoulder and fall to the floor.

"Grant didn't tell you? He had a doctor's appointment so he told me to catch a ride with you." This conversation just took a wrong turn and was quickly heading south. If Zach couldn't drive me home, who could? Obviously this was my last resort. Otherwise, I would never step foot into Zach's car willingly.

"No, he didn't tell me," he answered. His head tipped back as he let out a groan. Obviously, this wasn't how he was expecting his day to end, either. "Sorry, Cam, but I have soccer practice until four-thirty, which I'm already late for." As if I couldn't guess that by the lightning speed at which he was shoving things from his backpack into his locker, and vice versa.

I sighed, slumping back against the row of lockers. "Great."

"If you don't mind staying around until then, I'll take you home, but otherwise you're out of luck." I knew he said he was in a rush, but I highly doubt that's what was making him sound so apathetic, like he couldn't care less about my problems at the moment. He probably felt like that all the time when it came to me.

Unfortunately, like I said, he was my last resort. "Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?" I asked, throwing attitude back at him and making it perfectly clear that I wasn't happy about the situation, either.

Slamming his locker, he pulled his bag onto his shoulder again. "Nope," he answered, then took off towards the athletic locker rooms located outside by the soccer field.

"So, where were you?" I asked, filling in the silence as we practically ran through the building. "I was waiting for, like, twenty minutes before you showed up."

"I was with Aubree," he huffed.

Whoa. Can't say I was expecting that. "Your ex-girlfriend?"

"That's the one." He was obviously not in the mood to talk about it, but I couldn't help the jealousy that was rising at the thought of him and her together. Knowing her, she somehow managed to manipulate him into giving her another shot, even though the last four or five times hadn't worked for them. Aubree Wexler was one of those girls who liked to have the final say, and since Zach was the one to end it this time, there was no doubt in my mind that she wouldn't try to persuade him into going back out with her just so she could dump him.

I held back a grimace as I thought about what they were doing that would've taken twenty minutes. "I didn't realize you two were back together," I said, hoping I sounded casual enough to not raise suspicion.

"We're not," he replied, side glancing at me as though he didn't know why I'd think that or why I cared.

"Oh." So, they weren't back together. Good. "So, why were you with—"

"She wanted to apologize for the way things ended between us," he explained, not bothering to give me any more details than necessary.

"I'm guessing they didn't end well?"

"She cheated on me." His voice was tight when he spoke, like he was suppressing an angry growl. His eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched, and I knew that it still bothered him.

I was shocked. Aubree wasn't the nicest girlfriend, but I never pictured her to be a cheater. Besides, who would cheat on Zach? He may not have been super nice to me, but to everyone else, he was a great catch.

"Zach, I'm so sorry. That's awful." As weird as it should have been to comfort him, it almost felt normal. After all, we were still friends—sorta—and I didn't want any harm to come to him.

He shrugged. "It's whatever. It's done, it's over, and I've moved on," he snapped at me with finality as if to say the conversation was over, too.

I nodded, feeling extremely awkward. A tense silence washed over us as we continued towards the boys' locker room, and I wondered if all of this was really worth a ride home. Walking wouldn't be that bad, and Lord knows I needed the exercise. So why was I going to all this trouble? Clearly Zach would rather have all his teeth pulled without anesthesia than do me a favor.

When we reached the locker rooms, I had expected him to slip inside without a second thought, but instead he stopped outside the door and let out a long sigh. Turning to me with a pained look on his face, he said, "Look, I'm sorry. She just… Ugh, she just gets under my skin."

"And here I thought that was my job."

"Trust me, I'd much rather it be you than her."

We met each other's gaze and just stared, both taking in his words. The look on Zach's face said he hadn't known he was going to say them until he did, and a slight blush crept up his neck. A different kind of awkwardness filled the space between us. This time due to the unexpected compliment and the way it made my stomach flutter.

The way he was looking at me didn't help. It was a look I hadn't seen from him in years, but one I've dreamt about every night. I was reminded of what I'd thought about almost a week back—that maybe Zach didn't hate me like he pretended to. The spark between us that had been growing over the past few weeks was proof of that.

If there was ever a time to ask, this would be it.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was quickly cut off.

Nervously, Zach stammered, "Well, uh, I better get going."

He avoided my eyes, focusing on anything but my face, a look of regret washing over him. "Yeah," I quietly agreed, feeling foolish. "I'll just wait in the bleachers, I guess."

He nodded, and then just stood there. Again, the spark was back when he locked eyes with me, but he quickly turned away again, mumbling a swift, "Okay, bye," before ducking into the locker room and letting the door slam behind him.

::*::*::*::

Sitting at the top of the bleachers, I worked on the homework assignments I shouldn't have had considering it was the first day, but did have because of all my AP classes. I had just finished a question on my math worksheet when someone stopped in front of me on the metal steps, blocking me from the sun's heat and casting a shadow over my paper.

I looked up to see the modelesque face of Lucas Grey looking down at me and smiling. "Hey, Cammie," he said smoothly.

"Oh. Hey, Lucas," I replied, sounding every bit of surprised as I felt. He was the last person I expected to see after he never called. I figured he realized I wasn't worth the effort of dealing with my asshole friends, but here he was, smiling and looking at me the same way he had that night.

Rubbing the back of his neck and laughing awkwardly, he said, "Listen, I'm sorry I never called. I wanted to, but I guess I was a little nervous after what happened."

"Oh, that's okay," I told him, and I meant it. Lucas was a great guy with an amazing smile and an incredible ability to make someone feel special, but when he didn't call, I realized he wasn't the guy I wanted. But that guy may or may not hate me, and this guy was practically perfect. Maybe I shouldn't burn the bridge just yet?

"But you wanted to call me?" I asked, sounding hopeful. If I was to go out with Lucas, I could finally get over Zach—something I've been trying to do for years now.

With a smile, Lucas answered, "Hopefully I still can? And maybe ask you out when I do?" He bit his bottom lip, which I had to admit was really attractive.

"And maybe I'll say yes," I told him, finishing with a wink.

His laugh was naturally rich and very pleasant to listen to, which made me smile.

"Cool. I'll see you later," he said, still smiling as he turned to go back down the bleachers and join the rest of the soccer team out on the field.

And I couldn't help but feel a tad giddy at scoring a date with the most well-liked guy in school, even if that guy wasn't Zach Goode.

::*::*::*::

{Zach}

When I walked out of the locker room, my eyes immediately scanned the stadium bleachers for Cammie, a sense of anger running through my blood at the sight of her talking to fucking Lucas Grey. Not once in my entire time here at Roseville High had I given Lucas a second thought, and now it was like the guy was public enemy number one. He was fucking everywhere.

Everywhere Cammie was, at least, which didn't make me any happier.

I wasn't proud of how I handled my jealousy at Hannah's party, and unfortunately, this time around I didn't handle it any better. The jealousy paired with the rage from mine and Aubree's conversation took over and I was a hurricane just ready to destroy everything in its path. Throughout practice, any chance I got to "accidently" bump, hit, elbow, or kick him, I took it. The punk was going to be sporting a nice bruise on his shin for the next week after I got him twice when trying to steal the ball out from under his feet.

Okay, maybe I was a little proud of what I'd done.

Finally, Ryan, who was our team captain, announced practice was over. I headed towards the bench and grabbed a towel out of my duffle bag to wipe the sweat off my face, glancing up at Cammie to see she was packing up her books. I mimicked her and stuffed my own belongings into my bag, and as I did, I overheard that punk and his friend talking behind me.

"I saw you talking to Cammie before practice," Noah Winters, our goalie, told him.

"Yeah, I had to do major damage control," Lucas explained, sounding slightly annoyed.

Chuckling, Noah asked, "What'd you do this time?"

Lucas returned with his own chuckle. "I hit on her at Hannah Brandt's party last week and promised to call her, but I never did."

Fucking idiot. He probably just blew his chances with her by not calling. Although that made me happy, the thought of Cammie waiting for a call that never came pulled at my heart.

"Dude, I bet she was mad."

"Nah, she was cool about it. Of course, I lied and said I was too nervous to call her," Lucas said, laughing like he was proud of himself. "She totally bought it, man. The poor girl is so naïve that she still wants to go out with me after I ignored her for a week."

I barely resisted the urge to hit the asshole. If Cammie ever found out what Lucas was saying, she'd be crushed. I needed to ignore whatever Neanderthal response was pleading to break free so I wouldn't cause a big scene.

I still wanted to beat the shit out of him, though.

"Dude, does she know about you and Alexa the other night?"

"Are you kidding me? Cammie's clueless! I bet she thinks I actually like her like Alexa did. Man, I love dumb virgins who believe anything you tell them."

Without even thinking, I snapped around and punched Lucas right in the face, smashing my fist into his mouth.

His head snapped back from the force of my hand. He reached up to his lip only to find it split open and bleeding. "What the hell, Zach?!" he yelled, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand.

I stepped closer so that I was right in his face, but Ryan and Jonas each grabbed an arm and pulled me back. Like that was going to stop me. "Don't you ever talk about Cammie like that. And don't ever fucking touch her, you got it?" I warned him with a voice gone lethal. I'm sure my eyes were just as deadly as I pinned him with my stare, daring him to disobey me.

"Or what?" he challenged, refusing to back down.

I was about to lay into him again when Cammie's scream interrupted.

"Zach!" She ran down the bleachers as fast and as carefully as she could.

Oh, shit.

She was furious. Stomping down the steps, her flip flops slapping against the metal like pissed off little penguin feet, she glared at me with such horror that I almost felt bad for hitting Lucas.

Almost.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped, her eyes flashing pure anger.

"Cammie, please don't tell me you actually agreed to going out with this asshole?" I asked her, my voice begging for it not to be true.

"Oh my god, seriously? That's why you punched him?" she asked in disgust. Note to self: Cammie doesn't like violence, even if it's in her honor.

"I punched him because he was talking shit about you," I corrected her.

I was hoping to reveal how big of a douche the guy was, but Lucas wasn't going down without a fight.

"I was talking shit? You're the one who's always complaining about her to your friends," he argued, dragging my name through the mud like I had done his.

I hated that it was true, but Cammie knew (or at least she thought she knew) that I hated her, so I was hoping she wouldn't take it to heart too much. What I really cared about was that she got to see who Lucas really was, and she'd stay away from him for good.

"And you're the one calling her a dumb virgin who believes everything you say," I barked back, throwing his words in his face for everyone else to hear.

Cammie's face softened and she turned to Lucas, her eyes practically begging for an explanation.

He knew he was in trouble. He was backed into a corner, and it was obvious that he was struggling to come up with anything sensible. "Obviously he's lying, Cammie," he started, his voice higher than normal. "Why would I say that? I like you. A lot!" He was drowning and he knew it.

And that made me smile.

"Don't tell me you actually believe him?" Lucas begged, sounding disgusted.

But it was too late. Cammie was already pissed and no longer cared about what he had to say for himself. With a humorless chuckle and a shrug, she told him, "Yeah. Actually, I do. I guess I don't believe everything you tell me after all."

She pushed through Ryan and I, not seeming to even care that the entire soccer team had just watched the whole thing go down.

I gave Lucas one last grin before taking off after her.

Lucas was calling for her to stop, but she ignored him and continued out of the stadium and towards the parking lot.

"Cammie, if you'll give me, like, five minutes, I'll—"

"Don't talk to me," she said, her voice abnormally weak. "I'll find my own way home."

Hearing sadness instead of anger stopped me in my tracks, and I watched as the girl I cared so deeply about wipe tears from her cheeks and wrap her arms around her frail body, quietly sobbing as she walked away alone.

Hey everyone!

So, I ended up writing this chapter twice because the first time around, I didn't like it AT ALL. I'm still kind of bothered by this version, too, but simply because there was a lot of content and I was trying to keep the word count as low as possible, so it's kind of sloppy. But I like it nonetheless.

I don't know who all checked out the poll question I had on my profile, but it was about what sport Zach, Ryan, and Jonas should play. There was a tie between American football and soccer, so I went with soccer (:

Okay, I know you're all waiting for the kiss...but you're going to have to wait a tad longer. It's coming soon, though, I swear! And when it does, I promise you're all going to love it! (:

Alright, that's it for this chapter. Leave a review and let me know your thoughts! Thanks again guys for your support. Any review, no matter how short or how long, reminds me of why I'm writing this story and gives me motivation to keep going. The writers on fanfiction write to make the readers happy, and if we don't know if we're doing our job, it's hard to keep writing. But you guys have been so amazing, I can't thank you enough! You're all awesome (: and you chose the best fandom to be a part of, so there's that :P