Disclaimer: If I owned X-Men, I wouldn't be writing a fanfic.

Previously:

I was now completely helpless to Zachary Bolte.

Chapter Nine

No. Absolutely not. No way. Nuh-uh. Noooooo. I closed the doors to my armoire in disgust. Why couldn't I find anything to wear? I felt like crying. My closet was limited. I hadn't cared before, but now it was suddenly very, very important that I looked nice. And not just nice; I needed to be pretty, beautiful, incredible. It was infuriating that one boy could have this effect on me. Or at least it would be, if I could find it in myself to be mad at him.

I turned away from my pitiful wardrobe, pulling my hair in an effort to make everything better. I turned back and opened the doors to my armoire. It was still the same. I slammed the doors shut, turned away and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Nothing would get better if I was panicking. I decided that I was going to turn back around, close my eyes and open the doors, and then wear the first things I pulled out. I cautiously opened my eyes after doing so, and then breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't so bad. I actually liked it, something I'd have thought impossible after the excruciating past forty-five minutes.

I hurriedly put on the clothes, and stood back so I could see myself in the mirror over my dresser. I had on a black mini-skirt and a forest green long-sleeved shirt. After a few seconds debate, I pulled on some black leggings under the skirt; it was October, after all, and the nights were starting to get chilly this time of the year.

"Okay," I whispered to myself. I pulled down my skirt and smoothed down my hair. Deciding that wasn't enough, I quickly ran my brush through it, and then put my hair up into a half ponytail. "Okay." I repeated. I needed different earrings, though. I reviewed my options swiftly. I eventually decided on my thin gold hoop earrings. I gave myself a final look and then glanced at the clock. I had five minutes left to spare. Not bad. I settled my hair the way I wanted it to lay, and, grabbing my purse, left my room.

I went downstairs and hesitated. I didn't really want to talk to my mother and Jim, but I wanted a second opinion, and I probably needed to tell my mother that I was going out. I just wished there was a way I could do that without Jim finding out. I hadn't forgotten that snippet I'd gotten from him this morning. Although, going out was probably safer than staying in. It might actually be better if I let him know that I'm not going to be in this evening. Well, either way, he was going to find out. I'd just have to hope for the best. I took a deep breath and walked into the living room.

"What do you think?" I asked as if there was nothing to be worried about. There was nothing to be worried about. My mother and Jim looked up from where they were seated on the couch.

"You look nice, Lara." My mother replied. "What's the occasion?"

"Nice? Just nice?" I groaned. "That is not what I was going for at all."

"You wouldn't believe me if I said you looked lovely, now would you?" She told me, slightly annoyed.

"Lovely." I looked over myself again. "Really?"

"Really. What's the occasion?"

I was about to reply when the doorbell rang. I spun around and ran to the door. It occurred to me that I was getting better at blocking out people's thoughts. I hadn't caught one of Jim's or my mother's thoughts. I'd be more proud of myself if I wasn't so nervous.

"I have a date with Zack." I said over my shoulder towards my mother's footsteps as she followed me down the hall.

"Zack? When did this happen?" She sounded annoyed. I didn't bother looking at her to double check her mood.

"Yes. This afternoon." I answered her as I opened the door. Shoes! I realized suddenly. Shoot. I'd have to decide quickly.

"Hello Mrs. Huntley." I heard Zack greet my mother politely.

"Hi Zack. Lara has just told me that the two of you have a date tonight." She told him, the normal friendliness toward him was replaced with a slight disapproval. Strange and unusual, but not completely unexpected.

"That's right." He replied, calm as always. "You'll probably want different shoes." He told me as I was reaching for my clogs. I frowned at him mildly and grabbed my boots. Zack looked like he was going to say something, but my mother interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"When were you planning on telling me that the two of you were dating?" My mother's voice was frosty.

"I just did tell you." I reminded her sweetly, lacing up my boots. I twitched as I heard the anger in her thoughts. So it wasn't only my emotions that effect how much I hear. Interesting.

"I mean," she stressed the words, as if that would help her get her point across. "When did you start dating?"

"Today." I replied nonchalantly.

"Oh." It almost sounded like she was relieved. Why would she be relieved? I was tempted to peek at her thoughts, but decided not to. For one thing, I didn't really want to know what my mother was thinking, for another, it was rude to invade someone's privacy like that. People expect their heads to be private after all.

I stood up with a sigh.

"Ready?" Zack asked me softly. I nodded. I was getting nervous again, a feeling I had lost while arguing with my mother. "Let's go. I'll see you later, Mrs. Huntley, Jim." He put his arm around my waist, and led me out to the car.

Zack took me to dinner at a nice little restaurant down by the town square. It wasn't expensive, a fact I was thankful for because I didn't think he would let me pay for my own food, and there was no way I would let him pay twenty bucks for my food alone. It was nice, just being with him and not having to worry about what time Jim was going to get back, or what someone was going to say about us; it was not fun having to hear your name about fifty times on the way to first bell because of something that seems perfectly natural to you, but is apparently not something you should be doing, and you have no idea why not, but that's "just the way things are." Just then, Sara walked in with her latest boyfriend, Nate. I always felt sorry for her boyfriends; she'd date them for a few weeks, let them buy her stuff, and then dump them. I didn't want to know what else she did. Spotting us, they made their way through the tiny room to stand by our table.

"Hey you two!" Sara squealed in apparent delight, almost like the last two days hadn't happened.

"Hey Sara," Zack responded tautly.

"What's with the faces guys? And why didn't you tell me you were coming here tonight? We could've doubled." She pouted and I was more confused than ever. Wasn't she furious? Did the last two days happen or not? I glanced at Zack and saw that he was just as confused as I was.

"Aren't you mad?" I asked cautiously. This kind of madness might be contagious.

"What? About you two dating? No! I was just upset that you two hadn't told me. I thought we were friends. Why didn't you tell me?" Sara managed to sound sad.

'Probably because they didn't want to have the scene that happened yesterday happen.' That was Nate. I glanced briefly at him, and then looked back at Sara, trying to keep a straight face. I had just gotten the best idea from him. Thank you Nate!

"Well, we weren't sure you'd be okay with it, you know? I guess I was just scared to tell you." I said as innocently as I could manage.

She sighed, her hand going to her chest as her face went into the classic 'Awwww!' look and she seemed to be tearing up a little.

"You are such a good friend!" She leaned over and put her hand on my shoulder so our faces were level. She looked me straight in the eye as she said "I am totally cool with it." She hugged me and then turned toward Zack, leaning on the table with one hand and – Did she just pull down the neckline of her already-too-revealing shirt? A look at Zack told me that yes, she had. He was now getting a – I didn't want to think about it, so I kicked him. He gave a slight jerk and glanced at me in confusion. I had no idea what my face looked like, but it must have gotten the message to him, because he looked up at Sara's face instead of her chest.

"You two make such a cute couple!" She squealed. Loudly. People were staring. It was getting annoying.

"Thanks, Sara, really, but I think your server is waiting for you. If you want to eat you'd better hurry up." She did that 'Aw!' thing again and hugged me. Again! I was beyond irritated with her. Just leave already!

She did go eventually, her boyfriend trailing behind her like a lost puppy-dog. I hadn't heard Nate say anything the entire time he was standing there, and Sara hadn't even tried to include him in the conversation. I guess that just showed how much she cared about him.

I waited until she had gotten far enough that I didn't think she could hear us anymore before I kicked Zack again. He jumped.

"What?" He asked.

"You were staring at her chest, that's what." I said sharply.

"Didn't you already kick me for that?" He asked cautiously. Hearing the caution in his voice made me happy, in an angry kind of way. I kicked him again.

"No. That was to make you stop, the second, because you were, and the third because you didn't deny it." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "Well?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Spill."

"It's embarrassing."

"Don't make me kick you again."

"I was just thinking," he paused, and I narrowed my eyes in a silent warning, "that you'd look hot if you were wearing that instead of her." He mumbled the last few words, but I still heard him.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I wasn't sure I wanted an honest answer.

"Nothing!" He seemed surprised that I asked. You'd think that having two sisters would clue him into the fact that girls constantly worried about how they looked in front of the boys they like. Maybe it was just because I hadn't ever expressed such a concern before, but before, we weren't dating.

"I like what you're wearing better than that." He gave a slight nod of his head in the direction Sara and Nate had gone.

"You look nice tonight. More than nice." He added quickly, seeing my expression. "You look really pretty." And then he smiled at me, completely honest with me, so I guess I could forgive him. I told him so, and he looked relieved. So I asked him why. He told me that I was scary when I was angry, and anyone in their right mind would do whatever they could to avoid it. I don't believe him, though. I think it's just because I've known him for forever. Besides, it's Zack who is scary when he is angry. I decided not to mention it, though. It's not vital, after all. And also, it's really fun to be there when whoever he's mad at practically pees his/her pants.

Luckily for me, the rest of dinner passed relatively uneventfully. The one blip in the radar was when I mentioned that I was glad Zack wasn't Edward Cullen. Seriously though, even with the whole practically perfectness he pulls off constantly – practically, because he doesn't write poetry (not that we've seen), and in order to be completely perfect, a boy needs to write poetry and play an instrument. Edward Cullen only does one of those things – because, seriously, who wants to see their boyfriend being flirted with at every turn? I always feel sorry for Bella whenever I read those books. Not only does she have the insane amount of bad luck required to keep the plot moving, but her boyfriend is flirted with constantly.

When we left the restaurant, instead of leading me back to his car like I expected, Zack pulled me in the direction of the park down the street.

"We're going to the park?" I asked, completely happy for once.

"Yeah," he grinned at me, "there's something I want to show you."

I laughed and reached out and took his hand. A few guys rounded the corner up ahead and we stood to the side to let them pass. Instead, they stopped right in front of us. A voice spoke from behind.

"Zachary Bolte?"

A/N: I'd meant to make the chapter longer, but this was such a good place to stop. Now that we've reached this point, the plot should take off, unless it's being an idiot like it has been lately. Hopefully, if all goes well, I should be updating quicker. No guarantees, though.