Hello Lovely reader! This chapter might be a little longer than some of the others, but I just wanted to make a few things happen before the wedding which will be coming up. Just not in this chapter or the next.. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy.

Chapter 9 - Confidence

Later that night, Zoey ended up calling Isabelle and she came over for some girl talk. They planned to have a little get together with a theme of senior year. Zoey thought that it was a good idea, but she didn't know if Jess would go for it. The way that Isabelle talked about it, the party would be like going back to high school all over again, just without the acne or hopefully the awkwardness. It could be a good thing. Zoey just had to stay hopeful.

The next morning, after she showered and got ready, Zoey caught Jess before he headed out somewhere. "Hey Jess. I have a question for you.." Jess simply looked at her with an expression that essentially said what is it. "You see, um. Isabelle and I were planning a little get together for maybe this Friday.. And I was wondering if you thought that it would be okay to host it here.."

Jess paused with his hand on the door. "I don't see why that would be a problem. What kind of a get together were you guys planning?"

"Okay, great." Zoey smiled, then heard Jess's question. "Isabelle had the theme idea for Senior year. We would just wear things that we wore in our senior year of high school. There might even be some games." She explained. She didn't want to lie to him even if he thought the idea was stupid.

"That sounds.. different.." He acknowledged. "Let me know if you need anything for it though. I'll see what I can do."

Zoey grinned, "Will do, but I wouldn't want to burden you. After all, don't you have things to do for your Uncle?"

"You wouldn't be burdening me, honestly. I've got things pretty much handled." Jess replied. "I have to go to the store. Do you need anything?"

Zoey shook her head. "No, I think that I'm good. I might be at work by the time you get back so I'll see you after." She said, walking closer to him, ending up a foot away from him. She smiled, looking up at him through her bangs.

There it was, that look that Jess was growing to love. It was such a warm look that he wished more people possessed but he wouldn't pass hers up for anything. A few seconds passed with them staring at each other. "I should go. Don't want you to be late for work. I'll see you after." He confirmed her earlier statement. It was then that Zoey smiled once more and said goodbye. Jess then closed the door behind him.

-Later at the Diner-

Zoey couldn't stop smiling throughout her shift at work. It didn't even bum her out that she hadn't been asked to do a song for her customers like it sometimes did. It was then that Isabelle tapped on her shoulder. The kind of tap that usually meant a group number and that the diner needed a little livening up. The music started and Isabelle started to sing "Roar" by Katy Perry up on the stage. A different person came in on each verse, and luckily Zoey had scored the little breakaway part of the chorus. Roar was always a crowd pleaser.

Once the song was over, time seemed to fly by as she came to the end of her shift. She and Isabelle clocked out when it was time and walked to the park. Isabelle lead Zoey to a bench and sat down. "So, the party's a go?"

"Yeah, definitely. Jess seemed like he was up for it. He said that it was fine. What do you need me to get?" Zoey asked.

"Great! Just be in charge of music and snacks. Can Jess get the alcohol? I would ask Stefan but he always seems so busy with Claire.. So, if he could do that that would just take something off of my list." Isabelle explained. "If I could just have those things taken care of, I can do everything else. You won't have to worry about anything except for what you're wearing for the party."

Zoey nodded, "I'll be sure to ask him."

"Awesome. Friday at 7 is when the party will begin. I'll be there at 5." Isabelle smiled.

"I can't wait."

-Friday-

Zoey's excitement only grew as the party drew near. She had already gotten her dark purple extensions put in exactly where they were senior year. She still couldn't get used to seeing them and Jess hadn't seen them at all. He was at Truncheon and would be until 6:30. It was already 5:30 and Isabelle was going around the apartment like a whirlwind putting things together and getting herself ready. Zoey looked around the living room. She felt like it looked good even though she was used to some of the furniture being in different places. The snacks were ready to be put out and her ipod was loaded with music that she listened to in high school and songs from the years that she and her guests graduated.

It was 6:15 before Isabelle and Zoey seemed to slow down. By that time, they were doing their hair and makeup and getting changed. "I love your purple extensions by the way. They look amazing. I personally think that you should keep them. They give you a funky fresh look." Isabelle complimented.

"Funky fresh?" Zoey teased.

"You know what I mean." Isabelle retorted and then stuck out her tongue.

Zoey giggled and went into the bathroom to change into a pair of jean shorts that her mother didn't even know she owned, a slightly oversized black shirt, and her favorite purple converses. She took a moment to look herself over in the mirror. Yep, this was definitely Throwback Thursday material. She took a deep breath and exited the bathroom. She was pretty much ready for the party. About 10 minutes later, Isabelle emerged. She was dressed in glasses, a Harry Potter shirt and red colored denim shorts with black converses that had red laces.

"Well, don't you look adorable." Zoey complimented.

"Thank you. You too. You look so rebellious." Isabelle smiled.

It was then that Zoey heard a key unlocking the door. "Go to your room. Hurry. Just trust me. I wanna see his reaction to you." Without another word, Zoey was up and in the hallway when the door opened.

Jess opened the door to find Isabelle sitting on the couch with a smile on her face. "The place looks good." He stated, looking around the room to see what changed. "I brought the alcohol. I'll just go and put it in the fridge."

"Okay." Isabelle smiled. As soon as Jess started to make his way to the kitchen, Isabelle motioned Zoey to move. Jess closed the fridge door. When Zoey didn't move immediately, Isabelle spoke up. "Hey Zo. About time you got out here." You could almost hear the smile in her voice.

At the mention of Zoey's name, Jess looked over to where Zoey stood and stopped walking by the couch. His eyes widened, taking her in with the changes that she had made. 'So, this is what she looked like in high school...' Jess was speechless for around thirty seconds. Zoey just looked so confident in how she looked, no more than she normally did, but it was the way that she embraced her past look that was just so attractive. "How does she look?" Isabelle asked him, trying to sound innocent. "She-" Jess paused to look at Zoey and took a step forward. "You look beautiful. You always do.." He complimented, muffling the last part a little bit.

Zoey blushed slightly as she smiled at Jess. "Thank you." She said before looking at the clock. '6:40'. They had twenty minutes. Jess started to move again towards his room. "I have to get ready." He excused himself and closed his bedroom door behind him.

Zoey looked over at Isabelle as she made her way to the couch. Isabelle had a devilish grin on her face. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was smitten with you, and a little bit dumbfounded." She giggled slightly.

About 20 minutes later Jess came into the living room. His hair, which was down before, was now up in almost a quiff and he had on black jeans and a faded red punk planet shirt with a black long sleeve shirt on under it with black shoes. Zoey looked up from her phone and smiled at him. He smiled slightly and went to sit next to her. Isabelle then looked over. "Don't you two make a cute couple.." She smiled.

Isabelle then got up and started to pace. Everybody was late. It took another twenty minutes for people to start arriving. "Here we go." Zoey said to no one in particular. The party was ready to begin.

That was the chapter! I hope that you all enjoyed! The party is next! Don't forget to review. I love to hear your feedback. I hope that you all are having a wonderful day/night xo