Chapter 13: Holding a Heart
The following Monday, Beth caught up with Zach after Math class. She saw him at the hallway. "Hey," She said.
He looked at her, "Not with Arnie, huh?"
"We're not classmates in Math, remember?"
"Oh, right."
"What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"No, seriously, Zach, what's wrong?" She asked, "And what is this thing about you going to stay here after grad?"
"Oh, now you know the big news," He muttered sarcastically.
"Talk to me, will you?" She said as they stopped in front of a tree.
He looked at her.
"Zach, all I know is you came to dine with the St Jameses, and now my mom's telling me you want to be a teacher! Where did that come from?"
"Priorities change, Beth."
"You're only doing this because of Sophie."
"So?"
"So? It's not right."
"And why is that?"
"Because it's not what you want."
"You don't know what I want."
"I do," She said, "You want to go to Yale, then take up Law afterwards. You want to be an actor, and you also want to be a lawyer. You want to leave Ohio. You—"
"But what if I also want to stay and teach?"
"Because of Sofia? Of Jesse?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it does!" Beth said, her voice rising, "You're doing it for all the wrong reasons. That matters. We're both gonna go to Yale, aren't we? We had these plans and—"
"And things change, Beth." He said, a lump forming in his throat, "You have Arnold now. You'll change your mind."
"So that's it? It's because of him? I don't even know where he'd wanna go to college and I barely care. I care about you."
"But you love him,"
"Zach,"
"You're with him."
She took a deep breath, "Fine," She snapped, "That's what you want, then do it. Just don't forget who you are, Zach, because in the end that's the only thing that will matter. In the end, the only thing that'll matter are the choices you've made."
"Really Beth?" He said, "Coz I think I can say the same thing for you."
She looked at him, felt her heart breaking and ran away.
"Beth!" He called out, "I'm sorry!"
But she didn't look back.