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Chapter 19
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"You okay, babe?" Zack asks me.
I wedge the phone between my ear and my shoulder so I can lace up my sneakers.
"Honestly," I sigh, "I don't know how I feel about this dinner."
It's Thanksgiving tonight and my mom and I are going over to Alex's for dinner.
I still haven't spoken to her, and if at all I do, we just end up fighting again.
It's tiring, and I hate it, but I'm still upset with her. And I don't want to listen to her explanation. There's nothing to explain because I already understand it all.
"It'll be okay. I'm sure you look hot."
I laugh. "I don't need to dress hot for Thanksgiving, you pervert. And it's not even that."
Zack heaves a sigh. "Still not speaking?"
"No." I mutter.
"You can't keep this up forever, you know that, right? She's not just your mum, Aubrey, she's your best friend." His tone drops. "She's been there for you."
"Only beca
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"So, you're seriously not gonna tell me about your Thanksgiving?" I ask.Zack doesn't stop playing with my hair, which is splayed across his chest."Nope. And that's because I already told you there's nothing to tell."I lift my head off his chest and lean up on my elbow so my face is over his."You've been in a sour mood since you got back yesterday and you really expect me to believe that? How dumb do you think I am?"Zack stares at me deadpan for a few seconds before he replies. "On a scale of 1-10, I'd say eleven."He laughs as I slap hard at his chest. "Hey! Take that back.""I'd rather not."He's good at changing the subject. Really good.Feigning annoyance, I try to push away from his chest but he tightens an arm around me."Hey, where are you going?""Away from you." I mutter. "You're so annoying.""You could
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This is all too much to process, and so fucking impossible. There's no way... Zack confessed to me last week when things got heated with Eric and everything, but I just thought he fell in love with me in highschool. I had no idea he's loved me since we were kids. I sit up. "Why didn't you tell me?" Zack scoffs. "Didn't know I was supposed to ask you out at ten years old." I glare at him. "That's not what I'm talking about. The years passed, Zack, and you didn't...you let me date all those people." "I wasn't sure you felt the same way. And let's face it, you would've rejected me because you wouldn't have wanted to ruin our friendship. And nothing hurts men more than rejection." His hands are linked casually behind his head. He's relaxed. He's right though. That's exactly what I would've done. "Wait." Zack sits up to look at me. "Are you crying?" H
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Sometime during the night, my eyes flutter open. I'm on my bed, so it was certainly not a dream that I had about Zack.Though right now, he's not on the bed with me, and I know that because I can hear his voice."Yeah. She's okay." He says. He's on a phone call, but with who?The person says something and he sighs. "I'm not so sure about that. She's upset with me."Is it Audrey?I turn so I'm lying on my other side, facing the window. That's where he's standing, but his back is to me."I was going to tell her everything tonight, but I guess I chickened out."What?"Why?" He repeats the person's question. "Fuck, she's so disappointed in me. I hurt her too much this time. She thinks I was with someone else."Okay, so not Audrey."No. I know Aubrey. We've been best friends since we were 10, man. I already kno
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"I'm sorry, Cody." I say, awkwardly standing in front of my now kinda ex-boyfriend, and trying not to cringe at the tears that are streaming down his cheeks.I hate this. I hate hurting people's feelings. Cody is the first boy I've broken up with who cried and it makes me feel even worse. I hate that Zack is making me do this. My ex-boyfriends are exes thanks to him. He'd taunt me into playing a game and making bets with him and I'd foolishly agree. I fall for it everytime, even though I know he's better than me at everything."We can make it work." He sniffs. "We can do fun stuff. We can..."We never even became official. I just went out on a few dates with him because truthfully, he's cute. I don't think I've ever seen a guy cry. It makes me uneasy.In my peripheral vision, I can see Zack leaning against his car, waiting for me. Probably laughing at me. Fortunately, the parking lot is almost empty."I can't,
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I knew I was going to have to deal with this. I knew I was going to have to face Eric sooner or later, I just didn't expect it to be this soon."What're you...um..." I avoid making eye contact with him, whatever makes me do that would be sentencing me to death because I'm not ready to look at him."Doing here? Come on, Aubrey, you know what I'm doing here. It's why you can't look at me, isn't it?"A sigh escapes my mouth. "Eric, I..." He walks past me into the house, shutting the door behind him."You look pretty, Aubrey. You always do." His voice becomes husky. I wait for the tingles to come, the shiver, the butterflies that always flutter at the bottom of my stomach whenever he speaks to me.I wait for something. Anything. I get nothing.I finally decide to just suck it up and look at him, and when I do, I wish I hadn't done it, because all I feel now is guilt.&n
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Sure enough, when I go outside, he's standing beside his car, dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and his favorite cap. My favorite cap, actually."Dad!" I run into his outstretched arms, and he catches me, spinning me around like a little girl. His little girl."I've missed you so much." He breathes into my hair and the tears almost begin to fall."I've missed you too, Dad." I choke out. "I can't believe you're here.""Yeah? Well, I am. I'm here for you."I hug him even tighter as he lets me down, burying my head in his chest."How did you... I mean...does mom know?" I ask when I pull away.Dad nods. "I called her a few days ago before I flew in last night. She didn't want me to tell you because..." He looks away. "Well...you know."Yeah, I know. Incase I got my hopes up and he eventually didn't come."I'm glad you came." I say.Dad smiles at me, reaching out to tuck st
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I moan as light filters into my vague dream, making it impossible to remain asleep. It's Saturday and I was supposed to be sleeping in.Fucking light.The warmth of the hard surface under my cheek is so comforting, I don't think I ever want to stand up from this bed.I raise my head to look at the masterpiece I'm lying on.I'm pretty sure I slept alone last night, so he must've come this morning or something. He'd gone to check on Audrey Miller. Again. Her parents still aren't back from their work.To be honest, I'm still terrified that something will eventually happen between them. It's not that I don't trust Zack, I trust him with my entire being, I just don't trust her.She's unstable, and she could blackmail Zack into getting what she wants, and let's face it. Zack's a guy.This is the longest he's ever gone without having sex. He's being patient with me, but I have this gut feeling that he's g
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I waste no time taking my clothes off, and then I'm running towards the water."Zack!"I'm about to start panicking because I don't know the first thing about swimming, when I hear his voice."You'd make a terrible lifeguard." He says as his head emerges from the water.He was messing with me."Oh, you are so dead!" I mutter dangerously. Why would he do something like that?And who the hell drowns in a stream?!Zack pushes his wet hair backwards, and when his eyes meet mine, his mouth opens slightly.He rakes his eyes over my lace clad body. Slowly.Wait. Lace clad?It's then I realise that I'm in my underwear. A black lace bra and panties to match."Damn, Aubrey." He whispers as his eyes meet mine again.Heat creeps up my neck. "Stop staring at me like that." Zack and I have kissed a lot, and he's tried crossing to second base lots of times, but
