Zach and Abby

Chapter Three - Edited

Zach - Edited

Abby opened the door as soon as I stepped up to it. If I was able to read her better, I'd say she was just as eager to see me, but I knew not to jump to conclusions. She looked as good as always, in some outfit consisting of shorts and a shirt that waved in the light breeze. Austin exited after her, clapping me once on the back before wishing us a goodnight and driving away.

I finally collected some of my voice, clearing my throat before I attempted to talk. "You look nice." A light blush dusted her cheeks, making her duck her head away from my stare. "Ready to go?"

She looked up again, the embarrassed color slowly fading and her confidence regaining itself. With her nod, I stuck out my hand and she grasped it, letting me pull her forward off the two small steps in front of her door.

"What are we seeing?"

I tried to hide my panic by walking without missing a step but inside, there was fear because I hadn't thought this much ahead. It was almost a standard first or second date to take someone to the movies. I asked her out tonight, not even sure if she was going to say yes.

When she did, excitement consumed me and picking a movie flew right out the window.

A few guys in the house were talking about a new chick flick in theaters and taking girls to see it. I figured Abby would like something like that, so that's what I told her.

"If it's okay with you, I was thinking that new Nicholas Flames movie."

Her laugh filled the empty night as we walked just a little off campus to the nearest shopping complex with a movie theater inside. For the longest time, she just laughed and I wished I had recorded it. It was beautiful and she sounded so lively and free; in a way I'd never heard from her. There was no caution to her that night and I loved it.

"Sparks, it's Nicholas Sparks," she wiped her eyes, laughing enough to form tears. I wasn't so much embarrassed as I was nervous that I just sounded like the biggest moron in front of her. The only upside was that it got her to laugh, that was worth a thousand errors on my part.

"It's fine with me, if you don't mind being surrounded by crying girls for two hours."

I patted my shoulder and winked at her. "I've got a strong shoulder for you right here."

She pushed my side with all her might and when I didn't even move an inch, the night erupted into her quiet laughter once more and if we didn't have a movie to catch, I would have stopped and listened all night.

The movie was just as boring as I knew it'd be but Abby did wind up crying so it gave me an excuse to throw my arm over her. She moved into my side, hiding her face to muffle her tears when the woman was told her fiancé wouldn't make it out of surgery alive.

On the way home, Abby told me all about how the book was different from the movie. I hadn't read the book and forgot all about the movie as soon as we exited the theater, but I let her talk anyways. She was so animatedly involved in whatever she was saying that she didn't even notice when I took the left instead of the right when we came to the main quad.