Butterscotch Backstabber

Chapter 18: Hard Ball Stage

"You okay?" Zoey turns to me.

"Yeah," I wipe my face. "She's been basically stalking me all weekend. I was just frustrated with her." I keep wiping until my face is dry.

Zoey eyes me.

"Anyway, come inside." I pull her inside.

Mom sighs when she sees me come back with Zoey, not Hilary.

I go up to my room and reclaim my position on the bed. Zoey sits next to me. I sniffle and grab a tissue to wipe my face and blow my nose.

"You okay?" she asks me.

"Yeah, whatever. But I've been meaning to ask you something." I say.

"What?"

"That place, the skating rink, what was that place?" I ask.

She sighs.

"Tell me." I plea.

"My sister showed it to me. She'd go there after my dad would... hit her. It was special to us. Just a place we could go and scream at the top of our lungs and no one would hear us. We'd write all over the wall things we could never say. It's my special place, my sister passed it to me. Whenever I feel down I go there for a moment to myself. I showed it to Hilary, I wanted her to see that I was more than meets the eye."

"Zoey, does your dad hit you?" I ask.

She's silent for a moment before looking at me and nodding.

"Zoey you should have told me."

"I never took you to that place because I didn't want you to know that about me. I purposely never told you any of that about me because I never wanted you to see me like that. You were supposed to be my escape. A place I could come and just be normal with and never have to worry about that stuff coming up in conversation. I don't want you to feel sorry for me."

"You make me feel like a bad friend because I didn't know that about you." I grab her hand.

"You're actually a really good friend, I'm kind of a bad friend."

"No, you're not."

She moves to sit right next to me and rest her head on my shoulder.

I rest my head on top of hers.

"Do you still like Hilary?" Zoey asks.

"I'm done with Hilary," I say.

She moves to look me in the eyes.

"I mean it, I won't hurt you like that," I say.

She leans in and kisses me. For a moment I'm frozen in shock, then I kiss her back. Her lips move against mine and I wait for that moment, that burst of energy when my heart goes pitter-patter and my insides dissolve into mush. But I don't feel anything.

It's crazy to think just a couple of weeks ago this was what I wanted most in the world.

"We should just stay friends," I whisper against her lips.

"Right," she jerks back. "You're right. Sorry." She frantically fixes her hair.

"It's okay." I rest my head on her shoulder.

"So you don't like me like that anymore?" she asks.

"I'm done with romance, for good. I'll be celibate like Wes." I say.

She snorts in amusement.

"I've learned my lesson, it's all just too complicated for me." I sigh.