Forever and Always ✔️

Chapter nineteen - Penelope/Zack.

I smiled and got out of the car. Running up to my porch under the shelter, he was sill staring at me. I smiled and waved before heading inside where I closed the outside world away.

*

Zack's POV

I watched her close the door of her house and she disappeared. What was I doing? We're getting closer and closer everyday. Wasn't that what I wanted? Well, that was before I had a girlfriend.

I drove away and headed back to my place where mom was still home but dad wasn't. Dad had been gone for a while, I think it was over between my parents.

I headed inside where mom sat at the dining room table, waiting for me. "Don't bother asking me what she has said to me, I won't tell you."

"I know, mom. I'm not stupid." I said back as I took a seat.

"Well, she's told me a lot about you," Mom blurted out, "I see the way you look at her. She just needs time, sweetie. She's been through a lot."

She talked about me? Wow, I never saw that coming.

"I know she's been through a lot, she's told me a little bit but not the entire thing," I said, remembering Cecelia, "I kinda already have a girlfriend though."

She shook her head. "Who is it?"

"Her name is Cecelia." I said. Wasn't it funny that Penelope has met my mom before Cecelia? I was doing everything backwards.

"And were you ever going to tell me about her?" She asked as her phone began to vibrate.

"I wasn't sure if it was anything serious, we've only been going out for a few days." I said as she picked up the phone and answered it.

Matt's cartoon show overpowered mom's conversation but she ignored it. "Wait, Miss Collins has changed therapists?" My mom said into the phone. "She what?" Mom said, making me wonder what happened. "But she's not ready," she paused, "yeah, okay. Thanks for the call." She hung up and turned to me. "Penelope has stopped therapy."

She's not ready. I remembered my mom say into the phone. "She still needs a lot of talking to get over the things that happened to her, I need to call her father."

I nodded, wondering what did happen to her and now she would never tell me because my mom used to be her therapist.

*

The next day, I needed to get Penelope alone before Gray and Cecelia spotted me. Why was life so complicated sometimes and why did Gray disapprove of Penelope so much? Maybe it was because you said you liked her and now you have a girlfriend. Oh, so that was why he was so overprotected about Cecelia because he had been cheated on too.

Before I even got the chance to find Penelope, Molly stopped me in my tracks. "Molly, please."

"I see you found yourself another fuck buddy," she said nastily, "what? Am I not good enough for you?"

I dragged her in between two sets of lockers. "Would you keep your voice down?"

She snapped. "Why should I? Are you afraid that Gray might hear you? Well, the truth needs to come out. Gray is too oblivious to figure out who I cheated on with."

"Shut it, Molly." I snapped back at her, feeling my hands sweat. She could expose our secret to the entire school.

"I was in love with you, Zack. Before you broke it off because of your 'loyalties' with Grayson," she said in air quotes, "you wanna know why I moved away? It was because of you."