Zach lifted his head from his phone, a brief smile setting across his face as his eyes softened with indescribable concern. “Is he asleep?” he asked quietly, referring to Brody.
“Yeah, finally.” I sighed, grabbing my laptop from the table as I plopped down into the sofa dejectedly.
I gazed at Zach; he was sitting on the other end of the sofa. His blue eyes were alert as he watched me ever so carefully, his eyebrows perched up slightly.
I bit my lip and turned away, but I could still feel Zach’s eyes still boring a hole into my head. Pulling the blanket from the recliner chair, I opened my laptop and cleared my throat. “Where’d Joe go?”
“He left,” Zach straightened and took in a deep breath, “He went to go check on Taylor.”
He went to go check on Taylor? What happened to solving this? What happened to Joe’s cover being blown? How can Zach and Joe just sit here and do nothing?! “You guys didn’t figure anything out?” I questioned accusingly.
Zach shifted to face me, his elbow pressing into the sofa’s backrest. “There isn’t much we can figure out, Jess,” he tried to assure.
“I told you guys that Will and Vanessa were talking about my Dad, though. Weren’t you guys able to make any connections?” I interrogated harshly. First Zach stops me from talking to Will. Then he makes me lie to the police. And now, he hasn’t pieced anything together? He won’t let me do anything yet he isn’t doing anything himself!
Zach pulled in a little closer, his eyes narrowed in an understanding worry. “Jess, I know—” His words stopped as he suddenly became aware of my livid expression. Zach pulled his teeth over his lower lip as he shifted his eyes away from me. For once, it seemed like he was the one at a loss out words—maybe out of anger or maybe out of guilt.
But as I watched him, it suddenly hit me. My face tendered as the guilt washed over me. Why was I being so rude? I’m acting like this was all Zach’s fault. He’s trying to do everything he can and it’s unfair for me to treat him this way. Everything Zach has done has been in my best interest, so I’m sure that he’s still looking out for me; I trust him on that. Sighing, I slapped my head back and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled sorrowfully.
“No—No, Jess, it’s not your fault,” Zach reasoned calmly.
He was always too modest. I opened my eyes but avoided looking him in the eyes. “No, Zach, I’m being such an insensitive bitc—”
“Hey,” Zach quickly cut me off, “Jess, stop.”
I forced myself to look towards him.
Zach nodded his head towards my laptop, eyeing my fingers on the keyboard as he promptly changed the subject. “What are you up to?”
I gazed at my computer screen and then back at him. “I have a Government report due tomorrow,” I answered, letting out a small, sheepish grunt.
He smirked charmingly. “And you waited till now to do it?”
“Gov is boring,” I whined.
He chuckled, smiling as he leaned closer. “What’s the report supposed to be about?”
“Hmm,” I hummed, shrugging slightly, “It can be about anything, really. Just something that’s been on the news.”
YOU ARE READING
Falling to Pieces
Teen FictionDo you know that feeling, that feeling of your life completely changing in the matter of a second? Jessica Hayes did, and she knew it very well. For her, senior year was supposed to be a year filled with unwanted girly drama but little did she reali...
