Again

Chapter 12

By the time 2 pm rolled around, Kayla was restless.  She'd texted Zac hours ago, but she still hadn't gotten a reply.  She was starting to wonder how it was possible for him to still be sleeping after spending almost the entire day before asleep.
She'd gotten up, had some cereal for breakfast, showered and was now trying to think of something to have for lunch.  She was standing in front of the open fridge when Taylor walked into the kitchen.
"You do know you have to actually take the food out and cook it in order for a meal to appear, right?" he said as he stepped in front of her and grabbed a bottle of water.  He sat at the island across from where she was standing.
"Ha ha," she said as she swung the door shut, "I cook," she said turning towards him.
"When?" Taylor asked, laughing.
"When you're not here to cook for me," she said as she took a seat next to him, "Where have you been all day?" she asked.
"I've been here.  You would have noticed if you weren't holed up in your room all day," he said.
"I was waiting for Zac," she said sheepishly.
"Waiting for Zac for what?"
"He asked me to hang out last night.  Just us two.  He said he'd gotten into a fight with Kate but he said he didn't wanna talk about it then asked if I wanted to hang out today, but he's still in bed," she said trying to hide her disappointment.
"How is he even able to sleep still?  He was literally up all of maybe 4 hours yesterday," he said shocked.
"I know.  Maybe all the stress you guys are going through is finally getting to him?" she guessed.  They sat for a few minutes longer before Taylor announced he was going next door to talk to Isaac about a song.  

Kayla rose from her seat and opened the refrigerator again.  After a few moments, she decided she didn't want to eat and headed towards the hallway instead.  She walked down to Zac's door and leaned her ear up to it.  She didn't hear anything, so she slowly turned the knob.  Even though she knew he was in there, she was still surprised to see that he was actually sleeping.  She walked up to his bed and quietly called out for him.  He stirred a little but his breathing quickly fell back into a steady rhythm.
"Zac!" she called out a little louder.
His eyes flew open and he looked around.  He slowly turned his head in her direction.  He looked at her for a moment before he smiled and reached his arms out to her.  
Before he could grab hold of her, Kayla took a step back, "Uh uh!" she said, "I am not getting in that bed.  You promised me a Zac Hanson day and here it is," she looked down at her watch, "2:20 in the afternoon and you're still in bed! How could you possibly still be tired?"
He stared at her for a moment.  She was beautiful, her fake anger endearing to him. He flopped his arms down to his sides and kicked himself into a sitting position. He kept his head down for a few seconds before he turned his head up towards Kayla. He shoved his long hair back and out of his face before speaking.
"Me and Kate broke up," he said quietly. He looked back down and scratched his leg, then turned to look at Kayla again. He heard the air catch in her throat. She composed herself, letting the fake guard she had up a few seconds ago down.
"Why?!" she said, too loudly then she had meant for it to come out. She quickly composed herself, "I mean, what happened?" she finished as she took a seat at the foot of his bed, her body turned toward him.
Zac was quiet; he wasn't sure why he'd waited all day to tell Kayla, or why he'd needed to spend the entire day sleeping to try and escape his current reality. He'd called Kate with the intention of breaking up with her. He'd decided that being with Kayla and giving a real relationship with her a chance was what was going to make him truly happy. However, as soon as the call was over he felt more confused than ever.
"She cheated on me," he said, quietly.
"Oh my gosh, Zac I'm so sorry," she paused for a moment, "Are you okay?"
"I think so," Zac began, "I mean, we've been arguing for a while now.  It feels like we haven't been able to get on the same page about very many things, but I honestly didn't think she'd do anything like this."
Kayla was quiet.  A million thoughts were running through her mind.  She wanted to speak, but wasn't sure if Zac would want to hear the words she was saying in her head.
"I know what you're thinking," he said, causing her to snap her head up at him.
"What?" she asked, not sure how to react.
"How can I be mad, right?  Or upset, or anything because I did it first?  That's what you're thinking, right?" he answered.
Kayla lowered her head, but didn't answer.
"Trust me, I thought the same thing.  I have no right to be mad, or to care... but I do.  Maybe it's an ego thing, maybe it's because I never thought she'd lie to me, I'm not sure I haven't really given myself a chance to think about it.  I'm still trying to figure out if I want to," he said.
There was a few moments of silence before either of them spoke.
"I think you kind of have to, Zac," Kayla finally said.
"Why?" Zac replied, "What difference is it going to make?  It's not going to make us un-broken up.  I don't even know if I want us to be un-broken up."
They sat there for a few more moments before Kayla raised herself up from his bed.  Her heart was racing.  She felt confused.  Maybe Zac felt he didn't need to think about it but in this moment, she felt like she certainly needed to.  There were so many thoughts running through her head, and she felt like it may explode.
"We can cancel today, if you want," she said, "I understand if you need to be alone."
"No!" Zac said quickly, as he reached out and grabbed her hand, "No, please, if you're still up for it, I'd really really just like to hang out with you today."  
Kayla looked into his pleading eyes.  She nodded her head slightly, "Okay," she said.
"Thanks Kail. I'm gonna shower and then we can go, 'kay?" Zac said as he stood up and walked past Kayla.  He rounded his bed, walked over to his dresser and began to pull out underwear.
"What do you want to do?" she asked as he disappeared into his closet.  A few moments later he emerged with a yellow vintage band t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "Oh my gosh, I love you so much when you wear that shirt," Kayla thought.  She quickly shook the thought out of her head.
She looked up at Zac.  He grinned slightly and said, "The carnival's in town, and... Taylor has weed."  His grin turned into a toothy smile as he walked up to Kayla and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "Be out in a second," he said.