I had to crop out Mariah's Pokémon hat because it does NOT match Zoey's aesthetic😂 also I have way too many pics of Mariah in my camera roll.
Zoey didn't say anything as she got into Joe's car. Joe couldn't help but stress over whether or not she'd noticed that he'd only just gotten there. They sat in silence as he drove, his girlfriend pulling out her phone.
"Um, so how was work?" Joe asked to break the silence.
"Fine." She responded, not looking up from her phone.
Joe could feel his anxiety stirring in his chest. Why wasn't she talking? What had he done? "I missed you." He added desperately.
"You just saw me eight hours ago." She responded flatly.
Joe sighed, hoping that that comment had been the right thing to say to make her feel safe with him. Clearly it wasn't. "So um, we finally rehearsed my big solo tonight. For the play." He paused for Zoey to say something, but she remained silent. "I think it's coming along okay. I definitely have a lot of practicing to do. I can't believe we open on Friday." The silence was enough to make him want to start crying. "I um, I reserved you a ticket, so don't worry about paying for one."
Zoey finally looked up from her phone. "You expect me to come to your show?"
Joe frowned. "You don't want to come see me in the school play? I have a really big role in it."
Zoey shrugged. "Not my ideal Friday night, but I guess since it means so much to you." She pulled her phone back up, typing away. "You're going to owe me big time the following Friday."
Joe nodded, relieved that she was finally talking and excited that she was coming to the show. "Definitely. Whatever you want to do next week; I'm all yours."
"Yippee," she mumbled sarcastically as Joe pulled into her driveway. "Well, I'm relieved to see you're here with me and not off with your little gay sidekick. I know I said we'd hang out, but I'm honestly kind of tired so I'm just going to go to bed."
"Oh, okay," Joe said sadly, turning his car back on. In truth, part of him was relieved that she didn't want him to come inside; he was beyond exhausted. "I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah, we can mess around after I get off work tomorrow." She said, unbuckling her seat belt.
Joe gulped. "Um, I can't tomorrow baby. I have rehearsal until most likely midnight."
"Midnight? On a school night?"
"Yeah. It's hell week. I told you how it works, do you remember?"
Zoey scoffed. "You sure you're just not trying to find an excuse to let the homo kiss your ass all night?"
"What? Baby no." Joe reached for her hand, but she smacked him away. "I'm going to be at school. In rehearsal. You're welcome to come watch if you don't believe me."
"Don't make me out like I'm some psycho accusing you of ridiculous things Joe." Zoey snapped at him. "I have every right to not trust you, especially when it comes to the play."
Joe nodded nervously. "You're right, completely. And I'm incredibly thankful that you're still letting me do the play. You're awesome for that."
"Well, guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, and that's it." She said angrily, taking off her Beanies visor. "Does this hell week bullshit apply to every day this week?"
"I should get out earlier on Wednesday." Joe reassured. "But Thursday I'll have to stay late again, and then Friday is the play. But the play's earlier, so we can hang out after?"
Zoey shrugged. "We'll see." She said flatly, opening the door and stepping out.
Joe nodded. "Goodnight, love you."
Zoey paused, her hand on the door handle. She crawled back into the car, grabbing Joe by the rim of his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss. She kissed him passionately, before pushing him away, hard enough so that his back hit the car door behind him. "I love you too," she said sweetly, leaning back in and giving him a soft peck before crawling out and slamming the door shut.
xXx
Zoey's demeanor towards Joe was very different in the morning. He pulled up to her house that morning to find her already outside, holding two warm coffees.
"Hey you," he said enthusiastically as she sat down in the car and kissed him.
"Hey yourself," she said with a smile, handing him one of her reusable Beanies cups. "It's cold today, figured you could use some coffee."
"Aren't you sweet." Joe gushed happily, taking the cup from his girlfriend.
"You look very cute too," Zoey added, eyes traveling up and down his body.
Joe shrugged, looking down at himself. "I'm just wearing a sweater. Your winter look is much cuter."
Zoey smiled, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a pink sweater with a brown scarf, blue jeans, heeled boots, and a magenta beanie. Her lipstick and nails were the same shade of pink as her sweater. "I try." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "We really are two perfect specimen, aren't we?"
Joe chuckled, pulling out of her driveway. "You? Perfect? No shit." He flirted, making Zoey blush. "Me I'm not so sure."
"Oh hush," Zoey said lightly, reaching over and taking Joe's free hand. "You're the hottest guy at Hatchetfield High. If that isn't perfect, I don't know what is."
Joe smiled at her. "Looks aren't everything, but I appreciate the sentiment." Zoey spent the rest of the drive chatting happily away about her plans for the weekend, Joe feeling more relaxed with her than he had in weeks. Had something shifted? Was their rough patch finally over?
They walked hand in hand to school together, stopping at Zoey's locker as they always did. As Zoey was grabbing textbooks out of her locker, Joe couldn't help but spot Brian and Joey at the end of the hall. He bit his lip, wishing he could go over and say hi. The two were laughing, Joey drinking hot coffee and Brian drinking iced. Why the hell was Brian drinking iced coffee when it was fifty degrees outside? His addiction was admirable.
He shook his head, focusing his attention back on Zoey, who luckily hadn't noticed that someone else had caught his eye for the past minute. "So when's the party again?"
"Next Saturday. It's not going to be an issue, is it?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.
"No, of course not! Joe reassured as they started walking towards her class. "Sounds like fun. I'm just wondering why Sam picked that Saturday night considering we have an extra football practice the following morning."
Zoey shrugged. "What's wrong with that? I thought you said your practice wasn't until like, noon?"
"It is." Joe reassured. "Just not going to really be able to party if I have practice the next day."
Zoey rolled her eyes. "You're such a drag Joe."
"I'm not trying to be." Joe reassured. "It's just not a good idea to like drink and stuff if we're going to be outside exercising all day the next day. Tom's the captain, I'm sure he'll back me up on that."
Zoey sighed, taking her textbooks from him as they approached her class. She took a step closer to him, leaning up on her toes to give him a small kiss on the lips. "Look at you, so serious and dedicated."
Joe laughed, a slight blush finding its way on to his cheeks. "I try."
Zoey smiled, planting a soft kiss on his neck. "See?" She whispered. "You're perfect."
Next chapter's already written and it is LONG.