'It's. not. funny.', I said, gritting my teeth.
Jeremy was making fun of me for asking Zack to be friends. He was convinced that I had fallen in love , whatever that meant, and that I had friend-zoned myself.
'Let's be friends.', he mimiced in a girly voice as I gritted my teeth harder. I was grateful my teeth did not give way then.
'Shut up, Jer.', Sophie said calmly.
I smiled at her and mouthed a thanks.
'Oh come on! It's just hilarious!', he laughed then continued, 'She friend-zoned herself!'
He was laughing so hysterically that people around us started to goggle, probably out of irritation. He was being loud. Again. From what I recall, last time that happened, we were kicked out of a café for causing a disturbance. To be more specific, Jeremy causing a disturbance.
We were at the center of yet another café and I had prepared myself mentally for impending embarrassment if we got asked to leave again. While Sophie wasn't being as loud, she was bombarding me with questions. That was just as bad.
I started to regret ever mentioning Zack to them, but it was inevitable. It would have spilled out of my mouth eventually, whether I had liked it or not. I am terrible at keeping things to myself around those two. It's like the zipper to my mouth had loose teeth.
They were pestering me about Zack nonstop and it was the weekend, so I had no choice but to meet up with them.
'How did it go?'
'Did you guys smooch already?'
They had flooded my phone with such messages.The latter was clearly Jeremy.
'For the millionth time, I don't like him!', I yelled out of frustration.
'Yeah, we will see how long that will hold.', Jeremy said so sure of himself.
I rolled my eyes as his words entered my head one way and exited the other.
'You're meeting him tonight you said?', Sophie asked.
'Yup. We can't put off that stupid assignment work any longer.', I complained.
Sophie then patted me on the shoulder, giving me a knowing look.
'Right, you suffered through the most assignments. I am sorry to rub salt in your wound, Soph.', I said, feigning sadness as she let out a laugh. And, Jeremy was in his own universe, still laughing.
'Enough.', I warned, giving him the you-better-stop-or-you're-dead glare.
'Fine. Fine.'
And just when I had thought I had some peace of mind, he spoke again.
'So when are you confessing, friend?', he said, air quoting the word 'friend'. He must have been itching to say that because why else would he put his life at risk?
'And when are you gonna stop being a jerk?', I retorted, followed by an impressed 'ooh' from Sophie. She was watching this unfold as if she was part of an audience and this was a comedic skit or something.
'You love me anyways.', he said, sticking his tongue out.
'I hate you.', I said as my eyebrows drew down into a scowl.
'Right.', he replied in confidence as a smirk curled one corner of his slim lips.
'What do I wear?', I said to myself, panicking.
I was in the middle of my room, with clothes scattered all over. Amidst my panic, I was remotely happy about the fact that that woman wasn't around. If she was, I wouldn't have been able to stand being in this house and it would have made things, well, complicated, not to mention, how it would put me in a foul mood.
I settled for a polka dotted red skirt, which was the main element of my outfit, matched with a beige sweater and white converse to make it look more casual.
I then headed out quietly, to avoid waking up my drunkard mess of a dad, and started walking towards the diner where we had agreed to meet. That was when I desperately wished I had a car rather than the endless walking I did everyday.
I had arrived at the diner after a ten minute walk. I strode in to be met by the sound of the door chime, ringing in my ears. I let my eyes wander, meeting numerous strangers having their meals, until they landed on Zack's figure, resting on a chair on a two-person table.
'Hey', I said, catching his attention, as I approached the table.
'Hey.', he said, a gentle smile marking his face. I had thought that nothing would be too hard to do if it was worth that smile.
I brushed that off as I moved around, taking the seat infront of him.
An hour passed by swiftly as we ate and started working on the assignment. I had ordered a double layered chicken burger while he ordered a margarita pizza.
'Okay, let's take five and then continue!', he said, his voice laced with enthusiasm. He was pumped up about this like a little child.
'Sure.', I said.
But, curiosity got the best of me.
'Mind if I ask you something?'
'Ask away.', he responded.
'Why are you all excited about this?', I asked, chuckling as he looked endearing.
'It's not that as much as I just really need the extra points,'
He hesitated to say the next sentence, but did anyway.
'I am not really the best at studies, you see.', he continued, laughing dryly.
'That's totally cool. You don't have to be perfect in every aspect, you know.', I said, comforting him as I felt like I should.
Gosh, since when did I turn into such a softie?
He smiled gratefully at me as my heart picked up its pace.
We shared a great ambience until I took out a cigarette from my purse.
I tend to smoke when I am in extremely good or bad moods, which is a bad habit I can't seem to rid myself of.
As soon as Zack spotted the cigarette between my fingers, his face twisted into a frown.
'You smoke?', he asked in disbelief.
'Yeah?', I replied in confusion as I wasn't expecting that reaction.
'Put that away, Rachel. You're killing yourself.', he said defiantly.
'I wasn't gonna smoke in here if that's what you think.', I said in my defense as he kept glaring at the cigarette.
'Okay, mom.', I said in a sarcastic tone, raising my hands in surrender. I had given in to him.
I smiled at his concerned expression to which he loosened up to.
Why was I even listening to him?
Why did I want to?
After that ordeal, we were back to our assignment. I was doing the research and telling him the good points as he noted them down and elaborated on a piece of paper.
That piece of paper would be typed and made into a presentation later on.
A month flew by as the due date got closer. But, that wasn't the only thing that got close as Zack and I have been having nothing but great times ever since. We hung out at libraries, cafes and even ditched the work sometimes by going to an arcade. There was that one game by the far left corner of the arcade that I would always beat Zack at.
Thanks to all that time, I learned the fact that he is a sore loser who sulks after losing each game and about how he likes a good espresso shot, which was surprising. As a coffee lover, I still couldn't handle the bitterness of an espresso.The thought alone makes me shudder. I prefer sweeter drinks like a chocolate mocha.
Being with him made me feel alive. I didn't have to act or hide behind a facade. It was just me and him.
We were at the campus library. I was fully focused when our arms grazed while I was typing onto my laptop.
I felt a shiver run up my arm from the impact, which he was oblivious to as he just chuckled, saying a simple 'sorry'.
What was that?
That's when it hit.
I have been denying it all along, but I can't anymore. Jeremy was right. I am falling for him if I wasn't already. All those times my heart raced for him, I had told myself it was just my anxiety acting up for being around someone new. I thought it was the withdrawal effects of the facade I had trapped myself in, but that wasn't it. It was him. He made my heart thump like a child thumping his feet for candy. I was nervous whenever he was around. I have never felt that way towards anyone before. It felt scary and thrilling at the same time and I didn't know which to feel.
Upon the realization, my palms started sweating as my breathing got shallow. So, I decided to do something I rarely did.
Run away.
'Be back in a minute.', I said, standing up abruptly, making him flinch.
'Huh?'
He sounded confused at my sudden movement.
'Bathroom.', I answered quickly, just wanting to get away as soon as was humanely possible.
How will I ever face him again?
-------End Of Chapter 7-------
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed reading this! Don't forget to vote! And I would love to hear your opinions about this chapter! Thanks for reading and have a great day/night!
Ps. Clash is almost at 100 reads! It's all thanks to you guys! It means a lot!!!