Friends and Alibis

I spent the following day replaying the conversation between Zack and me in my head and I had to admit, I felt bad about what I had said, even if it had been the truth. And even if I only had about three weeks left of breaking up Zack and Amelia, I didn't want to hear what he had to say.

My head was throbbing and the sudden sound of my phone ringing didn't exactly help. I picked up anyway.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"May?" Katelyn's voice came from the other end of the line and the sound of it was, to say the least, odd. She had always had a way of getting into trouble.

"Kate? What did you do this time?" I groaned, but she didn't answer. "You didn't run someone over, did you?" I asked, concern and panic washing over me.

"Oh god, no, no. You're always thinking the worst of me." She answered and I sighed in relief. "But I need you." She added quickly.

"I already figured." I answered, rolling my eyes and rubbing one of my temples with my free hand. "What happened?"

"Well, I'm at Brian's." She answered slowly.

"You're being vague, what happened?" I asked. "You didn't call me because you need condoms, did you? I'll rip your head off if you did."

"Quit being an ass and listen." She said and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes.

"Listening."

"Okay. So I'm at Brian's with everyone and we kind of need you to come over here too."

"Why?" I asked cautiously. The last time someone asked me to meet them like that I got caught up in the mess I was calling my current life.

I groaned but agreed anyway. "Ten minutes tops." I murmured into the receiver and hung up before dragging myself out of my bed.

I changed from my sweat pants into a pair of jeans and a hoodie and threw my hair up into a ponytail.

After I was completely clothed I grabbed my keys and left for Brian's.

Arriving at Brian's house I saw that all of the guy’s cars were standing in the drive way of his house, including Zacky's. I swallowed the lump in my throat at the sight of his car and got out of my car. I wasn't particularly glad at what I had done the night before.

Okay, fuck that. I was glad, I just didn't want to hear his response. He didn't come out of the kitchen after me and I just knew that he was angry at what I had said about his relationship with Amelia.

I got up the front porch and went for the doorbell but before I reached it the door was opened by Katelyn with broad smile that grew as soon as she saw that it was me.

"Maaaay!" She screamed in my ear and brought me into a bone crushing hug as if she hadn't seen me in years when he had just seen each other the day before.

Just the way she screamed my name made my consider changing it. May was too easy to squeal.

"Kate, nice to see you, too. You've changed so much since the last time I saw you!" I said with fake enthusiasm and just by the look of Katelyn's face I could tell that she didn't understand. She shook her head and dragged me into the living room where all the guys were already sitting.

I plopped down beside Jimmy on the floor and my eyes fell on Zack who looked at me, too. Just by the way he looked at me I knew that he would want to talk to me after whatever Kate and Brian wanted.

Katelyn brought me out of my thoughts when she cleared her throat and everyone's head snapped into her and Brian's direction. Both of them were sitting on the smaller one of the two sofas in Brian's living room, although they would've fit on a single chair just fine since they were both almost sitting on each other's laps.

"So we have to tell you guys something." Katelyn started and smiled at Brian.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Jimmy asked.

"What, no, oh god, no." Katelyn answered quickly, shaking her head at the absurdity of his question. Although almost everyone in the room was sure those two had had more sex in one week than I had my whole life.

"What is it then?" Johnny asked from the end of the other sofa.

"We're a couple!" Katelyn squealed and everyone struggled not to cover their ears. But who could blame them, her squealing was maddening.

"E-excuse me?" I spluttered out and her eyes fell on me, her smile faltering.

"What?" She asked, her voice laced with annoyance and anger.

"You've known each other for what, one week, and you're a couple. Are you fucking serious?" I asked with honest disbelief. Kate had always been someone to get a boyfriend in no time but one week was a new record, even for her.

"Yeah, and we've had much time to talk and we like each other, so what's your fucking problem?" She yelled but I could only snort.

"Yeah, much time to talk."

"Yes! And it's not my fucking problem that you've got a stupid fear of commitment. I'm happy, you're jealous and we're together!" She shouted at me but I only shook my head and stood up, walking into the kitchen to cool down and be alone. But I only got a few minutes before someone was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"I don't want to talk." I said.

"I know." Zack said. "But how about we go to the beach and let everyone cool down a bit?" He suggested.

"She's pretty mad, huh?"

"Furious." He agreed, nodding. "But she was quite harsh at the end." He added, wincing as if it had affected him, too.

"She tends to be an asshole when she's angry." I said with an uneasy laugh although tears were pricking at the corner of my eyes.

But Zack didn't laugh with me. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the house, without letting anyone know we were leaving, and to his car. Without a word we both got in and he drove the short drive down to the beach. And I couldn't help but wonder why he was doing this. He should've been mad at me, just the way Katelyn had been. I was unfair, to the both of them. But I had a short temper and Kate dating Brian after a mere seven days seemed unrealistic.

Zack's car came to a halt and I smiled at the sight of the ocean. It had always been my place when I was angry or upset, and Zack knew that.

I got out of the car without a word and took off my shoes just to wade into the cold water. The sky was clouded and grey, making it feel way more comfortable than it actually was. I had always loved rainy weather and autumn. California wasn't quite the right place for that kind of weather but it made it that more special when it actually rained.

"So." Zack finally spoke up, standing next to me.

"So." I replied.

"You don't like Amelia?" He asked without ever looking at me.

"Positive." I answered, also staring ahead at the ocean.

"Do you want to know why her?" He asked and this time he looked at me. I looked at him, too, and nodded vaguely. "She looks like you." He simply answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"She doesn't." I answered with my eyebrows furrowed.
"No, she looks like you looked when we were kids. Blond hair, blue eyes, the same pink and plum lips. She looks like the same girl I fell in love with all those years ago." He answered and smiled, probably at the shocked look on my face.

"You... You're not serious." I stated and shook my head.

"I am." He said but I started to turn around and walk back to the beach when I felt a hand on my shoulder that pulled me back. “It’s just that she was there when I needed someone and I just always really missed there. She was there when you weren’t.”

“You’re not trying to make me feel guilty for leaving, do you?” I asked sarcastically. It sounded to me as if he was trying to make me feel guilty that he ended up with Amelia, and that definitely didn’t settle well with me.

“No, no, god no. I didn’t mean it that way. I know that it wasn’t your choice. It’s just… After you left it was really hard on all of us and then when the band took off we were all pretty much overwhelmed. She just got me through a lot of those times and she always served as a reminder of you.”

“So basically she was your rebound-girl?”

“She might have been, but I still fell in love with her.”

Notes