“I’m going out Emma. I’ll call you if I’m coming home.” I called out as I grabbed my sweatshirt. Emma came out of the room and went to the fridge. She took out a soda before eyeing me.
“You’re kind of dressed up.” She pointed out. I nodded and she narrowed her eyes a little. “Why?”
“Zach’s taking me out.” I answered, shrugging. She raised her eyebrows and I sighed. “What?”
“I thought you liked Matt.” She stated. I gave her a look.
“I do.” I replied. She narrowed her eyes and leaned herself against the island.
“Then why is Zach taking you on a date?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
“I said he’s taking me out, not on a date.” I stressed, shifting my weight. “They’re two completely different things.”
“Not really.” Emma said. I sighed and put my sweatshirt on.
“Why does it matter? Zach’s just taking me out to dinner as a friend.” I asked, looking at her. She pursed her lips and shook her head. She began walking away, but I ran over and turned her around. “What?”
“It kind of seems like you guys are dating,” Emma admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. My mouth dropped and I stared in shock.
“No. No no no no no.” I snapped, shaking my head furiously. She rolled her eyes and mimicked my body language. “We’re not dating.”
“I don’t know, Jess. It just kind of seems like that.” Emma said, shrugging. I stared at her.
“How? We haven’t even hung out that much.” I argued, confusion covering my face. Even though I was aware I have hung out with Zach more than I have with all the other guys, we never hung out so much that it seemed like we were together. I would be hanging out with Matt more if he wasn’t being so oddly cold with me. As though she were reading my mind, Emma just shrugged and blinked sadly.
“I don’t know, Jess. It’s just a thought.” Emma repeated, shrugging again. I sighed and hugged her before walking towards the door.
“See you later, Em.” I said as I walked out. I locked the door and pulled out my phone and texted Zach, asking where he was. He replied immediately, saying he was outside already. I skipped down the stairs and walked happily over to Zach, who was driving one of the many black BMWs that Avenged Sevenfold insisted on driving. I jumped into the car and greeted Zach, who was staring excitedly at me. “So what are we doing today, my good sir?”
“Bitch, I am not near rich and stuck up to be called sir.” Zach retorted, playfully punching me. I rolled my eyes and he smiled. “Well, are you hungry?”
“Not superbly.” I replied casually. He smirked at my vocabulary before pulling out of the parking.
“Okay, how about this: We’ll stop by Subway and get a sandwich to share, stop by a grocery store and buy some alcohol, and then I’ll take you to this cliff I found about a year ago and we’ll stare at the stars and all that happy bullshit.” Zach listed, keeping his eyes. I nodded and he smiled at me.
“Sounds romantic.” I cooed, grimacing slightly. Zach laughed and squeezed my thigh.
“I guess it could be, if I actually liked you.” Zach chuckled. I stared at him as he continued driving, slightly taken back by his comment.
“Do you like me?” I asked suddenly. He took his eyes off the road, staring at me, shocked.
“What kind of question is that?” He questioned, laughing lightly. I just shrugged and he raised an eyebrow.
“Just a question.” I stated simply. He narrowed at me before shaking it off and staring back at the road.
“Weird question.” He mumbled. I looked at him until he realized and he rolled his eyes. “No, Kid, I don’t like you.”
As we continued on our trek to the Subway that was conveniently placed near a Wal-Mart Zach began rambling on about the band and what they’ve been up to recently and old memories that they had. I tried to listen, but my mind was side-tracked, so I ended up just nodding when it was appropriate. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Emma had said about Zach and me. I didn’t have any feelings for Zach other than family love. He was literally the brother I always needed. I did in fact have a brother, but Jacob was eight years older than me, which means I was ten when he moved to Florida. He immediately found a wife a settled down, meaning I rarely got to see him. He had little knowledge of the divorce, which meant I had to lean on my sister; but sisters are never as protective and loving as brothers. But Zach completely understood how much it sucks and he’s been there to be the brother I had never grown up with. If there was a ‘best brother’ magazine, Zach would be on the cover, hands down.
But what really hit me were my thoughts of Matt. I knew that I had feelings for him, it was completely obvious. And I thought he had feelings for me, especially the way he had acted the night of the concert. What if it was that he was jealous of Zach? Zach and I never acted couple-y in front of Matt, if anything we’d always beat each other up. How could it be that he was jealous? And what if that was it? I couldn’t just drop Zach. That would mess everything up. It would break the band up. But I really want to be with Matt. It’s getting extremely hard to watch him send hateful and hurt looks to me. I don’t even know what I did and he hasn’t told anyone. It’s been almost a month since the concert, what did I do to piss him off so much that he held a grudge for a month? I was interrupted from my thoughts when Zach gently hit my arm. I snapped out of my daze and looked over at him. He was staring at me, smiling softly.
“Damn, Kid, what are you thinking so hard on?” Zach asked, glancing at the road and me repeatedly. I just stared at him and blinked innocently.
“Nothing.” I replied sweetly, smiling. He gave me a look and rolled his eyes.
“I know you’re lying. I can tell when you’re thinking hard about something, and it was written all over your face that you thinking really hard about something.” Zach said jokingly, although there was a serious tone to it. I scoffed and gave him an incredulous look.
“You’ve known me for the better part of a month. You could not possibly know my body language well enough in a month.” I challenged, narrowing my eyes at him. He raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Fine, prove it.”
“I will.” He retorted, giving me a smug look. I leaned back against the door so I was staring straight at him and crossed my arms over my chest. He smirked and kept his eyes on the road. “When you’re happy, you purse your lips to try to not smile, but you always fail. When you’re sad, you look down at your lap and you jut your lip out a little so you’re almost pouting. When you’re angry you bunch your fists and glare at something as though you were trying to telepathically trying to burn whatever it was that pissed you off. When you’re nervous you bite your lip and when you’re embarrassed you cover your face.” As he spoke, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped. How the hell could he know so much about me in a month? He noticed my reaction and he gave me a smug look. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that we were almost to Wal-Mart, but I continued to stare at Zach, utterly shocked. He smiled a little and gave me a lingering glance. “And finally; when you’re thinking hard about something, like really hard about something, you stare off in space and stay completely still. Now everyone stares off into space every once in a while, but you, when you stare in space, your eyes get glazed and your face looks tense and it’s as though you get into this trance where you’re unaware of all your surroundings. I’ve seen that look a few times since I’ve known you, and they’re probably all regarding Matt.”
“I don’t even think Emma knows that much about me,” I whispered, not moving from my position. Zach looked over and smiled at me. He rubbed my leg before parking the car and unbuckling.
“It’s because she doesn’t watch like I do.” Zach answered, his eyes bright. I stared at him and he got out of his car. It took me a moment to unfreeze before I quickly jumped out of the car and caught up with him. We picked up a sandwich and a couple bottles of alcohol before we jumped back into the car and he headed off towards the hills. We made small talk, but there was small tension still lingering from when he proved that he knew me more than I knew me. It stayed silent as the sky began to grow dark and Zach drove up a dirt path. I leaned my head against the window and watched as trees rushed past us and you could vaguely see the street lights. After about ten minutes he pulled into a spot and turned off the car. We stared at each other for a moment before he jumped out and went to the trunk. He pulled out a blanket and our food and walked to the small patch of land in front of the car. I slid out of the car and walked over to him when he had everything set up. He smiled at me and patted the seat next to him, so I plopped myself down and opened a bottle of UV blue. I took a drink before looking up at the sky and gasping. I’ve been to the country before, but the view was nothing near as beautiful as it was on the cliff. The sky was lit up blue, purple, and black with strips of white from the clusters of stars. I stared in awe and Zach chuckled.
“Holy shit.” I said aloud. Zach laughed and opened a bottle of Jack Daniels. I looked at him in awe and he smiled. “You bring girls up here a lot?”
“I’ve brought up a few before.” Zach admitted, smiling wider. I narrowed my eyes and he laughed.
“You’ve banged some chicks up here, haven’t you?” I questioned, smirking at him.
“Girls cannot resist it.” Zach laughed loudly. I smiled and looked back at the sky. I took another drink before lying down and staring up in awe. The thoughts of Matt came back and my smile faltered. I sighed and Zach looked at me. “Hey, Kid. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, Zacky,” I sighed, not looking at him. “Do you like me? Like, like like me?”
“No. Of course not. Why would you think that?” Zach asked, staring at me wide-eyed. I leaned back on my elbows and looked at him.
“Because you’ve been taking me out and doing cutsy stuff.” I explained. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head in shock.
“If I liked you why would I be trying to get you with Matt?” Zach questioned, getting slightly defensive. I sighed loudly and laid back down.
“I don’t know Zach!” I yelled, covering my face with my hands. I felt his stare on me, but I kept still. “Emma just said that it seems like we’re dating and it’s really bothering me.”
“We barely do anything together!” Zacky argued, scooting towards me. He touched my arm and I pulled my hands away from my face. “How could it possibly be that it seems like we’re dating? Don’t they see that I’m trying to get Matt to be with you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” I whined. I rolled over on my stomach and let out a loud moan, but it was muffled by the blanket. “This is like high school all over again!”
“Kid, calm down.” Zach soothed, rubbing my back. I turned around and he laid himself next to me. He pulled me close and hugging. I sighed and he rubbed my shoulder. He kissed my forehead and held me tighter. “Don’t worry, Kid. He’s probably just freaking out because he doesn’t understand how he could have such feelings for a girl.”
“Probably.” I mumbled. I yawned and Zach smiled.
“Do you want me to take you home?”
“It’s nice out here.” I whispered. Zach sat up and looked at me, seriousness in his eyes.
“If it is that people think we’re dating, we probably shouldn’t fall asleep together on a cliff.” Zach whispered. I sighed and pouted.
“You’re right. Take me home.” I muttered. Zach pulled on my lip before picking everything up and putting it in the trunk. I sipped on my UV blue as he drove me home silently. When we arrived at my apartment he walked me to my door and hugged me goodbye.
“You should take Matt on a date or something,” Zach suggested, playing with my hair. I looked at him and he smiled. “Just so he knows you’re still interested.”
“Good idea, Zacky.” I smiled. He hugged me again before saying goodbye and I went inside. I finished off my bottle and set it on the counter before walking into the bedroom. Emma looked up from the laptop and smirked. I gave her a tired look and switched into pajamas before crawling into bed. She stared at me with narrow eyes and I just yawned. “Staring will do nothing. I’m going to bed.”
“I heard you guys talking outside. Sounded secretive.” Emma said, smirking at me. I glared at her tiredly before lightly punching her leg.
“He was telling me to take Matt on a date. Now, if you’re done trying to make me admit to something that’s not true, I’m tired as hell and I’m going to bed.” I mumbled, snuggling into the pillow. I began drifting off when I heard Emma say something before I passed completely out.
“Whatever helps you sleep, Kid.”