Truth or Deal.

I pulled my hair back in a long ponytail, and finished putting on the rest of my makeup before nearly running downstairs since I was running late for school. When I reached the living room, I grabbed my bag and keys and then noticed my brother, boyfriend and cousin standing by the door.

“What are you guys still doing here?” I asked them. They were usually gone before I left.

“We missed the bus, we need a ride.” My brother smirked.

I almost rolled my eyes but caught myself, “Alright, let’s go.” I told them before walking out the door and getting into my car. Zack got in the passenger seat and Matt and my brother sat in the back.

“How did you miss the bus, anyways?” I asked Zack as Matt and my brother talked about some new CD in the backseat.

He shrugged, grumpy from the early morning hours and mumbled something about Matt not setting the alarm. I nodded and then turned my attention back to the road.

When we got to the high school, I parked in my usual spot and then got out. Zack hung back for a second and gave me a hug and a swift kiss before catching up with my brother and cousin. I looked around making sure no one saw the kiss Zack had just given me before grabbing my bag and heading to the school’s entrance. I was halfway there when I heard my friends call my name from behind me.

I turned around and Toni, Mercedes and Aaron were a few feet behind me. “Hey, guys.”

Aaron eyed me suspiciously, “Are you dating Zack Baker?”

I felt and unsettling feeling in my stomach and for a few seconds I thought I was going to throw up. “What?” I laughed, trying to hide my nervousness.

“We saw you hug him.” Toni said with her hands on her hips. “That’s social suicide, Evelyn. I’d have to kick you off the cheerleading squad.”

“Yeah and I’d have to kick his ass,” Aaron smirked.

“Relax, guys,” I told them. “My car wouldn’t start this morning. He and my cousin fixed it, they missed the bus doing so, that’s why I gave them a ride.”

“That doesn’t explain why you hugged him.” Mercedes stated.

“Oh, come on. He has the hugest crush on me, it’s obvious!” I exclaimed, “I hugged him to thank him for fixing my car,” I giggled a little bit, “I think it’s the first time he’s ever felt boobs pressed up against him, I think he may have gotten a little excited.”

They laughed and I laughed too, feeling relieved. I hated making fun of Zack but I knew the joke would distract them, and worse I knew they would believe me.

“That makes sense, come on guys or else we’re going to be super late.” Mercedes smiled.

Aaron swung his arm around my shoulders and I let him because I didn’t want to give him another reason to bring Zack up. We walked to class and as I sat down in my seat I sighed in relief that I wiggled my way out of that one. Zack and I were going to have to be a lot more careful.

**

The last bell of the day rang and everyone ran out of the classroom ready for their weekend to start. I walked to my locker, smiling when a note from Zack fell out at my feet. I bent down and picked it up and when I stood back up I was startled by a crash against the lockers behind me. I turned around and my heart nearly stopped when I saw Zack holding Aaron against the lockers. Zack’s fist collided with Aarons jaw and Aaron pushed Zack away and punched Zack in the stomach. Zack doubled over and Aaron took advantage and kneed him in the face. Zack stumbled backwards, holding his face which was dripping blood onto the hallway floor. Zack took a minute to catch his breath and balance and then ran at Aaron, knocking him to the floor. Zack began to pummel Aaron and I couldn’t move to pull him off. Finally the crowd broke and Matt and Zack’s other friend Johnny emerged. They pulled Zack off and pulled him down the hall and out of the building.

I still couldn’t move.

Dakota, Mercedes’s boyfriend, broke through the crowd that was beginning to disperse and helped Aaron to his feet. “Dude, what the fuck happened?” He asked.

“That little bitch Zack Baker just started hitting me, man. He came out of nowhere and just attacked.” Aaron said.

I began to feel tingling in my legs, I took a step and then another. I walked up to Aaron and pushed him as hard as I could, he barely budged. “What the fuck was that, Aaron?” I yelled and pushed him again, Dakota grabbed my arm.

“What the fuck is your problem, Evelyn?” Dakota asked me.

Aaron spat blood onto the hallway floor and laughed, “Taking up for the outcasts now, Evelyn? Better watch that pretty little mouth or you’ll be come one.”

I glared at Aaron before yanking my arm from Dakota and storming off in the direction Matt and Johnny pulled Zack. I walked outside and looked around. Johnny and Matt were standing off to the side of the building talking, Zack was nowhere in sight.

“Matt,” I said as I approached them, “where’s Zack?”

Matt pulled the cigarette from his lips and pointed in the direction of Zack’s house, “He stormed off that way. He wants to be alone, Evelyn. Give him time to cool off before going after him. Trust me on this one.”

I shook my head, the vision of Aaron kicking Zack in the face flashed in my head. “He might need to go to the hospital. You guys just let him go?” I was beginning to get furious.

“He had a broken nose but we fixed that before he left.” Matt said, “He’ll be fine Evelyn, this isn’t the first fight we’ve had to pull him from.”

I stared at Matt for a second and then looked in the direction Zack ran off to. I turned on the spot and without another word, ran off to my car.

I was unlocking my car door when I felt a hand around my wrist and I turned around and came face to face with Aaron. “Want to take me home and clean me up, baby girl?” He asked.

I scoffed, “Are you kidding me Aaron? What did you say to make Zack act like that?”

“Nothing,” Aaron shrugged, “He’s just crazy.” I shook my head and opened my car door but Aaron caught it, not allowing it to open enough for me to get in. “Baby, I know you’re mad but you’re really just scared but it’s okay, I’m okay. That little freak can’t hurt me.”

I exhaled a deep breath I was holing in, “Aaron, leave me alone.” I told him and then yanked my door out of his grip, got in and sped off.

I didn’t have to drive very far to see Zack. He was walking down the street and though it was warm outside, he had his jacket on and his hood up over his head. I rolled down the passenger side window.

“Zack,” I called, though the opened window, “baby, please get in.” He ignored me and kept walking. “Zack I’m serious, don’t make me get out and cause a scene.” I heard him groan dramatically and then he yanked the back door open and got in, his face still covered by the hood of his jacket.

“Will you talk to me please?” I asked.

Nothing.

“Look, Zack, I’m sorry Aaron is such an ass.” I glanced in my rearview mirror to see if he reacted.

Nothing.

“Will you at least sit up here with me, please?”

Not a word.

“Okay, then.” I rolled my eyes pretty annoyed. I drove for a few more minutes until I approached a stop sign and then decided I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Zack, I’m sorry, okay?” I expressed, “I’m sorry for whatever has you mad or sad or whatever but I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“You wouldn’t do anything anyways.” Zack mumbled.

I turned in my seat and looked at him, he still wasn’t looking up. “What did Aaron say to you for you to act like that? You scared me, Zack.”

“Sorry,” was all he mustered.

I opened my mouth to reply but the car behind me began to honk. I drove Zack the rest of the way home without him saying another word. When I pulled up into his driveway he barely waited for the car to stop before he got out.

“Zack,” I called desperately, he stopped but didn’t say anything. “Can I call you later?” I asked him.

“I guess,” he said and then walked into his house.

**


Later that night I had finally convinced Zack to come over and talk to me. It took fifteen minutes of me pleading into a phone I was pretty sure dead at the other line, but he finally agreed with a short ‘okay’ and hung up. When the doorbell finally rang a sigh of relief escaped my lips and I realized a part of me was expecting him to stand me up. I jumped off the couch and ran to the front door and opened it. Zack stood on the porch, his hoodie was down and for the first time I could see the damage, and honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Aside from his nose, he had a busted lip and a little bit of a black eye.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

He nodded, “We need to talk.” He walked past me and up the stairs to my bedroom; he stood by the door and waited for me to follow. Taken back by his behavior, it took me a moment to respond but I eventually followed him up to my bedroom and walked in, he closed the door behind us.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, nervous. Was he going to break up with me?

He sat down on my bed and I sat down next to him, “I’m sorry I scared you earlier,” he told me. “Aaron was talking about stuff in class and I just kind of lost control.”

“What kind of stuff?” I asked him

He sighed, “He was just talking in class.” He looked at me and I thought I saw a glint of a smile, “I think he suspects something going on between us.”

I frowned but I knew he may be right. “Why do you say that?”

Zack groaned. “Well we were in class and the teacher went to the office so naturally everyone was talking. Well, Aaron got up and came sat down next to his football buddies and started loudly talking about...” He trailed off and looked at my bedroom floor. I grabbed his hand, hoping it would encourage him.

He licked his busted lip and continued, “He started bragging about how he had sex with you last night. He went into great detail, Evelyn. The entire class heard.”

My throat tightened. My chest burned. I didn't know if I wanted to scream or cry. Zack noticed my reaction and grabbed both of my arms and forced me to face him, I kept my head down.

“Baby, look at me,” he cooed. I looked up at him and my eyes met his emerald ones. “Don't be upset. I don't believe a word he said, that's not why I was so angry.”

I began to tear up and Zack pulled me into his chest which only made me cry harder. “It's...not...that!” I sobbed into his chest while he began to stroke my hair.

“Just get it all out and then you can tell me what's really wrong.” Zack tightened his grip around me before his lips brushed the top of my head and then rested his chin on my head. I buried my head deeper into his chest and continued to cry.

I was finally able to calm myself down by taking deep breaths and focusing on Zack's cologne. He always smelled so good. I made a mental note to thank him for being so patient with me while I pulled myself away from him and dried my eyes with my fists.

“Are you okay?” Zack asked me with sad eyes.

I nodded and then cleared my throat, took a deep breath and began my explanation. “This isn't the first time something like this has happened.” I told him shamefully. “Back in New York when I first started dating Marcus, he told all of his friends that he took my virginity. We got into this huge fight when I found out. I was mad because he was bragging about it even though it didn't happen and he was mad because I was mad. I ended up breaking up with him that night. The next morning I went to school, exhausted from crying all night and found out Marcus and his friends were going around telling everyone they...they...” I began to choke up and tears began to fall freely.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey,” Zack grabbed my hand and pressed his lips to it, “It's okay, Evelyn, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

I shook my head and took another deep breath. “They told everyone I screwed them too. There were even some girls claiming that I slept with them!”

“Why would Marcus and his friends do that to you? Why would anyone believe them?” Zack asked.

I shrugged, “Because Marcus is an asshole and he has his way of getting what he wants out of people.” I sighed; suddenly I was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted.

“But you went back to him?” Zack asked.

I felt so ashamed of myself. “After all that went down, I was the school slut in everyone’s eyes. Marcus convinced me it would look good on my part if I started dating him again. I mean, people were still starting rumours and I was just going along with it because what else was I going to do? If you can’t beat them, join them. But If I got back with Marcus I knew the rumors would stop. Because A, no one is going to believe that I cheated on the quote, unquote hottest guy in school and B, no one is going to be stupid enough to keep starting rumors while I was dating the biggest guy in our class.”

Zack shifted next to me and I silently wondered if talking about my ex-boyfriend made him uncomfortable but I continued anyways. “Eventually things went back to being kind of normal and I fell in love with Marcus.” I paused shaking, that wasn’t true. “At least I thought I did. I don’t know what that was but it wasn’t love.”

Zack watched me intently while I spoke and gave me a weak smile when I was finished talking. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Evelyn.” Zack’s face slightly contorted and I could tell he was cursing himself silently for not saying more.

I shifted on my bed and took both his hands into mine and gave them a small squeeze. “Don’t beat yourself up over something that was out of your control. I know what’s true and what’s not. People could start rumors about me all day,” I gave a small laugh, “hell, they probably do.”

Zack smiled slightly, “I know. That must have been so hard for you though.”

“It was,” I nodded, “but the hardest part was everyone thinking I slept around when honestly, I have never slept with anyone.”

A flash of shock and slight disbelief crossed Zack’s face. “You’re a virgin?” He asked.

“Don’t sound so shocked, asshole!” I laughed and lightly hit him against his ribs, he winced. “Oh, come on, I know I didn’t hit you that hard.”

“No it’s not that.” Zack admitted, breaking his gaze and looking at the wall instead. I narrowed my eyes, confused by what he meant and then I realized.

“Lift your shirt.” I demanded. He didn’t move and so I reached for it. His hand closed around my wrist and when I grabbed for his shirt again with my free hand, his other hand caught that one too.

“Evelyn, stop!” Zack growled as I fought him attempting to free one of my hands.

“No!” I exclaimed.

Zack tightened his grip around my wrists. “Please,” he begged, “It’s not even that bad.”

I stopped fighting him and he loosened his grip. “Please just show me.”

Zack studied my face and finally sighed as his fingers found the hem of his shirt and he slowly lifted his shirt revealing a large bruise covering his ribs. “Don’t freak out. I just bruised my ribs, that’s all. It looks a lot worse than it actually is. I just need to take it easy for a few days.” I didn’t say anything and he lowered his shirt.

I was angry, and sad, and scared but most of all I was worried.

“What can I do?” I asked him quietly once I found my voice again.

Zack smiled, “Well for starters you can stop worrying that pretty little head of yours.” He winked at me, “Secondly, you can kiss me.”

I smiled at him and bit my lip. “Well, it’s a ‘no’ to the first one, sorry.”

Zack nodded with a smile, I knew he wasn’t expecting it to be that easy. He lowered his head down to mine and his lips were mere centimeters from mine. “And the second one?”

I didn’t even bother wasting my words. I kissed him softly on his lips, afraid that his lip was still sore but Zack grabbed the back of my head and pulled me deeper into his mouth. He allowed himself to fall slowly onto the bed and I carefully crawled on top of him, careful to not touch the side of his bruised ribs.

Zack kissed me greedily and before I knew what I was doing I was taking off my shirt. Zack ran his hands across my back and I began to kiss his neck. Zack unclasped my bra and threw it across the room. My hands found the button on Zack’s jeans and I began to unbutton them. I had just successfully got the zipper down with Zack lightly pushed me off him, shaking his head. Instinctively I grabbed my sheet and covered my bare chest.

“I’m sorry, I…” Zack began but I interrupted him.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked

“No, I…” he started, but again I interrupted him.

“Did you not like what you saw?” I asked him, tightening the sheet around me.

Zack stared at me for a moment, brushed a stray hair out of my face and gave me a peck on the lips. “Baby girl, of course I liked what I saw.” I inhaled deeply, and then exhaled shakily. “You just told me you were a virgin. I’m not going to let your first time be like this.” He laughed.

“I want it to be with you,” I said quietly, I wasn’t sure he had even heard me. Zack got off the bed and buttoned his pants back and handed me my shirt.

“You deserve something special. Not like now when you’re feeling guilty because Aaron got a few good hits in, not when your mom could come home any moment.” He laughed to himself, “Plus I’m pretty sure my performance wouldn’t be so great with bruised ribs.”

I slid my shirt onto my body and got up from the bed too. “Well, you don’t have to go. Stay with me tonight.” Zack shook his head. “Why not?”

Zack laughed, embarrassed. “I really, really liked what I saw, Evelyn.” He tugged at his pants and suddenly I realized what he meant and giggled. He smiled and kissed me again, “I have to go home and take a really, really cold shower now.”

I pulled him into another kiss, “Call me later?” I asked when we parted. Zack nodded and then left.

Notes

Thank you for reading! Feedback appreciated!

Title Credit: Of Mice & Men "Relentless"