An annoying buzzing wakes me up. Instinctively, I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock to make it stop and then rolled over. The last few weeks have been amazing. Zack wasted no time taking me on our first date as official boyfriend and girlfriend. One of his friends in a band had a gig in Los Angeles. We went to the show and then to dinner and it was absolutely amazing.

Since Gena has been dating Mr. Mystery Guy, she apparently took the news of Zack and me very well, according to Michelle. It still hadn’t come out who Gena was dating and that was driving the twins insane.

“It’s probably a teacher,” Val gossiped one afternoon. “That’s why she’s keeping it so hush-hush.”

“Ooh,” Michelle gasped. “I bet it’s Mr. Washington. She has always had the hots for him.” I, on the other hand, didn’t care who it was, I was just glad she was dating someone.

My alarm goes off again, and this time I shut it off and sit up on the edge of my bed. After stretching and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I pull on my robe and unlock my bedroom door. As soon as open the door, the aroma of fresh blueberry pancakes wafts into the room causing my stomach to growl.

“Mom?” I call out as I begin to walk down the hallways. Mom has been gone for a month, but she called a few days ago to let me know she was in Las Vegas with her new boyfriend. She didn’t mention coming home though.

I enter the kitchen and am surprised to see Eli standing half-naked, flipping a pancake. “Well, hello, sunshine,” he winks.

I glare at him. “What are you doing?” I walk over to the coffee pot and begin to pour a cup.

“Uh…making pancakes?”

“Obviously, but you never cook.” I retorted, rolling my eyes and grabbing the creamer.

“Just because I never cook for you doesn’t mean I never cook, little sis.”

I scoff. “Okay, so you just decided to wake up at four in the morning to make yourself pancakes?”

“Nope.”

“Well, I know you’re not making me breakfast so…who is it for?”

Before Eli can reply there’s a soft “ahem” from behind me. I jump and turn, nearly dropping my cup. “Gena?”

Gena stood there, Eli’s giant shirt hanging off her small frame. She giggles. “Hey, Sheridan.”

She prances across the kitchen floor and kisses Eli on the cheek as he hands her a plate of pancakes. “Good morning, baby.”

“Morning sweet cheeks.” Eli grinned.

“When the hell did this happen?” I mumble a little louder than I meant to.

Gena giggled again. “It’s been going on for a while. I’ve been seeing him since the party he tried to break up.”

“She’s been over here almost every night for the last couple of weeks.” Eli laughed.

I felt like I was going to be sick. Gena couldn’t date Eli. I didn’t like Gena, but I couldn’t let her date Eli. He was an awful person, a rapist, abuser, and manipulator.

“Gena Can I…can I talk to you, privately? Please?” I ask.

Gena raised a brow. “Why?”

I shift my eyes from her to Eli and back to her. “It’s just important…”

“Um…no,” she grins and takes a bite of her pancake. “I’ll see you at school, ‘kay?” She waves a dismissive hand towards me and feeds Eli a piece of pancake.

I stare at them horrifically before shaking my head. “Forget it, I’m late.”

Getting ready for the day was a blur. I was happy that Gena was dating someone, and now I'm going to have to find a way to end it. If I break up Eli and Gena does that mean she’d come after Zack? Is that any reason to not break them up? No, I had to. Gena was a bitch, but she deserved better than Eli. She could get hurt, seriously hurt not just a broken heart.
Before I knew where I was going, I realized I was at Zack's house. It was still dark but the light in the living room was on. I know it would be rude to knock on the door this early, but I was desperate. I needed his help to break Gena and Eli up and we had to come up with a plan before school started.

I decided to knock quietly on the door, hoping Zack or one of his siblings were the ones using the living room light. I didn’t want to wake his parent’s up; I have only met them twice before and so far, it seems like they like me. so, I didn’t want to ruin that. Slowly, the door opened, and Mrs. Baker poked her head out and then smiled and opened the door wider.

“Sheridan, what are you doing here so early?” She asked with a smile.

I smiled too. “Mrs. Baker, I’m so sorry to come over here so early. See, yesterday when Zack and I were studying, I think I left a very important piece of my study guide in his room. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but I’ve been stressing about this test all week and it’s first period. I was just wondering if I could sneak upstairs and grab it?”

Mrs. Baker was still smiling when I finished my lying ramble. “Of course, dear,” she nodded, welcoming me into her home. “Go on up. Maybe if you wake Zachary up now he’ll be on time for school.”

I laughed and nodded as I began to make my way up to his room. The radio was playing, but Zack was passed out on his stomach in bed. Both of his arms rested under the pillow, half of his blanket had fallen on the floor revealing part of his bare back and legs. His mouth was slightly open, and a light snore came from it. It was almost tempting to let him sleep.

“Zack…” I cooed, kneeling down beside his bed and gently shaking him. He doesn’t move. “Zack,” I say a little louder. He grunted but was still asleep. “Babe,” I half-laugh.

“Wha…?” He mumbles.

“Wake up.”

Zack groans and pushes his face into the pillow like a toddler throwing a tantrum. After a moment he relaxes and partially opens his eyes. “Wha…? Sheridan, what’re’oo doin’ere?”

“Gena’s at my house,” I tell him.

“What?” he mumbles.

“My house – with my brother – they’re dating!”

“What?” He asks again, this time a little more awake. He sits up and rubs his eyes and face. “Start over. What are you doing here so early? It’s not even light out.”

I shook my head. “I picked up a shift at the café before school. I’m supposed to be there in like ten minutes. Listen, I got up this morning and Eli was making pancakes. Which is weird because Eli doesn’t cook. Anyway, so while I was asking him about what he was doing she popped up – naked! And…”

“Wait, she was naked?” Zack laughed.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, she wasn’t naked, but she might as well have been. She was wearing his shirt, Zack. His shirt! You know what that means! And he said she has been over there for like two weeks! Two weeks!”

“Babe, what’s the big deal? I know you guys don’t get along but, I highly doubt they’ll get married. It’s not like you’ll have to deal with her for the rest of your life.”

“Marriage? No, no. I mean, I don’t want that but that’s not what I'm talking about. I just…she can’t date him. He’s not…She can’t…can you just trust me on this?”

“Sheridan, of course I trust you. I just don’t care who she dates, you know?”

I chew on my lip. He didn’t get it. Of course, he didn’t get it. He doesn’t have all the information, so how could he get it? “Okay.” I begin to stand up.

Zack grabs my hand. “So, if you want you can totally climb into bed with me and we can go back to sleep for a couple of hours.”

I smile. “I have to go to work.”

Zack groans. “Oh, come on. Please?”

“Tempting,” I smile, leaning to kiss him. “But your parents are downstairs and I'm supposed to just be grabbing a piece of paper. I’ll see you at school.”

“Okay,” he said, kissing me once more before laying back down.

---

“Drake, Parker is late and I have to be at school in like fifteen minutes,” I called after wiping down the counter.

My boss came out of his office and looked at the clock. “Very well. Thank you so much for coming in, Sheridan. You’re awesome.”

I grinned and stuffed my tips into my backpack. “Anytime, Drake.”

As I approached the exit, it opened, and Zack walked in. “Hey, you.”

“Hey,” I smiled. “I was just headed to school.”

Zack nodded. “Yeah, I figured I’d be a good boyfriend and walk you.” He gave me a kiss and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we made our way down the street. “Hey, I don’t want you to worry about Gena and your brother, okay? Chances are one of them will get bored with the other soon enough. I mean, now that the secret is out, half of the fun is out the window. That’s probably why they were just keeping it a secret.”

I sighed but decided to drop it. I knew Zack wouldn’t understand if he didn’t have all of the facts and I also knew I was nowhere near ready to give him those facts. “You’re right,” I nod. “I overreacted. It was just…surprising, that’s all.”

“Yeah, no doubt about that. Michelle and Valary are going to freak when they find out. They all crushed on your brother when he was in school.”

“That’s so weird,” I laughed, shaking my head.

We made it to school and to my horror, Gena was already there, sitting beside Michelle and Val. The look on their faces told me that Gena had just told them who her boyfriend was, and she was enjoying every bit of it.

“Your brother?” Michelle exclaimed as Zack and I walked up.

“Ugh, he is such a hottie! I can’t believe you didn’t tell us, Sheridan!” Val cried.

“Oh, I…I didn’t know,” I assured them.

Gena giggled. “It’s true! Oh, you should have seen her face when I showed up! It was so funny!”

I rolled my eyes and turned to Zack. “Can we go find the guys, please?”

“Yeah, of course,” he smiled. “See you ladies in class!”

Notes

Hey guys! Is there anyone still reading this? I know I've been absent for months, I've just been a little busy with life - trust me, I would have much rather been writing all this time! Hopefully, there are still people who are interested in reading this story because I'm definitely interested in finishing it! So, if you're still reading and still interested leave me a comment to let me know you're here. And if you are here and reading this, thank you so much for reading and sticking around!

If you missed the journal entry you can find it here.

Title credit: Fall Out Boy “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner”

RIP Jimmy.