Stella

My heart is racing all the way back to the hotel. I don’t know why I agreed to meet Zack again later tonight and still neglected to tell him that I am who he and his friends keep mistaking me as. In the elevator, on my way to my room, I chew on my fingernails. I know the right thing to do is to tell him who I am, but I just don’t think I can do it. I felt protected with this new identity and I’m not sure what I need protection from, but it seems important.

I don’t know if it is due to the lack of coffee or my face but Vivian knows something is wrong as soon as I walk into the room. “What’s wrong? Where’s your coffee?”

“I just saw Zack,” I tell her as calmly as I can. In reality, the events of what just happened were finally starting to creep in.

“What? Are you serious?” she asks and I nod. “Wow! You have really bad luck.”

“Oh, there’s more,” I assure her. “Apparently, he has his own clothing line and the reason he is in Anaheim and the reason I ran into Gena at the bar the other day is because his warehouse for it is right down the street from the coffee shop, which is where I ran into him and Brian –”

“Wait, who’s Brian?” Vivian interrupts.

“Just another guy I used to hang around in school. He and Zack are in the band together.”

“Did he recognize you?” She asks me, arching her bow,

“Yes,” I groan, “But Zack ran up and ‘corrected’ him before I could lie or tell him the truth. I think he’s still suspicious, though. But Zack whisked him away and he apologized for being a dick last night. I guess he was rude? I don’t really remember because I was too busy, you know, freaking out.”

So, then what happened after he apologized? Did you tell him who you were?” She asks and I shake my head. “Oh, Stella. You can’t just lie to him. If he finds out –”

This time, I interrupt her. “First of all, I haven’t technically lied to him. You’re the one that came up and called me Stella. He came to his own conclusion after that. Secondly, I wanted to tell him who I was but he kept talking and the words wouldn’t come out. Then, I was thinking about how he did me wrong all those years ago and I do what answers. So, I guess I'm going to his warehouse tonight.”

“Wait, you’re what?” Vivian asks, surprised.

“He invited me. he said he would give me some free shirts from his clothing line and I do need a new wardrobe,” I tell her nonchalant.

“Do you really want to wear clothes by the guy who hurt you?”

Vivian brings up a good point; one I haven’t thought about. I think about it for a moment before shrugging. “Well, it’s not like I bought them. So, technically, I'm not supporting him.”

“Until someone sees it and asks where you got it and then buys something from him. Then, technically, you did help support him,” she shrugs back,

“He also agreed to tell me more about Nora,” I tell her.

“You mean yourself?” I can tell that Vivian is beginning to get annoyed but wasn’t she the one telling me that I deserved answers and should have demanded them when I saw Zack last night?

“I mean, technically, I guess. But this is how I'm going to get him to tell me about why he took my parent's money and also how much and why he never told me. I mean, he could have taken the money and still dated me. We could have done it behind their back, I wasn’t even living with them at the time! I mean, was he only dating me because he knew my parents had money?”

Vivian stares at me for a long moment. “Do you really think he’s going to tell a complete stranger that? He will probably just chalk it up to an average break up,”

“I mean, maybe but I’ll just have to get him to trust me enough to tell me the truth.”

“Okay, but then you’ll tell him?” Vivian asks. She is giving me such a look of disapproval that it reminds me of my grandmothers.

I nod. “Of course, and then I'm leaving and never coming back. What is the big problem?”
Vivian sighs. “I don’t know. I was just thinking about it and maybe it would be best if you stayed away from him. I mean, it’s obvious that when he hurt you he broke a part of you because you’re still upset about it all these years later and it’s understandable. I just…I don’t want you to get attached to him and get hurt again.”

I laugh. “I’m not going to get hurt again because I'm not going to get close enough to him to get hurt again,” I tell her. “I just want to get my answers before I disappear.”

“Speaking of disappearing,” Vivian says, “have you spoken to Liam?”

“As a matter of fact, I was on the phone with him when Brian recognized me. so I ended up hanging up on him, but we did talk.”

“Okay, so when do you meet Zack?”

---

As the hours ticked on, the nerves begin to creep up and by time it is time for me to meet Zack at the warehouse, I feel like I am going to vomit. My hands are shaking so bad I think I can feel the earth beneath my feet rumbling as I get out of my car and make my way to the gated entrance. With every step I take, my brain gives me another reason to just turn around and go back to the hotel, but I keep treading on.

The gate is unlocked so I open it enough to squeeze through it and then continue my walk to the entrance. Before I can reach the door, it opens, and Zack walks out. At first, he’s not paying attention to his surroundings as he sticks a cigarette between his lips and lights it but my heels against the cement catch his attention.

He smiles instantly and it’s nearly enough to knock the breath out of me. “Hey, you.”

I smile too, silently reminding myself to keep my cool. “Hey yourself.”

“I’m glad you made it.” Zack takes a long drag from his cigarette. I watch as the tip of it burns bright red until he pulls it from his mouth and smoke spills from his lips.

“Yeah,” I tell him, “well, you know, I have to get some of these awesome shirts you claim to have.”

Zack laughs and takes another long drag before replying. “And here I thought you were coming to be nosey about Nora.”

I grin as I feel my cheeks getting hot. I don’t know why I feel embarrassed, but it doesn’t last long. “Yeah, well, that too,” I grin.

Zack takes a final drag from his cigarette before he puts it out in the ashtray beside the door. “Alright,” he says, opening the door. “Let’s get to it then.”

Zack holds the door open for me and I enter, taking in the sights. There isn’t much to see. There are a few rooms and in the center of the main room is a large banner that reads “Vengeance University” in big, bold black letters. Deeper into the room is a shelf with boxes and packages that cover the table and floor.

“We just moved into this warehouse a month or so ago and I’ve been so busy with the band that I haven’t been focusing on the clothing line until recently. Zack walks over to the shelf that has boxes in it. “What size shirt do you wear?”

“Uh, medium,” I reply.

Zack digs through a few of the boxes then he hands me three shirts. “Here,” he grins, “these are the most popular. They should fit you. Again, I’m sorry for being a dick at Gena’s party.”

“It’s fine, honestly,” I tell him. “Thanks for the awesome shirts though.”

Zack smiles. “Thanks for calling them awesome.” He grabs an open beer on the table next to the packages and brings it to his lips.

“Drinking on the job, huh?”

Zack chuckles. “Probably why I haven’t got shit done tonight. Don’t tell my boss, okay?” he winks and sits down on the floor in the middle of the sea of packages.

“Well, can I help? What can I do?” I ask, sitting on the floor a couple of feet away from him.

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Zack tells me. “I didn’t ask you to come tonight to help.”

“I don’t mind. Seriously, how can I help?” I ask.

Zack stares at me for a few moments before he gives in. “Okay, I mean, if you insist. Uh, you can tape up the boxes and other packaging. And then I will put the labels on it. Just make sure you start with uh…I think I left off on box 25…so we’ll start there.”

I grab the tape as he hands it to me. The first several minutes are quiet except for the sound of the tape coming off the roll and the light tapping of our hands making sure the tape or label is secure.

“I met Nora when I was fifteen. She didn’t have very many friends so it kind of made her an outcast like us. I guess we kind of took her in but…she didn’t need protection, it’s not like she was being bullied. She comes from a prestigious family, so once people learned who she was, they kind of looked at her differently, I guess. She told us she was born into the wrong family, and after getting to know her, I believed her. So, we introduced her to some of our favourite bands. We rode our bikes around town and kicked over trash cans and destroyed mailboxes.”

“Kicked over trash cans and destroyed mailboxes?” I laugh, handing him a box but I remember. I remember how fun it was to just let loose and holler and laugh with my friends. I remember how simple everything felt then.

Zack laughs, too. “I know. It was so juvenile and stupid but…some of those memories are my favourite. Of course, Nora’s parents wouldn’t buy her a bike so she rode on our handlebars until…well, until I stole a bike off the beach for her. My best friend Jimmy was with me, we uh…we took it back to my house and painted over it so whoever I stole it from wouldn’t recognize it. Nora had adopted the nickname Nova from Jimmy, which turned into the nickname Novocain. So, we drew that on her bike and just…made it hers. I took it to her the next day and surprised her. She was…so happy. She said it was the first thing anyone had ever given her that felt like it belonged to her.”

“What did her parents say about the bike?” I asked him, already knowing the answer.

Zack shakes his head. “She kept it at my house because she knew her parents would freak. I didn’t mind. We went from hanging out as a group every single day to sometimes just hanging out together. We traded in our bikes for cars and our friendship title to the title of relationship. I was seventeen, she was fifteen. We were at a, uh…punk rock show. It was Nora’s first concert. It was actually an “ages sixteen and over” show, but I knew the guy working the door so he let us through. Nora was wise beyond her years, anyway so it really didn’t matter. Seeing her in the mosh pit –” Zack laughs slightly, “– If I didn’t know better I would say that’s the first time I fell in love with her.”

“The first time?” I ask, cocking my head to the side slightly. This time, it was a genuine question.

“Yeah, Nora was…I’m sure she still is, the type of person that could – and did – make people fall in love with her over and over again. I fell in love with her several times until we eventually broke up.”

“If that’s true, then why did you break up?” I ask him. I want to scream it at him, but I force myself to remain calm even though my heart is racing as I await his answer.

Zack doesn’t answer me immediately. He stares down at the box in his hand. Slowly, he peels back the address label and presses it against the box. “It’s…complicated.”

“Complicated how?” I press.

Before Zack gets the chance to answer, his phone rings. “Sorry, I better get that. That’s Gena’s ringtone.” He stands up and pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and enters one of the small rooms, shutting the door behind him.

My heart continues to pound against my chest. Could this be it? In a few moments, will I know why Zack did what he did? Now that the moment may be approaching, I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. I wait there, staring at my shaking hands until I hear the door open. I turn to Zack as he pushes his phone back into his pocket. He looks distressed.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask him. Then I silently ask myself why I care.

Zack nods. “Yeah. Gena and I have just been…fighting a lot lately. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my drama. But uh…I’m really sorry, she wants me home. We were supposed to go to this thing tonight and so she’s not very happy that I bailed.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” I say, getting to my feet. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause problems. I –”

“Oh, God no, Stella. No,” Zack laughs nervously. “This is all me, trust me. I haven’t…I haven’t been a very good fiancé to Gena in the last couple of weeks.”

Zack and I walk out of the warehouse, he trails behind me turning off the lights and setting the alarm. Then he follows as we walk to the gate where my car is parked. When I turn to him, he has a cigarette between his lips.

“Those are bad for you, you know,” I tease.

Zack smiles. “I’m trying to quit but the stress doesn’t want me to quit.”

“And what on earth does Mr. Rockstar have to stress about?”

Zack hands me a post-it note; on it, there are ten numbers. “This is my number. Text me sometime and maybe I’ll tell you about it. We can hang out. I’ll bring Gena and we’ll make it a whole thing.”

“And you’ll finish the story about Nora?” I ask him.

Zack nibbles his lip. “Well, I don’t know if ex-talk will be the best around Gena, but…I promise I’ll finish it sometime.”

“Okay,” I smile. “If you promise.” I fold the note up and stuff it into my pocket. “Thanks for the shirts.”

“Thanks for helping out with the packages. My fans will be forever grateful,” Zack smiles.

I laugh. “Your fans?”

“Yeah,” Zack laughs. “I can’t believe I just said that. I’m more humble than I sound, I swear. Anyway, drive safe, Stella.”

“Thanks, Zack. You too.”

Notes

yay! I'm back! Thank you so much for your patience! i hope you guys enjoyed this long awaited chapter! Don't forget to drop a comment, rate the story and subscribe if you haven't already!

Title Chapter: Between the Trees “Story of a Boy”