Chapter Fourteen #2
“Am I being mean , Vanessa? Seriously, is this third grade? I’m still waiting for an actual apology for blatantly—”
“‘Scuse me, friends…I just need to squeeze right in here and get a paper. Pretend I’m not even here. Go right on yelling. Seriously, not a bother at all,” Luke interjected cheerfully into our argument. I hadn’t even heard him walk up .
“Luke, we’re sort of in the middle of something,” I got out in an exasperated tone.
“Yeah, so I gathered. I’m just sort of in the middle of needing to check the job listings in the campus paper, though? So, I’m gonna do that. Then I’ll be out of your hair, no worries.”
He took his sweet time and whistled as he slowly picked up the heavy metal dispenser, making sure it was put back perfectly before he pulled it open.
Its creaking sound grated on my ears, and he made quite a production of searching through the pages until he found the jobs section.
I braved a glance at Zack, worried he would be seething at Luke’s obvious interference.
But he had his hands shoved in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the ground.
“Finally, here it is. Thanks so much, guys, for pressing pause there, I appreciate your commitment to my financial security. See you in the weight room, Rhodes. Later V.”
Zack’s head snapped up, and he glared at Luke. Meanwhile, Luke whistled and ambled slowly back towards the commons.
My emotions had settled somewhat during the brief intermission, and it appeared Zack’s had too. Or at least his gaze was softer.
“So, I guess you’re going to tell me I’m being a jackass,” he mumbled.
“I might? I really don’t even know. Can you explain why you are so angry? I mean, I get walking up and wondering what was going on, maybe I shouldn’t have gone over there alone, or something. I don’t…but you can’t just yell at me and tell me to shut up.”
He paused, and I wasn’t quite sure where he was going to go with things. Slowly, he blew out a breath.
“I just saw you over there with those guys, and I felt all of the same rage as when I walked in on Jenna at that party. I know that has nothing to do with you, I just…I’m a dick, I guess.” He wouldn’t look at me, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides .
“You’re not a dick. Well, not right now anyway,” I chided, attempting to lighten the mood. He finally glanced at me, his blue eyes much softer now. “I’m really not playing games with you. I like you.” I tried to impart a sense of sincerity with my words, needing him to know I meant it.
“I like you too.” We stood like statues with an awkward space between us for a few torturous moments. “Do you think we can just erase the last fifteen minutes?”
I wanted it to be that easy, though my aching wrist suggested it might not be.
Maybe it is that simple. You need to respect the fact that he’s dealing with a really bruised ego after Jenna, I told myself. This wasn’t even anything personal.
I cleared my throat. “If you’ll promise just to talk to me next time instead of flying off the handle, yeah, we can forget it.”
“I promise.”
I nodded, not sure where to go from here.
“Let’s eat some lunch then,” he said, holding out his hand for mine, but much more gently this time. I felt many sets of eyes on us as we walked, and not in the jealous way that I relished before. I forced my shoulders to relax when we got back to the table.
“Everything cool?” Liv asked, her eyebrows scrunched together in an exaggerated manner when we walked up
“Yep,” I answered quickly, wanting to move on from that humiliating display. I plopped down in the open chair, expecting Zack to follow.
“I’m gonna grab some food, but I’ll catch up with you in a bit. I’ll bring you something sweet, okay?” he said, his fingertips gently brushing over my shoulder. He continued with a concerned, “We’re good?” in a lower tone.
“We’re fine. I’ll talk to you later.” He kissed my cheek and wandered to one of the emptier lunch lines.
“Is everything really okay?” Kim questioned softly, concern swimming in her eyes .
“Yeah, it’s fine, seriously. Just a misunderstanding.”
I then remembered the reason for my rendezvous with the four-twenty club in the first place. “Bad news though about the new kid. While he’s actually pretty amusing, he’s sort of incredibly full of himself. He didn’t really say if he’d come out in a group or not; I’ll work on him.”
I swallowed roughly at the lie, knowing there was no way I was approaching Ethan Fisher again.
“Really, it’s fine. He’s out of my league anyway.”
“Stop it, he’s only out of your league if you think like that. Buck up, buttercup,” Liv chimed in.
“I’ll try,” Kim replied meekly. “Anyway, when are we going dress shopping?”
“Huh?” I replied, confused.
“Homecoming? Dresses? Usually, you wear one? I don’t even have a date yet, but I figure putting those vibes into the universe can’t hurt. Plus, I can always return it,” Kim added glumly.
“No, I mean, we invited you to come shopping this weekend, and you didn’t respond,” I explained. “Right Liv?”
“Yeah, I texted you and nada.”
“You didn’t text me.”
“Yes, I did. I can show you if you like.” Liv pulled out her phone and clicked through a few new messages.
Then her hand stilled. “Ohmygod, I’m so sorry.
I typed out the message and I thought I hit send, but it’s still here in the response box.
I swear to god, I thought I sent it to you.
I’m sorry Kimmy, please don’t be mad at me.
” Liv bit her lip, and Kim only responded with frustration.
“Sure, whatever. It’s fine, I probably won’t need a dress anyway.”
“Quit it right now. You know I’ll shop with you anyway. Like I’ve ever needed an excuse. We can go after I’m done with practice tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? ”
“Never been more sure of anything in my entire life. Yes. We’ll go; it’ll be great.” I kept waiting for Liv to jump in and offer to come, but it never came to pass. She was apparently very involved searching for something in her backpack.
“We can do a try-on of our dresses too so you can see them. It’ll be like you were there,” Liv said, smiling widely. “Vanessa’s is so cute.”
Liv was being…weird. Something about her whole explanation felt off, but I was too emotionally drained to examine it further right now. At least the focus was off of my spat with Zack, and hopefully the rest of the student body would forget it as well by the next day.
No such luck was in my cards. People did not appear to forget by the next day. I sat down at my lab table, attempting to determine if people were staring at me. I smoothed the purple dress that I’d worn with a purpose that day, hoping to solidify the stable ground between me and Zack.
“Hey, you alright?” Luke questioned softly when he sat down next to me.
“I would be if people stopped asking me that,” I snapped.
His eyes widened slightly. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“For what? Interrupting us?”
“No, that you guys broke up or whatever.”
“Why would you think we broke up?” I asked incredulously. “We had an argument.”
Luke nearly snorted at my comment, shaking his head.
“Whatever you say.”
I could tell he was holding his tongue. While Luke was rarely serious, currently his jaw was tense, and he was intently focused on the blank white board at the front of the room.
“What’s that even supposed to mean?” I pressed, annoyed that he thought he knew something I didn’t .
“I just don’t get it, that’s all. I don’t get how a guy can treat you, or any girl, like that, and keep her. Whatever. Your business.” He made a show of searching his backpack for his pen.
“You’re right. It is my business,” I shot back. “And I think you’re blowing things a little out of proportion.”
“Is it about having a date to homecoming? Because I’ll take you. Just, seriously, enough with the douche-nozzle.” He finally looked at me, and all I could read was frustration on his face. This annoyed me even more.
“Wow, how gracious of you.” I paused, gathering my anger.
“No, it’s not about having a date for homecoming, but thanks for thinking I’m that shallow.
Or that I’d need your pity date.” I could feel my teeth grinding together and was almost grateful when Professor Lessing finally arrived.
“Jackass,” I muttered under my breath, causing Luke to bite his lip.
He laughed, but it lacked his usual humor.