Second Heartbeat

The drive to the movies wasn't awkward at all. Note the sarcasm please.

Zacky and I didn't say one word. We didn't listen to any music, and I tried my best to just stare out the window. I couldn't help but look his way a couple of times though.

Curiosity was going to kill me right after the damn cat.

But every time I would look at the window, it would cause my thoughts to drift away to something else. Something even worse than the awkward silence between Zacky and me.

It was Charles.

Charles was still in my mind.

How couldn't he be?

He just walked out on me just yesterday, and here I was trying to go out to the movies with some friends. I was absolutely crazy.

I should be lolling in a bed, crying my eyes out. I should be gorging in chocolate, ice cream, candy, and numerous other fatty foods that I would regret eating soon afterwords.

I looked out the window. We were finally here, at the movies. I sighed happily.

Good thing Brian was here. Wait, he was with Michelle.

I felt myself beginning to freak out.

Everyone had their other parts with them except Zacky and I.

God; this awkward silence was never going to end between us, was it?

was just gonna be forced to sit with him, while everyone else was snuggling up with their significant others.

My little group wasn't the best to be with right after a bad break up. They're all pretty much couples, and they showed each other how much they loved one another.

It was almost sickening now that I thought about it. I was in trouble. How could I possibly hang out with them, when they're all lovey-dovey?

As I walked up to the front of the theaters, I saw everybody waiting for us.

Emily had her hands on her hips. She looked severely pissed off. Her hormones were just kicking in, weren't they?

I smiled at everyone as they all stared at me. No doubt they were still a tad worried about me.

Emily was whining to Johnny about her wanting popcorn.

"So what movie?" Zacky asked.

Some of them just shrugged. I was one of those people. I had no clue what was even playing anymore. I didn't care either.

Whether it was scary or romantic, I was bound to get sick.

"We could go see “The Unborn” like I said," Brian said. Everyone nodded.

I guess everyone else was too bummed out to argue with Brian. We all followed Zacky up to the paying booth. Zacky quickly ordered ten tickets, and he paid for them.

As Zacky passed out the tickets, I stared at the poster for “The Unborn”.

There was some girl just standing there in her underwear. I nearly vomited. Who would honestly like to see that? It sickened me.

"Hey, at least the chick's hot." Jimmy said. I rolled my eyes.

Of course, the guys would enjoy it. Men were just so... perverted. Not the right choice of words, but it always seemed to fit, whenever they stared at women the way they did.

I looked at all the guys.

Most of them were just paying attention to their girlfriends. Jimmy was staring at the poster, while his date glared at him.

Zacky was staring at me again.

I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. I fidgeted, trying to think of something so I could leave. I couldn't think of anything. Nothing that didn't involve me running away to nowhere.

"Let's go get some food, Emily." I said quickly.

Emily happily agreed with me. She took my hand, and we ran over to the food stand.

I stared at everything, but I couldn't make up my mind.

I most definitely wasn't in the mood for nachos or a hot dog, but what about candy? Should I get some chocolate covered peanuts or something fruity?

Maybe I should get some kettle corn. Or was the original popcorn better for now? And what about a drink? Was water fine or did I want a soda?

I couldn't make my mind up about anything. I could see Emily happily picking random things up, and she ordered just about everything.

I looked at her in envy.

She always knew exactly what she wanted. She saw, met, and fell in love with Johnny. She knew he was the right one from the very beginning. Why couldn't I get anything right like that?

"Need some help?"

I did a twirl, and there was Zacky smiling at me.

I smiled back at him. I nodded.

"I have no clue what I want," I mumbled. He laughed. "So indecisive," he muttered.

He looked over the sweets first. He grabbed some boxes, and he grabbed my hand. He led me back over to the popcorn.

"Large kettle corn," he said.

The lady behind the counter nodded as she tried to keep her eyes on Zacky. No doubt he looked absolutely beautiful to her. I could see her staring at our locked hands, and she glared at me.

Honestly, it wasn't what she thought it was.

Zacky took the bucket she handed him, and he led me to the drinks. He quickly ordered something, and I didn't hear it.

I was too stuck listening to Emily's whine to try to pay any attention to Zacky unfortunately.

"Honey, why'd you get so much?" Johnny asked. "'Cause I'm gonna get nice and fat for the baby," she said giggling.

I could just imagine Johnny's frown.

"Babe, you gotta try not to gain too much weight."

"Why?"

"Just in case you can't get rid of the baby fat later," he said.

That was a touchy subject.

I was happy to focus my attention back on Zacky. Emily's whining would only get worse now that Johnny mentioned baby fat. She probably never even thought that she'd ever stay fat. She's always been so thin, despite her pigging out daily.

Zacky handed me an Icee cup, and I smiled widely.

"Thanks, Zacky." I said. "Welcome. I hope you got everything you wanted," he said. He quickly handed the cashier some money, and we walked away.

I looked at his hands.

They were holding the ever precious candy.

He got the chocolate covered peanuts!

We all walked in the room where we'd be watching the movie. Jimmy and his date apparently were already in there.

We made no attempt to find them, and they didn't call us to come to them either.

I saw Johnny and Emily go up to the very top seats. Matt and Val went to the front seats. Brian and Michelle decided to go in the middle.

"Where do you wanna sit?" Zacky asked. I shrugged.

"Middle?" I guessed. He nodded, and he led the way.

We sat down next to Brian and Michelle. I was sitting next to Michelle and Zacky. I could already see Michelle tensing up, and Brian was making fun of her.

It was really mean of him. I probably only thought that because I was terrified already too.

I looked over at Zacky, who was just sitting there bobbing his head. He probably had some guitar rhythm stuck in his head.

"You already scared?" Zacky asked. I nodded weakly. He smiled.

"Knew it," he mumbled. He grabbed my hand. "Whenever you get scared, just tighten the grip. I'll come save you," he said.

I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Zacky."