I Won't See You Tonight

Zacky's POV

Tessa always walked home from school, so it was easy to find her when school let out.

I waited just off of the property of the privet school. She would have to walk by me on her way home.

Sure enough, as soon as she walked out of the building she seen me.

"Zackster!" She grinned.

"Hey, Tess." I greeted her and have a nod to Rian, who was always by her side. They were best friends. It made me happy that she had at least one friend here, since her parents refused to let her attend public school.

"Why so glum?" Sh asked, her smile disappearing and a look of concern took its place.

"I have a problem. I need your help."

"Sure Zack, anything. Just name it." She said instantly. That was one of the things that I loved about Tessa. She was always willing to help.

I was about to respond to her when I seen Gena. It was amazing how just a week ago I was still grieving over her. I had been so upset, but now, I completely forgot she went to St. Peter's with Tessa and Rian.

I sighed when I thought of the reason of why I didn't care anymore.

Emelyne.

I began walking. Tessa followed suite.

Rian smiled at her and waved bye to the both of us. He was a good guy, and realized that he wasn't Tessa's only best friend.

She walked silently beside me, knowing that I would speak when I was ready.

"I really like Emelyne." I announced after we had walked maybe half a block.

"What's the problem?" She didn't sound surprised at all, she actually seemed a little relieved. She probably realized my feelings before I did, just like she had with Gena.

"I think she likes Jimmy." I said, noticing the slight wince she made at her brother's name. Then I explained everything. All about today's events, of how I felt when I was around her, and of how I couldn't stop thinking of her.

It was always so easy to open up to Tessa.

She stayed silent through my entire rant and stayed that way for a few moments after I finished.

"I do think she likes you. The way the two of you were acting at the beach the other day, it was way obvious that there was some chemistry goin' on. So, there's no doubt about that." She announced. I couldn't, and didn't even try to, stop the grin that spread across my face.

"I don't think she likes my brother the way you think she does. There's definitely some feelings there, but I think it's mostly concern. I mean even if she did like him, finding out that he's a drug addict would usually turn anybody off. Which brings up my next concern."

"What?" I asked, cautiously. I didn't like the way she said her last sentence. My smile had completely gone as I seen that hers was missing.

"What if she's an addict too, or a recovering one? The way she wants to find Jimmy so bad, and keeps asking, that just makes me think-"

"No. She's not like that. That's not Emelyne."

"And Gena wasn't a two-timing tramp. Zack, you have to be more careful this time. I don't want you to get hurt. We need to go at this from all aspects, figure out everything until we see if she's safe or not. I don't think you can really handle another heartbreak. And frankly, I don't want to see you go through it again."

"I understand that Tessa. I do, it's just, Emelyne isn't a druggie. She's from Fairbanks, Alaska for Pete's sake!"

"Do you realize how small Fairbanks is? There isn't much to do in small towns. Kids experiment-"

"Not Emelyne."

"Zachary James Baker, would you listen to me?" Tessa snapped, and stopped walking. It reminded me of the argument I got into with Emelyne earlier.

I sighed, "Sorry, Tess. I just don't want to think of her like that. I can't."

"And I never thought I'd have to picture Jimmy like that. I never thought he would go down that road, but he did. You didn't think Gena would ever be disloyal to you, but she was. People aren't always what you expect them to be. You need to remember that."

"So what do I do?" I asked as we reached Tessa's driveway.

"Don't rush. Just chill, take time out to get to know her. You're falling too easily, Romeo." She said with a smile.

"Yeah. Slow." I agreed. I just didn't want to lose my chance with her. What if she gives up on me? What would I do then, when all I can do is think of her?

"She knows that I like her now though. She kinda flipped about it."

"You scared her. The girl hardly knows you and you're already pronouncing your feelings. Just don't act like anything happened. Everything should be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I hope to God I am. I'm gonna go in now, do you need anything else? Mom will flip if she sees me out here with you. She usually times my walk home."

"I'm fine, go ahead. I'll talk to you later." I said. She nodded and left with a wave. I kept walking, headed no where in particular.

What Tessa said made since,I just wasn't sure how long I could go through with it. I literally couldn't get my mind off of Emelyne. Even if I tried, there was always something that brought me right back to her.

'You scared her. The girl hardly knows you and you're already pronouncing your feelings.

How did I scare her? There's was nothing scary about me. I just said that I like her. I don't see how that was scary.

But how did it make me feel?

I just got out of a relationship. I was just burned badly, had I really had enough time to heal from that?

I shook my head at that thought. No, Emelyne was right. It did seem like she was just rebound for me. How could I have been so stupid? I really didn't know her. I just know that I have these feelings for her. I care about her. But she doesn't know the type of person that I am, she doesn't know that I'm not set out to hurt her or use her in any way shape or form. Tessa was right, I needed to give her time. I needed to let the connection set in on it's own. I had to make sure she cared about me the same, I had to make sure she knew that I didn't want to hurt her.

That was the plan, then. I smiled to myself as I walked home. This plan would work. I don't know how long it would take. I just know that I'm willing to put as much time as needed. I would give her every minute that she needed before she realized that she felt the same.

The smile spread to a grin as I approached our road. I would have to pass by her house in order to get to mine.

That grin vanished almost as soon as it appeared when I seem his car there.