You're No Good At Lying

“What are you doing?” Morgan asked, watching as Spencer tried to navigate the small bus with a towel wrapped around her dark brown hair and two different pairs of jeans in her hands.

“I’m going out tonight,” she replied, holding up the pairs of jeans. “Which one do you like more?”

“The pair on the right,” Morgan said, eyeing her with caution.“Who are you going out with?”

“Zack Merrick,” Spencer responded as evenly as she could, though she couldn’t help the blush that made its way to her cheeks. She looked back on her bed, inspecting some of the shirts she had laid out, too.

“Oh,” Morgan mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “Well, be safe, okay?”

“Sure thing,” responded Spencer, too busy comparing shirts to bother to look up at Morgan. Out of the corner of her eye, Spencer could just barely see her older brother turn on his heel and walk away, but something inside of her compelled her to stop him. Something she had never felt before.“Morgan, wait,” she said suddenly, and Morgan turned back around to face her.“I’m sorry,” escaped her lips, and Spencer tried as hard as she could to muster up as much emotion as possible.

Morgan eyed her with more confusion and skepticism than hehad ever felt in his life. Never had she apologized before for something she had done, not once. “Oh, it’s no big deal, Spencer,” he replied slowly. “Go –go have fun with Zack, alright? Text me when you’re coming back.”

Spencer smiled and nodded, turning back and leaving Morgan more lost than ever.

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“So I did what you told me to do,” Spencer said suddenly as she and Zack exited the tour bus.

“What’re you talking about?” Zack asked, glancing over ather.

“I apologized to Morgan,” Replied the brown haired girl. “Just like you told me to.”

“Oh,” Zack responded, trying to hold back his smile. “How did it go?”

Spencer shrugged, looking straight ahead. “I’m not sure, exactly. He said it was okay, but he looked really confused…”

“Do you usually say you’re sorry when he gets angry at you?” Questioned Zack, and Spencer could feel his arm brush up against hers. It sent tingles up her forearm and made her feel lightheaded for a second, but she disregarded the feeling immediately.

“Well, no, but that’s because I’m always right,” pointed out Spencer, causing Zack to chuckle. “What?” She asked quickly, stopping so she could turn to face him. Zack did the same. “Why’s that funny? Whenever he gets angry with me, it’s because he’s either wrong, or because I’ve told him thetruth. Sometimes it’s both.” Spencer paused, looking up at Zack and noting his expression. He seemed content listening with to her speak to him, and Spencer liked that. No one had ever taken her that seriously before. “I don’t understand why it’s bad to be honest or right.” Finished Spencer softly.

“So you don’t understand what you did wrong, then?” Pressed Zack, and Spencer shook her head.

“No, I don’t.”

Zack sighed and grabbed her hand before she could protest. Not that she would have protested, anyways. His fingers interlocked with hers, and they continued walking. She wondered for a moment if the fact that his fingers seemed to fit perfectly within hers was a real feeling, or just her imagination. “Well, I guess apologizing is the first step…” He mumbled. Spencer looked up at him quickly, considering if or if not she should call him out on that, but she decided against it in the end. The last few minutes of the walk were silent, except for when Spencer squeezed his hand accidentally, and Zack squeezed her hand back just a little harder, causing her to giggle girlishly.“So I know it’s kind of cheesy, but I made us dinner.” Zack finally said as they approached what Spencer recognized in the dusk to be a picnic table that had been dragged to the tour grounds. “Well actually,” he continued as he sat down across from Spencer, “Kara and Rian helped, but I was in charge.”

“It looks really good,” added Spencer as Zack opened a plastic container of pasta and began to spoon some on to her plate.

“Thanks,” Zack beamed, pouring her a cup of soda and then pouring one for him. “Don’t even think about lying to me and saying you’re twenty one, because I know you’re nineteen.”

Spencer chuckled, taking a sip of the soda he had poured.“Like I would believe you if you said you weren’t drinking at nineteen.” She retorted.

“That’s different. What I did and you’re doing are two completely different things.” They both laughed softly before beginning to eat. The meal was silent for the first few minutes, though Spencer rather enjoyed the comfortable silence.

“So do you like tour?” Spencer asked, hoping to get somekind of conversation going.

Zack nodded, putting down his cup after taking a long sip.“Yeah, I do.” He replied and smiled. “It’s the greatest.”

Spencer grinned softly. “That’s really cool.”

“Do you like it so far?”

She nodded, cutting her pasta into small pieces. “It’s not what I expected it to be like.”

“What were you expecting?” Questioned Zack, setting his fork down. Spencer just shrugged.

“I don’t know. Morgan kept telling me that no one would like me and – “

“Wait,” Zack said abruptly, cutting her off and causing her to look up quickly. “Why would he say that?”

Yet again, Spencer shrugged. “I’m not sure. Everyone’s really nice. And I met you – you’re my favorite.” Even though Spencer’s tone indicated that what she had just said wasn’t a big deal, Zack grinned from ear to ear. Though Spencer wasn’t sure why, exactly. She hadn’t embellished on anything. She had merely told the truth: Zack was her favorite person on tour so far, even though she had only been here for a day and a half.

For the next hour or so the conversation flowed smoothly from rather uninteresting topics like their families, and Spencer’s school, and the fact that Alex had a new girlfriend (“That’s why I decided we should have dinner out here,” Zack added, “because I didn’t want you to be scarred after seeing them. All they do is make out.”).Yet Spencer found herself enjoying every second of it. Finally Zack noted that both of their plates were empty, the liter of soda he had bought finished, and the left over cookies Jack’s mom had made before they left on tour had all been eaten. “I guess we had better clean up,” he mumbled, beginning to put the empty paper plates back into the brown bag. Spencer helped gather the silverware and cups into a neat pile before dumping them in the bag as well.

With a smile on his face, Zack took Spencer’s hand in his and began walking her back towards her bus. She swung their hands back and forth gently, admiring the feel of his hand in hers. “You’ll come visit me tomorrow at the table, right?” Questioned Spencer, still holding on to his hand as they stood outside of the entrance to her bus.

“It depends,” replied Zack, trying to hold back a smile. “Are you going to yell at me again?” Spencer chuckled, looking down at her flower-print keds until she gained the courage to look back up. “I promise, I’ll wear a shirt.” Zack added.

“You don’t have to,” interjected Spencer quickly, “if you don’t want to, that is…” Her voice trailed off slightly at the end, and Zack just laughed softly.

“Then maybe I won’t,” Zack responded, making Spencer blush. She didn’t really mind anymore that Zack could make her blush – so long as it remained being something that only Zack could do to her. Spencer bit her lip slightly, unintentionally squeezing Zack’s hand in the process. She could feel his face coming closer to hers, but she didn’t say anything. Not when she could feel his breath on her nose, and especially not when she could feel his lips just hovering above her own. For a split second she worried that he would be the one to pull away, and in that split second she took a quick initiative and connected her lips to his.

It was short, sweet, and Spencer refused to let go of his hand for one second of it. When she pulled away, she couldn’t hide either the smile on her face or the blush on her cheeks. Never before had a boy kissed her like that; softly, gently, yet with meaning. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Spencer,” Zack said quietly, before letting go of her hand and turning back towards his bus. Spencer was left alone in front of her brother’s bus, yet never before had she felt so happy.