Panic Over; Party Off, Party On
Chapter VIII
Every day for the remainder of the week, Zack and I spent together. It came to the point where we wouldn’t even discuss hanging out the next day, I would just assume that Zack was going to show up at 4:30, and he would do just that. On Wednesday we watched a movie together, occasionally talking but mostly just enjoying each other’s company. On Thursday we did a bit more studying for Zack’s geometry test, but he was adamant that he understood everything and seemed to not want to bother with math. So we sat on my bed, and I asked him questions about his friends from school and he asked me some more questions about Montreal, and I made him promise to teach me how to play bass. He laughed, and said he would, only if I promised to teach him French. Which I promised I would, and I didn’t think twice about it.
On Friday Zack came over and before he even said hello to me, I was enveloped in a hug, spun around above the ground, and issued numerous times: ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’. I had completely forgotten that today was the day of his geometry test (though I had been the one to prep him the night before) and he excitedly explained that the test had not just been easy, but he was so confidant in his work that he finished with twenty-five minutes to spare.
On Saturday Zack went to visit his grandparents, but it wasn’t even noon when I received a text from him, describing his current bored state of mind and how hungry he was. The only time during the course of the weekend when we weren’t texting back and forth to each other was at night, and ‘night’ didn’t come for either of us until about 2:30 in the morning on Saturday. Even though I didn’t see Zack, I didn’t feel for even a moment that we weren’t together.
To: Remy
ur going to practice tomorrow, right?
To: Zack
i didn’t know there was practice on monday?
To: Remy
yeah at jacks house. u wanna go?
To: Zack
definitely. u wanna hang out at my house after?
To: Remy
i was just gonna ask u that, u mind reader
To: Zack
ahaha, its a talent.
------------
“How was your weekend?” I asked Lisa as we sat down on Jack’s sofa in his basement. I hadn’t seen either Lisa or Alex all day until they gave me a ride to Jack’s house, though I was more excited to see Zack than to catch up with the two of them.
“Good,” she replied, smiling softly, “I spent it mostly with Alex.” I grinned, no longer wanting to know the details about their weekend. I was happy that they had each other (though from what information I could gather from Kara, they were constantly on-again-off-again, and she and Rian both gave it another two months before they began to argue) but I didn’t need to know how they spent their time.
I suddenly felt a pair of hands cover my eyes, Jack’s basement quickly turning black. My hands went up, grasping the wrists and trying to pry them off. Not only was I giggling softly, but I could hear Lisa laughing, too.
“She obviously knows it’s you.” Lisa said.
“Not true.” A voice responded, and I instantly connected it to Zack.
“Well now I do.” I replied, still grinning, as I finally pried Zack’s hands off of my eyes. Turning around and sitting up on my knees, I wrapped my arms around Zack’s neck and pulled myself in for a hug. His arms went around my waist, and we stayed like this for perhaps a second or two longer than most friends usually did. I had forgotten all about the others, until I heard Jack coughing and Alex snickering. I unclasped my hands from around Zack’s neck, and his hands were removed from my waist. We locked eyes for a split second, before I turned around and slumped into the sofa and Zack walked over to the guys. Kara, who had sat down next to Lisa on the opposite sofa, looked at me with a grin on her face. Every time Zack and I would make eye contact, Lisa and Kara would grin with expressions I could only describe as ‘I-told-you-so’.
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“You still up for hanging out?” Zack asked, small beads of sweat trailing down his face. You wouldn’t think that band practice wasn’t enough to make someone sweat, but the All Time Low boys really put everything they had into each session. Kara was sitting on Rian’s lap by the drum set, Lisa was standing by Alex, and Jack was trying to herd all of them towards the TV to play videogames, but they weren’t having it. My fingers reached out to pluck a string on Zack’s bass that hung from his shoulders, and even though the instrument was unplugged, the vibration was still loud enough for the two of us to hear.
“Definitely.” I replied, still looking down at the guitar. I plucked another string, and Zack seemed pleased at how amused I was. I had always wanted to learn how to play some kind of instrument. In third grade I played the recorder, but that wasn’t exactly the kind of instrument you rock out to in your room when you’re alone. “Ready to go now?” I asked, looking up. Zack looked towards everyone else, where Jack was now resorting to pushing Alex towards the TV because he wasn’t going willingly.
“Yeah, lets go now.” Zack said, and we both laughed. I grabbed my bag and we made our way to the door. “See you guys later!” He yelled, and I waved quickly before we both left Jack’s basement. “That was close.” Zack muttered when I shut the door. “We could have been stuck playing video games all night with Jack.” I smirked, and we got into Zack’s car and headed to my house.
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“What’s your biggest fear?” I asked Zack as we sat on my bed. Our backs were pressed against my headboard, with me next to the wall and him on the edge.
He paused for a second, before responding. “Heights. If you had to get stuck in the bottom of the ocean in a submarine, or in space on a spaceship, which one would you choose?”
“Spaceship, for sure.” I replied quickly, imaging what it would be like to be stuck in space. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.” He paused, and then resumed. “But not like an olive green or anything, like a dark green.” I smiled and waited for his next question. “Chocolate or vanilla?”
“Chocolate, definitely.” Zack shook his head, and I laughed. “But I don’t mind vanilla, either. Uh…” I paused, searching for the right question. We had been at this for nearly an hour now, just going back and forth asking each other the first question that popped into our mind. Our sides were touching as we successfully tried to both fit on my small bed. My hands were in my lap, and Zack’s were clasped behind his head, his elbow just barely touching the side of my head. After about forty-five minutes, I slightly leaned my head towards his elbow, letting it just barely rest on him. “Would you rather have a girl sit on your lap, or hold your hand?” It was probably the most sexual question that had been asked yet, and that was saying something. But Zack didn’t seem bothered by it.
“Both.” He responded confidently.
“You can’t choose both.” I replied laughing. “One or the other. Which one?”
“Both.” Zack said, beginning to laugh as well. “I want a girl who will sit on my lap and hold my hand.”
I threw my hands up in the air in defeat as we both continued to laugh. “Alright, fine. Both.”
“Would you rather date a guy who’s charming and cool, or funny and awkward?”
That was an easy question. I would take someone awkward over someone charming any day. There was something just so fake about a guy who was too charming. “Funny and awkward. Because to me, that is charming.”
“Interesting.” Zack said, looking down at me briefly.
“What’s your favorite hair color on a girl?” I hoped he would say red, especially since I had never met a guy who openly liked girls with red hair before.
Zack shrugged. “Any color, so long as it’s natural.” Okay, I could deal with that. “Are you a virgin?” He asked quickly, and then opened his eyes really wide. My cheeks burned, and I looked down at my hands. “Oh shit, I shouldn’t have asked that. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Here, look, what’s your favorite month?” I didn’t respond, still weighing the pros and cons of answering his question. On the one hand, I knew Zack wouldn’t go and tell his friends, and I wanted to have that kind of trust with him, but what if he scoffed at me? What if he didn’t take me seriously? He must have sensed my uncertainty, because he answered his own question for him. “I like October,” he said kindly, though perhaps a bit too rapidly, “because it’s not too hot and not too cold, and I like Halloween. I also like how the leav –“
“Yeah.” I said finally, and he stopped talking instantly. “I’m a virgin.” He didn’t say anything, instead just watched my movements carefully. Looking back down at my hands as I picked at a fraying patch on my jeans, I continued. “Go on. Laugh at the seventeen year old virgin.” My tone was light, but I didn’t look up at him, nor did I smile.
“I don’t think it’s funny.” He said softly.
“Pathetic, then?” I replied, pulling at a few threads.
“No, it’s not pathetic at all. And stop doing that.” He said, reaching out and grabbing one of my hands in his. “You’re going to ruin your jeans.” I liked the way my hand felt in his, and I rotated my wrist so that he was no longer grasping the outside of my hand, but our fingers were interlocking. We stared down at our hands, situated on my lap and still clasped together. “I don’t tell anyone about what we do at your house, you know.” He said quietly, and I wondered where he was going with it. “I mean, I told Jack after the first night that I had fun hanging out with you and we worked on school work and stuff, but after that whenever someone would ask what we did, I would just shrug.”
“Why?” I asked, my voice quiet but my tone genuinely interested. I didn’t expect him to say something like ‘because I’m embarrassed to be around you’ or anything – Zack wasn’t like that.
He shrugged, but didn’t let go of my hand. “Because I like doing things with only you. Not doing things with you, and having everyone else know so much they may as well have been there. Then it isn’t as…” He paused, searching for the right word. “Nice.”
“Nice?” I asked, grinning softly.
“Nice.” He repeated, a smile gracing his lips. “This is nice.”
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “This is really nice.”
On Friday Zack came over and before he even said hello to me, I was enveloped in a hug, spun around above the ground, and issued numerous times: ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’. I had completely forgotten that today was the day of his geometry test (though I had been the one to prep him the night before) and he excitedly explained that the test had not just been easy, but he was so confidant in his work that he finished with twenty-five minutes to spare.
On Saturday Zack went to visit his grandparents, but it wasn’t even noon when I received a text from him, describing his current bored state of mind and how hungry he was. The only time during the course of the weekend when we weren’t texting back and forth to each other was at night, and ‘night’ didn’t come for either of us until about 2:30 in the morning on Saturday. Even though I didn’t see Zack, I didn’t feel for even a moment that we weren’t together.
To: Remy
ur going to practice tomorrow, right?
To: Zack
i didn’t know there was practice on monday?
To: Remy
yeah at jacks house. u wanna go?
To: Zack
definitely. u wanna hang out at my house after?
To: Remy
i was just gonna ask u that, u mind reader
To: Zack
ahaha, its a talent.
------------
“How was your weekend?” I asked Lisa as we sat down on Jack’s sofa in his basement. I hadn’t seen either Lisa or Alex all day until they gave me a ride to Jack’s house, though I was more excited to see Zack than to catch up with the two of them.
“Good,” she replied, smiling softly, “I spent it mostly with Alex.” I grinned, no longer wanting to know the details about their weekend. I was happy that they had each other (though from what information I could gather from Kara, they were constantly on-again-off-again, and she and Rian both gave it another two months before they began to argue) but I didn’t need to know how they spent their time.
I suddenly felt a pair of hands cover my eyes, Jack’s basement quickly turning black. My hands went up, grasping the wrists and trying to pry them off. Not only was I giggling softly, but I could hear Lisa laughing, too.
“She obviously knows it’s you.” Lisa said.
“Not true.” A voice responded, and I instantly connected it to Zack.
“Well now I do.” I replied, still grinning, as I finally pried Zack’s hands off of my eyes. Turning around and sitting up on my knees, I wrapped my arms around Zack’s neck and pulled myself in for a hug. His arms went around my waist, and we stayed like this for perhaps a second or two longer than most friends usually did. I had forgotten all about the others, until I heard Jack coughing and Alex snickering. I unclasped my hands from around Zack’s neck, and his hands were removed from my waist. We locked eyes for a split second, before I turned around and slumped into the sofa and Zack walked over to the guys. Kara, who had sat down next to Lisa on the opposite sofa, looked at me with a grin on her face. Every time Zack and I would make eye contact, Lisa and Kara would grin with expressions I could only describe as ‘I-told-you-so’.
------------
“You still up for hanging out?” Zack asked, small beads of sweat trailing down his face. You wouldn’t think that band practice wasn’t enough to make someone sweat, but the All Time Low boys really put everything they had into each session. Kara was sitting on Rian’s lap by the drum set, Lisa was standing by Alex, and Jack was trying to herd all of them towards the TV to play videogames, but they weren’t having it. My fingers reached out to pluck a string on Zack’s bass that hung from his shoulders, and even though the instrument was unplugged, the vibration was still loud enough for the two of us to hear.
“Definitely.” I replied, still looking down at the guitar. I plucked another string, and Zack seemed pleased at how amused I was. I had always wanted to learn how to play some kind of instrument. In third grade I played the recorder, but that wasn’t exactly the kind of instrument you rock out to in your room when you’re alone. “Ready to go now?” I asked, looking up. Zack looked towards everyone else, where Jack was now resorting to pushing Alex towards the TV because he wasn’t going willingly.
“Yeah, lets go now.” Zack said, and we both laughed. I grabbed my bag and we made our way to the door. “See you guys later!” He yelled, and I waved quickly before we both left Jack’s basement. “That was close.” Zack muttered when I shut the door. “We could have been stuck playing video games all night with Jack.” I smirked, and we got into Zack’s car and headed to my house.
------------
“What’s your biggest fear?” I asked Zack as we sat on my bed. Our backs were pressed against my headboard, with me next to the wall and him on the edge.
He paused for a second, before responding. “Heights. If you had to get stuck in the bottom of the ocean in a submarine, or in space on a spaceship, which one would you choose?”
“Spaceship, for sure.” I replied quickly, imaging what it would be like to be stuck in space. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.” He paused, and then resumed. “But not like an olive green or anything, like a dark green.” I smiled and waited for his next question. “Chocolate or vanilla?”
“Chocolate, definitely.” Zack shook his head, and I laughed. “But I don’t mind vanilla, either. Uh…” I paused, searching for the right question. We had been at this for nearly an hour now, just going back and forth asking each other the first question that popped into our mind. Our sides were touching as we successfully tried to both fit on my small bed. My hands were in my lap, and Zack’s were clasped behind his head, his elbow just barely touching the side of my head. After about forty-five minutes, I slightly leaned my head towards his elbow, letting it just barely rest on him. “Would you rather have a girl sit on your lap, or hold your hand?” It was probably the most sexual question that had been asked yet, and that was saying something. But Zack didn’t seem bothered by it.
“Both.” He responded confidently.
“You can’t choose both.” I replied laughing. “One or the other. Which one?”
“Both.” Zack said, beginning to laugh as well. “I want a girl who will sit on my lap and hold my hand.”
I threw my hands up in the air in defeat as we both continued to laugh. “Alright, fine. Both.”
“Would you rather date a guy who’s charming and cool, or funny and awkward?”
That was an easy question. I would take someone awkward over someone charming any day. There was something just so fake about a guy who was too charming. “Funny and awkward. Because to me, that is charming.”
“Interesting.” Zack said, looking down at me briefly.
“What’s your favorite hair color on a girl?” I hoped he would say red, especially since I had never met a guy who openly liked girls with red hair before.
Zack shrugged. “Any color, so long as it’s natural.” Okay, I could deal with that. “Are you a virgin?” He asked quickly, and then opened his eyes really wide. My cheeks burned, and I looked down at my hands. “Oh shit, I shouldn’t have asked that. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Here, look, what’s your favorite month?” I didn’t respond, still weighing the pros and cons of answering his question. On the one hand, I knew Zack wouldn’t go and tell his friends, and I wanted to have that kind of trust with him, but what if he scoffed at me? What if he didn’t take me seriously? He must have sensed my uncertainty, because he answered his own question for him. “I like October,” he said kindly, though perhaps a bit too rapidly, “because it’s not too hot and not too cold, and I like Halloween. I also like how the leav –“
“Yeah.” I said finally, and he stopped talking instantly. “I’m a virgin.” He didn’t say anything, instead just watched my movements carefully. Looking back down at my hands as I picked at a fraying patch on my jeans, I continued. “Go on. Laugh at the seventeen year old virgin.” My tone was light, but I didn’t look up at him, nor did I smile.
“I don’t think it’s funny.” He said softly.
“Pathetic, then?” I replied, pulling at a few threads.
“No, it’s not pathetic at all. And stop doing that.” He said, reaching out and grabbing one of my hands in his. “You’re going to ruin your jeans.” I liked the way my hand felt in his, and I rotated my wrist so that he was no longer grasping the outside of my hand, but our fingers were interlocking. We stared down at our hands, situated on my lap and still clasped together. “I don’t tell anyone about what we do at your house, you know.” He said quietly, and I wondered where he was going with it. “I mean, I told Jack after the first night that I had fun hanging out with you and we worked on school work and stuff, but after that whenever someone would ask what we did, I would just shrug.”
“Why?” I asked, my voice quiet but my tone genuinely interested. I didn’t expect him to say something like ‘because I’m embarrassed to be around you’ or anything – Zack wasn’t like that.
He shrugged, but didn’t let go of my hand. “Because I like doing things with only you. Not doing things with you, and having everyone else know so much they may as well have been there. Then it isn’t as…” He paused, searching for the right word. “Nice.”
“Nice?” I asked, grinning softly.
“Nice.” He repeated, a smile gracing his lips. “This is nice.”
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “This is really nice.”