Don't Complain If You Can't Win

Her eyes shut tightly as she bit down on her lip with much force. She inhaled sharply and twisted to her left away from him with her hands covering her face because the movie scared her. A slight chuckle departed from his lips as he looked over at Leighton and gently put his arm around her shoulders after putting up the arm rest between them. Zack pulled her body closer into his side and looked down at her squinting eyes with a smile. He knew bringing her to a movie that would frighten her would get them close, and that's exactly what he was getting.

"You scared?" he asked her in a whisper.

Leighton nodded her head at him and peeked through her fingers at the screen. She knew Amityville Horror would be scary, but she never thought it would be this much. It didn't help that her heart was beating quickly because of Zack either; him touching her sent shivers throughout her body but at the same time, his sweet scent calmed her senses. But she was nervous; Leighton was still unable to believe she was really out on a date with Zack.

Leaning into his side more, Leighton kept her eyes covered for the rest of the movie. Every time she would jump from being startled, Zack would hold her even closer to himself. She liked that; Leigh could feel herself turning to mush every time his grip would tighten around her. It crossed her mind every second that she wouldn't mind him holding onto her like this everyday; Leigh even let the thought of how his lips felt against hers roam through her head, too.

"Well that was a good movie," Zack said as soon as they exited the cinema.

The night air wisped by, blowing her brown hair into her face. She nodded as she tucked the strands back behind her ear with a shy smile. "Yeah, but it sure did scare me. I'll probably have nightmares with that red thing from the bathroom in them."

Zack laughed lightly and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You think so?" She nodded vigorously. "I'd make sure you never have a nightmare again."

A deep red blush flushed Leighton's cheeks and she bit her lip as she looked away. Zack knew why she was hiding her face and held back the temptation he had of calling her cute. To rid that thought, he gazed up at the stars with a heavy sigh before pulling out his cell phone to check the time. It was already almost twelve in the morning, and he suddenly had the feeling where he didn't want the night to end. Zack was enjoying himself. He was enjoying his time out with her.

With another sigh, he returned his gaze back to Leighton who was staring down at her feet still biting her lip. "Do you want to go get some ice cream?" he asked hopefully.

Leighton couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "Ice cream? Where would we get ice cream at this time?"

"I always have a plan," Zack smiled, walking out of the gas station he drove to after leaving the theater, holding two drumsticks in his hand. She shook her head and smiled as she took one of the cones from him.

"Sometimes I wonder what really goes on in that head of yours," Leighton squinted her eyes at him trying to sound as sarcastic as possible, but her statement wasn't completely false. She did want to know what he was thinking even if it were just for a few minutes.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to. My head is so cluttered, I can barely function," he said as they sat down on the curb in front of his car as he concentrated on unwrapping his drumstick. "So Leighton, tell me about yourself," Zack told her as he picked off a piece of a peanut from the hardened chocolate before popping it in his mouth.

"Well," she started and bundled her trash in a ball. "I live with my mom." Leigh shrugged and bit the chocolate to get to the vanilla ice cream.

"No dad?" Zack did the same.

"Nah. It's just me and my mom; I like it more that way. What about you?"

"I live in a full house, I'll just say that," he laughed. "What do you like to do on your free time?"

"Believe it or not, I've actually become almost obsessed with working out. Whether it'd be running or going to the gym, I'll enjoy it," Leighton smiled to herself and peaked at Zack for any hints he was giving off that he may finally recognize her. Nothing.

"Really? That's awesome! I like athletic girls," he smiled. "And I love working out, too. Are you into sports at all?"

"Not exactly, but I am thinking about trying out for the volleyball team. Try-outs are soon and I don't even know where to begin to train," she licked her ice cream.

"I can train you," Zack lifted his head and turned to face her more. Leighton looked at him with a puzzled stare and gave him a muttered "what?" "I'll train you. I may not be the best volleyball player, but I can get you prepared for conditioning. I'm sure they'd want someone with good strength, speed, and stamina."

"You'd really help me?" she asked, still unsure if he was being serious or not.

"Yeah! Or course. Why wouldn't I want to help out?" Leighton shrugged and looked down at her ice cream. "Besides, it'd give me more time to spend with you," Zack said softly as he looked at her with a small smile. Leigh hated that he was able to make her blush.

--------------------

"So, what are you doing later?" Courtney asked while on the phone with her best friend.

"Well," Leighton trailed off, switching her cell phone to her opposite ear before turning left in the intersection, "I'm actually headed to the gym right now."

"By yourself? I think this is the first time you haven't bugged me to go with you," she laughed lightly.

Frowning to herself, Leigh pulled into the gym's parking lot and drove slowly to find an empty spot. "Um, yeah. Well, you see," she said uneasily, "the other night, I went out with Zack, and uh, he offered to train me for the volleyball try-outs..." A deathly silence came from the other end just as she pulled into a space. "Court?"

"And you're telling me this why?" she finally answered with a tone that clearly said she wasn't happy.

"I didn't know what else to say but the truth! You can't be mad at me, Courtney, for working out with him," Leighton told her. "Don't be mad," she stated more calmly. "I know you don't want to hear about him anymore, and this will be the last time, I promise."

"I gotta go, Leighton," Courtney said just before she hung up.

With a heavy, frustrated sigh, Leighton shut off her car and set her phone in the center console before getting out. She understood Courtney was upset, but Leigh thought she was doing the right thing by not lying to her best friend. Even though she knew it was stupid for her to be mad, Leighton shook out the conversation from her mind to deal with later. Right now, she was to work out with Zack Merrick.

Taking in a deep breath, Leighton entered the gym and was greeted with the smell of stale sweat and body odor. She scrunched up her nose and fanned the smell from her face before walking any further. Almost immediately she heard her name being called and when she turned in the direction, Zack was coming toward her with a smile.

"Glad you made it," he said; Leighton smiled. "You ready to get started?"

"Yep. You're not going to work me too hard today, are you?" she asked, taking the water bottle that Zack was handing her. His reply: a wink and a smirk.

Sweat dripped from her forehead as the speed of the treadmill seemed to increase since her legs began to feel like jell-o. Her breathing was rugged and Leighton felt as if she would pass out at any moment. Zack chuckled to himself as he ran the same pace beside her running as smooth as he did when they first started. Leighton shot him a death glare before giving up and pressing stop on the treadmill and hopping on the sides.

"I'm going to pass out," she said between breaths as she grabbed her water.

Zack stopped his treadmill, too. "We still have five minutes left," he noted and took a sip of his water.

Leighton staggered to the nearest bench and plopped herself on it. "I won't last five more seconds," she breathed, lying down with her feet pulled up by her butt. "I've ran long distances before, but never at that pace. I'm beat!"

"You did great, though," Zack took a seat next to her head. "Five minute break and we'll toss the medicine ball."

"Three hours of working out isn't enough?" Leigh laughed lightly.

"I'm working you hard. This way, the coaches will be begging you to be on their team."

"Right. I'm not even sure if I want to try-out. I mean, it'll be good for me, but I don't know," she said as she fanned her face to cool down. "The last time I tried out for a team, I was humiliated." She sat up as she remembered the insults thrown at her by Zack and his friends at the softball try-outs she went to last year.

"How's that?" he was interested in her story.

"Well, let's just say some people can't keep their mouths shut," she told him with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Let's get back to working out," she insisted and picked up a fifteen pound medicine ball from the floor by the bench.

Once Zack was standing about ten feet or so in front of her, she pushed hard and threw the ball to him. He caught it with no problem and gently threw it back to her. The ball hit her chest with a thud as she caught it, pushing her a step back as it did so. Leighton furrowed her eyebrows and threw it back, preparing herself for the next catch.

"So, Leighton, I was thinking," Zack informed as he threw it back; she caught the ball much like the first time. "My friend's parents are going out of town this weekend and is having a party," he told her as he caught the ball and threw it back.

As the ball hit her chest, she winced since it hit the same spot for the third time in a row. Holding the ball for a second, she took in what Zack told her about this party. His friend was throwing it, but she had a feeling about this friend; she knew it had to be one of them.

"Oh, cool," she acted like she wasn't that interested and threw the ball back.

He caught it. "Yeah, Jack remembered you from the run you took that one day," he threw the ball, "and wanted me to invi- Fuck! Leighton!"

As soon as she heard Jack's name being said, Leighton's body instantly froze; even the ball coming towards her didn't get her to move. The only thing that got her moving was the force of the medicine ball coming in contact with her jaw and knocking her to the ground.

"Oh my God, Leighton! I'm so sorry!" Zack rushed to her side and helped her sit up. "Are you okay?" he placed his fingers under her chin to turn her head to examine the red, welted mark.

"Ow," she muttered when his thumb rubbed over her jaw, "that's going to bruise."

He chuckled lightly. "So I'll take that as you're okay?" Leighton nodded. "What happened? You just all of a sudden went blank; I didn't expect you to freeze."

"I don't know," she said not wanting to explain herself. "It hurts," she whined, lifting her hand to touch her cheek.

"Don't touch it," he told her and smiled to himself before leaning in towards her face. Butterflies fluttered rapidly in the pit of her stomach as her breath got caught in her throat. Very lightly, Zack kissed her jaw careful enough to not put on anymore pain to her forming bruise. "That better?"

A deep red blush formed along her cheeks, but on her left cheek, it wasn't very noticeable because her cheek was already red. Leighton couldn't believe he had kissed her. Even if it hadn't been on the lips, it was still a kiss. It was a kiss that left her bruise tingling with something that no longer felt like pain.

"C'mon, let's go put some ice on that," he smiled and grabbed a hold of her hand.