The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

“So do you think I can come and crash at your house after the party?” Kylie asked as we approached the house. We could already hear the music, yet strangely enough none of the other houses seemed to give a damn.

“Yeah, sure,” I responded. It was a Friday night, and my parents were spending the night at my grandparent’s house. “I’ll probably walk home when I get what I need, so you can just walk home whenever, too.”

“Great, thanks.” Our small talk continued until we entered the home, and then like at the first party, we went our separate ways. I put my hand back in my pocket, checking for what felt like the tenth time that I had my phone on me.

I searched for nearly twenty minutes, looking everywhere for Zack, but I couldn’t find him. I began to worry that he chose not to come to the party, but this was completely his scene; he wouldn’t miss it, would he?

Beginning to grow frustrated, I mixed myself something to drink and searched the first floor yet again. I saw Kylie out of the corner of my eye flirting with Brad, and anger boiled inside of me. I wasn’t going to lose tonight.

“Ava!” I heard a voice exclaim, and I turned around quickly with the hopes it would be Zack. My smile faltered slightly when I saw Jack walking towards me, followed by Kara and Rian.

“Hey, guys,” I said, adjusting my cell phone in my pocket. “What’re you doing here?” I tried not to act too surprised that Zack’s friends from Dulaney had shown up at a party hosted by a guy from our school. Stranger things had occurred.

“Alex is good friends with Andrew, so we got the details from him,” Rian replied, taking a sip of his drink. I eyed his hand that was clasping Kara’s, trying not to let my gaze linger on it for too long.

“Awesome,” I said, biting my lip and looking around once more. “Have you guys, uh, seen Zack?”

“Aw!” Jack exclaimed, throwing his arm around me. “So cute. We all knew you were into him.” I blushed slightly, though they must have taken it in a different way that I did.

“No, really, we’re just friends,” I insisted. Kara just smirked.

“So then you won’t be angry if I told you Zack just went upstairs with another girl?” Fuck! What if Kylie was already up there? What if she saw? I was so screwed.

“What?” I nearly screeched, and they all just doubled over in laughter.

“Better go quickly,” Jack added. “If you don’t want lover-boy to do anything he’ll regret.” I didn’t even bother to correct him. I shoved my drink into Jack’s hand and turned to go up the stairs. I thought I heard Kara call after me about Zack being drunk, but I didn’t bother to turn around. All of my thoughts were consumed with the concept that Kylie might have already caught Zack and this other girl. I could just imagine her standing right there, all smug and proud.

It made me sick.

As I pulled open door after door, I was finally greeted with the sight of Zack rolling around the bed with another girl. While he was fully clothed, her shirt was already off. I slammed the door behind me, catching both of their attentions.

“Ava!” Zack cheerfully exclaimed. “What’s up?”

“You’re what’s up,” I responded, eyeing the girl warily. “C’mon, we’ve got to head out.”

“Aw, don’t be like that Ava. Jenna and I were just having a good time, that’s all.”

“Party’s over, Zack. Time to go.” I walked towards him, took his arm and yanked him off the bed. He fell to the floor with a thud, before both him and Jenna began to break out into hysterical cackles. I rolled my eyes and began to tug on his arm yet again. “Seriously, Zack, how drunk are you?” Zack just shrugged as he began to put his shoes on, and Jenna fumbled with her shirt. Obviously she was drunk too, because she barely put up a fight when I pulled him away from her.

“I’m not sure. I only had about… seven drinks.” I frowned when he held up five fingers. “Oh, and a blunt.”

“Uh hu,” I mumbled. As Zack struggled with his shoelaces, I groaned before bending down and tying them for him.

“Hey, what’s up here?” He questioned with a smile, lifting up my skirt slightly. I slapped his hand away instantly.

“Don’t touch me,” I spat, causing Zack’s eyes to widen in fear. “You make my life hard, you know that?” I questioned, and Zack just started laughing again.

“You make me hard,” was his response. I disregarded it, even though my mind kept telling me otherwise: drunken words are sober thoughts.

“Jenna, what school do you go to?” I asked as I helped him off of the floor. He smelled awful; like beer, sweat, and girl’s hairspray. Probably Jenna’s.

“St. Mary’s,” was her response. Good – there was no way Kylie would find out about this, especially because Jenna went to an exclusive private girl’s school three town’s over.

“You’re shirt is on backwards, Jenna!” Exclaimed Zack, and they both broke out into laughter for the third time.

“Lets go, Zack,” I mumbled, dragging him out of the room even though he was still laughing.

“Where’re we going?” He asked, clasping my hand tightly.

“Outside.”

“But why!” He whined, dragging out the ‘y’ in ’why’.

“Because I said so,” I answered flatly. The night air was brisk when it hit my skin, and we were only about ten feet out of the house before Zack suddenly stopped walking.

“I don’t want to go home,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest in a childish form of protest. “Why should I leave?” I stared at him for a moment, until my gaze moved back towards the window of the house. There staring down at me with a sly grin was Kylie. I watched as she tapped her wrist gently – a silent reminder of my time constraints. I didn’t move until she was gone, but my heart was in throat. I had to do something now.

Gaining my courage, I said, “This is why.” Grabbing Zack’s hand in mine, I moved it up my shirt and under my bra. His hand was cold, and there was something sticky on his fingers, but that didn’t stop him from squeezing my breast. He giggled, and I grasped my phone in my pocket. “Zack, look,” I added, motioning behind him. He turned his head, though his hand was still under my shirt. I snapped a quick picture before pulling his hand out from my bra.

“Wait, can’t I keep it up there?” He questioned, and I shook my head.

“Not right now,” I replied. “I just want to go home.”

“So lets go home,” he said, and I smiled inwardly. I had Zack wrapped around my finger, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not yet, but it would certainly make playing the game easier. As we started walking away from the house, I fiddled with my phone until I was able to send Kylie the picture in a text message. “Wait,” he said suddenly, and my head snapped up. “Can I spend the night at your house?” I opened my mouth to respond, and then stopped.

“Yeah, sure,” I finally said. I flipped open my phone and began to text Kylie again.

To: Kylie

change of plans. my parents r coming home soon. i dont think u can spend the night. sorry!!

“Thanks,” he responded with a grin.

We walked in silence for the majority of the walk, and I hoped that on the way back to my house Zack would sober up, and for a while I thought he was getting better. Until he started skipping, and then singing, and then he finally tossed a few cartwheels in there. Albeit, pathetic cartwheels, but cartwheels nevertheless. I couldn’t hold the smile back.

“I’m great, aren’t I?” He boasted proudly, and I just smiled.

“You’re great, Zack.” The boy grinned and I turned up the driveway to my house quickly, with Zack nipping at my heels. I twisted the key in the lock, the door opening smoothly. “So you can sleep in the guest room, if you want,” I began, continuing to turn on lights all over my house. When I returned to the living room, I was surprised to see Zack already crashed on my couch. I sighed as I draped a blanket over him and pushed his sweaty bangs away from his face.

Though it was already about 1:30 in the morning, I didn’t feel compelled to go to sleep, as tomorrow was Saturday. And so I found myself doing what I liked best: baking. I let out all my frustrations as I sliced the apples and began to knead the piecrust. I helped myself to a glass of cold milk, watching the time tick by as my pie sat in the oven. I could hear Zack snoring in the other room, the constant sound relaxing to my stressed conscience.

At 3:00, after enjoying two slices of my creation, I heard a rustling in the other room. I watched in silence as Zack entered the kitchen and sat down across from me. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was all over the place. Without saying a word I pushed towards him a glass of water and a bottle of pills I had set out for when I knew he would wake up – though I figured he would sleep for more than just an hour and a half. He took them without putting op a fight, and thanked me with a nod. “What’s that?” He asked, motioning towards the pie with a raspy voice.

“Humble pie,” I said flatly, and Zack looked genuinely hurt. I cut him a small slice and put it on my plate, before pushing it towards him.

“I guess I did something to deserve that,” he mumbled as he took a bite.

“You made out with some girl at the party.”

He snorted. “Well what do you want me to do, Ava? We’re not dating, so I can do whatever I want. And besides, you were being a total bitch to me in class yesterday,” scoffed Zack. My expression softened slightly.

“I told you: I wasn’t feeling well,” I defended poorly. Zack shrugged in response.

“I would’ve taken you home after class. I would’ve bought you seltzer. I would’ve done anything to help you feel better, but you didn’t give me the chance. You just blew me off.” I looked down at the table, unable to make eye contact with Zack.

“Sorry,” I said softly.

“I really like you, Ava,” Zack began, and I could tell this was going in a direction I didn’t want it to go in. “And I know it’s kind of bad that I only started to like you at that party at Julia’s, but I think it was the first time I saw that you liked me more than just… an English partner.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. “And – And I’d really like it if you’d let me take you out tonight.”

“Sure,” I responded, though I could tell I was unsure of myself. Zack smiled, and I forced myself to smile, too. I didn’t want to hurt him, but at the same time, I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

And no one ever taught me how to get out of situations like these.