Your Biggest Misconception

“You’re going whether you want to or not.” Manda informed me as she grinned in an overly happy fashion. “I told Brian you’d be there.”

“And why does it matter if I go?”

“It just does, now hurry up or we’re going to be late.”

I growled as I pulled on my heels. I had been successfully avoiding Zack the past few days and I was rather enjoying the clear thoughts I was having. None of these dating thoughts had even crossed my mind. Yet here I was, being dragged out to another bar I didn’t want to go to with the entire group.

“Oh shape up.” Amanda said with a laugh as she grabbed her jacket and we headed out of her apartment, toward her car.

“It’s downtown Huntington, you like downtown Huntington.” She laughed.

“But we always go there and there’s always guys who try and hit on me.”

“Oh don’t you tell me you don’t like that.”

“Not when they proceed to follow me from bar to bar thinking they have a chance.”

“True, but now we have five guys with us who will happily watch out for us. Besides, if it gets too bad we can go to the bars in Costa Mesa.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” She said. She had better be true to her word.

***

The bar tonight was a different scene. It was packed with people our age out enjoying a Friday night. The live DJ was stationed in the corner and he was spinning hits for the entire evening.

Manda had her arm tightly situated through Brian’s as they walked ahead of me. I was trailing slightly; contemplating how tonight would turn out.

A small grin crossed my face as Brian leaned down and placed a kiss on Manda’s head. I was certainly hoping he would officially ask her out soon. It was so obvious they liked eachother. They truly would be a cute couple and complemented each other nicely. Brian treated her like a gem.

Tonight I was going it alone however, or rather, just going to let loose and see what happened.

“Well look who finally showed up!” I snapped out of the trance the bar atmosphere had placed me in and turned to my left the see Matt flashing his dimples at me. All the other guys were seated at the table on the patio area and Brian and Manda had just sat down to join them.

“Sorry.” I said with a smile as I shook my head lightly. “Got distracted for a moment. It happens a lot in here.”

My heels clicked as I finished crossing the floor to where they all sat watching me. Before sitting I flattened out my too tight jeans and pulled my top down a bit so it was situated correctly.

Out of all the pairs of eyes trained on me the only pair I was aware of was the green ones that were intimately cast on my body.

I sat down without meeting the eyes and took the drink that Matt had offered me. It was a cranberry vodka, my favorite.

Biting the corner of my lip I glanced up out of the corner of my eye and finally met the green ones that were still staring at me.

Zack sat somewhat across from me. He was dressed in a simple green and black plaid shirt that was loosely opened and contained a plain black t-shirt underneath. His hair was gelled up on the top and down on the sides like he normally wore it these days. All of his piercings were in their proper places and he had a necklace hanging around his neck but I couldn’t tell what exactly it was of.

“This is the fucking perfect way to start the weekend.” Jimmy announced breaking my gaze away from Zacky who was now slightly smirking at me. He was holding his glass up for a toast.

I lifted my drink away from my lips and held it out as everyone else followed suit. My eyes locked with Zacky’s once more and I began to tone out Jimmy’s voice unintentionally.

When Zacky’s intense gaze never faltered I knew I had to break it or someone would mention it and then I would be thoroughly embarrassed.

The tension that now surrounded Zacky and me was thick. Not so thick you could cut it with a knife like the saying goes but it was definitely nearing that point. It seemed like the more time I spent with him the less I was able to suppress his charm.

Amanda had definitely been aware of this and was slowly pushing me closer to him despite my want to stay as far away as possible. Unlike my motion to ignore and act like he was nonexistent over the time I had known him, now I found myself wanting to be around him and that scared me. I had never quite had feelings for someone like the ones Zack was harvesting out of me. I was beginning to feel the giddiness Manda spoke of when she mentioned her feelings for Brian. I was feeling the excitement that would build as the time came nearer to seeing Zack. I was feeling content but I was definitely scared.

After several rounds of drinks and a few laughs over Johnny’s latest failed conquest after a girl I was finding the liquid courage was building in my system.

Amanda had since dragged Brian to the dance floor in front of the DJ and I had been asked to let Matt out since he saw a pretty girl he wanted to go chat with.

As my eyes scanned the now hopping bar I saw the DJ booth and was suddenly struck with a rather brave idea. Zacky had gotten rather quiet lately seeing as Jimmy and Johnny had taken to scanning for girls. It struck me rather odd that he himself wasn’t scanning for someone to dance with.

However, this notion made me put my plan into action. I stood up, making all three of them look at me oddly. “I’ll be right back.” I promised and quickly crossed the club to the DJ table.

I pulled a cash bill out of my pocket and placed it in the tip jar. “What’ll it be gorgeous?” He asked with a friendly smile. I leaned over and told him the name of my desired song to which he nodded. “Good choice.” He said before giving me a wink.

I turned and saw Zacky was still sitting at the table thankfully. He still had his beer in hand but was looking rather amused at his two friends. His elbow was resting on the table as his drink hung loosely in the air from his hand.

When I made it to the booth I gently reached out and took his beer, setting it on the table. His eyes turned and locked with mine.

My hand grabbed ahold of his and I was instantly graced with the warmth of his skin against my own. Letting a small grin cross my face I jerked my head slightly in the direction of the dance floor as my song request came flooding through the speakers.

His smirk turned into a slight grin as he allowed me to pull him to his feet.

It was now that I finally noticed black jeans and shoes complimented and completed his attire for the evening.

As I led him to the dance floor not a peep was heard from either of us.

Once we were near the middle I turned and allowed his hands to take me on my waist and draw my back flush against him. The song I chose was an upbeat one and so I moved my hips to the beat, brushing them against his. My grin increased as my favorite part of the chorus was belted out. I found myself humming along to it and soon I was softly singing the lyrics.

By the time the second chorus had rolled around Zacky had leant his head down and he too was singing the lyrics to the song which made me chuckle and turn around.

I wrapped my arms bravely around his neck as he entangled his fully around my waist.

The grin I was sporting now stretched across my face and could be seen mirrored across his as we sang together and danced.

Our movements were one as I allowed myself to be led by his gentleness.

In all honestly I was extremely enjoying myself and I hoped the same could be said for Zack.

Once the song ended I was still locked in an eye stare with him as we both grinned at eachother.

Now that the ice was broken I figured now would be a good time for another drink of sorts.

For the second time tonight I grabbed ahold of Zack’s hand and sent him a smile before leading him toward the bar.

Standing there against the bar I began to feel more at ease with Zack. I was well aware that his eyes were watching my every move but something in me didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Pulling my gaze away form his I hailed the bartender and placed my order, a special drink I had come to like a few years ago with Amanda’s help. It was unique and not many places knew how to make it. Thankfully the girl behind the bar nodded and sent me a wink before hurrying down the bar to grab the necessary poisons.

Zacky looked at me with a baffled expression, not having a clue what I had just ordered him. I just sent him a wink as well and turned my gaze back to the girl who was now returning.

She had the two glasses in hand and set them down in front of us.

Zacky took one look at the drink and wrinkled his nose. “What the hell is this?” He asked as he looked down at the purple-ish drink once again that was oddly enough topped with a small yellow umbrella. I had to laugh and appreciate the bartender’s sense of humor for that one. I took the umbrella out of my drink and brought the glass to my lips.

One of Zack’s arms was still around my waist as we leaned against the bar. “Just try it. It’s got a shot of a little of everything in it.” I said as I took another sip and savored the liquid joy that ran down my throat.

Zack blinked a few times and looked back up at me before furrowing his brow and pulling out the umbrella. “This is so something I don’t want to be seen drinking.” He admitted as he swirled the drink around in the glass with his free hand.

Emitting a chuckle I set mine down and placed my palm flat against the bar counter. “Just try it.” I insisted again.

He scrunched up his nose and finally brought the glass to his lips before allowing the liquid to drain into his mouth. Slowly his bro unfurrowed and his eyes relaxed.

I sent a grin up at him as he set the drink down and ran his tongue over his pierced lips. “Wow.” He said as he looked down at me. “That’s not half bad.”

“Did you really think I’d give you something nasty?” I giggled as I finished off my drink and slid the now empty glass down to the girl who caught it effortlessly.

Zacky just shrugged in response, making me roll my eyes at him.

“Now it’s my turn to lead you somewhere.” He said as his eyes twinkled once he finished off his drink as well.

“Ok.” I whispered softly as he took my hand in his own and began pulling me toward the door.

After dancing and having felt it, I knew Zacky had his cell phone tucked into his pocket so I wasn’t worried about being out of contact with the rest of the group.

As we stepped out into the cool Huntington air I breathed in and let out a sigh. It felt nice to have some fresh air besides that of the stuffy bar.

Instead of pulling me along by my hand, Zack wrapped an arm around my waist as he led me through the Main Street promenade toward the beach side of the PCH.

We reached the oversized crosswalk and pushed the button before waiting. Zacky’s eyes were trained across at the pier so I took the opportunity to sneak a peek up at him out of the corner of my eye.

Before now I had a lot of misconceptions about Zack and while I knew I still had some to overcome, he was starting to make some of them disintegrate into thin air.

The cross sign gave us the ok to cross along with the handful of other people. As we got further away from the lit promenade, our light source changed from street lights to those of the pier and the moon up above.

Instead of Zack leading us to the pier like I thought he had planned he hung a right and started to walk out into the sand. He had since gone back to holding my hand and so I gave it a quick tug making him pause. I leant down and tugged off my heels before hooking them around my free index finger.

Zack watched as I removed my shoes and once I was done he began to lead me into the sand once more. The beach was fairly empty now since the sun had set and it was pretty late. The occasional couple was seen taking a walk and I sent a smile in the direction of the ones we passed just to be friendly.

The cool breeze was pushing my hair over my shoulder as it blew against our backs. It was invigorating and I felt myself sobering up a bit. I was still fully aware of the situation I was in and was actually glad to be in it for once.

Once we passed what looked to be the last couple for a little while ahead of us Zacky turned and faced the ocean before pulling my body in front of him. Much like how we were dancing he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder gently. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” He questioned deeply as goosebumps rose on my arms, which had come to rest on top of his own tattooed ones holding them in place.

“No.” I said as I turned my face slightly so I could glance into his eyes.

One of his eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

He rotated his arms and ran his thumbs along the underside of my forearms. “So these are good chills then?” He asked and I could hear the smirk evident in his voice.

I cursed my body for reacting the way it did and allowing more goosebumps to arise on my neck as his breath cascaded along the side of it.

He simply mused a chuckle at the response.

“Possibly.” I said with a shaky breath.

A gulp passed through my throat as Zacky slowly turned my body around and kept his arms around my waist so I was still pressed against him.

Our only lighting now was that of the moon and the dim rays reflected off of the water nicely. Zacky’s eyes were glowing almost as I stared into them and found comfort.

The butterflies in my stomach were almost unreal as more and more they accumulated.

I watched as Zack’s eyes drifted down breaking my gaze to settle on my lips momentarily. He blinked once and then his stare was back on my eyes.

Heart racing I allowed my eyes to flutter closed once he started to lean in.

At the touch of his pierced lips on mine my knees melted and I said a prayer that he was holding me up.

If you had asked me a month ago if I saw myself with Zack the answer would have been a big fat hell no. However, now that I was in the position I couldn’t help but admit that it felt completely right.

I brought my hands up and let them tangle in Zack’s black hair, keeping his face pressed against mine. Vaguely aware that his hands had since found a home in the back pockets of my jeans, I let out a sigh against his lips as he pulled back gently.

His eyes found mine once more but only held the gaze momentarily before he dove in for a second helping.

I could barely taste the remnants of our drinks on his tongue as it gently pressed it’s way into my mouth.

My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest at any minute. The intensity of the kiss was startling and made my body melt.

I pulled away for a need to catch my breath. Zack leaned his forehead against mine for a moment as I let out a sigh of content.

Rotating my head I rested it against his chest as his chin settled on top of my head softly. I lowered my hands so they mirrored his in his back pockets.

Closing my eyes I realized I was happy.

Something finally felt right and after all this time I was pleased with the outcome of it all.

Zack had definitely changed my mind about him.