Your Biggest Misconception

“Why are you acting so awkward?” Amanda questioned as she popped a chip into her mouth after plucking it from her plate.

She and I were currently sitting at Brian’s kitchen bar area where we were enjoying some lunch before we would all be heading back out to the beach to watch more of the surf competition. Today was also the day they had the bmx and skate ramps set up so that would be fun to see as well. I also wanted to do some shopping, much to the guys’ chagrin.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I snagged one of her chips off of her plate and brushed her off when she tried to playfully whack my hand.

“I mean, you’ve been acting funny since last night. You and Zack both have. So spill. What happened?” She prodded further. I knew it was only a matter of time before she figured out that something had happened. She knew me too well.

“Well, last night when Zack and I came back from the beach together, we both took a shower. Separately mind you!” I quickly added in when she raised her eyebrow at me. “I realized I was in such a hurry to get clean that I forgot to take my clothes into the bathroom with me. So me, being ever so smart, figured I’d make a mad dash for my room and be safe right?”

“Let me guess.” Amanda interjected. “You didn’t make it.”

I nodded my head causing her to laugh. “I opened the door and bolted. Only I bolted straight into Zack who was also only wearing a towel. Talk about awkward. It only gets better though.” I paused and stuffed another of her chips into my mouth in an attempt to distract her from my beating red face. “He totally tucked my hair behind my ear and we both did a once over on eachother before coming to our senses and cussing eachother out. Only then did I make it to my room.”

Amanda was laughing so hard by the end of my explanation that she was gripping the edge of the bar to stay seated upright.

Footsteps sounded and our conversation was cut short as Zack and Brian entered the kitchen. Amanda was still laughing but had definitely noticed them. Zack was looking between me and Amanda, noticing my blush. He cocked an eyebrow and then walked toward the fridge.

Once Amanda managed to get her laughter under control Brian walked to the opposite side of the bar where he leaned on the counter as he faced us. “What’s so funny?” He questioned with a smile.

“Nothing.” I said softly hoping he would believe me. However, a girl laughing hysterically while her best friend is blushing is definitely nothing and he was well aware of this.

Brian looked over his shoulder while pointing with his thumb at Zack who was still absorbed in the fridge and looked like he was contemplating just what his stomach wanted to eat.

Amanda brought her hand to her mouth in an attempt to not laugh. She nodded her head at him while I simply groaned in sheer embarrassment. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to share the story with my best friend and that made me feel slightly better. Boys talked about this stuff just as much as girls did.

Brian lowered his thumb and gave me a decent sized smirk. I raised my finger in warning to him, only for him to wink and stand up straight. Zack turned around after closing the fridge and he emerged with a can of coke in his hand. He paused when he saw the way Brian was now looking between himself and me. Zack looked from Brian and then to Amanda who was still seated with a funny grin on her face and then finally to me and my still red face.

“Damn it.” He mumbled as he took a drink of his soda. Amanda started laughing once again and Brian was looking rather smug as he leaned with his back against the counter and his arms crossed across his chest.

“Caught red handed.” Brian laughed loudly.

“Oh shut the fuck up Syn.” Zack told his friend before he too leaned back against the counter.

“You guys are so fucking cute.” Brian teased further, making Zack cock his head downward so he could fire off a glare in his direction.

“Are we leaving soon or not?” Zack asked in an attempt to change the topic. Brian glanced at his watch before nodding his head.

“Yep! Time to go!”

Thankful for the change in subject matter I stood up from the barstool I was sitting on and pushed it in. Amanda threw away her garbage and then joined me to go grab our purses. “You won’t be needing those.” Brian said as he took our purses and set them back down on the couch.

“Yes we will.” Manda objected. “We wanted to do some shopping.” She explained only for Brian to shake his head.

“I know. But like I said, you won’t need your purses. They stay here except for your IDs.”

“You’re not paying for anything we buy.” I informed Brian who was looking rather adamant about what he had said.

“I’d like to see you try and stop me.” He said with a smirk before shooing us out the front door of his house to where Zacky was already standing by the car.

“They’re impossible.” Manda mumbled to me as we climbed into the overly fancy car for the second day in a row.

“Hey now. No shit talking from the peanut gallery.” Zacky said as he turned around and gave us a good-natured grin. I was surprised at his friendly interaction as it had only been several hours since our run in. I had been certain that today was going to turn into another awkward day that I would be forced to spend with him. Especially after the run in last night.

I quirked an eyebrow at him in slight confusion. He in turn, only slipped me a wink before he turned back to face the front of the car.

Exchanging a sideways glance with Amanda, I crossed my arms and heaved a sigh. Brian looked at me shortly through the rear view mirror before the light turned green and he turned left onto a side street where he knew there would be parking only the locals would know about.

“There’s Matt’s fucking car. I knew he’d get a fucking space before us.” Zack mumbled as he frowned at the large black SUV that was parallel parked up against a curb.

“Oh don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Brian said to Zack who scowled.

Craning my neck forward between the two front seats I looked ahead of us and spotted a car pulling out of a parallel spot not too far ahead. “There’s one.” I said, shocking both Zack and Brian from my sudden closeness.

Brian put his foot down on the pedal hard, causing me to be thrust back into my seat with wide eyes. However, both Amanda and myself let out a shriek as the break was applied shortly with just as much force as the accelerator. A tiny smart car had come flying out of an alley way and cut in front of us.

“What the fuck!” Zack yelled as he threw his hands up into the air. “If that bastard takes our spot so help me.”

Sure enough, the rude little car expertly pulled into the parallel spot that was way too big for it and would have been the right size for us.

I could tell Brian’s face was fuming and Zack was beside himself. “That’s it.” He said before he flung he door open and climbed out of the car. My hand flew to my mouth as I watched through the windshield as he approached the driver of the smart car who had just climbed out. The guy driving it looked to be in his mid thirties and he had whom I assumed to be his wife that got out of the passenger’s seat.

Brian threw the car into park before he too climbed out of the vehicle. “Oh no.” I mumbled as me and Manda watched with semi-horrified expressions.

“Hey man. This was our spot. We’ve been driving around for awhile now and you clearly cut us off.” I could hear Zack say in a muffled voice.

The guy looked to clearly be well off. He was wearing a business suit, which seemed out of place for a surf competition, and his wife was all glammed up as well. I wrinkled my nose and could just imagine them being a hoity-toity couple from Newport.

“Too bad.” I could hear the guy say to Zack, whose face was becoming redder with anger as the seconds passed.

“Look fucker.” Brian started off. It was quite apparent he had already lost his cool. “We were waiting. I even threw my turn indicator on and you had to be an ass and cut me off. You could easily fit your car elsewhere, where as I can’t.”

The lady was rolling her eyes at Brian and that made my blood boil. Granted I thought it was sort of petty for them to be arguing over a spot in the first place. They must have seen it from a different point of view however because Brian and Zack were having none of this shit it seemed.

“This is so embarrassing.” Amanda mumbled from behind her hands.

“I know.” I mumbled as the yelling only seemed to get louder. I hid my face and tried to block out the vehement cursing that was now coming from all parties involved.

“Oh screw this.” I muttered, deciding I had just about had enough. The time they were wasting arguing could have been used to find a different spot.

Throwing my door open I stepped up onto the running board and placed my fingers in the corners of my mouth. With a blow I let out one of my infamous loud whistles and the cursing instantly ceased. Brian and Zack looked at me standing up on the running board with one of my arms slung over the open door.

“Boys, let’s go.” I stated rather than asked.

Both men glared at me while the guy and his wife just stood there laughing. “You two are pussy whipped. What, are you both sharing her?”

Zack pulled one of his snakebites into his mouth before his eyes narrowed and he turned back to the man with one of his fists swinging. I let out a very audible gasp as Brian took hold of his friend who was wailing away on the man. His wife was screaming for them to stop and I just sort of stood there in shock, unable to believe Zack had punched the man.

Amanda had since climbed out of the car and was running to Brian’s aid. “Don’t you dare say that about my friends.” Zack snarled at the man who now had a bloody nose he was clutching. “Let alone a lady you fucker!” He finished as Brian was finally able to pull Zack away from the scene and back toward the car. I climbed down and opened the passenger door before Brian shoved Zack into the seat with a glare and turned to the man once more.

“That was low man. You can have the fucking spot.” He said with a shake of his head before he too climbed into the driver’s side. I looked at Amanda in disbelief for a moment before the both of us climbed back in and Brian took off down the street further, away from the scene.

The silence between everyone was deafening. Zack had pulled out a few tissues from a box Brian had between the seats and was wiping off his bloody knuckles.

“What the fuck Zack.” He commented softly as his friend stared out the window in silence.

Something was nagging at me that there was something more behind Zack’s anger then I was aware of. That comment from the douchebag typically wouldn’t anger any guy under normal circumstances. It was a low blow that could easily be brushed off and ignored. Somehow it got under Zack’s skin though and that wasn’t a normal response.

“Are you ok Zacky?” Amanda asked softly as she looked at him from the side since she was sitting behind Brian and had a clear view of the rhythm guitarist.

Zack twisted his head to look at her and I could vaguely see the ghost of a smile cross his face. “I’m fine.”

“Why the fuck are there no damn parking spots? This is supposed to be the locals place!” Brian complained as he had to double back and try to find a spot elsewhere.

After much grumbling on his part he eventually found an open spot a block over from where Matt had been parked. At least we were somewhat close still.

Once we were situated in our spot and Zack had cleaned himself up a bit we all started walking toward where Matt had informed us he and the other guys were. They were sitting in a bar on Main Street, enjoying a much needed drink according to Matt. It figures they would all be drinking already.

Brian and Zack were walking a fair distance ahead of us. I took this opportunity to talk to Amanda about what had happened earlier. “I think something was up with him.” I whispered lightly to her as we watched the two men walk and converse back and forth.

After staring at them momentarily she glanced sideways at me as well. “Yeah I think you’re right. I almost think it was a bad experience or something because there’s no reason he should have reacted that way.”

“My thoughts exactly.” I replied softly as we turned the corner and were now within viewing distance of Main Street Huntington.

“I’m not even sure I want to go hit this bar. It’s too early to be drinking for me.” She informed me after a momentary pause. I was right there with her on that one. I didn’t mind that the guys were drinking already, however, I didn’t feel like joining in this early in the day.

“We’ve come to a consensus.” I informed Zack and Brian loudly, making them pause in their tracks as we finally neared the bar that was already hopping with the lunch crowd. They both looked at us expectantly, as if slightly scared of our grandiose idea.

“While you two join the guys at the bar, we are going to go scope out Forever 21.” Amanda informed them with an accomplished grin. One would think she had won the lottery with the way she was smiling at them.

Forever 21 was only down on 5th street so it was just around the corner. I had a feeling it was going to be a mad house with tourists but that was fine by me. You got used to it when you lived in Huntington. I just wanted to do a quick run through and see if anything decent popped out at me.

Brian sent us both a grin before he fished out his wallet. My brow creased at the action but then my eyes widened as he slipped out a black American express card. I looked sideways at Amanda to see her reaction was the same to my own. I didn’t even know that card existed! I had only heard the rumors about it. I knew one had to make and spend a lot of money in order to even be considered for that card. Brian handed the card to Amanda who was looking at it like she was scared to even touch it.

Brian elbowed Zack before he too grunted and fished out his wallet. Pulling out an identical card he handed it over to me with a slight frown.

The astonishment I was feeling toward the card itself quickly disappeared as I stared at the name on the card I was now holding. Zachary James Baker. That was a card I did not want to be in possession of. “That’s ok.” I said as I attempted to hand the card back to Zack. “I don’t need to buy anything.” I said further, feeling like my hopes of maybe picking up a new top or two were suddenly dashed. I could spend my own money if only I had insisted on bringing my purse, I didn’t need Zacky’s.

Brian glared at Zack who also was looking at me with interest. His brow was slightly furrowed and for a moment he just stared. He must have noticed my disappointment that I was trying very hard to mask. With a hand held up he forced a small smile. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.”

I sent him a skeptical look, not very convinced by his half-assed brush off. “Ok look. You don’t seem like the kind of girl to run off with my card and max it out. So go get something you’d like. I promise I don’t mind.” He informed me after heaving a sigh.

My eyes lit up and I dared to lose control of my body in that moment. I stepped forward and bravely threw my arms around him cautiously. I could feel his body stiffen before he too carefully wrapped his arms around my waist.

I opened my eyes and saw Brian and Amanda standing behind Zacky with smirks on their faces. Eyes doubling in size I backed away from Zack with a very apparent red tinge to my cheeks. I looked sideways to the sidewalk, in complete shock that I had just hugged Zack on my own free will.

When I finally felt brave enough to glance up it was to see Zack looked just as shocked as I did. So deciding that this was the right time to leave I grabbed Amanda by the arm and turned away from the guys. “See you boys later!” I called as I hurried away from the guitar duo.

As soon as we rounded the corner Manda started laughing hysterically at me. “Oh that was priceless.”

I hip checked her playfully as we linked arms as only best friends do and headed toward the store.

We entered Forever 21 and each went our separate ways. It being such a big store it was easier to split up and find eachother later. I was quick to find a few shirts and pairs of shorts I wanted to try on.

Once I had my limit of clothes to try on I started scanning the store for Manda. I saw her over in the shoe area, but what stopped me from calling out to her was the bleach blonde that was standing ten feet away from her. She had her arm around a man who could simply be described by tall, dark, and handsome.

Foolishly I ducked down behind a rack as Gena’s eyes scanned the store casually. I dropped to my knees and set the clothes onto the floor. Whipping out my cell phone from my pocket I fired off a text to Manda informing her of who was standing near her.

Ever so slowly I rose to my feet and placed my hands on the rack bar that was above me. Carefully I peered over the rack and through the piles that were stacked on top. Gena and the man were still standing by the shoes, her now with a pair in her hands as she spoke to him enthusiastically. Manda however was gone from sight.

“I thought that was her!” Amanda’s sudden voice startled me to the point of jumping. I grabbed onto some clothes from the rack and they came tumbling to the ground with me. Thankfully there were enough people packed into the store that it didn’t cause a great commotion. Amanda simply looked at me in disbelief.

“Don’t give me that look! It’s your fault! You surprised me!” I tried to defend myself as I hung the clothes back up on the rack that I didn’t want to try on. They however obviously wanted to come with me which was why they jumped off the rack at me.

“Uh huh…sure.” She said with a roll of her eyes. “And you say I’m the klutz.”

I rolled my eyes playfully at my friend before we both peered over the rack again. “You’re not going to believe what I heard her saying.” Amanda started to say as we watched Gena hang all over the guy she was with. “I couldn’t believe it. She was shit talking poor Zack. Saying how all she ever really wanted was his money and how she practically used him all the while being in a relationship with this tool!” My eyes widened as I turned my gaze to her in disbelief.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. I don’t think she remembered me from the beach honestly otherwise I doubt she’d be shit talking on Zack.”

Suddenly I felt a heavy weight tugging my heart down. I remembered the blowout at the beach that day between the two ex-lovers but I had no idea that all of this was happening to the poor guy. I mean sure he could be an ass at times but no one deserved to be used and cheated on. No one.

“Is she gone?” I asked Amanda who was peering over the rack again. She looked down at me and nodded before she stood straight.

“She just left the store.”

My eyes widened as I realized there was a very good chance she could run into the guys if they were walking toward the bar on Main. Whipping out my phone I fired off a text to Brian informing him to keep an eye out. I had a feeling no confrontation would be a hell of a lot easier then a blow up.

“I think we need to finish up and go meet them.” I held up the clothes I wanted to try on. “I think some of these will fit so I’m just going to pick some up and try them on at home later.”

“I always knew I picked a smart best friend.” She replied as we began sifting through our piles.

Once we each had a couple of tops picked out we paid for our things. It surprised me how they did not ask to see ID with the card. California was known for having to show ID. Part of me wondered if it was the card itself that didn’t require it. A perk of the rich and famous.

Whatever the case was I was thankful there were no problems. I was also proud that I only managed to add thirty dollars to Zack’s card. Amanda had no problem piling sixty on Brian’s though. If I had Brian’s I wouldn’t have felt guilty either. If anything he would probably make some comment on how little was added. Zack on the other hand would surely make a fuss.

“I’m so excited! I love these tops!” Manda exclaimed as we exited the store and joined the mass of people walking in the direction of Main Street.

Brian had yet to reply to my text message and I was a bit concerned.

As we rounded the corner the loud chatter and music from the various bars and restaurants filled the air.

I heard Jimmy’s loud laughter from one bar down and could spot him bouncing on his barstool as they sat outside on the patio area near the rail. We fished out our IDs and flashed them to the bouncer who let us into the patio.

“Hello boys.” I said as we pulled up barstools after saying hi to Johnny, Jimmy and Matt. “Where’s Zack?” I asked hesitantly as I pulled out his card to give it back to him, however, he was missing. I hoped he had only gone to the bathroom but the uneasy looks on everyone’s faces told me something otherwise.

“Well, right as Brian got your text, Gena showed up with her male companion.” Jimmy explained, placing a lewd pelvic thrust into his explanation of the male companion. “She talked some shit and Zack got pissed. He’s up at the bar getting another drink.”

“Oh no.” I said softly as I hooked my bag over my knee, feeling very odd that I only had my ID on me and not my entire purse to keep track of.

“Yeah. It was pretty bad.” Johnny sighed softly as he reached up to straighten his Mohawk.

Brian shot Johnny a look to prevent him from talking further. When I turned I noticed Zack was approaching the table with what looked like a Jack and Coke in his hand. I followed the drink up to his face and gulped nervously.

Zack did not look happy one bit and I suddenly had the feeling that the day had just gone down the drain.