Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

The rest of my day was pretty uneventful, up until lunch that is. I was sitting at a table outside, soaking up the sunshine while I ate my lunch. A shadow fell over me as somebody sat down across from me, blocking my sun, and I looked up with a frown. Zack sat across from me, his tray placed in front of him. He didn’t say anything, but rather, just sat there and began eating his food. Over at a nearby table, I could see his buddies from US Government sitting at a nearby table and laughing about something while continuously pointing at me.

“What do you want, Merrick?” I asked, setting down my half-eaten hamburger with a sigh. I watched as he continued eating without acknowledging me, even though I knew he had heard me. “Zack….what are you doing over here?” I asked again, my eyes narrowing slightly as he looked up at me.

“Whaddya mean, what am I doing over here? Can I not come eat lunch with the new girl? I’m just trying to be nice.”

“I’m sure. You’re trying to be nice. Well, I totally appreciate the effort, as bogus as it is,” I scoffed before picking up my burger and biting into it again. Zack was completely silent, almost as if he were studying me. “I didn’t know I was the new exhibit in the local zoo,” I said after I swallowed my food, not wanting to see like a slob. That earned me a laugh, and the attention of all of his friends. His laugh was actually kind of nice; it was gentle, but one look at him told you it was a laugh that went all the way to his stomach. I smiled slightly before finishing off my hamburger and looking up at him. “What’s so funny, Merrick?”

“You are, Miss Henderson. I’ve never met someone who can snap back replies as easily as you can. I think this is going to be a fun year,” he said before standing and going back to where his friends were sitting. I was left there with my mouth open and a shocked look on my face. What the hell did he mean; it was going to be a fun year?

<->

I walked through the front door of my house and was greeted by the aroma of fresh baked cookies, meaning my mother was already home from work. After dropping my bag beside the bottom of the stairs and sliding off my shoes, I headed into the kitchen for a snack. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table checking her email, but she stopped reading a message long enough to say hello and tell me the cookies were cool enough to eat. I grinned and opened up the fridge, pulling out the milk long enough to pour myself a glass.

“How was your first day, sweetheart?”

“Good,” I said before taking a bite out of a milk-soaked cookie. Mmmm…now this is how you end the first day of school. My mom smiled and nodded before shutting her laptop and looking over at me.

“See any cute guys?” she asked.

I groaned and shook my head. My mom had it set in her head that I needed a boyfriend. She said the high school experience wasn’t right unless you had at least one boyfriend every year, if not multiple. But now that I thought about it…there were a couple of cute guys in my classes. There was Rian, that one shy kid in my English class, the nerdy Martin, and well…Zack. But Zack was an asshole, so he didn’t count.

“Nope. None. They were all kinda…bland,” I said with what I hoped was a convincing tone. My mom eyed me, as if she didn’t buy it, but smiled and left the room.

“Don’t forget to set your alarm for tomorrow before you go to bed,” she called over her shoulder. I nodded, even though she didn’t see it, and finished my glass of milk before going to the living room and turning on the television. I didn’t really want to watch anything, but I didn’t have any homework, and I hadn’t made any plans with anyone to hang out, so there wasn’t much else to do. My mind wasn’t focused on what was happening to Harry Potter on the screen though; it was focused on what had happened at lunch.

“I think this is going to be a fun year.”

Those words had been swirling around my mind all day, getting me called on numerous times to pay attention during my final few classes. What had Zack Merrick meant by that? Was I going to be the target of all of his pranks? I surely hoped not. I didn’t want to spend my year fighting off the ridiculous pranks of an immature senior. Oh yes, I’d heard about Zack’s yearly…welcome routine. I’d have to stay on my toes, but staying one step ahead of the enemy was the fun part. If he wanted to play the prank card, I could too.