Admiring From Afar

Cassandra's POV

Ever since the kisses with Zack, he’s been acting different. He’s been paying more attention to her than usual and he would always be talking to her. Everybody seemed to know what was going on but Cassandra had no clue. Zack was a nice person to have around. He was funny, nice and caring. What more could you ask for in a friend?

Cassandra’s phone vibrated. She had a new text from Zack.

From: Zack
To: Cass
Can we meet up somewhere? I wanna talk to you.

Cassandra was confused about his text. What did he want to talk about? She texted him back.

To: Zack
From: Cass
Sure. Where and when?

To: Cass
From: Zack
12:30, the park?

Cassandra looked at her clock. It read 12:00. She needed to get ready if she wanted to make it to the park on time. She picked out an outfit and did her makeup. When she was done, she looked at the clock and it read 12:25. She had five minutes to get to the park. That’s plenty of time she thought to herself. She walked out the door and contemplated on whether she should take her car. She decided not to since it was such a beautiful summer day. She made her way to the park and found Zack sitting on a bench feeding the birds. She quietly walked up behind him and covered his eyes with her hands.

“Guess who,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Hey, Cass,” Zack said with a smile growing on his face. She removed her hands and walked around the bench and sat down next to him.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked him.

“I, uh, wanted to talk about the kisses,” Zack told her quietly while he stared at his sneakers.

“Oh, okay then,” she said quietly.

“So, um, did you like them?” he asked her while chewing on his lip nervously.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said.

“Yeah, me too,” he whispered.

“So, what else did you want talk about?” she asked him.

“I wanted to talk about, um, us,” he said while blushing.

“Us?” Cassandra asked him.

“Well, yeah. There’s something that I want to tell you. I really really like you, I might even love you and I wanted to know how you feel about me,” he told her while looking at her in the eyes.

“Well, um, Zack. I didn’t know felt that way about me. I don’t know what to say,” she told him honestly.

“How about that you feel the same way?” he told her with a smile.

“Zack, I wish I could,” Cassandra told him.

“Why can’t you?” Zack asked her with a frown on his face.

“Because I’m not sure if I feel the same way,” Cassandra told him quietly.

“Oh, well, um, that’s cool. I’ll see you around,” Zack told her with a frown on his face. He got off of the bench and walked to his car quickly.

“I’m such an idiot,” Cass muttered to herself. She ran over to Zack trying to stop him. “Zack!” she yelled in hopes to slow him down a little.

He turned around and Cass was stunned when she saw Zack’s face. It was all red and splotchy and his eyes were coated in tears. She suddenly felt terrible for what she had said to Zack.

“What?” he croaked.

“I’m really really sorry. Maybe we could try it out?” she offered.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll live. But remember, we have an arranged marriage so no matter what you’re stuck with me. Even if you don’t want to,” he told her.

“No, Zack. I want to be stuck with you. You’re an awesome friend and I totally wouldn’t mind being stuck with you for the rest of my life,” she told him.

“Really?” he said with a small smile.

“Really,” she assured him.

“Well, that makes me feel a little better,” he said.

“I’m glad and I’m really sorry that I couldn’t tell you that I liked you the way you like me,” she told him with a frown on her face.

“It’s okay. I’ll get over it,” he told her with a sad smile. He got into his car and drove away.

And that was the exact moment that Cassandra realized that she didn’t want him to get over it.