Fragile

School had finally ended, which made me smile. Zack would text me any minute now. It’s not like I like him as a boyfriend or anything, but he is a really nice guy. If I didn’t have a thing for Mr. Haner-or should I call him Brian?-Then I would probably go for Zack. Any girl would be lucky to be with him. I stepped outside of the school, adjusting the strap of my bag. Luckily, none of my teachers decided to load homework on me, so I have nothing to do today. They had planned softball practice, but it ended up being canceled for some odd reason, not that I was complaining to a day off.

I took out my phone and looked at the screen of it when it started to vibrate. Zack had texted me.

“Hey, you out of school yet?” he asked.

I didn’t look up at the sound of a car’s engine nearing me. It was probably some kid who was leaving school late or something.

“Nope. Just got out,” I replied, keeping my gaze on my phone.

“Cool. Look up,” he texted me, making me furrow my eyebrows. What? I decided to look up, like Zack had told me to, and smiled. Zack’s car was sitting near the curb, the window down and revealing Zack’s white smile.

“Get in,” he called, opening the door from the inside. I looked around me for a moment before making my way towards the car. My mom had taught me not to get into an older guy’s car, but I think I can handle myself with Zack. He’s like a teddy bear and wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“What’s up?” I asked, closing the door as I sat down.

He shrugged his shoulders, answering, “I just wanted to talk to you. Want me to drive you home?”

“Sure,” I said, giving him my address. He nodded his head slowly as I told him where I lived. He pulled out of the school’s parking lot and started making his way to my house. I knew my mom was going to freak if she saw me coming out of a stranger's car, but I didn’t really care at the moment.

“What did you want to talk about?” I questioned, fixing my hair a little.

“Um,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while holding the steering wheel with the other. “I got a new girlfriend.”

“Really? That’s awesome!”

He glanced at me, confusion in his green eyes. “You think it’s awesome that I have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? I knew that our date was going to probably be a onetime thing anyway,” I told him.

He let a sigh, of what sounds like relief, leave his lips. “Good. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings if you actually wanted me to be you boyfriend. But we can still be friends, right?”

I nodded, saying, “Of course!”

The drive then became quiet. The only sounds heard were the steady beat of Metallica coming from the speakers and Zack’s breathing. It wasn’t really awkward, but it was a little uncomfortable. Is that what an awkward silence is? Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten in his car. Then it hit me. I could ask Zack if he would be in on my plan. The only thing is that if he denies my offer, then he could possibly tell Mr. Haner about it. If Zack tells him, things would get really awkward between Mr. Haner and me. I would have to switch schools and everything! I don’t want that. I mentally slapped myself. Just ask him you idiot.

“Zacky,” I said, breaking the silence in the car. He looked over at me before returning his eyes onto the road.

“Yeah?” he asked, taking a turn onto my street and parking in front of my house.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“What kind of favor? If it involves getting arrested, I’m out,” he teased.

“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend,” I bluntly told him. His eyes widened a little while he frowned in confusion.

“Um. Why?” he asked slowly, leaning back in his seat.

“I’m trying to make someone jealous,” I admitted, keeping my eyes away from Zack. I wasn’t going to tell him the whole truth about my plan to make my English teacher like me. “If you don’t want to, I understand.”

“No, I’ll do it,” he told me, flashing me a smile.

“Really?” I asked in shock. I didn’t expect him to say yes to my offer that quickly. “Wait, haven’t the guys seen your new girlfriend yet?”

He shook his head. “No. We just started dating a couple of days ago. I usually don’t tell the guys about my girlfriends unless I’m serious about them.”

“Well, won’t she get a little upset that you are pretending to be my boyfriend while you are dating her?” I questioned. God. I have so many flaws in this plan. I’m SO smart, aren’t I?

“She’s pretty chill about stuff. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Besides, I’m doing it for a friend,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. If only he knew that I was trying to make one of his best friends jealous.