Fragile

“Can you believe we have dates with two twenty-four year olds?” Mary asked as she looked in the mirror, messing with her hair a little bit.

“Don’t get too excited,” I stated. “This is probably a one-time thing. I doubt that they want an actual relationship with us.”

Mary scoffed, taking out her makeup bag, saying, “Whatever. All I know is that Johnny and I make a cute couple.”

After we had told the guys we’d go on a date with them, we came up with the day we wanted to go out with them. Well, I’m not really dating Zack; I was just going to go out with some friends. Okay, I’m such a bad liar. What would happen if Jay saw us? He would be heartbroken and, no doubt, pissed at me. I didn’t want to ruin the relationship we had built over the years. But, I still wanted to be with Mr. Haner.

“So, why are you going on this date anyway? I thought you liked Haner,” Mary spoke, glancing at me through the mirror.

I sighed and answered, “Don’t tell anyone, alright?”

She turned to face me, a curious look in her eyes. “Okay.”

“I’m going on the date to see if Mr. Haner likes me. Zacky texted me and said that Mr. Haner and the rest of the guys are going to be around the same area as where we are going on our dates with Johnny and Zacky. I just want to see if a spark of jealousy pops up in him.”

“You want to make Mr. Haner, our English teacher, jealous? I don’t even know you anymore, Leah,” Mary teased.

I pushed her playfully and said, “Shut up! It’s just a test, alright? Don’t make it too obvious.”

“You’re the one who makes things way too obvious. You can’t ever keep a secret without telling someone. Remember the time that I got diarrhea before meeting a guy for a date, and you told Jay, who told everyone in the school?”

“It wasn’t my fault! I had to spill it to someone,” I defended, knowing she would have done the same thing.

“Whatever. How do I look?” she switched topics, posing for me. She wore a red and white polka dotted dress that came down to her mid-thigh. It was tight fitted around her torso, showing a little cleavage, and it was flowy at the ends. I knew she was excited about the date with Johnny, and she looked like she really wanted this relationship to last a long time. I, on the other hand, wore a dark blue colored romper that showed off my tanned legs well. The thin straps were a little bit itchy, but I could suck it up for the date.

“I think we’re ready for our dates,” Mary stated, making her way towards the front door.

“You’re on a date. I’m just going out with a friend,” I reminded her, not forgetting that I already had a boyfriend.

She just rolled her eyes, saying, “I don’t think that Zacky thinks that.”

-xx-

Mary and I got out of the taxi we rode to the beach. We had decided to meet the guys at the same place that we met them. Since both Mary and I had no car, we just got a taxi ride. The taxi driver tried sneaking some peeks down Mary’s dress, resulting in him getting slapped pretty hard by Mary. I don’t think he’d want to mess with Mary again. She may look small, but she could throw a good punch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw headlights shining in my eyes. I tilted my head to the side, trying to avoid the bright light. Two cars stopped by where Mary and I stood, parking close to the beach. Even though it was dark out, I could make out Johnny and Zacky’s figures getting out of their cars. They approached us, talking a little to each other on their way towards us.

“Hey, ladies,” Johnny said, flashing us a smile.

“Hey,” Mary and I said in unison. We both looked at each other and rolled our eyes at each other. Now we’re starting to talk at the same time, like Johnny and Zacky did at the beach.

“You two ready?” Zacky asked, pointing in Mary and I’s direction.

We both nodded vigorously, smiling at both of our dates. Johnny put his arm around Mary; Zacky put his arm around me, making me instantly warm up. They led us to their cars, opening our doors for us before getting into the driver’s seat. I kind of expected going in one car with Johnny and Mary, but I guess, it was just going to be me and Zacky for now, not that I mind or anything. He was cute and funny, which was the only reason I said yes to a ‘date’ with him.

“So, why did you and Johnny decide to come talk to Mary and me at the beach?” I asked as he made a turn.

He shrugged his shoulders, answering, “I thought I already told you that.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh before saying, “I know guys, and they don’t just come and talk to a random girl on the beach unless they want to do naughty things with them. That or sneak a peek at their boobs.”

Zacky just smiled, letting a chuckle escape his lips. “Okay, okay. You caught me. But it wasn’t exactly for those reasons.”

I turned my body towards him more, asking, “Then what were your reasons?”

“Well, you know my friends that Johnny and I pointed at?”

I nodded, saying, “Yeah. The three guys. One was really tall, another was really big, and the other had brown hair right?”

He nodded his head, replying, “That’s them. We were talking to the one who had brown hair. I’m pretty sure you know who he is right?”

“Yeah. Mr. Haner,” I said, a little shocked that Zacky was friends with Mr. Haner, even if I did see him hanging out with him. It was weird thinking that a teacher had life outside of school. I grew up thinking they stayed at school all day and night, thinking of ways to torture their students.

“Yes. Johnny was asking if there are any hot chicks at the school. Then Johnny spotted you and Mary, which made Brian tell us that he taught you two. At the time I really wanted to hook up with you, but it was just my hormones talking. Plus, I don’t treat women like that.”

“Mr. Haner’s name is Brian?”

“Yeah. Teachers have actual names, ya know. Truth be told, he’s only coming around us because he wants to make sure Johnny and me don’t try something on you and Mary.”