Edge of the Water

No matter how hard Zoey tried, she just couldn’t seem to pay attention to the yoga class being taught in front of her. Belle passed her a few sideways glances throughout the class. The girl obviously noticed that there was something off about Zoey’s behavior.

Being distracted during class was not unusual for Zoey, but this time it wasn’t the gorgeous boys stretching in front of her that had her distracted.

Zoey made sure to keep her eyes away from Patrick Kane, who was posing in his usual spot in the center of the room. Luckily for Zoey, it appeared that he was trying to keep his eyes off of her, too.

By the time class was over, Zoey had a kink in her neck from whipping her head away from Patrick so many times. She turned to Belle, placing her hand on the girl’s elbow.

“I gotta go. Can you take care of this?”

Laughing, Belle responded, “I always do.”

Zoey flew out of the studio, while the boys packed up their things. With any luck, she would be down the hall and out of sight before they had even stepped out of the room.

“Hey, Zoey. Can I talk to you?”

Sighing, Zoey turned around. Jonathan Toews stood with his hands tucked into the pockets of his athletic shorts. His gaze was somewhat focused on the ground, making him look much less confident than he usually did.

“This isn’t about Patrick, is it? Because – “

Jon shook his head, cutting off her sentence. “I wanted to talk to you about Belle, actually.”

Zoey cocked her head to the side. Biting her lip, she smiled at him. “Walk with me.”

The two began walking down the hallway, back towards the employee quarters. Jon kept his hands tucked in his pockets, but was fiddling around with the room key inside of them.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Zoey asked, looking at Jon as she walked.

Sighing, he looked back at her. “I just –” He shook his head. “Why does she hate me so much?”

Zoey let out a soft chuckle. “I don’t know Jon, why do you think she hates you?”

“Zoey,” Jon groaned. “I’m already playing games with her. Don’t make me play them with you, too.”

The blonde stopped in her tracks, turning to Jon. Her eyes made contact with his, an unreadable expression on her face. She moved her hands to the side and stood in the most nonthreatening position she could manage.

“Jon, tell me, what do you want from Belle?”

Jon paused for a moment, staring back at Zoey. “I don’t know. I guess, well, I like her.”

Zoey placed her hands on her hips, tapping her foot in front of her. She pushed her lips to the side, giving him her trademark grin.

“We’re not in third grade, Jon. You like her. That’s obvious. But what do you want from her.”

Pausing again, Jon shifted his feet below him. He moved his gaze from Zoey, to the floor, then back again.

“Well, I guess I’d just like something. Something more than friends.”

“And that’s the problem, Jon.” Zoey put her arms down. “Belle has a boyfriend. She has for a long time.”

Jon’s gaze moved back to the floor, a look of confusion painted on his face. He shoved his hands back into his pockets. Zoey allowed him to stay that way for a moment, while his mind caught up to what she had said.

When he looked back at her, his expression was replaced with a blank one. He gave her a soft smile. “Well, thank you for talking to me, Zoey. I appreciate it.”

Nodding her head, Zoey watched as Jon headed back in the other direction. With that conversation out of the way, she could go back to focusing her attention on avoiding Patrick Kane.

Zoey made her way down the many twisting hallways, to the employee’s only area. Her room was three doors down, on her right, but that was the last place Zoey wanted to be at the moment. She passed the room, heading further down the hallway to where the employee section met the guest’s hallway.

When she turned the corner at the end of the path, she found Patrick’s blonde head moving down the hall. Before she had a chance to turn around and walk away, he spotted her and waved her over to him.

Taking a deep breath, Zoey took a few steps closer to him. She was more than determined to keep her composure.

Patrick began moving towards her, meeting her in the middle of the hallway. His hands were tucked into his athletic shorts, the same way Jon tucked his hands into his.

“You feeling alright?” Patrick asked, a small smile on his face. “You’re not hungover, are you?”

“I’m fine,” Zoey said, shaking her head. She took a step to the right, attempting to move past him. Placing his hand against the wall, Patrick successfully blocked the hallway.

With one hand on the wall, and the other tucked in his pocket, Patrick looked down at her. “You’re not avoiding me, are you?”

Zoey twisted her face, pushing her eyes together. “No, why would you think that?”

Shrugging, Patrick moved his hand away from the wall. He placed his hand back in his pocket, matching the other one.

“No reason,” he said, giving her a soft smile. “I guess I’ll see you later, then? Maybe you and Belle could join us for dinner so we can thank you for all the hard work you’re doing.”

Zoey shook her head. “You don’t need to thank us. It’s hardly difficult. And besides, it’s against company policy. We’re really not even supposed to be speaking right now.”

Laughing, Patrick looked down at her. “You don’t really seem like the type to follow company policy.”

"I better go before my manager yells at me," Zoey said, pretending to look around the room in fear.

When she turned down the hallway, and away from Patrick, he called her name. She stopped in her tracks, facing the tall boy.

"I'd really like to see you later," Patrick said, a smile on his face. "If you're done avoiding me, that is."

With her arms folded over her chest, Zoey nodded her head. "I'll find you."