Zach's P.O.V.

I stare down the text book in my lap, my pencil tapping furiously against my leg as I read the equation over and over again. For an advanced algebra class you'd think they'd make these things a little harder. I smirk in victory then jolt down the answer, moving on to the last one in the line.

"Watch out!"

I look up too late, my book getting knocked out of my hands completely by the foot ball kicked my way. I glare daggers towards the guys on the field, standing up from my spot on the bleachers and heading down them to retrieve my textbook that fell down under them.

Once I have my book in hand and am walking back towards my seat, Kyle runs up to me and claps a hand down on my shoulder.

"Sorry about that, little bro." He grins cheekily and slings his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into a sweaty side hug.

My nose curls up in disgust and I push him away while rolling my eyes, "Yeah yeah, just go back to practice, Sweaty." He laughs and starts backing away, waving his hand at me dismissively. I take my seat back at the top of the bench, huffing out a breath when I see a page torn in my book.

"Airhead?"

I glance up, my heart practically leaping out of my throat when I see Gina Robertson, and another girl whose name I'm not sure of, take their seats at the end of the bleachers. She waves the blue colored airhead in her friends face, letting out an adorable giggle when her friend swats her away. 

"Have you heard back from the grocery store yet? Zander put in a good word for you before he left." My heart picks up at the mention of where she might start working. 

"Not yet, I think I'm going to call later though." Gina shrugs, the small motion lifting the hem of her shirt up to expose the bronze skin underneath. 

"I think I see drool," I jump and look to my side, frowning at Fiona as she studies my face. Her shoulders slump in disappointment and she looks off onto the field, "No, just a false alarm."

I roll my eyes in annoyance, completely embarrassed that I got caught staring and glare off into the field, "I thought you were leaving by now."

Fiona sighs and bumps her shoulder with mine, giving me a smirk when I spare her a glance. She grabs my book bag and unzips it, "I was supposed to, but then Bryan dropped on me that it'll be a two hour drive so now I must pee before we leave and that means -" She stops mid-sentence to dig around in my bag, her tongue slightly sticking out past her lips and her eyes scrunched in determination. "Aha!" She pulls her hand out to reveal three tampons, "I need these for the trip."

I raise an eyebrow at her questioningly, "Don't you have any more in your bag?"

She rolls her eyes and tosses my bag back towards me, to which I barely get a grip onto before it can go tumbling down through the bleachers. "No, I do not. I only had three today, which I happened to use all before lunch period."

I snort back a laugh at her and zip up my bag, lightly shaking my head to her dismay, "You and your bladder are ridiculous."

She grins sheepishly then pats my shoulder, "And that's why you, my awesome best friend, are forced to carry around extras for me! One day, you'll probably end up saving another girl's bacon and they'll be eternally grateful for it." I raise an eyebrow skeptically, but then shrug and turn back to my pages. She shoves her stuff into her bag then stands up, running off the bleachers and into the parking lot without even a goodbye.

Typical Fiona.

"I'm still amazed by the coincidence of us all going to the same college." I tilt my head up slightly to listen into the conversation, "I mean, what's the odds of that?" Her friend reaches over and plucks the blue airhead from her hand.

Gina sighs contently and rests her chin against her hand, "It is the closest college in town, but still."

I can't help but nod my agreement to her statement. I write down the last equation answer then shut my book, shoving all my books into my bag and rolling my eyes at the mess Fiona left it in. "You're tellin' me." I mumble under my breath.

Gina's friend perks up suddenly and glances around with confusion, "Did you hear that?"

Gina frowns and glances around as well, "No? It was probably nothing, S, don't freak out." She chuckles softly and bumps her shoulder with her friends, "C'mon, let's go back to the dorm."

Sarah, who I now recognize from my Home Ec. classes in high school, hums in agreement, "Yeah, it was probably nothing." I wince slightly and bow my head down, vaguely aware of them getting up to leave. That's what it seems to be what I am, isn't it? I squeeze my eyes shut quickly, shaking my head at my own thoughts. Enough of the pity party, Zach, it doesn't help.

I hike my bag over my shoulder and climb down the bleachers, sending a quick wave over to the team to which quickly turns into a middle finger after they throw a ball in my direction. I can't stop the chuckle that vibrates through me as I throw the ball back at them. They all act like jerks, but it's only jokes, because Kyle is such a huge part of the team a majority of the team is always over at our house or dorm to hang out. They're practically like brothers to us.

Rude, crude, and idiotic brothers.

My phone starts vibrating within my pocket like crazy, as if it's going to explode if I don't get to it in time. Once I'm able to get it out of my pocket, my eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Crap!" I hike my bag further up my shoulder and start sprinting towards my car.

~•~

I barrel into our house, grinning sheepishly at my Dad before I sprint up to my room to change into my sweat pants. Bounding back down the stairs, I huff out a breathe of relief when I notice she's not here yet. I plop down on our couch and pull out my physics book. Dad walks into the room and clears his throat. I look up at him and grin, "Hey Dad, getting all spiffed up again are we?"

He rolls his eyes at me but his cheeks flush with color as he subconsciously smooth his hands over his shirt, "Does this look okay?"

I give him a once over, frowning in thought then getting up and walking over to him. I straighten his tie, then give him an encouraging smile, "You look great, Dad, she'll love it."

His shoulders release some of their tension as he gives me a weary smile, "Thank you, I'm just really nervous."

I nod in understanding, "Miss Florentino -" At Dad's flat look I quickly correct myself, "Raven - hasn't complained before, and this is your tenth date, I think it's safe to say you should be more relaxed."

He huffs out a nervous laugh and starts fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, "Trust me, son, once you find a woman as wonderful as Raven, you'll understand why the nerves never die down." The door bell rings, effectively killing our conversation and whatever shred of calm dad had left. A heavy sigh heaves through my chest at his words.

I'm pretty sure I already have, it's just that she doesn't know I exist.

Cecile runs into the house and jumps into my arms, almost knocking me over in the process. I laugh and wrap her up into a hug, then let her go to start our secret handshake. After ending it with an exploding fist pump, I glance up to see a very grateful smile directed at me from Raven.

"Thank you for helping her out, Zach." She blushes slightly when my dad wraps an arm around her waist, "And I'm sorry if you had any plans."

I wave a hand at her in dismiss, "Nah, no worries." I nod over to Cecile, "I don't mind helping you and hanging out with this loser." Cecile gasps and whacks my arm, bringing out my smug grin.

Raven giggles and gently tugs my dad out the door, "We'll be back by eight-thirty. Be good, Cecile!" The door swings shut behind them, leaving the two of us alone until Kyle comes home from football practice.

Cecile and I turn to each other and grin. I point towards the kitchen, "Popcorn and homework?"

She nods in agreement then gives me a mock salute, "Aye aye, Captain. I'll go get set up!"

~•~

"I absolutely abhor this." Cecile groans and drops her head onto the table, peering up at me through her lashes and pouting, "Can't we just be done and talk about your feelings already?"

I give her a deadpan look and point at the last few equations left on her paper, "No, we're not going to do anything until you're completely done." I glower down at her pencil box, "And I don't understand why you take so much delight in my despair."

She giggles as she writes down another equation, "It's not that, I just like hearing about how head over heels you are for this girl." She finishes writing and turns towards me with a sheepish grin, "And I can't help but hope it develops into something more." She pats my shoulder, "You have a shipmate."

I blink and shrug her hand off of me, "What do you mean 'a shipmate'?"

Her eyes bulge and her mouth drops, clearly baffled by the fact I have no idea what she's talking about. "What do you mean, 'What's a shipmate'?!" She jumps out of her chair and slaps her hand to her forehead, "Oh gosh, you're helpless." She stares pacing back and forth, mumbling things to herself every so often.

I roll my eyes at her antics and lean forward in my seat, "If you're going to make such a big fuss about it, why don't you just tell me what it means."

She groans and plops back down in her seat. She huffs out a breath then sits up straight to look at me in the eyes, a determination burning behind her eyes that has me slightly frightened, "It's when you want two people to be in a relationship, which in your case, makes you captain of the ship considering how badly you want to be with her, and me, your shipmate, because I support it!"

I wrinkle my nose up at her, "That's so weird, is this something all teenage girls do?"

She lets out another loud groan and face palms, "Oh my gosh, it's not just for girls! It's for everyone!" At my look of disbelief she points at me accusingly, "It's perfectly normal and healthy."

I raise my eyebrows humorously, "Okay, then what're some examples of the so called normal 'ships' you speak of?"

She thinks for a second before starting to list of names, "Johnlock, Destiel, Jonerys, WestAllen, Olicity, Spuffy, Stucky -"

"Okay, okay," I hold my hands up in surrender and wince, "I get it. Even though I have no idea who any of those people are..."

She sits back and smiles smugly, "And now you are no longer an uncultured swine." My mouth drops open in disbelief. She frowns in thought and points at me, "Although one might argue about the swine part."

I playfully glare at her, "For a fifteen year old, one would think you wouldn't need a babysitter anymore but," I shrug nonchalantly, "I guess you still do."

She snorts back a laugh and whacks my arm, "Nice comeback, but we both know I'm only here for," She grabs her notebook and shakes it, "This. Oh! And your relationship issues." She flutters her eyelashes innocently and grins at me.

I throw my head back and groan, "You're like the little sister I never wanted," Her eyes light up at the comment, causing me to soften. When Cecile was born, her father left them both, kind of like what happened to Kyle, Dad, and I. So, to her, we're the closest she's come to a possible family life. I smile softly and stand up, "C'mon, let's go play halo so I can kick your butt while we talk about my feelings.'"

"Deal!" She jumps out of her seat and happily skips into the living room.

Once we're both settled in our seats, controllers in hand, and snacks and drinks nearby, we begin light conversation. By light conversation, I mean Cecile digs into my soul while eating popcorn and killing monsters.

She definitely has a psychologically major in her future.

"So you saw her but didn't say a simple hi?" Cecile glances over at me with astonishment, "Are you dumb?"

I angrily shoot another enemy and send a sideways glare her way, "No, I just get nervous." I shrug off the insult and quickly add, "Besides, she was with her friend. Wouldn't that have been weird?"

Cecile squeals excitedly as she takes down another opponent. After her excitement subsides, she shrugs and replies, "Maybe. If you knew her, it'd be a helpful talking point. But if you didn't, then it definitely would be weird."

I groan, defeated, and throw my controller off to the side as the match we were playing comes to an end. Arching my head back, I stare up at the ceiling as I grumble, "It's hopeless."

She laughs loudly at my despair and lightly whacks my shoulder, "Quit being a Debbie-downer. You just need to find the perfect moment to intercept - then it'll be all Gucci from there." I shoot a confused stare at her, earning me another shoulder whack with an eye roll, "It's a new term people are using. Get with it, grandpa."

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, the front door suddenly swings open and voices float through the foyer. Dad and Raven walk in with large smiles on their faces, their eyes glued to one another. A smile of my own forms as I watch them; Happy that my dad has found someone special to stare at like that. My smile fades as I begin to think of my own life; Single throughout most of high school, only having dated a few girls who I later realized only showed interest because of my brother - Hoping that through me they would draw his attention.

I shake off the thought and return to reality, smiling at Dad as he turns his attention to us. He claps his hands together and grins, "Another win for Master Chief?"

Cecile bounces in her seat as she quickly launches into a retelling of our last game. Raven takes a seat in the Armchair across from us, Dad assuming position behind her, and listens intently to her story. I relax back into my seat, taking in the scene before me as a thought pops into mind.

I may be lonely - But I am not totally alone.

And that's not so bad.

~•~

• Author's Note •

Hi, Friends!!

So Zach has a crush...🤔😂 I wonder - Correction, YOU wonder (because I'm the author - I already know, duhhhh 💁🏻‍♀️😉😂) - how that'll turn out? 🤔

What's with that little back story?!? Sounds awful....do you think it'll happen again? 👀😦

Life update from me: I have lots of events coming up for my book, Saving Ariel !!! Guys, it's so much fun going to book signings AND BEING THE ONE SIGNING BOOKS ???? It feels unreal 👐👐👐 Maybe this book will make it there one day!!! 😝

Alright, that's all I have for now. I'm tired. I'm gonna go nap while supernatural plays in the background - although it sounds like a crime to let Dean go unnoticed. It's a sacrifice I must take...😪

I'm dumb. 😂

Stay tuned for more updates!! Let me know what you think!!

Don't forget to Vote, Comment, Share, and Follow me! 😘✨📚

Much love,
~Molly K.

Written 7/29/2021 - Published 7/29/2021

Paperbacks, Hardcovers, and Ebooks of Saving Ariel are available on Amazon and on my website, authormollyk.com ! If you have read the book before, please go leave a review for me on Amazon! All of your support helps get Axiel's story out into the world! 🥰

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