It's been a week since I gave Zac my number. He hasn't even mentioned the date. I see him in school, and he's been friendly.

Not over friendly. He's still his cocky self. But he talks to me more. I never brought the topic, neither did he.

For sometime I wondered if it wasn't Zac who asked me out that day. But he has called me twice after that, so he has my number. So it had to be him.

But why wasn't he bringing it up??

This was my thought a few days ago. But now, it's been a week. And my excitement is almost gone.

Whereas Jason, he's been over friendly. We talk everyday! Not that I mind. I like the attention he's giving me. We haven't met recently, but its like we're part of each other's life.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when my phone buzzed. It was a group message. And then it started going on repeatedly, making my phone dance. I took it immediately.

Anna : Hey girls, I have something important to say :'(

Amy : Yeah, me too :'(

Valerie : Me three :'(

Mia : What's wrong??

Rachel : Why the crying emoji?? :o

Mia : Yeah, that's what I meant!

Rachel : Yeah I know, Mia. But anyway, what's wrong??

Leah : Stop being dramatic and get to the point! -.-

These girls are fast. I decide to jump in.

Me : Yeah, is everything alright?

Anna : Yeah, but..

Mia : WHAT!

Me : You guys are freaking me out!

Rachel : Me too!

Valerie : Mr Sparks talked to the three of us. We've been getting low grades constantly.. So we're supposed to be going to Wildwood High for a certain project. Else we'll fail. So we need to leave :'(

Amy : Yeah, it's five hours from home. So we'll be staying there.

Mia : How long?

Valerie : Three months. We'll be back for finals.

Anna : Yeah, that's about that.

Me : Ohh :( I'm going to miss you three!!

Amy : Me too!

Then it was a bit emotional. They're leaving in two days. So we decide to have a girl's night in Rachel's house. Her house is huge.

______________________________

Girl's night

"Let's watch a movie! " Amy suggested.

" No let's talk", Leah suggested.

They argued for hours and finally, after lots if argument and emotional blackmailing, we decided to play a game. Uno.

We played many games until Rachel dozed off. We tried to wake her up, but being the sleepy head she is, we couldn't. One by one, all of them fell asleep.

Except me.

I tried hard to sleep, but I couldn't. I decided to watch YouTube. I hadn't checked my phone all day. It's actually an untold understanding that we have, no phones on a girl's night. Where's the fun if we're not fully into it?

1 missed call from Jason

3 messages from Zac

I'll call Jason tomorrow.

Hey Elena, are you free tomorrow? At 12 pm. We can get lunch together - Zac

You remember the date, right? - Zac

I think you're busy, tell me asap - Zac

So he remembers. All the excitement came back to me. I replied

Sounds good :) - Elena

It's 12 am, so I don't expect him to reply. But I was wrong.

Awesome! Be ready to have a really great time ;) - Zac

We'll see about that, Mr. Smith - El

You'll surely see, Lena - Zac

What's with the nicknames? You can call me 'El' - El

Nope, everybody calls you that. My nickname for you should be different. And I'll find one ;) - Zac

Happy searching, Zac xD - El

He didn't reply after that. Maybe he fell asleep. I pulled the sheets over me as I fell asleep.

***********************************

Trr Trr

Snooze

Trr Trr

Snooze

Trr Trr

"Switch the damn thing off!" Leah shouted from beside me. I think someone switched it off because it was no longer ringing. Then everything came back to me, Zac -  date. And I woke up suddenly with a wide smile on my face.

"I need to go home!", I say with excitement.

Mia was already awake. "Yeah, me too! Cam and Anna already left. Amy went for a jog with Val. Leah and Rach are still asleep" She threw a pillow at them, "Sleepy heads! Wake up!"

I'm glad she didn't see my excited face. But I giggled as Leah groaned and Rachel, didn't move an inch. That girl really sleeps a lot. "El, it's 9 in the morning.. My mom wants to go shopping. So, drop me home?" Mia spoke softly. I nodded and got out of bed to brush my teeth.

When I came out, Leah was no longer in the room and Rachel was awake. Finally! "Hey guys, Morning!" Rachel said with a smile on her face. Her black hair was a mess. Her dark brown eyes were glowing but she looked sleepy. She got up.

"Rach, we're leaving. See you day after, at school!" I say while collecting my things. She gave me a back hug. "Okay El, I need to see my grumpy boyfriend hehe" I laughed as I remembered Elliott, Rachel's boyfriend. He is a junior in college a day very sweet. A perfect match for a shy girl like Rachel. It's been almost two months since they started going out. But she doesn't speak much about him.

We headed to my car and Rachel closed the door after waving goodbye.

"I have a date with Zac, in an hour and half!", I say to my best friend.

Her eyes widen and she looks very excited. "He asked you out! I knew he liked you! Where are you going? What are you wearing?"

I smile, "I don't know. I was thinking of a crop top, denim jacket and jeans. What do you think?" She nodded in agreement. The rest of the ride was loud and noisy with Mia yelling on top of her voice. No, not yelling.. She was singing her favorite song. Trust me, you would say 'yelling' too.

"Tell me how it goes", she said before getting out of the car. I smile and nod.

After ten minutes, I reach home. I take a shower and get ready. I pull my hair into a high pony and wear my army boots. A light shade of lipstick and eyeliner. I don't apply makeup.

Oh wait, where and how am I going? Great. Just great. I search for my phone to call Zac. Just then, the bell rings. There's no one at home.

"Why would anyone come at this time? Oh no, I need to leave-", I was talking to myself.

I open the door with a not-so-happy expression. There stood Zac. He was wearing a black t-shirt and denim jeans. "You ready?" he asked with a smile.

I open the door a bit more gesturing him to come in. He comes in and is facing his back towards me as his eyes wonder around the house.

"How do you know where I live? I was about to call you, to ask where I should come." I say making my way up the stairs.

He looks around and then at the stairs. I stop. "Oh Chase told me. And I forgot to tell you, I'll be picking you up, Yeah" he said with a sheepish smile.

Is he nervous? I decide to let it go.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll be down in a minute " and I jog upstairs. From the corner of my eye I see him sit on the couch. I grab my phone and sling bag. I take a quick look at myself in the mirror.

He didn't compliment me. Ugh.

Nevermind. I go downstairs and see him looking around aimlessly.

Maybe he heard the footsteps because he stands up and slowly comes near the stairs. "Shall we?" he says when I'm on the last step. I nod with a smile.

I grab the keys and lock the door behind me. We go to his car, which is a black Mustang. I sit on the passenger seat. Before starting the car he looks at me, "You look pretty, Sweetkins" and he winks. I liked the way he said the word.

I blush, "You look good, too".

"I know", he says. And he's back.

"Hey, I found you a nickname. Sweetkins" he says with a smile and I giggle.

I love the way he says that!

There's an awkward silence and none of us decide to break it. I switched on the radio.

You're my kryptonite!
You keep making me weak-
Yeah, frozen and can't breathe.

One direction! Zac groans but I don't change. I love the band and this song!

You guessed that right, it's One thing!

Something's gotta give now
'Cause I'm dying just to make you see
That I need you here with me now
'Cause you've got that One thing

And suddenly Zac is looking at me with a smile on his face. I look at him and he turns away.

I start singing the chorus softly

So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing

His smile is even wider now.

"You have am amazing voice, you know that Swwetkins?" he says not looking at me.

"Th-Thanks" I stutter realizing I wasn't soft enough and he heard me. He let's out a small giggle. We reach after three more minutes of awkward silence with a song I don't know in the background.

We get out of the car and I see a small restaurant. It's cozy and silent. It has an amazing view. I like it. He leads the way and we sit in a corner table. It's a two seat table and he sits across me.

He hands me the menu card. And that's when I see, it's a vegetarian restaurant. That's the reason it's not crowded at a peak time. He did hear my conversation with Jason!

"Vegetarian restaurant? ", I say voicing my thoughts.

" You're vegetarian, right?" he says a bit anxious. I nod my head. "But how do you know that?" I ask looking at the menu.

"I kind of heard you saying it, someday. " he says sheepishly. I don't question further and give a small smile. I order soup and schezwan noodles and he does the same.

"Tell me about yourself", I say with a curious look.

He looks at me, leaning on the chair. "Um- I'm Zac. Actually, Zachary Smith. But everyone call me Zac. And Uh, I shifted here three months ago. I was the captain of football team in my old school."

"Old school?"

He looked at me for a second, "Yeah, Hillview High. New Jersey."

"Oh, you guys are the football champions right? Of last year! " I say thinking.

" Yep. Were though. I'm here now" he says a bit sad.

Maybe he didn't want to be here. I don't question further though. I change the topic. "What about girls, did you have a girlfriend you had to leave ?" I say looking as casual as possible. It most probably worked because he didn't tease or raise an eyebrow.

"Uh - no, nothing of that sort. But yeah, I did have a lot of girls head over heels s for me" He winked. "No serious relationship."

"So you're a player? " I say unbelievably. Did he just say that on a date?

" No.. Not really. Moreover, I Decided to change. New place. New me. "

"Okay", I say slowly.

"So, what about you? Anyone I should be worried about?" he asked.

"Not really. I did date one guy. For almost two years, but I ended it. "

" Woah. Why? " he asked curiously.

"He cheated on me. Actually had been cheating on me for almost three months."  I say casually. " And I want on a couple of dates after that. Nothing serious. " I say.

He looks at me with a look I can't tell. Oh no. Did I scare him? I didn't have to tell him about the 'two years relationship' great.

I must have said that loudly as he spoke "It's not that. It's just I've never been in a long term relationship. Or any relationship, for that matter. And I don't know if I can give you what you want. But I like you Elena. You're different. You're simple and humble. And I admire all these qualities. So I'm ready to try. If you give me a chance "

My heart. That was so sweet. I'm pretty sure I'm smiling like an idiot.

"Okay, I will" I say blushing.

He nods and the food arrives. It was good but I don't think Zac liked it. But he didn't say anything.

"So, best friend? Except the seven girls", he says thinking.

"Jason. Yeah, the one in the canteen that day. " He nodded but I didn't miss the eye roll when I was speaking.

"You know him, don't you?" I said.

He looked surprised, "What?" he calmed down. "I met him and Chase at a party before school began"

I nodded. That's how he knew Chase. "What about you?" I ask him.

His face lightens up, "Tessie and Miller. Miller and I played football together. Tessie and I are childhood friends. We grew up together."

Tessie Jones. The one from Facebook. Childhood friends? What if she likes him?

"You alright?" he asks a bit concerned. I nod.

After finishing, we order desert.

I take a big spoon of my chocolate ice cream as he speaks, "You know Jason liked you, right?"

"What?", I gasp.