~11~ Here, but Not

New York was crazy. Even here in Orange County.

“Do you remember the day after Zac left?” Brian asked as we were riding in a taxi.

“No,” I lied. All I remember from that day was being happy as I realized I was in love with him, being sad about him leaving, and being mad that Joey was beat up by him.

“I told you that I knew he was in New York,” he reminded. I nodded and looked out the window to all the crowded streets and shops. “Still to this day, I have no idea why.”

“Mhmm…”

Suddenly, Brian answered his phone after it rang loudly.

“Hey,” he said and then put it on speaker.

“We found a hotel. It’s Econo Lodge on 17 Main Street,” Joey said over the phone. “It’s nothing much, but hey, it’s a hotel.”

They were in a different taxi, because it was obvious that Brian and I had different priorities here in New York.

“Alright. Thanks,” Brian replied.

“Joey! Are you kidding me!?” Meghan squealed in the background. I heard Joey laugh and it made me laugh as well.

“We’ll wait for you three to come back. Good luck,” he concluded with humor. Three. Hopefully. But for now, I was laughing about what Meghan could possibly be complaining about that Joey planned.

“I can’t wait till he gets rid of her,” Brian commented.

Me either,

I thought happily.

“Wait,” Brian said to me. “What do you mean by ‘me either’?”

Apparently I said it out loud.

“I can’t stand her,” I said as if in a well duh way. I looked out of the window.

“Angel,” he addressed.

“Hmm?” I hummed, looking over at him.

“Don’t get back with Joey,” he whispered. Everything changed then.

One, because there was a sense of jealousy; two, because he still deeply cared about me; three, I could imagine getting back together with Joey.

“Why?” I simply asked. He lightly touched my knee.

“He doesn’t deserve you and you know it,” he hissed. I bit my lip. “You’re not serious are you? He’s…he’s…he’s Joey!”

“So what?” I asked as if I even wanted to go out with him. Brian’s eyes got dark.

“He doesn’t deserve you and since when do you go back to dating the trash that you already have before?! You were fine without him and you’re fine now!” he exclaimed. I pressed my lips together in anger. I had learned to do that. Even in my senior year, my anger issues started to come back and I tried my hardest to push them back away. “So don’t date that piece of know-it-all scum because it’s not worth it!”

“Are you mad at the fact of me even thinking about getting with him, or the fact that it’s not you?” I finally asked back. He got quiet and his lips twitched. The taxi stopped.

“We’re here. That’ll be $24.50,” the driver called out.

“Keep the change,” Brian handed him the money and climbed out of the car. Crap.

“Brian, I—”

“It’s the fact that people like me have always loved you and shown you that love and you don’t give me another chance, but you chase Joey of all people,” he muttered as he paused. He was right about one thing.

“I’m not chasing after Joey,” I whispered, hearing the loud streets of Orange County around us. “You only assumed it.”

I started to walk off, in an attempt to actually achieve the reason for why we were here, but he grabbed my arm lightly and pulled me into him.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized in the hug. He looked down to me with green eyes. “It’s just…I don’t know.”

“No I get it,” I replied.

“No you don’t,” he said, letting go. “Other than the feelings that I realize will never be returned—”

“Brian, you know that I still love you—”

“I know, but it’s not the same,” he said, seriously. “I get that and so do you. But there’s another reason why you shouldn’t get back with him.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, confused.

“Zac,” he said. He was right. Immediately, I knew he was right. I was in love with Zac before he left and no matter what sh!t we went through, I loved him and he had an anterior way of treating me better than Joey. All our hatred through the years resulted in him being the perfect one for me.

But all I did was nod in agreement. What I thought was true, but I didn’t know how I’d feel about Zac when we united with him. People can change in a year.

“Let’s go and find him, now,” Brian said, grabbing my wrist and towing me off. When we turned around, there was a familiar person waiting for us on the sidewalk. Cute wedged heels, skin-tight jeans, and a navy blouse, she wore a smirk on her playful lips and had her arms crossed. My eyes widened with excitement.

Safe to say in a matter of, eh, two seconds, we were colliding in a hug.

“What the h3ll are you doing here!?” Lulu squealed.

“I should be asking you that!” I replied. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Manhattan!?”

She was attending NYU for Journalism and Fashion. I completely forgot that New York was her element ever since her first fashion week in eighth grade. Some best friend, huh?

“And aren’t you supposed to be all the way in Rhode Island?” she countered.

“Touché,” I smiled. We hugged once more and she ran a hand through her hair, looking past me.

“Nice to see you too…” Brian muttered. I laughed in a scoff.

“Brian,” Lulu smiled before taking him into a small hug. “How’ve you been? Wait. Are you two…?”

“NO!” we both yelled. She still had a suspicious look.

“We’re actually here to find Zac,” Brian said with a grin.

“Oh,” Lulu said. Of course she’d say ‘Oh’. He was her ex. “Why are you looking for him?”

“For Devin,” Brian said, seriously.

In senior year, Lulu found out the powers. All of them. She had to know with being around me and them all the time. She didn’t know about triggers, but she knew about the powers themselves. The only people that knew that she knew were Brian and Devin.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, concerned.

“His powers are taking over and he needs us all together to solve it,” Brian answered.

“The only problem is that we haven’t talked to Zac since he left,” I added. “Have any idea where he is?”

“If he hasn’t talked to you, there’s no way in h3ll that he’d talk to me,” she shook her head. “I could help you find him though. Him and Joey.”

“Oh Joey’s here too,” I assured.

“Where?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“At the Econo Lodge, apparently,” Brian chuckled. Lulu looked confused.

“He brought his girlfriend along because she’s a brat that wants attention, so he can’t really do anything involving the boys and their powers,” I explained.

“Oh,” she said. “That sucks. How long are you in town?”

“We don’t know yet. As soon as we find Zac, I guess,” I shrugged.

“Any leads?” she asked.

“A letter from a year ago,” Brian answered. That letter. I hated it. The thought of it made me sick. He was being selfish by giving up on me. It only brought back a bitterness that I had forgotten.

Lulu took the envelope.

“Oh, that’s around the corner,” she said and started walking off. She led us to the post office with P.O. boxes. She walked in front of us and arrived at the counter, pulling her sunglasses up. There was a young looking attendant standing there, obviously taken back by Lulu’s good looks.

“Zachariah Tyler. Do you know him?” Lulu asked up front.

“Depends. What do you want with him?” the dark haired boy asked.

“Is his P.O. box here?” she asked him.

“What’s it to ya?”

How stereotypical New Yorker.

“Just answer me, Jimmy,” she read off his name tag. He looked around.

“Yeah. His Box is here, but if you’re looking for him, he ain’t here,” he said. He turned and started putting mail into different cubbies.

“Well we tried,” Brian said. I scoffed at him and brushed past Lulu.

“Hey,” I called towards Jimmy. He turned around to face me and gave me the same captivated look as he did towards Lulu. “Do you know where he may have gone? A forwarding address…?”

“Sweetheart, he’s not moving for good. He just got relieved. You only missed him by a few hours,” he smirked. A few hours!

“You mean he was here a few hours ago?”

“Yeah. He and his friends came in and were talking about leaving today,” he explained. “I don’t see why he told us, I mean he only comes in here about every two or three weeks.”

“If he got a P.O. Box, what’s the use if he doesn’t use it?” Brian asked. Jimmy shrugged.

“He’s never in town. I mean, he just got back about a month and a half ago—”

“From where?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” the boy said awkwardly. I sighed stressfully.

“So he lives here, but travels…” Brian stated.

“I get that, Brian, thanks,” I hissed before walking out. Where the h3ll was Zac!? How could he be here, but not!? Godd4mn, Zac, why’d you have to be so d4mn complicated?!