Day Nine

From somewhere backstage came a loud thud, followed by a series of profanity, snapping my attention away from Zak and toward the stage. 
Moments later, a very large, dark shape, which I eventually made out as Damon, appeared from behind the curtain, carrying an assortment of stage props.  It took him a second to notice us, but as soon as he did, all 6'5'' of him jumped back in startlement, everything in his hands clammering to the floor.

"Jesus Christ."  He covered his face with a baseball mitt sized hand.  "You scared the hell out of me."

I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't help giggling.  Seeing such a massive, intimidating guy scare so easily was hilarious. 

"Sorry."  I giggled, walking up to the stage where his face was turning redder by the second.  "Here, let me help you."

He opened his mouth to protest, but I was already gathering up some of the props and handing them up to him.  I could feel Zak's gaze, but was pleasantly surprised to see him appear beside me, grabbing the rest of the fallen props. 

Just taking a quick glance at him, I got the feeling that we were putting the whole Mark conversation on hold, at least for the moment, which gave me a simultaneous wave of relief and worry.

Damon took them, giving us a curt nod and turned to head backstage, but before he was out of sight, an idea popped into my head.

"Wait,"  I said, and he looked over his shoulder, cocking a caterpillar eyebrow.  "Are you, um, busy right now?"

He turned around to face me, looking down at the props in his hands before meeting my eyes again.  "Sort of.  Why?"

"Well, I was thinking,"  I looked over at Zak, who seemed even more confused than Damon, "Since we're about to head over to Kyoto's, maybe you'd want to grab some sushi with us? If that's okay with you."  I met Zak's icy eyes, which softened as he nodded.

"Yeah, man."  He said, shrugging up at Damon.  "Feel free to join."

Part of me had a genuine motive to invite Damon to relieve some of the awkward tension between us, but another part of me just wanted to test Zak's reaction to such a spontaneous and unexpected invitation. 

Although, I could tell that it wasn't his first choice to have Damon third-wheel, nor was it mine--especially on our first date--but I had to keep in mind that it was all for the chemistry test, anyway.  If anything, getting on Damon's good side would help everything go along a little more smoothly in the long run.

His dark eyes flickered between both of us, a vague expression of confusion and intrigue on his face.  "I wouldn't want to spoil the mood."  He said, now looking over at Zak to exchange what I could only interpret as a 'bro-code' look.

Trying to ignore the subtext of his words, I insisted, "You should come.  You can't say no to sushi."

He looked at Zak again, and they seemed to communicate with a single glance before Damon's dark eyes met mine again. 

"Does sound good."  He sighed, "You sure?"

"Are you hungry?"  I asked.

Damon shrugged and nodded, which I took as a yes.

"Then, yeah.  Come on," I smiled, trying to convince myself that this was a good idea and not one that could blow up in my face in a matter of seconds.  "It'll be fun.  The more the merrier, right?"

Originally, I had planned to jet home and quickly change into a casual date-night look, but now with the skyscraper of a boy crammed into the backseat of my Toyota Camry, my plans had, obviously, changed.

"You okay back there?"  I twisted around to give Damon a quick glance.  "Need any more leg room?"

Damon squirmed in his seat in an effort to tuck his legs as close to his body as possible, to no avail.  He gave me a close-lipped smirk, his dark eyes seemingly filled with as much regret as mine. 

I brought my seat as far forward as I thought he needed, looking back again.  "Is that enough?"

He wiggled around.  "Little more."

I pulled it forward again, bringing my body very much up close and personal with my dashboard, hoping it would be enough. 

"How about now?"  I looked back once again, but it seemed as if my seat had barely moved at all, despite my face being inches away from the steering wheel. 

"Still no."  He grunted, unbuckling his seat belt.  "It's fine.  I'll drive myself and meet you there." 

Relieved, I pushed my seat back as the big guy climbed out of my car.  I wasn't sure if he knew where Kyoto's was, since it was on the outskirts of town, so I stuck my head out of the window before he was out of earshot.

"Do you need the address?"  I called, and he seemed to pause to think about it before nodding.

"I'll send it to ya."  Zak said from beside me in the passenger seat.  I smiled at him in gratitude, before stopping to wonder why he would have Damon's contact information in the first place.

"You sure you're okay with this?"  I peeked over at Zak as we pulled out of the WBHS parking lot.  "We can always change our minds-" 

"Yeah, it's fine."  He shot me a reassuring smile, the faintest of lines creasing around his eyes as he cocked his head at me.  "It was nice of you to invite him."

"I just want to make things easier for us, you know?"  I said, soon realizing how the words sounded coming out of my mouth.  "I mean, for the chemistry test, and everything."

"I know what you mean."  He shot me a look, but I was too focused on the road to meet his eyes.

Silence followed between both of us for a few moments too long, so I changed the subject.

"How's your arm feeling?"  I asked, recalling our recent hospital visit. 

"It's doing better."  He said, looking down at his sling.  "I should be able to get out of this thing by opening night.  I mean, I don't really have a choice."  He laughed, trying to lighten the mood. 

"You're right, you don't."  I laughed.  "It's not like we have our entire acting and academic careers on the line, or anything."

"Right, that would be bad."  he chuckled, sarcastic.  "But, hey, you'd be able to pull it off for the both of us."

"What are you talking about?"  I laughed, looking over at him.  Our eyes locked and his smile widened before I had to glance back at the road. 

I couldn't afford to crash the car again.

"Don't act like you don't know."  he smiled, shaking his head, "You've got serious acting chops, Zoe.  Anyone can see that."

My gut instinct was to honor his words as a compliment, but there was still a part of me that was skeptical of his façade.  Was he complimenting my stage performances, or my own acting front?

I couldn't tell.  The best way to find out was to play his game. 

"Give yourself some more credit, Riley."  I plastered a smile onto my face, slowing the car at the upcoming stoplight.

"I'm just saying,"  He smiled at me.  Wispy tendrils of dark hair fell across his forehead as he met my eyes.  "Romeo is nothing without Juliet."

My breath caught in my throat.  His eyes sparkled at me, taking in the features of my face before meeting my gaze again.  He was just close enough where I could smell a hint of his cologne, and combined with the adoring smile on his lips, he was utterly irresistible.

And if I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was going to kiss me.

A honk sounded behind us, breaking the silence and snapping me back into reality.  I cleared my throat and put my foot on the gas and sped toward the restaurant, my mind whirring faster than the car engine. 

----

Walking into the dimly lit restaurant adorned with traditional Japanese posters and quirky bonsai trees, I immediately felt some stress lift off of my shoulders.  As per usual, the place was fairly empty, with only a few tables occupied by chattering families and quiet couples.  It was just what I needed after a long day of rehearsal.

"Not bad, Zoe."  Zak admitted, sliding his arm around my shoulders as we waited to be seated. 

"Didn't I tell you?" I leaned into his embrace, allowing myself to enjoy it after such a tense moment during the drive.  "It's my favorite for a reason." 

"Well, I can definitely see why."  He smiled down at me.  I let my head rest on his shoulder and felt his rest on top of mine, which brought an irrepressible smile to my face. 

"Okay, I am definitely third-wheeling on you guys."

I whipped up to find Damon grimacing awkwardly behind us.  Zak and I shifted uncomfortably away from each other to face the giant, who seemed like he already had one foot out the door.

"No, you're just in time."  I piped up, feigning enthusiasm.  "We're waiting on a table right now."

"Right this way."  A waitress with pin-straight dark hair smiled at us, leading our party to a table in front corner of the restaurant, facing a large window .  Atop the dark wood sat a fuschia Japanese orchid, which I proceeded to admire as the boys made small-talk.

A friendly waitress grabbed us drinks and took our orders within a matter of a few minutes, and in her absence Zak attempted to break the ice between the three of us.

"Bummer about your camera, man."  Zak clicked his tongue, sending Damon a sympathetic smile. 

"Yeah, it's the shop.  Should be fixed soon."  Damon grunted, sipping his drink--a tall glass of Coke with no ice--and I cringed. 

Of course he drank his soda warm. 

"Good."  Zak nodded, "Ya know, it was weird at first, but I don't mind it too much, now.  Think I got used to it."

"The camera?" Damon quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah.  It's kinda fun, like practice for real acting, ya know?"  He nudged my shoulder and I blinked up at him, trying to act as though I was following the conversation and not staring at Damon's lukewarm beverage.

"Totally."  I agreed, my brain catching up with the conversation.  "I, uh, I just wish that Mark hadn't given it to Emett.  The kid's a total spaz."  I laughed light-heartedly, placing the blame on my nine-year old hyperactive brother to distract from the fact that it was, really, all Mark's fault.

"What can you do?"  Damon shrugged, "Shit happens." 

"Hey, cheers to that."  Zak laughed, and we all clinked our drinks together.  He shot me a wink from over the rim of his glass, and I almost choked on my water. 

I was thankful when our sushi finally arrived.  The tension between us and Damon had mostly dissipated as the time went on, and I was starting to feel a little bit more like myself without the added pressure of a recording camera in my face. 

Though, as hard as I tried, I couldn't keep my mind from circling back to our conversation with Gorveau.  He had made his mind up about Mark even before the chemistry test began, so there was no changing his decision to drop Mark from the play anytime soon. 

I couldn't help but feel for my best friend.  Despite his detention, his sabotage of Damon's camera and fist-fight thereafter, and his most recent relapse, the guy really was trying his best.

"Zoe?" Zak laughed, nudging my shoulder.

"Hm?" I looked up, dazed after staring at the orchid for what felt like eons.  "Sorry, what?"

"Bit of a space cadet, ain't you?"  Damon smirked, and the boys laughed. 

"My bad."  I forced a laugh, baring my teeth in embarrassment.  "What are we talking about?"

"Your food."  Zak looked down at my plate.  "Can I have a piece?"

"Go for it,"  I laughed, scooting the plate toward him.  He smiled and reached for it as I looked up and out the window, where a black Audi was pulling into the parking lot. 

My stomach gurgled in disagreement with the few pieces of sushi I'd already eaten, so I retracted my words as he raised a piece to his lips.  "Just to warn you, it's making my stomach upset." 

"Really?"  He frowned, pausing just before he could take a bite.  "Looks delicious to me."

"No, seriously."  I drawled, as two familiar figures climbed out of the car outside.  The bleached locks of the thin girl could have been recognized from a mile away. 

What were they  doing here?

My stomach dropped even further, a wave of nausea overcoming my body.  "It's not a good idea."

"Uh huh, sure.  You hated it so much that you ate most of it, right?"  He laughed, but my eyes couldn't leave the window. 

I held back the urge to gag as my stomach twisted and turned, each step closer the couple came to opening the door, the further the bile rose in my throat. 

I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly. 

Before I even had time to think, Gwyn Ryann Harris set foot in the restaurant, her male companion right behind her, and as she flipped her massive sunglasses on top of her head, we locked eyes.

Oh, shit.

Her red-lipped smile plummeted, overcome with a look of complete shock and fear.  I bit back a final gag reflex and shook my head, looking between her and the door in a desperate attempt to tell them to get the hell out of here. 

She nodded and flipped around, grabbing Hunter and frantically making a break for the door.  Unfortunately for Gwyn, it was too late.

"Wait,"  Zak grimaced.  "Is that Gwyn?"

Unfortunately for me, it was also too late.  I couldn't hold it in any longer, and the bathroom was no longer an option.

Hunching my shoulders, stomach clutched, eyes squinted shut, I vomited all over Zak Riley.