Day Ten

SaltySweetSassMaster: hey I went to ur house...hope that's chill

SaltySweetSassMaster: ur brother said i look sick

SaltySweetSassMaster is typing...

SaltySweetSassMaster: not the good kind

I scrolled through my messages, relieved that Mark was safe and sound at my house and not outside a dumpster at some gas station off the highway. It wouldn't be the first time I'd found him there, to say the least.

Although, I wouldn't blame him even if he did.
Gwyn's cheating was horrible on its own, but what made it especially so was that it was with Hunter. Out of every other popular, cute guy at WBHS, she had to pick the one who was closest to Mark and I. Betrayal had a funny way like that.

Hopefully, by the end of rehearsal, he would have sobered up enough for me to explain the heartbreaking encounter I'd unfortunately seen today.

"Phone," Kyle, from across the circle pointed at me, "Zoe's on her phone."

The rest of the group pointed at me, all calling out, "Phone!"

I threw my head back, holding my phone up in surrender. I'd broken one of Gorveau's first rules in Theatre--no technology out during rehearsal--and the punishment awaiting me was a dare from one of my fellow cast members.

"Juliet doth break-eth the rule." Gorveau announced, his voice booming over the chatter. "Bestow-eth thy rath, ye hooligans."

Zak laughed. "Okay, what'll it be, guys?"

I shot him a look: nothing too crazy, and he gave me a playful smile in return, neither reassuring nor challenging it.

"Do the chicken dance." Someone muttered, only to be instantly booed by the rest of the group.

"Lick your elbow." Kyle said, demonstrating his strange ability to do so, receiving mixed looks from everyone.

"Come on, you wimps-ickles." Gorveau rolled his eyes, "This is Juliet we're talking about, here. Make her squirm a little." The teacher winked at me, and I pursed my lips.

"I have an idea," Zak mused, his eyes flickering over to me. Turning his head to the side, he tapped his cheek.

A kiss.

The group made a series of 'oohs' in excited agreement and my cheeks flushed looking over at the cheeky boy beside me. In all honesty, it could have been a lot worse than just a peck on the cheek, but it was enough to make my heart jump a little.

The chatter died down as everyone's eyes locked onto us, not missing a single moment between Zak and I.

Swallowing hard, I sighed at the group, playing off my nerves as exasperation.  "If I have to."

My heart pounding fast, I leaned over and puckered my lips, but where I expected to meet the far end of his cheek, my lips fell onto his.

Oh, my God.

Stunned, I pulled away, blinking repeatedly as the group broke out into what I gathered was utter teenage chaos, yelling and whooping, but I couldn't break away from his crinkled blue eyes.

It wasn't my fault. Zak turned his head way before I'd reached his cheek--it was intentional. He'd wanted a real kiss.

He looked down and up, a smirk overtaking his entire expression. While he seemed satisfied with himself, I wasn't totally sure what I was feeling, but if my heart beats were any indication, whatever it was, it meant something.

I let out a nervous laugh, unsure how to act in this situation. I shook my head at him, lightly pushing his shoulder. "You joker."

While the cast continued to laugh and cause a rukus, Zak leaned over, close enough for his lips to graze my ear, and whispered in a low tone, "Maybe I wasn't joking."

I pulled back to look at him, my chest tightening. Our eyes locked for a moment too long before I broke from his gaze, taking a deep inhale. If I spent any more time in the pools of his eyes, I was scared I'd drown.

When I looked up at Gorveau, he nodded at us. Raising his smoothie container up to Zak, he mouthed, "Bravo."

It was all I could think about for the rest of rehearsal.

----

As I pulled into my driveway, parked alongside Mark's grey Volvo junker was a shiny black Audi. For a moment, I totally forgot Hunter had a tutoring appointment scheduled with my brother tonight. That meant that, if Hunter hadn't already told Mark what was happening, it would only cause a disruption if I were to tell him now.

On my way upstairs I passed the kitchen, where the curly haired boy was leaning over a textbook alongside my spiky-haired brother, using his pointer finger to help him follow along with the text.

"Hey, there." Hunter smiled up at me. "You've been missing all the fun. Emett's crushing fourth grade grammar."

"Aw, I'm happy to hear that, Em." I smiled at my brother, who gave me a double thumbs up. "Hey, do you know where Mark--?"

"Upstairs." Hunter nodded up, giving me a brief smile before turning back to Emett to continue their lesson. Usually, he wouldn't be so quick with me, but I did interrupt them, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was tough to keep my brother on track, anyway.

"Cool. Keep up the good work, you two." I said over my shoulder, slipping upstairs.

When I walked in, Mark was lounging on the window seat, rays of evening light filtering through his chocolate hair.

"Oh, you're back." he said, clicking his phone off. "How was rehearsal?"

"Um," I paused, debating whether or not to tell him about the kiss. "You know, crazy as usual." I shrugged my backpack off my shoulder and plopped onto my bed, sitting cross legged facing him. "It's definitely not the same without you."

"Hmm," he nibbled at his lip piercing, looking down at the cushion beneath him. "What'd you tell Gorveau?"

"I said you got food poisoning." I repressed a smile, "And then he went into this spiel about how he gets diarrhea from seafood."

Mark grimaced, "For real?"

"And he was serious." I said, laughing. "It was so weird."

Mark let out a breathy laugh and shook his head, crossing his arms over his knees. "I wish I'd been there, but I think you were right about me not going to class. I was pretty messed up."

"Yeah," I sighed, "So, how are you feeling now? Any better?"

"I'm sober." he said, "That's what you mean, right?" I nodded, and he sat up from the window seat, making his way over to my bed. "Take a look for yourself."

His pupils were appropriately sized, and as he leaned closer, I could hardly smell the musty stench I'd noticed earlier. He gave me a crooked smile, his eyes flickering between mine. Despite the dark circles lingering underneath them, he seemed mostly fine.

"I believe you." I said, nodding at my bed. "Come on up. Sit with me."

He hopped onto the edge, the plush mattress dipping underneath his weight. We leaned back against the wall, only a couple of fuzzy pillows separating us.

"How was your date?" I turned to look at him, his messy hair flattening against the wall as he shook his head.

"After you left at lunch, she bailed last minute on me. Needed to finish her project." he said. "Even though we had this thing planned all week."

"That sucks." I said, pinching my eyebrows together. "You deserve better than that, Mark."

"Eh," he shrugged. "I don't think I could do any better, to be honest."

"What are you talking about?" I shifted my body over to face him. "You deserve to be with someone who appreciates you just as much as you appreciate them."

"She was busy." Mark said, a little defensive. "I know she cares. She just has a funny way of showing it, sometimes."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"What are you trying to say?" His eyes narrowed at me.

"She doesn't always take your feelings into consideration, that's all." I said, crossing my arms. "Gwyn does what Gwyn wants to do, and a lot of the time, it's at your expense."

"It's not all her fault." he said. "I don't always communicate how I'm feeling with her, either. It goes both ways."

"Okay, so did you let her know that you were disappointed?"

"Why would I do that?" he scoffed, "I don't want to make her feel worse. It's a school project, anyway, so there's really nothing she could do."

Except there was something; it was called not hooking up with Hunter Hollingsworth in her spare time.

"She could have planned better." I said, plucking a chunk of fuzz from a pillow. "Instead of flaking on you."

I couldn't keep the image of Gwyn and Hunter from flooding in. The moments I'd caught of them together played on a disgusting, constant loop through my mind.

Mark needed to know the truth, but once again, I wasn't sure it was the right time to give it to him. It had been a long, tiring day, and he was still hurt from Gwyn simply cancelling their plans. Maybe in the next few days I could tell him, when his head was fresh and veins rid of any traces of illegal substances.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, the tension from our short disagreement slowly dissipating.

We met each other's gaze and I gave him a small smile. "You know that I just want the best for you, and I don't want to see you hurt." I squeezed his forearm, and his expression softened. "I want you to be happy."

"I know, I appreciate that." He nodded, "But she does make me happy." He smiled, rolling his eyes. "Most of the time."

"Good." I said, extending my arms out for a hug. Without hesitation, he scooped me up into his arms and hugged me tight, the sound of his heartbeat filling my ears. I relaxed my forced smile, wrapping my arms around his torso and allowing my cheek to smush against his chest.

I needed to keep the peace between us. With opening night just a few days away, I was relying on him to keep me sane. Meanwhile, I had to protect him--protect his feelings--and if that meant waiting to tell him about Gwyn and Hunter, so be it.

It would do more harm than good to tell him now.