Day Thirteen

I'd had enough. 

My heart squelched at the thought of Zak, broke at the thought of Mark, burned at the thought of Gwyn and Hunter, and overall ached in frustration and hurt.

At my wits end, with no one to turn to, the only comfort I sought was that of a delicious scoop of Creamie's ice cream.

"I'll have a single scoop of chocolate fudge brownie, please,"  I said, leaning against the cool glass panel.  "Actually, what the hell, make it a double."  I deserved it.

"Sure thing, Zoe."  Melanie cocked a blonde eyebrow at me and took the wad of cash I slid over the counter.  "That'll be seven-fifty.  Is that all?"

"Hmm,"  I hummed, glancing behind me toward the candy rack.  "And a bag of Germie Wormies, please."

"Okie doke, coming right up."  She smiled, clicking on her laptop.  I grabbed the bag of my brother's favorite candy and placed it next to the ice cream, more aggressively than I'd intended, seeing as Melanie's blue eyes diverted from the screen to where I'd plopped it down.

"Hey, girl, are you good?"  she asked, opening the glass case to scoop my ice cream.  "You seem a little tense."

I plastered a smile onto my face, hoping I could pull off the 'I'm totally fine, nothing is wrong here, everything is sun and daises with Zoe' look, but I was sure I looked as uncomfortable as I felt. Melanie and Andrea were behind the majority of the social media backlash against Gwyn and Hunter, and I simply couldn't look at her the same way after she'd stabbed her friend in the back without a second thought.

I tried to put it all out of my head. She didn't need to know why I was upset. All I wanted was my damn ice cream and some time to think, free of distractions.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Yeah, I'm good.  Just a little bit stressed over the play, with opening night tomorrow, and everything."

"I get what you mean."  she smiled, scraping the bottom of the tub.  "I mean, I don't really get it since I'm not an actor, but--"  She placed my cup on the counter.  "--I can imagine."

"I'll be fine."  I gave her a reassuring smile, grabbing my ice cream and tucking the bag of candy under my arm. Time to get the heck out of here. "Hope to see you there."

I turned to leave, but Melanie's cold hand grasped around my arm, stopping me in my tracks. 

"Hey," She smiled warmly, consuming most of her face due to the size of her mouth.  "If it makes you feel any better, he's freaking out, too."

I frowned, shaking my head.  "Who's freaking out?"

She rolled her eyes, "Your gorgeous costar.  Who else?"

I licked my lips, trying to ignore the stupidly handsome vision that flashed across my memory as soon as she'd said the words.  "Zak?"

She nodded.  "He was in here a couple days ago.  We were just talking at the counter, and somehow your name came up, and he--"  she snickered, "--He got all flustered.  It was really cute."

Half of me didn't want to know--didn't want to care--but my curiosity had already gotten the best of me.  Asking a couple of questions couldn't hurt.  "Oh, really?"

"All I'm saying is you've got nothing to worry about."  She squeezed my arm.  "After dating the guy, I'd say I know him pretty well.  I haven't seen Zak so excited about someone since, well,"  she paused, "Well, not even me.  I've never seen him like this."

"I, um--"  I chuckled, a mixture of emotions swirling in my chest.  "I guess that's a good sign."

"It definitely is." She winked, "No need to worry.  Plus," She leaned over and whispered with a laugh, "He's a great kisser."

I blinked at her, letting out a nervous laugh.  "Good to know.  Thank you, Melanie." 

"See you tomorrow, Zoe."  She gave me a wave of flapping fingers.  "And have a Creamie day!"

----

I plopped myself outside under one of the canary yellow umbrellas facing the patch of wildflowers sprouting amidst the grass. 

I didn't want to be thinking about Zak.  I shouldn't have been thinking about Zak.  In fact, I wanted nothing to do with him at the moment, but it didn't keep Melanie's words from swimming through my brain, clouding my thoughts.

I dug out a fudgy bite of ice cream and spooned it into my mouth, icy chocolate goodness greeting my taste buds. 

At least ice cream would never betray me.

On the bright side, my plan had somehow succeeded in trapping Damon, and I'd gotten most of the answers I needed from him.  One thing still remained unanswered, though, and he was walking straight toward me.

"Thought I might find you here." 

I tilted my head at Mark as he gave me a shy smile, slipping into the empty chair beside me.  I set my ice cream on the table, taking in a deep breath as he studied my face. 

"I got overwhelmed."  I said, putting my face in my hands.  "I'm sorry for just running out on you like that."

Mark puckered his lower lip, shaking his head.  "You're fine.  I didn't want to stay there, either."  He leaned over to examine my bowl, a small smirk creeping on his lips.  "Is that triple fudge brownie?"

"Do you want it?"  I looked up at him and he nodded, so I slid the cup across the table, bringing a satisfied grin to his face.  "It's the least I can do."

He took a bite, closing his eyes.  I only ever ordered the flavor because it was his favorite.  I smiled down at the table, unsure of what to say or how to act after our big blowout.  We sat in silence while he scraped out the bowl.

"It's not all your fault, Zo."  He licked his lips, plopping down the empty cup.  "Damn, that's good stuff."

I combed a hand through my hair, tucking a few stray locks behind my ear.  Flashes of our fight played through my memory, how his voice had raised nearly to a scream, eyebrows furrowed in rage, his knuckles white with frustration. Looking at him now, I could barely meet his eyes, but when I did, he met me with a soft expression, head tilted and eyes kind. 

"Hey, come on, I'm serious."  he said, pulling my hand away from my face.  "I'm not mad at you.  I know it's not your fault--it was never your fault."

I chewed at my lower lip and nodded.  "I really didn't want to hurt you."

"I know."  He smiled, reaching over to squeeze my arm.  "And I overreacted when you told me.  I just,"  he paused, "I didn't know what to do.  I felt betrayed--by you--by Gwyn and Hunter, and by everyone else, really."  He nibbled at his lip piercing, shaking his head.  "But I never should have yelled at you like that, especially since you were the one who had my back."

To make matters worse, he'd been having relapses the past few weeks, which always made his emotions much more intense and difficult to control.  With everything going on and all that had happened recently, I completely understood where he was coming from.  He wasn't in the wrong.

"It is my fault, Mark."  I cocked my head at him.  "You have every right to be mad at me.  I should have come to you as soon as I found out what was going on, but I trusted Damon instead of listening to my gut.  So, yeah, it is my fault."

"The bastard manipulated you."  Mark huffed, crossing his arms.  "You were just trying to help.  I know you didn't mean for everything to happen."

"No, I didn't."  I sighed, "I got so wrapped up in the play, and the chemistry test, and--"  I licked my lips.  "--And Zak, that I pushed everything else to the side.  I was so concerned with all of this other stuff that I forgot what really mattered."  His eyes fell to the table, and I swallowed before continuing,  "I stopped being a good friend to you, and for that I am so, so sorry."

He looked back up at me, nodding.  "I accept your apology."  His lips wormed into a smile.  "Even if I am still a little mad at you."  He pinched his fingers close together.  "Just a little."

"That's okay with me."  I admitted, "I deserve it." 

"Uh huh."  he snorted, "You're lucky I love you." 

A mile wide smiled spread across my face and I looked down, caramel locks falling into my face. 

"I love you, too." 

I rose from my chair and extended my arms out to him.  He stood to meet my embrace, pulling me in close.  "I'm so sorry.  For all of it."

"I'm sorry, too."  Mark whispered, rubbing my shoulders. 

I smiled against his chest, a huge wave of relief rushing over me now that we'd made amends.  The universe fell out of alignment when Mark and I fought, but it felt as though we'd restored some peace within it once again.

As he pulled away, his eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.  "Can I just say how hard it is to stay mad at you?"

I blew out a laugh, smiling up at him.  "Really?"

"It's annoying"  he laughed, pushing my shoulder.  "It's so hard."

"Well, it's hard having you be mad at me."  I smiled, plopping into my chair.  "So, what happened at the theater after I left?"

"Well,"  Mark sighed, leaning back into his seat.  "I wasn't there for long, but, basically, Zak apologized for everything." 

I nodded.  "What did you say?"

"I don't know, I think we sorta made up."  Mark scratched the back of his head.  "It's not perfect, obviously, but I guess it's better than nothing."

"Wow, that's a big deal."  I said, eyebrows raised.  "So you guys are good, now?"

"I wouldn't say 'good', but,"  he sighed, "I don't hate him."

I blinked at him, trying to decide whether or not to be happy or frustrated with the timing of everything.  Three years of not being able to stand him, and with one conversation, Mark had completely forgiven Zak?  I wasn't sure if I bought it.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did, though."  I said.  It was safe to say I wasn't exactly enthused with Zak at the moment.  He'd withheld the truth about Willow this entire time, and for him to have peace lying to me and to the rest of the school for literal years, I didn't know if I could trust him anymore. 

And with the chemistry test tomorrow, I wasn't sure how we were going to pull it off.

"It's in the past,"  Mark muttered, "Willow would want us to make up, anyway."

"I just can't believe he pinned that on you, though."  I shook my head, crossing my arms.  "I mean, who does something like that?"

"Why do you think I couldn't stand him?"  Mark scoffed.  "That's why I lost my mind when you guys got casted for the leads.  I knew he'd find a way to get you on his side, somehow, and it scared the shit out of me to think about losing you."  He looked down, nibbling at his lip piercing.  "I got high so I wouldn't have to."

I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.  "I completely understand, now.  I get why you were scared.  But I want you to know that I don't trust him--I can't trust him--now.  We're gonna have the chemistry test, and that's it.  After that, I'm done.  I don't want anything to do with him."

Mark pushed my hand away, his eyes turning dark.  "You can't do that, Zoe.  I won't let you."

I frowned.  "What?  What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to let you sacrifice everything just because of something that happened years ago with he and I.  You've been working so hard, and you have too much to lose if you don't pass.  So, no.  You can't sabotage yourself.  I'm not gonna let it happen."

I narrowed my eyes at him, completely taken off-guard.  "B-But he lied--"

"Yeah, he did."  Mark said.  "He lied to you.  But it's such a small blip in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter."  he shrugged.  "When you're at NYU, or whatever other film school you're accepted into, you're gonna be glad you went through all of this.  You're gonna be glad Gorveau wrote you a nice letter of recommendation after the chemistry test is over.  Trust me." 

"I mean,"  I swallowed, meeting his challenging gaze.  "You have a point, but--"

"No butts."  he laughed, covering my mouth.  "You know I'm right.  And, listen, if I can forgive the lying bastard, so can you."  He ran a hand through his chocolate hair, giving me a sly smirk.  "Plus, I think you need to get him out of your system."

I laughed.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I burst out laughing, shaking my head.  "You know what I'm talking about."

I really hoped he wasn't thinking what I was thinking. 

"Even though he's a lunatic, I'm gonna quote Gorveau."  Mark cleared his throat, puffing out his lower lip.  "You need to loosen up.  You're too damn uptight."

I shook my head, laughing.  "Yeah, whatever you say, Galassi.  I'm changing the subject,"  I smiled, pushing Zak to the back of my mind to redirect my focus on Mark.  "Have you talked to Gwyn yet?"

Mark licked his lips, eyes trailing off to the side.  "She tried calling like thirty times after the video, so I blocked her number."  He shrugged.  "Not ready to deal with that shit."

"Sounds about right."  I said with a laugh.  "And Hunter?"

He shook his head.  "Not yet.  Probably soon, though."

"And here you are telling me to go make amends,"  I said, shooting him a smirk.  He rolled his eyes, folding his hands behind his head.

"That's different.  It's still fresh."

I nodded.  "I still can't believe they would do that to you."

"Really?"  He smiled, scrunching his nose. "I kind of had a feeling."

"What are you talking about?"  I gawked at him.  "I thought you were totally blind-sighted."

"Don't get me wrong,"  Mark said, "It hurts like a bitch.  But I don't know if Gwyn was ever really right for me.  We really didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and we didn't have very much in common, either."  He nibbled at his piercing.  "It just seems like she and Hunter are a better match."

Resting my chin in my palm, I analyzed his face, looking for signs of disingenuity.  Mark's dark eyes were honest and a smile rose to his lips as he shook his head at me. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"Just want to make sure you're the real Mark."  I said, making binoculars with my hands.  "Is that really you?"

"Stop."  He laughed, pushing my arm.  "Seriously, I'll get over it.  At the end of the day, I just want her to be happy.  Hunter, too."

"Hmm,"  I smiled.  "What about Damon?"

Mark quirked an eyebrow.  "Bigfoot?  He can go crawl in a hole--if he'll even fit--for all I care."

"Did you guys just leave him up there?"

He laughed, "Yeah, I think so. That was brilliant, by the way. Hope it scared some sense into him, he freaking deserves it."

"You know," I said, my voice trailing.  "I don't think he hates you as much as you think he does.  He was, like, defending you about this whole thing."

"Oh."  His eyes narrowed, lips pursed.  "That's weird."

"That's what I thought."  I said, giving him a skeptical look.  "Did you change your mind about him, too?"

"What?  No."  Mark scoffed.  "Why would you even ask me that?"

"Because,"  I laughed, "Maybe he has a crush on you, or something."

Mark rolled his eyes, "Uh huh, sure."

"I'm just saying."  I smiled, and judging by the way Mark squirmed in his chair, maybe I wasn't entirely wrong.

"Yeah, right.  If there's a world where Damon Defiore has a crush on me, I think I'd rather move to Mars."

----

I haven't done an author's note in so long, omg!  Hi, guys!

I can't believe we're almost at the end of this story.  We've been through such a journey, and I'm not sure I'm ready to part with these quirky characters just yet ):

Alas, every great story has a great ending, and I really hope you guys enjoy the couple chapters left of this cute little novel.

I love you guys from the bottom of my heart, and I'm so grateful to have each and every one of you along for the ride.  I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

Now...

Without further ado,

let's see what happens on the final day of the chemistry test, shall we? (;

Ari xx