Noticing You (BoyxBoy)

Fifteen

Jess went home at nine that night and Zack made sure to face time his aunt. He didn't end up going to the party at Jace's but he got several texts and then later some photos from his friends about it. Sunday was spent with his dad and then having dinner with Chloe. So overall, hie weekend was good.

He walked up to his cirlce of friends when he got to school. They were exactly where he knew they'd be, Jace's locker. It's where the group always was. Like some unspoken rule: Jace's locker is where we meet up.

"Hey, Zack." Ki smiles at his approach. Zack smiles back, the happy expression running through them all. "We missed you at the party. Getting shit-faced is definitely the way to go if you're disappointed over a lost game."

Zack rolled his eyes. He only went to about half the parties his friends went to and he never drank that much. They knew how to have fun without him.

"Well my aunt was in town and my dad didn't have to go into work." They all seemed to understand.

He left Jess out of it. That was one of the biggest reasons he didn't go because by the time he took Jess home, the party was just starting and Isaac really didn't feel like leaving his house again.

He didn't have any problem with his friends knowing he hung out with Jess. He was afraid they'd start to tease Jess more or try to be around him. Jess didn't like them and he didn't like being the center of attention. Zack knew his friends could have overbearing personalities and didn't know when to shut up.

It was also because Jess was just a different friend. He didn't fit into this friend group. He was special, different than the meat heads Isaac hung out with every other day.

"Chloe?" Jace looked invested now, referring to what he had said about his aunt being in town. Zack groaned at the hearts forming in his eyes. "Dude!"

"You're not dating my aunt." Zack dead panned. "She's too old for you."

"Age is but a number." Jace waved away Zack's word.

"You won't be saying that if 'your love' gets locked up for being with you." Andrew mused.

"She is not his love." Zack sighed. Jace had met Chloe once and insists it was love at first sight. He spent the whole time flirting with her and she found it quite entertaining. Now he was sure they were going to end up getting married.

"You wanna hang out after school today since we won't have practice?" Ki asked. They would still have athletics last hour but it would just be off-season work for the ones that didn't play basketball so they would get to leave the same time as everyone else.

"Sure." Zack smiled. It had been a while since he had gone over to Ki's. He missed Mrs. Lendev asking him kindly if he wanted to help make dinner and Mr. Lendev teasing him over the table while they ate. He hadn't gotten to ask Victoria, Ki's little sister, if he needed to beat up any boys for her in what felt like too long, and he missed Molly, the lab retriever that  roamed the Lendev household.

Ki had been Zack's first close friend. He had befriended Zack when he came back to school and soon the two were inseparable. Jace came along not terribly long after and Andrew joined their little group in seventh grade. Zack considered them all family at this point.

"Cool. Vic misses you, she keeps asking when you're coming over again. I think she's got a crush on you." Ki said with a fond smile. Zack chuckled quietly.

He considered Victoria a little sister of his own. He really hoped she didn't have a crush on him, or if she did it was just a small one that would go away. He didn't want to be her first headache.

"Why doesn't Vic ever miss me?" Jace tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Because you throw pillows at her and tell her to get out? Just a guess." Andrew joined in, leaning back on the lockers behind him.