Zach and Abby

7. - Edited

Zach - Edited

"Hello?" I answered without even opening my eyes. It was too damn early to be talking on the phone.

"Hey man, it's Austin," his cheery voice rang through on the other end, annoying me because he sounded too happy at whatever time it was right now.

I finally glanced over at the clock which told me it was only twenty after seven in the morning. I didn't have to be up for another hour. Whatever Austin needed to tell me now better be something important.

"So listen," he spoke when I hadn't said anything for a few seconds. Instead, I lay there, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and trying to contain a stream of curse words. "I can't make it to class today and Abby's phone is off or she lost it so can you let her know for me? I know she'd freak if I just didn't show up."

As soon as he was done talking, I told him a lazy yes before hanging up and throwing my phone to the end of the bed. I tried to go back to sleep but other players were already up and making noise outside the door so I decided to just get up and find something to occupy myself with for the next hour.

After I showered, got dressed, ate whatever I could find in terms of cereal and swung by the coffee shop on campus, I headed to Abby's dorm. I had a new sense of excitement because I realized that while standing in the ridiculous line for hot chocolate, I would have Abby to myself. That made waking up at the ass crack of dawn to answer the phone worth it.

Right when I reached the door, Abby opened it, letting out a shriek and throwing a hand to her heart like I really scared her.

"Uh, I'm sorry," I muttered, taking a step back to give her some space. She looked at me for a second before turning around to lock her dorm. Once she was finished, she slowly spun on her heels to face me, obviously wanting some sort of an explanation.

"Hot chocolate delivery service?" I shrugged and smiled sheepishly, holding up the two cups of piping hot liquid and motioning for her to take one. When she did, my smile widened and she gave me one in return.

"Thank you," she said before I turned and she came to stand next to me as we walked. I told her Austin's message and she nodded and smiled at the ground, but me not having the courage to say anything else. We headed to class the rest of the way in silence, a slight breeze continuously blowing, making Abby shiver even though she was drinking something hot.

The second time it happened, I didn't even think before I threw my zip up sweatshirt over her shoulders. I would have also put my arm over her shoulders and pulled her into my side, but I told myself this was slow. I'd scared her enough and I've only been here three days.

We walked into history where this time I lead her to the table we sat at last time. The entire class was spent trying to pay attention to the politics of Genghis Khan's empire, but really, I watched Abby when she wasn't paying attention. The way she smiled and giggled when the teacher said something funny. How she lightly chewed the end of the pen in her mouth when trying to answer a hard question.

She was beautiful and that wasn't something I called girls often. She didn't even know it which made it ten times truer.

Class ended and then Spanish went the same way. We had a few short conversations about the cold weather, my game last night and why Austin wasn't here today. Most of the time, I was silent and just admired Abby as she spoke with her smiles and small hand gestures.

When it came time to part ways, without thinking I gently grabbed her arm and made her stop walking beside me.

"Um, I was gonna ask- well, are you doing anything tonight?" I stuttered, hoping I didn't look as flustered as I felt. I'd never had a problem talking to girls, but then again Abby wasn't just another girl; she meant something to me.

Once again, the shock on her face surprised me and made me feel like an ass. Maybe if I hadn't practically ignored her for four years in high school, she wouldn't be so freaked out every time I spoke to her and even came up to her.

"I don't think so, why?"

Awesome, I thought to myself, nodding like an idiot before I realized what I was doing.

"That's great," I smiled, the words coming out sounding ridiculously breathless. Here goes everything. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat at that new Italian place just off campus?" Involuntarily, my voice tilted up and it came out as more of a question then I would have liked.

The entire time I was speaking, her face was unreadable, something I hated. I wanted to know if I was just standing here making a fool of myself or if my words meant anything to her. I wanted her to smile and give me some hope, or at least just reject me now so I wouldn't keep wishing and wanting her from afar – also known as the friend zone.

After what felt like ages, the smile I was quickly falling for spread over her face. For a split second, she met my gaze before instantly bringing her face back to look at the ground.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

The words were so quiet I had to lean forward to hear them, but I knew I did in fact hear the correct words. I tried to conceal the huge grin on my face, but all defenses failed. I probably looked like a kid who just won a carnival game, and maybe just as pathetic.

"So, can I pick you up around seven?"

I blurted it before I could even think about it. Some part of me predicted Abby would say no, so now I had to improvise; I didn't plan this far ahead, I didn't have that much confidence in myself.

"Sure, that works great," she said, now seeming confident enough to raise her head and smile while looking at me.  "I'll, uh, see you later."

As she walked away, I muttered a breathless "yeah, see ya," but I knew she didn't hear me. While racing to practice, there was only one thought on repeat in my mind: I was going on a date with Abby.