Zach and Abby

22. - Edited

Abby - Edited

“Hey, where are you?”

“I’m at home, why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing –“

“We both know it’s not nothing.”

I wanted to roll my eyes because he was right. He could tell just from my voice that I was worrying about something, he picked up on things no one else ever could. I wasn’t going to spill everything over the phone so I told him I’d be over in an hour and hung up.

 I was at his place thirty minutes later. He opened the door before I knocked and if I wasn’t ready to both cry and scream, I would have smiled at how well we worked. Just the look on my face must have told him I wasn’t here to eat popcorn and watch a movie.

Everyone on campus knew of Mia. I’d never seen her, never met her face to face. She didn’t even go to school here but Bridget has referred to her several times as queen of the sluts. Her blonde hair, big boobs, high-pitched voice created the perfect stereotype. She was intimidating, if she hadn’t been verbally putting me in the corner, I’d have been both self-conscious and afraid.

As soon as I looked at the two of them together, it was obvious something had happened. It was normal for people to act like they were best friends with Zach but she was different. The look on his face said there was something I didn't know. The thought made me physically sick and the entire afternoon I’d been waiting for Zach to come clean but he never said anything. I didn’t want to assume things or jump to conclusions. I didn’t want to be the girlfriend who constantly read his phone over his shoulder or was on his case every time he talked to another girl.

But I’d been his girlfriend for not even a week and already there were unanswered questions between us.

I wanted to trust him, I wanted him to trust me. I was never comfortable relying on people but Zach was slowly taking over my entire world. People like Mia scared me, people who could take away everything left I have to be happy about.

But then I had Austin. He would tell me, I’m sure he knew Mia and with Zach being his best friend, I’m sure he knew whatever had gone on between them.

I took a seat at the counter, laying my head down in my arms, feeling a headache coming on. He patted my shoulder once, reaching into the fridge for two beers. I always liked how he’d treated me. I wasn’t a fragile china doll who broke if you touched her. I’d been at rock bottom many times before but each time, Austin picked me up, offered me a beer and listened whenever I was willing to talk. He was gentle but still acted like I was a person instead of a little girl incapable of keeping her emotions in check.

“So, what is it? Did Zach do something –“

“No, no, relax. It’s really not that bad. It’s probably stupid anyways.”

He sat down next to me, silent. He wasn’t going to ask, he never wanted to pressure me into talking. He was like every girl’s dream guy, whatever girl finally tied him down was going to be the luckiest one alive.