*Zack's Pov*
We walked down the footpath, her normally rushing footsteps slowing to an average pace. I watched her smile to herself and that made me smile, because everything about her was happy and that somehow made me feel happy too. She had one of those contagious smiles, the kind of smile that made you smile because it was pure and truthful.
"What are you smiling at Zachary?" She asked and all snapped out of my grinning face.
"Uh...nothing I suppose" I mumbled, all the confidence I had previously obtained, disappearing. She chuckled and punched my arm playfully.
"Ouch?" I laughed, confused slightly.
"You're funny you know that" she smiled.
"Okay... funny ha-ha or funny as in peculiar?" I joked and was surprised to find she answered it seriously.
"I'm not quite sure, but whatever it is, it's a refreshing change..."
"Refreshing?"
"You know, these days I'm so used to being looked after- fussed over- It's nice to meet someone who isn't so.... needy, you know, someone who's okay with just listening" She explained and it took a few seconds for her words to soak into my brain. All I could do was smile.
"Do you ever feel like that, like people are only there for your little secrets, for your praise, for your fame?" She asked and I nodded.
"I don't know..." I whispered and she stayed silent. We walked in the absence of sound, but somehow it was more comforting than noise. She linked arms with me once more, but instead of the tight grip she had applied beforehand, it was soft and supportive.
"Zack...Are we friends?" She whispered, turning around to face me. I stayed silent for awhile but didn't look away because something about her made me feel like I could say anything.
"I hope so" I whispered back and she smiled and nodded.
"Good, I like the sound of that" She giggled and we kept walking. It wasn't long before we reached a a small café along the boardwalk, and whilst it wasn't as glamorous as the others there it looked homy and it smelt like fresh bread. We sat down at a table and a waitress soon hurried over and took our order, to my surprise Hayley ordered a beer and beef burger, I decided to eat the same thing. She beamed at me as if I had just won the Olympics and I gave her a questioning look. The sun was long gone as we sat in the café, eating our meal and it wasn't until we were wondering home in the dark that I realised we hadn't unhooked our arms since we left dinner.
The carpark was silent and empty when we arrived back. We stood in front of each other in the middle of the buses to say our goodbyes.
"That was really fun Zachary, I had a amazingly awesome time she laughed"
"Me too"
"Goodnight!" She chirped and I responded with a quick wave.
"Good night Hayley"
She started walking to her bus but turned around just at the door.
"Thank you Zack, for being a good friend" and she turned around and entered the bus.
I decided that my new friend was the most interesting friend I've ever had.
