Forever and Always ✔️

Chapter twenty one - Zack.

"Wanna go out tonight? See a movie? Have some dinner?" Cecelia asked me in the parking lot just as school had finished for the day.

I scratched the back of my head and looked around at all the students who were rushing to get home. "Uh, I can't tonight. I have this English paper due that needs to be finished."

She nodded and spotted one of her friends behind me. "Okay, maybe another time. I'll see you later." She placed a kiss on my cheek and headed off to where her friend was.

"English paper, huh?" I jumped at Gray's voice from behind me, I turned around to see his annoyed face.

"Uh, yeah. I got into trouble in English today and now I have to write this paper for one thousand words!" I said, hoping he would believe me.

"Oh, right. And what's this paper about?" He raised his eyebrows at me, crossing his arms and waiting for my answer.

"Shakespeare," I said, knowing he did not believe me. "Look. I don't have time for your lecture." I looked at my phone and realised I was late.

"I'm not lecturing, I'm just asking." He said as I pushed past him to get to my car.

"Whatever." I said as I started the engine and drove off towards the beach.

He was not the friend I knew a few months ago. What had changed?

Once I arrived, I already saw her sitting by the water, reading a book. I smiled and slammed the door shut, moving quickly to where she was seated.

The sand made a slight sound as I walked through it, she looked back and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey, Penelope." I loved hearing my voice say her name.

She laughed to herself. "I can't believe you got me into trouble again! Now I have to write a paper with a thousand words."

I laughed with her and sat down beside her, watching the waves crash. "It can't be that hard for you, you love English! And what about me? I suck at English and I have also write that stupid paper."

She turned to me with a small smile. "Well, nothing is better than writing an English paper on the beach."

The wind blew a small yet pleasant breeze across both of us. "Let's get started, shall we?"

She reached for her bag on the other side of her and took out a few sheets of paper and two pens. She handed me a pen and the paper. "I wasn't even listening." I sighed, staring at the blank piece of paper. "How am I going to write a paper with a thousand words?"

"Easy," she stopped writing and looked at me, "I'll write yours and you write mine." She added my name at the top of the paper.

What a smart idea and a brilliant way to mess with our English teacher who gave us this impossible task. I began writing just as she did, realizing it was not that hard.

She began to write more and looked over and at me. "See? It's not so hard after all."

I smiled, stop writing and looked over as she continued to write. "No, I guess not." The truth was, Penelope was the one making it so easy.

*

"Zack and Penelope?" Our English teachers called on us as the rest of the class was reading a Shakespeare's play.

We both giggled and walked up to her desk and handed her our papers. The teacher took a quick glance. "Zack," she said in a surprised tone, "this is excellent!" Penelope smiled at me with a cheeky grin hidden underneath, knowing that we swapped papers on the beach yesterday. "Uh, Penelope?" She said and looked up at her, she tried to put on a straight face as the teacher talked. "This isn't your best work, you can do better."