Zoe And The Beast

Chapter 11 | Catalogs, Cards, and Phone Calls | Part 1

I stared at the catalogue on the library's computer screen in front of me, trying my very best to focus on finishing the task I was assigned to do.

But I simply couldn't concentrate.

Vince was all over my mind. I still couldn't get over our date, even though it happened almost a week ago. It was like the best night I ever had. I took risks. And I loved it. Pulling up a card here, gambling a kiss there. Feeling that rush of excitement when he leaned against my back and pushed us down to hit the ball when we played billiards.

And gambling the kisses, oh God. Vince was a good kisser. Sweet Jesus, he was an amazing kisser, and he made me feel things nobody ever made me feel. He knew exactly where to put his hand, exactly how gente to be or how rough to be. He still had one more kiss he could give me; anytime, anywhere. He was casually deliberate -- something ironically real.

And I loved it. I wanted to feel more of those kisses. I wanted to take more of those risks. I wanted to know more about the Beast -- why he was such a bad boy, why he was so good and sexy at what he did, and why he made me feel so...happy. There was something different about him. I needed to know what that was.

But then there was Zach. The lies I was telling Zach were piling up. One on top of the next, on top of the next. When would it stop? How would it stop? I still couldn't understand why Zach hated Beast so much. Zach always trusted me. Always. He trusted me with and piece of information, no matter how horrible it would be. Why couldn't he tell me why he didn't want me seeing Beast? I had boyfriends before that Zach knew about, so it couldn't be that Zach didn't want me to date. There was something else...

There was also that other lie -- the one about Derek being Savannah's boyfriend. I had tried to get a hold of Savannah, but she was always too busy with family work. She had five other siblings, so I didn't blame her, but this...she needed to know this. I had tried to tell Jared, too, but everytime I said the name "Derek" he would just go on and start ranting about how much he hated Derek.

Jared was crushing on Savannah, more and more by the day. I don't know when he would come out and tell her, but he had to stop keeping in the dark with that. I knew, somewhere inside me, that Savannah and Jared would be a kickass couple. If only Derek was out of the picture...

Biting my lip, I pulled my phone out again. I couldn't text her about this -- if Zach happened to accidentally get a hold of her texts he would kill me. And so, I carefully dialed her number again, hoping she would pick up.

"Hello?"

"Oh Savannah," I breathed. "You picked up."

"Yeah," she mused, carefully on the other side. "Sorry I couldn't talk before, my older sisters are all here to visit, and they won't shut up. It's like I'm in a jungle, and I'm the only human. The rest of my family is made up of stink bugs. They're annoying, reek of perfume, and impossible to get rid of. Yuck."

"Okay..." I said, not knowing how to respond to that. "Anyway, I had to talk to you about something kind of important-"

"Oh, can we meet up, actually? Beth and Amy were both planning on going to the mall, so they can drop me off at the library on the way to the mall."

"Sure." I shrugged, staring back at the catalogue. "I can finish my work and then we can talk and check other people's books out for them when you get here."

"Should I call Jared?"

"I mean..." I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "I guess so? He doesn't really have to be in this conversation, though."