Forever and Always ✔️

Chapter forty one - Zack.

Thinking of what Grayson said to me the other day, I hadn't bothered to call her or text her or show up at her house wanting answers. If she wanted space then I would give her space but that didn't mean I was giving up on her. No, it just meant that I was giving her time to deal with whatever she was dealing with but, I wanted to deal with it with her.

I walked into school, tired and sleepy. I really wanted to head home and sleep today but I knew that wasn't possible. I had the urge to instantly find Penelope, kiss her and tell her how much I loved her.

Instead, I ran into Molly. Sure, we had a great time at her cabin with all her friends but that didn't mean that I liked her any more than I did before we went there. She just didn't get the fact that I didn't want to talk to her and I was not her friend. What happened between Molly and I was a mistake and I would never do anything to hurt Grayson again.

So, as usual, when she saw me she just had to talk to me. "Hey, Zack." She slowly walked up to me as the corridors cleared for lunch. I hadn't seen Penelope today, actually I was wondering if she was even here.

"Hi, Molly." I mumbled, brushing past her, hoping to avoid her for the rest of the year.

I heard her high heels click on the ground, coming towards me. "Zack, wait." She touched my shoulder, making me turn around and pull away. I stood away from her, not wanting to talk about anything.

"What do you want? I'm late meeting Gray." I was cold to her which didn't seem to bother her much.

"I don't understand why we can't be friends, I miss having you to talk to and I thought bringing you to my cabin would work." She said with a simple sigh, looking directly at me with her ocean blue eyes that hypnotized me in the first place.

"That's because we can't. What happened with Gray will never change things." I said with a simple shrug, hoping this conversation would be ending soon.

She came closer to me, locking her eyes with mine. "We had something, Zack. Something some people don't have." Her voice was soft and sweet like things never changed between us.

"What happened between us can never be the same again and I won't hurt Gray again either." I reminded her, our voices echoing in the empty corridor.

"Oh come on," she said, looking hopeful, "that was months ago. Sure, we kissed and things escalated into something more but it was over in a few months once I broke it off with Gray and then you ended it, God knows why. We were great together. I don't understand why we can't be friends." She reminded me once again.

I heard footsteps echoing from behind and Molly's eyes widened with pure shock. I turned around and saw Gray standing right behind me with a blank yet angry expression on his face. "Wait, you were the guy Molly was cheating on me with?"

"I'm gonna go." Molly said, stepping further away from me.

"No," Gray snapped, glaring at the both of us as Molly stood directly beside me, "you were that guy? The guy I hated and wanted to beat to death? The guy who was sleeping with my girlfriend! He was standing beside me this entire time!"

"Gray, listen-"

"Stop talking." He said, looking from Molly to me with pure hatred and I could see it. He hated me for what I did and I didn't blame him. "My life was put on hold because of the pain you caused me. I was so in love and you both ripped it apart like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing! You didn't even care how I felt about this."

"Of course we care." I said, not knowing what else to say to him. The look in his eyes said he didn't believe me.

"How long?" Gray stood in front of us, crossing his arms and tapping his foot waiting for an answer. When we said nothing, he got even more pissed off. "How long?"