Saving His Smile

chapter: ix

The smile was a small one. No teeth showed, but the corners of his eyes crinkled and there was definite curvature to his mouth.

Grace could only sit there in shock as Zachary smiled smugly at her before scooping another eighth of a waffle into his mouth and downing after only chewing a couple times.

"You look horrified," he commented casually, sitting back against the plastic booth and quirking an eyebrow.

To distract herself, Grace scooped some of her scrambled eggs into her mouth. They were heavenly, fluffy, and tasted as if they had been prepared in bacon grease. "Not horrified..." she said slowly. "Just... surprised, I guess."

They both chewed in silence, though on Zachary's end it was more expectant. His eyebrows still stood high up on his forehead.

"You haven't smiled in a while," she explained, looking out the Waffle House window and out into the parking lot. "I mean, around me anyways."

Across from her, Zachary shrugged in response.

"Not that I was paying attention to your mouth or anything, because I totally wasn't looking at--" she stopped herself before she could keep rambling like a madwoman.

Zach smiled again, and shook his head a little bit, his hair, lightened by extensive time in the sun, flopping slightly with the movement.

Her cheeks heated, and she looked down at her plate. Of course she would choose now of all times to decide that Zachary Duncan was probably the most attractive guy she had ever sat across a table from.

They finished their breakfast in relative silence. The conversation was light, and comments exchanged were only few and far between. It was uncomfortable for only the first few minutes, though that was mostly due to the fact that Grace still felt incredibly embarrassed.

As soon as they had both finished their food, their waiter appeared almost instantaneously, bringing their check with him. Despite her protests, Zachary paid for both of them and wouldn't even let Grace see the bill.

"Come along, Grace," he said, with another small smile. "We've got a long day of skipping school ahead of us."

•••

Inside the truck, the two of them sang along loudly and badly to nearly every song that came on the radio. Prolonged exposure to Zachary's music taste had Grace singing along with Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, and Drake White with as much gusto and familiarity as she would have sung One Republic or Rihanna.

As they drove, Grace watched the scenery around them. Buildings, sidewalks, and the usual trappings of an urban area began to thin out, being replaced by speed limit signs that read 60 mph and above and trees on either side.

"Where are we going?"

Zachary's smile was slowly regaining its former permanent glory. "You'll see."

" 'You'll see'," Grace repeated, using her fingers to put the words in air-quotes. "That was really specific and cleared things up for me immensely, thanks, Zach."

He reached one hand out and turned the volume down. "Sarcasm will get you nowhere, Grace."

Maybe it was the resurfacing smile, but Grace was feeling very irritated with Zachary again. It wasn't an angry irritation, if that was possible, but more that of a fonder persuasion. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but feel warm and happy around him and that was both confounding and satisfying.

When they arrived at their destination, Grace couldn't help but laugh.

"You seriously drove us for an hour to come to a movie theater?"

There was absolutely nothing remarkable about the building, no apparent outward reason that this theater was any more special than the one only fifteen minutes away from their neighborhood.

"Ah, ah, ah," Zach replied, shaking his head. "Not just any theater." With one hand he pulled open the glass door and held it for Grace, and with the other he beckoned her inside. "This one has the greatest popcorn in the county."

"And I suppose you've been to each movie theater and proven this?"

The two walked to the concession stand which was operated only by a middle aged woman with very dark roots showing under her bottle blond hair.

"Never had to." Zach pointed down to a sign on the counter top.

It was plain paper, probably white at some point, though years of being taped to the glass counter top of a movie theater concession stand had stained it with butter-flavored oils and various sodas. A tear reached out from one corner and extended through the second 'O' in 'popcorn'. The sign in its entirety read 'Clydesfelt Theater- home of the best popcorn in the county'.

"Two for Insidious." Grace barely registered Zachary purchasing tickets and a large bucket of popcorn. She was too caught up trying to decide whether the orange stain was cheese sauce from popcorn or nachos, or a sample of orange soda.

When Zachary grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers, she was jolted back into the present. The warm pressure of having someone else's hand in her own was pleasant, and while Zach's fingers were larger than her own it wasn't uncomfortable.

Zachary didn't let go of her hand even as he pulled open the theater door and tugged her inside. The auditorium was mostly empty, though that was to be expected on a Monday morning, so they had their pick of the seats. Only when he sat down did he extract his fingers. Grace found herself missing them intertwined with her own.

She still hadn't quite wrapped her mind around the movie she had just been dragged into when the previews began.

A taste of 'the greatest popcorn' did not disappoint. While perhaps not entirely deserving of the title that the concession stand paper bestowed upon it, the popcorn was definitely possessed of the perfect balance of butter and salt.

"What are we watching, again?" Grace asked, leaning over slightly so that her head was nearly on Zach's shoulder.

"You should probably pay attention more."

"I don't--"

The movie began. By the time they were thirty minutes in, Grace had squeezed her eyes shut and was determined to keep them that way for the duration of the movie. She had felt out Zachary's hand and was gripping tightly in both of hers.

"Scaaaared?" The way Zach drew the word out was mocking and Grace would have hit him had that not required she open her eyes in order to aim.

"No derp, dork," she hissed in reply, using her head to butt him in the shoulder. "Can we maybe leave?"

"Mmmmm..." Zach hummed, and he pulled his hand out from between her sweaty palms. "Say you'll go to Homecoming with me, and we have a deal."

Grace's stomach twisted and her heart began to thud at an uncomfortably fast rate. She was suddenly very thankful that Zach had removed his hand from hers, because if they had been sweaty before they were positively drenched now.

"I--"

Taking a deep breath, Grace opened her eyes. Zachary was looking at her, brown eyes roving her face.

"Yeah," she said finally. "I'd love to go to Homecoming with you."

Zach grinned and took her hand again, standing to his feet. "Let's go, then."

Chapter 10 will be the very last part of SHS. Hopefully it'll be finished and uploaded before the end of April. :)