best friend | zdj

twelve

i woke up to loud, constant knocking on my door. i groaned and reached for zabdiel, but found three notes in his place. i scoffed at his dorkiness. i grabbed them and read them as i walked to the bathroom.

i got up early so i could sneak out

i'll drive you to school again

i have to tell you something

"god, what's got you so smiley at this unholy hour?" isabelle groaned as she walked out of the bathroom. she noticed the sticky notes in my hand. "oh, zabdiel. i bumped into him a couple of minutes ago. you're lucky dad's not awake, yet."

"you say that like i haven't caught you sneaking out to see joel or heard him walking out of the house really fucking early. honestly, how has dad not found out?"

isabelle pressed her lips together. "you don't say anything, i won't say anything."

i smirked and walked past her to the bathroom. after doing my morning routine and realizing i took longer than i thought to get ready, i shoved my makeup bag and laptop into my bookbag and ran down the stairs to eat a quick breakfast, only to find zabdiel already at the table with isabelle and dad.

i pointed at them. "what's happening here?"

"breakfast." zabdiel smiled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. i sighed and took my seat between him and my dad.

"i was about to ask zabdiel how did this," isabelle motioned between us. "finally happen."

zabdiel laughed nervously. "our– our relationship?"

"of course, what else?" she smiled and propped her elbow on the table to rest her chin on her hand.

"we're not official yet." i blurted out. they turned to me now, waiting for me to continue. "we're just... going out. yeah, to see if it works out between us. there's no labels yet."

isabelle pouted. "this means i still haven't won the bet."

i almost choked as i drank my orange juice. "look at the time, we have to go. bye dad! bye isa!"

i grabbed zabdiel's hand and pulled him out of the house. he laughed as i dragged him all the way to his car.

"we're not official yet." he imitated my voice between laughs, then he sobered up and looked at me with a frown on his face. "why did you lie to them? we could've come clean, actually."

i didn't know what to say. i didn't even know why i said that, i panicked and blurted out the first thing that came into my mind. i ran a hand through my hair.

"we're gonna be late." i mumbled as i climbed on the passenger's seat of his car. he stood between me and the door so i couldn't close it. he crossed his arms over his chest.

"why don't you want to answer?" he asked softly.

i looked up at him. i felt a slight deja vu from last night as his eyes moved to my lips, but this time they quickly settled back on my eyes. he sighed and closed the door to walk around the car and get on the driver's seat.

"zab?"

he turned his gaze towards me and i took the opportunity to cup the back of his neck and pull him towards me. our lips met in a closed mouth kiss that he didn't return at first, but when i was about to pull away he leaned forward and kissed me back. i felt him smile against my lips as my hand crawled up to his soft hair. the kiss was messy, but it held an emotion that i hadn't felt before. it literally felt like sparks flew. we eventually pulled away to catch our breath. he rested his forehead against mine.

"tell me i'm not dreaming." he whispered.

i giggled. "want me to pinch you?"

his hand sneaked to the back of my knee. i gasped as he pulled me onto his lap so i was straddling him. "how about you kiss me again?"

"we're gonna be so late." i laughed before he caught my lips in a kiss. i tangled my hands on his hair as he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me even closer.

a knock on the window startled us and we jumped apart. i hid my face in my hands while he rolled the window down. "may i know why you're interrupting my makeout session with my girl?"

my girl.

"just wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't be late." isabelle giggled.

"seemed like it was getting steamy in there." joel spoke this time.

i tried to get off zabdiel, but he kept an arm around me to stop me from moving. "zab, they're right, we're gonna be late."

he pouted so i pecked his lips and he smiled again. "fine, come on."

joel gagged. "were we this cringey when we started dating?"

isabelle kissed his cheek. "honey, we were worse."

i climbed off zabdiel's lap and back to my seat. my cheeks were definitely a deep shade of red. he started the car and drove me to school.