Rewrite The Stars

Chapter 12

“How did you– how can you know?” Zach muttered.

    “It doesn't matter how I found out.” I said.

    “Yes, Zoe! It matters!” He leered down at me. “What else do you know!?”

    “Nothing!” I confessed, throwing my hand up defensively. “What else is there to know!?”

    “Nothing.” He said promptly, looking away and dropping his gaze on the floor. “There's nothing else to know. And I really don't want to talk about it.”

    “Alright.” I nodded. “I'm sorry.”

    “It's okay.” He shook the matter off and surprised me by bringing me into a hug. And so I hugged him back, deciding to never bring it on again.

    “Look, do you want to go back to my place for the rest of the night?” He asked, pulling away. “My uncle wouldn't be home in two hours; we can use some peace from all this mess and loudness.”

    “Sure.” I simpered. “But let me tell Lauren first. She needs to find herself another ride back to school, seeing as we're taking the car.”

    “Okay.” He smiled, like nothing had happened.

    By one last apological smile at his direction, I went to where Lauren was standing in a corner, chatting with a group of her friends.  They all had drinks in their hands and were dancing slowly to the playing song as they talked.

    “Hey, Lau.” I tapped on her shoulder, grabbing her attention to myself.

    “What's up, kiddo?” she turned around to face me, lip-syncing the song that was now on replay.

    “Is it okay if Zach and I left? Can you find yourself a ride back to school?” I asked.

    “Yeah, sure.” She nodded. “But I might be a little late, though.”

    “Wait, you're leaving?” it was Alexander who spoke, jumping in between me and Lauren's conversation. “Too bad. I was actually looking forward to a dance with you.”

    “Err...” I hesitated, pursing my lips together and making thin line.

    “C'mon, I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't mind.” He insisted, a grin playing on his lips.

    “He's not my boyfriend.” I shook my head. By saying that, Lauren threw me a glare which I tried to avoid by looking directly at Alex.

     “Perfect.” He grinned, taking my hand and leading me to the dance floor. It was a slow song, so he wrapped his muscular arm around my waist as we danced.

    The lights were now dim, yet the music was still loud. The early guests were now way past the point of drunkenness. But I still had yet to catch up with them, but I really wasn't it the mood for even another sip.

    Just at that moment I realized how much I had changed in the past month and how much a person is capable of changing in such short amount of time. If it was a-month-ago-Zoe, she wouldn't be able to take her eyes off the six packs of the hot guy she was dancing with. But now, as we danced, I realized that I couldn't take my mind off Zach Walter.

    I still couldn't believe the effect that he had on me and the way he had bewitched my heart and taken it as his. I was trapped, and I didn't even want to be freed. He made me forget about all of my priorities, changing my morals.

     He was changing me.

    At that point, I was searching the room for Zach and when I spotted him, I saw that he was now taking off the Nun robe, and was left with what he was wearing underneath; his usual jeans and another baggy T-shirt.

    “You okay, Zoe?” asked Alexander, snapping me out of my thoughts.

    “Yeah.” I looked up at him and smiled, nodding. But not a second later did my eyes wander back toward Zach again.

    Although this time, I caught his eyes and he looked back at me. For some reason, every time this happened, I could feel his eyes pierce through my soul. I could feel every emotion that he had and I'm sure he could feel mine.

    But just then, something happened which made me regret looking at him in the first place. I saw Zach walking toward us and I quickly looked away. But the damage was already done.

    “I think I'll take it from here.” Zach said sternly as soon as he reached Alexander.

    Alex stopped and looked at him, daring him to be joking. But Zach was dead serious, even though he was smiling as always.

    “Thank you, Alex.” I broke the tension. “Tonight was amazing.”

    “Err... yeah. Sure.” And by that, he left our side.

    In a matter of seconds, Zach got his place and slowly slid his hand around my waist and took my hand in his other, his vanilla scent filling my nostrils quickly.

    “Why did you do that for?” I asked.

    He shrugged carelessly before simply saying, “I got jealous.” He answered truthfully.

    I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from smiling like a fool. But it was helpless and I failed and ended up smiling like a fool at those words.

    “I think tonight you look extremely...” Zach searched for words.

    “Good?” I laughed, trying to help his struggle of attempting to flirt.

     “Nah, 'good' is overrated.” He shook his head. “I was trying to choose between divine, elegant, stunning, and exquisite. But if you think of yourself as low as just good, that's up to you.”

     “I think 'good' is more than enough.” I chuckled nervously.

     “You don't think you look beautiful?” He raised a brow.

     “I used to be okay with myself,” I started explaining. “But when people keep telling you that you're ugly, you start to believe them. And when your friends just shake it off carelessly and tell you to let it go, you just assume that they're lying.” I threw my gaze down and bellow our moving feet.

     “Oh, Zoe.” He laughed as the song changed. “And when I tell you that you only see worthless things that don't even matter, you get mad at me.” He shook his head. “How many times should I tell you this before you believe me? Those words that they tell you aren't worth it. Do you know why?”

     “Why?” I muttered.

     “Because you are worth too much that they seem worthless compared to you. When you see an ocean, you applaud its beauty, oblivious to the fact that there's a whole other universe underneath it.”

     “Are you giving me the 'inner beauty matters more' s**t?” I laughed, but he just smiled.

     “You're beautiful, Zoe Coleman. And you only need time to finally see that; to see that these things go further down from the surface. Our faces will grow old and ugly with time. What remains is what is within. But either way, I think you're extremely beautiful.” He said.

     “Yeah?”

     “Yeah. Because there's one tiny detail that stays the same even when we grow old.”

     “What's that?” I asked.

     “Our eyes. They never grow old.” he smiled. “And if someone thinks you're ugly, they've never looked into your eyes. And to be honest, they don't know what they're missing.”

    “Zach...” I didn't say anything. It was my turn to be left speechless.

    “You don't have to say anything.” So I just smiled.

    And just then, when the song was about to end, he leaned in and gently kissed my lips. I was too shocked to react, and before I could even get the time to kiss him back, he pulled away.

    “I'm sorry. I couldn't help it.” He grinned.

    His lips were smiling, but I couldn't deny the sadness in his green eyes. I hated to think that he was probably suffering from something. And that really made me feel worse.

    Why was he so freaked out about his secret?

    What else was there to know?