Chapter 2: Late night walk
1424 Words
Zachary walked, filled with nervousness as he came closer towards the girl he liked.
As she continued chatting with her friends, she noticed a man behind her.
"H-hi..."
Zach awkwardly greeted Emily, slightly smiling though his gaze became weird as his heart pounded like crazy.
"Hi?..."
An awkward silence hit the room.
"So uhmm... I-I just want to--"
He said with a trembling voice—he already practiced his words before going to Emily but all his words seemed to not get out once he stood in front of her, along with her friends that didn't seem to actually care but still found him funny and embarrassing.
"No, I mean-"
A girl behind Emily giggled hearing Zach that made Zach even more nervous that even his legs started trembling.
He was never this kind of guy. He's cold, had a slight bad attitude, an "I don't care" kind of guy so some people in the room found it amusing that a man like him would actually do such thing.
Zach looked at the people around him, noticing how everyone was about to laugh at him.
Embarrassment and realization hit but it was too late to go back.
He searched for words in every corner of his brain but as he stood there not knowing what to do, a girl suddenly talked behind him then held his wrist.
"Zach, why are you so slow really?"
He looked behind him and saw Jay, his bestfriend.
"Huh?"
"Oh, Emily... I- I'm sorry, Mr. Waltz told Zach to call you. I think it's about our lesson, Zach here just had a hard time telling you about it because of the awkward atmosphere."
Jay explained then tapped her right arm on Zach's left. "Right" she looked at Zach, raising her eyebrows, signalling him to agree.
"Oh... Yeah"
He awkwardly smiled.
"Ohh, okay"
Both walked out of the gym with Emily, following them.
Jay just continued walking, hands held tight on Zach's wrist.
"What are you doing?"
Zach whispered to Jay.
"Helping your ass"
She answered.
"And when did Mr. Waltz actually call Emily?"
"I-I made that up but we'll find a way."
Jay smiled at Zach with an embarrassed look.
He sighed unrelieved.
As they continued walking, Jay and Zach hoped to run across Mr. Waltz. Thankfully, they did.
"Mr. Waltz! We're here..."
Jay suddenly called their history teacher.
"Huh?"
He curiously looked at Jay and upon seeing her and Zach, signalling him to play along, he replied, "Oh there you are"
"Sir, you told us to call Emily right?"
Jay asked.
"Oh-oh right"
He awkwardly looked at his weird students who was asking him to lie face-to-face.
"It's about our lesson right"
Jay added then smiled at Mr. Waltz.
"Oh, yeah" he nodded his head as a sign of agreement.
"So, uhmm, Emily... About the revolutionary war we tackled about awhile ago..."
He looked at Jay, asking what to do.
"We had a hard time understanding the lesson so we asked Mr. Waltz"
Jay realized and had to try fixing the sudden talk.
"Yeah so, because I don't have much time, I'm asking YOU to help them"
As Mr. Waltz understood their whole intentions, he said it highlighting the word "you."
Both Jay and Zachary now sighed in relief.
"I need to go now, I still have work to do"
The teacher left without hesitation, also relieved that he can now leave, away from the awkward talk.
"Uhmm, so... How about tutoring after school then? I'm not busy at that time"
"Huh?"
Zachary suddenly asked.
"It's free, don't worry. I'm just happy to help"
Emily clarified.
"Ohh uh yeah. We'll definitely go"
Emily left after hearing that they agreed.
"Now what do we do?"
Zach looked at Jay, raising his eyebrows.
"Shouldn't you thank me for helping you first? Don't worry, I'll make up an excuse to leave you both so that you'll have an "alone time" together."
She smiled at Zach.
Zach smiled awkwardly before looking at his hands.
Curiously, Jay also looked and was shocked to see that she was holding his wrist the whole time but because she was also nervous, she didn't realize.
She pulled her hands loosening the grip she put on to hold on Zach's wrist and then looked away.
She walked embarrassedly, not knowing how to look at her friend after what had happened.
Zach laughed at Jay's reaction before running behind her.
They came back to where their PE class was being held and after PE, because it was already time for sports training, they left to go to the library.
"And why are we here exactly?"
Zach asked.
"To look for books dumbass"
Jay replied before going to the history corner.
"Well I know that princess, I'm asking for what kind of book we'll be looking for"
He said but Jay didn't seem to care and just continued looking for the book.
Jay saw what she was looking for and tried reaching for it but it was too high up.
As she tried to get it, a hand took the book.
A moment of silence hit the room though it was already silent as they were in the library.
Zach looked at the book while Jay looked above and saw Zach's face with soft features and goof facial harmony. They stayed there a moment but Jay, realizing the whole situation, she tried to get the book from behind but Zach suddenly put it at a higher shelf.
"You dumbass"
Jay looked at Zach's direction before trying to kick him but the shelf trembled. Books from the higher part of the shelf fell towards Jay and as she tried to cover her head while closing her eyes, she didn't feel anything until when she opened, her face and Zach's were close to each other and Zach was already leaning, stoping the books from falling towards Jay.
The librarian saw them and had kicked them out of the library but before that, they still had to clean their mess.
"Yeah right. You really helped princess"
Zach said, annoyed because of the work they were given.
Jay just continued organizing the books on the floor, not even creating any noise.
They walked out of the library, wearing faces that was hard to draw. A silence between them had occured a while ago and is still there even now.
As they continued walking, the bell rang and they also bumped into Emily.
"Oh Emily, there was a sudden problem at home so I don't think I can come. You two should get going."
Jay said before pushing Zach to Emily's direction.
Jay left so it was just Zach and Emily. They both walked to a cafè near school.
"So, should we order first?"
Emily asked.
"Oh, okay"
Zach replied.
"What would you like?"-Emily
"Anything"
Zach walked to their designated table. He took a book out of his bag and put it on the table—it was the book from earlier, turned out, Zach borrowed it from the library when Jay wasn't looking.
Emily came with the coffee she ordered for both of them.
"Woah, you're good at choosing books huh? This will be a great help in learning about the revolutionary war."
Emily started.
"The author and coordinators are really famous for their good research and works. Even the assistant writer became famous because of this."
"I didn't know you were into books"
Zach said.
"Well, books helped me a lot in my early days. In my elementary days, because my mom was also part of a research, I found it very interesting."
Emily looked very happy as she talked about her past.
"I also like books actually but this book was chosen by Jay. My mom and her mom were friends. My mom is also a writer so I really like reading books especially her works. Jay also found it interesting"
Emily noticed how Zach continuesly talked about Jay that made her smile.
As the two continued chatting and then started teaching, they didn't realize it was already getting pretty late.
Emily's phone started ringing.
"Ohh, it's getting pretty late, we should get going"
Both giggled because they realized how long their discussions was.
They payed for their coffee before walking out of the cafè.
"I'll walk you home"
Zach smiled at Emily.
They continued their discussions while walking.
"Ohh, we're here. Well, I should go then?"
Emily smiled at Zach.
He waved at Emily before walking away.
Emily waved back then opened the gate to her house.
-To be continued-
- Writer
