Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 4

Joe's third and fourth periods flew by, him not registering a single word said during his AP Literature or his math class. His mind was racing between duet ideas, his solo for Potter Musical, and his fight with Zoey whenever it popped back into his mind. He kept hoping that he would forget about it, but it continued to linger, making his stomach hurt.

He stood up determined as the bell rang; he should just apologize to her. He didn't want them to fight anymore. A petty little argument wasn't worth them being upset with each other. He reached the theatre building before her, waiting in front of the doors. She should be here soon enough; her last class was in the building next door.

Ten minutes went by, and still she hadn't shown. Joe sighed anxiously, deciding to sit down against the wall. Was she blowing him off? Granted, maybe he deserved it, but did she have to humiliate him like this? People who passed by definitely knew that he was waiting for her. Should he call her? At this point he didn't care at all about their fight; he just wanted her to come talk to him.

He was ready to abandon hope and go hide in the choir room for the rest of lunch, when his friends Dylan and Jaime walked out of the building, noticing him sitting alone. "You good?" Jaime asked, staring down at him sadly.

"I'm fine," Joe said roughly, not in the mood to be pitied. He stopped himself. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I know you're just being nice.

"You're all good." Jaime sweetly. "Don't stress."

"We were about to go get lunch, you wanna join us?" Dylan asked. "We got caught up looking at duet music and totally lost track of time."

"Aw, what duet are you lovebirds singing?" Joe teased, knowing that Dylan had a secret crush on Jaime.

Dylan flushed furiously as Jaime rolled her eyes. "You'll have to wait until we perform it. So you coming?"

Joe looked around, pondering if he should wait for Zoey or just give up. He didn't want to sit here and let her completely stand him up, but he also didn't want to ditch her and upset her.

"Nah you guys go ahead. I'll see you later."

"Alright, see you in twenty minutes for physics anyway." Dylan laughed.

"Don't remind me we have to go to that damn class." Joe said, allowing himself a laugh. He watched them walk off, already feeling the anxiety of sitting alone rush back in. Maybe he should have gone with them. Then again, he didn't really feel hungry.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Did he call her? Text her? Should he sound angry? Before he could make up his mind, he spotted her walking towards him, her long red hair flowing behind her. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming," he told her as he stood up.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, walking up and kissing him on the cheek. "I got caught up talking to my friends."

"No, I'm sorry." Joe said, squeezing her arm affectionately. He felt so relieved now that she was here with him, all of his anger over the last half hour immediately dissipated away.

"For what?"

"For our fight earlier. I think we both said some stuff we didn't mean."

"You certainly did." She responded harshly, biting her bottom lip. "But maybe I did too."

"Irregardless, I don't want us pissed at each other over some petty fight. Can we be good?"

Zoey purses her lips, staring up at him with her big green eyes. "I guess. I don't want to fight either."

Joe hugged her tightly, feeling relieved as she melted into the hug. He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you baby. You're the best."

"Don't you know it." She teased, looking up at him. She cupped his face and kissed him softly, Joe sighing into the kiss. As she pulled away, she ran a hand through his hair. "You know I love you right?"