The End Zone

Chapter 2

Mia hops onto my bed as we survey the outfit options on hers. Well, she surveys them. I honestly couldn't really care less which one I wear on my date tomorrow night.

"His name's Will, right?" Mia asks, holding up a skirt and sweater combo. "Where did you meet him again?"

"He's my co-worker," I say, taking the clothes from her hands.

I've been working at a cute cafe since returning to Michigan and Will was the first person I met there. He loves books even more than I do so we're going on a bookstore date.

"Cute," Mia sings. "And should I be out of this room with my earbuds ready?"

I smack her with a pillow. "It's only our third date. If things go well, I might invite him in for dessert."

"Ooh, dessert, eh?" she echoes, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Get your head out of the gutter," I say.

She cackles gleefully in response, pulling my pillow into her arms.

"Is it really not weird to be living with Zack?" she asks. "Like, what if you're getting dicked down on the couch and he just walks in?"

"No one's doing anything on our couch," I warn. "It's white." She gives me a look so I say, "It's fine. We've been broken up for, like, half a year."

"Are you really okay?" she asks softly.

I start to hang the chosen outfit in preparation for tomorrow.

"Yes," I say, practically reciting at this point. " Can we talk about something else?"

She changes the subject. "Yeah, sorry. Hey, didn't you mention that you won that writing competition?"

A smile crosses my lips.

"I did," I say. "The prize was $1,000 so that should help with rent."

Before she can respond, Zack clears his throat, drawing our attention to where he's standing by the door. He enters without hesitation, pulling out Mia's desk chair with one hand and taking a seat.

Mia and I exchange a look.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

He tilts his head back, his eyes scanning the room before landing on me.

"I'm here to talk to you," he says.

His eyes land on Mia until she stands up. Rolling her eyes, she warns, "Be nice." He waves her off as she leaves.

I cross my arms. "What?"

His eyes flicker to the outfits on Mia's bed and then to the clothes I hung up. He takes his time rolling out his neck and brushing out his hair before speaking.

"So Raj lectured me about... being nice to you," he says. I raise a brow and he continues, "And I admit, I've been kinda immature."

"Kinda?" I say.

He grimaces. "Don't push it."

I point to the door.

"Fine. I've been very immature," he says. My eyes narrow suspiciously and he adds, "I'm sorry."

I take in his words, contemplating asking for more but settle on, "I was being immature too so I accept your apology."

"Great," he says.

It turns silent. I twiddle my thumbs. He glances around the room.

"So, I guess we'll keep the insults to a minimum from now on," he says.

My eye twitches slightly.

"Sure," I agree. "That sounds... neat."

His brows raise. "Neat?" he repeats. I can practically see him suppressing the comebacks but all he says is, "Great."

"Excellent."

"Fantastic."

"Perfect."

"I am so excited to be polite to you."

I open my mouth to say something along the lines of "You're never polite" but instead settle on, "So am I."

The ghost of a smirk plays on his lips as he stands up.

"Have a good night, Amelia," he says.

I try to form a smile that isn't sarcastic. "Have a great night, Zack."

He smirks silently as he gets up to leave. His hand lands on the door handle but he turns around before turning it.

"Wear the purple shirt," he says. "It brings out your eyes."

Then, he closes the door behind him, careful not to make a sound as he leaves.