Mary Mae and the Boys

Chapter 17

Zach towered over her as Mary Mae looked up to meet his dark brown gaze. He seemed taller than usual tonight, and absolutely more intimidating. It was strange for Mary Mae to feel intimidated by Zach; she'd never felt intimidated by him before.

"You're leaving?" He asked, his face barely visible with the dimmed lights of this first floor party.

"Yeah." Mary responded. She wanted to tell Zach that things wouldn't work out between them and that she'd finally made up her mind. Instead, she waited for him to speak. She felt eyes glued to her and found herself turning to look at a staring Sylvia.

"Do you need a ride... somewhere?" Zach asked, his voice shaking slightly out of... nervousness? But there was no way that he would be nervous around Mary Mae... right? Never in a million years... right? They were supposed to be comfortable around each other. This discomfort didn't happen between friends, right?

"No." Mary responded, never having felt as awkward around Zach as she had in this moment. It's normal to grow and become a different person when you've grown with someone your whole life; but Zach was as foreign to her as an stranger on this strange night.

"I... uh... talked to Sylvia." Zach said, waiting for Mary Mae to look up at him. Mary kept her gaze glued to her shoes as Zach took a step closer.

It was true that he had had a couple drinks and was slightly intoxicated, but he had enough self control to know that Mary Mae wasn't happy at that moment. Mary was surprised he even drank anything at all.

"I told her I loved you." Zach said as emotions began to bubble inside Mary Mae; Zach was slowly tearing down the walls Mary had tried to build as butterflies exploded in her stomach. "Sylv said she was here because Kent invited her, she wanted to see if she and I could get back together." Zach continued rambling as Mary finally looked up at him.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, a strange warmth devouring her as she tried to contain that feeling. It was a strange warmth that coated her all over, even though it was freezing tonight.

"And I mean it Mars, you're my favorite person on Earth and I hope we..." Zach rambled on, stating sweet drunken nothings as Mary leaned into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. She tipped upwards on her toes, meeting his eyes and focusing on the soft pink curves of his lips. She wondered if this was an appropriate time to kiss him. It seemed like the majority of the party goers had fallen into the same symphony of the alcohol.

Mary tipped forward on her toes, excited to kiss a nervous and apparently oblivious Zach who was still rambling about all the things he liked about her.

"Zach," Mary said, centimeters from his face as the lights completely went out and strobe lights turned on, striping and spotting the room with blue and purple and a few orange lights; the colors kept changing and dancing as cool air began to fill the room. Mary Mae realized that someone had opened the windows and the door had remained open the entire time. It felt less stuffy and considerably, a lot more magical.

Mary traced her fingers on Zachary's sharp jawline, her thumb grazing his lip. Apparently, that was all she needed to do for Zach to lose any sense of his self control; his arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up to meet his eyes. It was so strange how quickly this friendship had evolved, and Mary was ready for it. At least, in this very moment she was.

Aside from her indecisive-ness; she'd completely forgotten that she'd asked Gilbert to meet her. It didn't matter at that moment. Zach was holding her and touching her and kissing her. She felt all sorts of butterflies and this felt surreal.

Out of sight and out of mind, Gilbert buckled his nephews into the back seats of his car and began the thirty minute drive to pick up a girl he was hoping to fully invest in. Mary Mae was beautiful, as he had learned on the inside and out. Her radiant smile and bright green eyes held nothing against the sun itself. Gilbert buckled himself in, and in the dead of night, began driving his sleepy self, and nephews, to a teen party.

Meanwhile, Mary Mae had her tongue shoved down Zach's throat, her legs wrapped around his waist, and her heart bound to neither one of the boys who admired her. Zach's hands trailed up her shirt and Mary gasped when his cool fingers touched her bare stomach.

"Zach." Mary gasped, leaning back as he held her entire weight in his strong arms. She tilted her head slightly as he began kissing her neck, leaving soft hot kisses everywhere his mouth touched. Mary felt like she was in heaven.

"Upstairs Mars," Zach murmured against her neck, kissing her collarbones before crowning up to her ear. If anyone had been watching, Mary Mae didn't care. She stumbled when he let her go free onto the ground, she pressed herself up against Zach.

Even though she hadn't drank tonight, she felt intoxicated. She followed Zach up the stairs, moving past the horny bodies of strangers. Her eyes glanced for a moment at the spot Luka had been at, only to realize he had disappeared (and so had Rita). Sylvia was nowhere in sight either, she wondered if Zach had actually told her off— and if he had, why? Mary Mae had believed that Zach and Sylvia had always been on good terms. But then again, she didn't know much about their relationship.

None of that mattered in that moment though. Zach laced his fingers with Mary's and they made their way upstairs to the bedroom she had been asleep in a few moments ago. She bounced into the bed, tearing off her jacket as Zach took a step back to admire her. The balcony door was now open and the lights were a bright fluorescent white. She watched Zach struggle with changing the settings on the boujee light switch, and fail miserably. He somehow managed to turn off three of the four lights, leaving one corner of the room well lit and the rest in darkness.

"Zach, come here," Mary Mae said. And, like a genie granting a wish, Zachary had climbed onto the bed beside her and he was kissing her everywhere he could see skin. Mary giggled when he kissed her stomach and Zach simply looked at her in absolute admiration. Her fingers were playing with his hair and they did all they could to make each other feel good in that moment. He made his way up to her neck, lips hot and wild as he pressed them against hers.

"Mars, I've been waiting for this for such a long time." Zach whispered, the alcohol emanating from his breath. It was at that moment that Mary Mae realized that this was in no way consensual. Zachary was drunk, his abilities to make decisions were beyond skewed.

As much as it pained her to stop, she knew that was the right thing to do, "maybe when you're sober." Mary said, sitting up as Zach began groaning with a series of complaints following it.

"Mars, I'm not sober," Zach said, "I meant drunk! I'm not drunk." He corrected, but Mary simply shook her head and moved off the bed.

Her phone began ringing in that instant as Gilbert's name flashed on her screen.

"Sh*t." She whispered under her breath as she looked at Zach on the bed. She'd completely forgotten about Gilbert.

"Mars, I love you." Zach murmured into the air. His eyes were closed as he lay on his back. Comfortable and restful.

"Zach, I need to answer this," she said, "please don't talk."

Zach sat up and tilted his head in confusion. "Hey Mary, I'm outside." Gilbert's voice sent shivers down her spine, but the guilt overwhelmed that feeling completely.

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute." Mary responded.

"Where are you going, Mars?" Zach asked, loud enough to be heard by Gilbert on the other end of the line.

Gilbert struggled to put two and two together as he sat patiently, wondering if he should've even driven this far for a girl who was so uncertain about him. "Zach's drunk." Gilbert heard her say, the uneasiness began settling in.

Being the perfect gentleman that Gilbert was, he decided to be the bigger man, "I can drop him off." He offered.

Mary's eyebrows shot up, completely confused and uncertain why Gilbert would offer such a kindness.

And without a second thought, Mary Mae dragged Zachary to Gilbert's car, buckling him up beside Gilbert's nephews and nervous for what the remainder of the night would entail.