Floating by

Chapter 26: Rude much?

Zach's POV

Zach was still on a high two days after his first kiss with Kayla. He walked around with a huge grin on his face. He hadn't told anyone that they were officially a couple and he certainly hadn't told his moms that he's had his first kiss. So his big dopey grin started weirding out most of his friends, but he didn't care. He was happy.

He hadn't been able to see Kayla for longer than a few minutes at a time since then, with Zach having to complete his last minor activity and Kayla volunteering to hang out with the retirees a bit more. But tonight they had agreed to have dinner with Zach's parents at one of the restaurants. He'll probably have to ask Kayla if they can tell his moms about them.

He was currently with Sam and Shay as they walked towards the arcade to meet up with the rest. He was walking with is head down but his mind was so in the clouds that he accidentally walked into someone and stopped in his tracks.

Looking up he quickly apologized for not seeing where he was going. Only to realize who he bumped into.

"Sorry Rick, didn't see where I was going." Zach apologized

"Yeah, watch it next time. Okay nerd?" Rick says with a scowl

Before either of them could say anything more a voice calls out from behind Rick.

"Hey! You don't have to be rude Rick." Kayla says as she walks towards them and stops to stand next to Zach with her arms crossed.

"Kayla, you're defending him? He walked into me." Rick retorts

"Yeah, and he apologized." Kayla answers matter-of-factly

"We've called them worse things Kayla. Why are you defending them now." Rick states now with his arms crossed too.

"You may have called them names, but I certainly haven't. And if you think that I have, then you really don't know me at all." Then Kayla uncrosses her arms and reaches for Zach's hand to intertwine their fingers together. "And I'm defending them now, because Zach's my boyfriend and if you really want to be friends again Rick, learn to be nicer." With that Kayla walks away and pulls Zach along with her, leaving three gaping people staring after them.

Zach let's her pull them further down the corridor, towards the elevators. Figuring out where they're headed, he keeps quiet to give Kayla time to process.

They ride the elevator and walk to the balcony in silence. Once they reach the railing, Kayla let's go of Zach's hand and leans forward to rest her arms against the railings and takes a deep breath. Zach rests his right elbow on the railing and leans his body against the whole thing, wanting to look at Kayla instead of out at the deck below.

"I'm sorry about Rick." Kayla starts, "and I'm sorry about stepping in. It's not that I thought you couldn't handle yourself. I just couldn't stand by and..." she starts to trail off, unsure of what else to say.

Zach reaches out to lightly tilt Kayla's chin so that she's looking at him. "Hey, it's okay." Zach says with a smile. "It was nice, to have someone stick up for me. So, thank you." They look into each others eyes and Zach isn't sure who starts to lean in first but they stop just a breath away, waiting to see if either will pull away. Her eyes close expectantly, so he closes the rest of the distance and his eyes close as their lips meet.

Kissing Kayla the first time was a soft touching of lips, tentative but tingly. Kissing her the second time was better than the first, but no less exciting. Unlike their first kiss, they moved their lips to mold together and pressed harder. Gone was the tentative feeling from either of them, overtaken by the want to feel closer, to feel more. Both of Zach's hands were now cupping Kayla's face and Kayla's hands were cupped behind Zach's neck, pulling him as close as possible.

Like the weak humans they are, they eventually needed air to breathe. So they pulled away, but not by much, and leaned their foreheads together. Kayla's eyes were still closed as she breathed in deep. Zach opened his eyes and moved his hands to rest on Kayla's waist.

"You know, the whole school is going to know about us before we reach the next port. Sam and Shay can't keep anything to themselves and once Shay knows, Morgan knows and then everyone knows." Zach says breaking the silence that surrounded them, after catching his breath. Kayla opens her eyes now to look at him and chuckle.

"What about your moms? You think they'll be upset?" Kayla asks as she pulls away and bites her bottom lip nervously.

"Upset about us dating?" Zach asks and Kayla just nods her head.
"No. They won't be upset. They're going to be ecstatic." Zach says with a grin, causing Kayla to giggle.

"They're also going to chew you out for not telling them." Kayla says with a smirk and Zach groans and leans his head on Kayla's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be there to help. I promise." Kayla says as she rubs the back of his neck soothingly, causing Zach to hum his agreement.

"Hey, are you okay though? With everyone knowing?" Kayla asks after a few moments of silence, dropping her hands from his neck.

Zach stands back up and looks at Kayla like she's grown an extra head.
"Are you kidding? You're Kayla Davis! I'd want the world to know that you're my girlfriend!" He shouts the last sentence and flings his arms out over the balcony, with the biggest grin, not caring about who heard or saw him, causing Kayla to let out a full on belly laugh. 

Zach thinks if he could, he'd spend forever making Kayla happy, just to hear her laugh.