Now I Panic

Too good to last

I wake to the smell of bacon, and some music blaring from Zach's room.

Memories from yesterday come flooding back to me. Waking up in my bed, telling Zach how old I am, running from him at the party, Josh, Jessica, and then when he kissed me...

I smile at this last memory, standing up and stretching. The music from Zach's room seems really loud, so I decide to go see what he's doing.

Turns out, the music is blaring from his alarm clock, as some sort of an alarm, and he's still sleeping right through it. I had no idea that anyone could sleep through this kind of noise.

Carefully, I crawl up onto his bed and shake him, but he doesn't move. Just to be sure, I put my ear next to his heart, making sure he's still breathing. He is, so I promptly stand up and start to jump up and down on his bed, telling him to wake up.

He groans, rolling over and mumbling unintelligibly. I continue to jump, and pretty soon, I know he's awake. And annoyed.

My smile disappears at the look on his face, and I can't help but wonder if he's already forgotten about yesterday.

I can't ask him; if he acts like it was nothing... I wont be able to take it.

"Kortney."

I look down at him. He looks concerned. "What are you thinking about? What's wrong?"

Just as quickly as before, I climb back off of his bed, hurt and angry now. "You don't even remember?"

"Remember what, Kortney?" he asks incredulously.

Fuming, I walk out of the room, and back downstairs to the kitchen. Josh is already there, stuffing down food like he'll never eat again. He stops when I plop into the seat across from him, grabbing a doughnut.

There's silence for a while, before he speaks.

"What happened this time?"

I don't answer at first, wondering if I should tell him. "You're a guy. You'd think i'm being stupid."

He eats another slice of cake in one bite. "No I wouldn't," he says, crumbs falling out of his mouth.

"Do you always eat like the world's ending?"

He laughs at this, swallowing. "I'm a man, I need fuel. You'll understand that more when you marry Zach. He eats more than I do."

At the mention of Zach, I look down at my doughnut, suddenly finding it unappealing, and grab a bagel instead.

"Tell me what happened, so I can go beat him up," Josh says seriously.

Mr and Mrs. Thomas walk in at this moment, with Zach in tow, and I tense. Josh turns to his brother. "What did you do to Kortney?"

Zach stares at me, and I can tell he's trying to figure it out. "I... have no idea."

Mrs. Thomas and her husband glare at him, and Josh asks him something I can't really hear. Zach answers under his breath too, and then all heck breaks loose. They all start arguing at once, accusing each other of thing that we weren't even talking about.

Taking this opportunity, I slip back out through the back door, and go around the mansion to the street, and walk away, needing to be alone.

...................................................................................................................

At the store up the street, I buy myself some Oreos, and a jar of peanut butter. People stare at me strangely(probably because i'm still in my PJs), but I just ignore them, paying for my things, and leaving.

Right as i'm about to turn the corner, someone runs around it, knocking me over in the process. I land on my back on the concrete, and lay there, stunned, until someone leans over me.

It's a guy, and he holds out a hand. "Sorry. Didn't think to check where I was going. Here, grab on."

I take his hand and he pulls me up, incredibly strong.

"Nothing broken, right?" He has a slight accent. Australian, most likely.

"No. Thanks."

He gives me a once over, looking a bit amused, then his eyebrows raise. " You wouldn't happen to know a Kortney, would you?"

Surprised, I take a step back. "I'm Kortney. Why?"

His face splits into a grin. "No way! You're Zach's fiance?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Zach tells me everything. He called me this morning; said you were freakin' out. What did he do?"

I pick up my bag and walk away, thoroughly freaked out. Why would Zach tell him things about me? Not taking the hint, he follows me.

"I'm Derek. Need a ride?"

I stop. "Please stop following me. No I don't need a ride. You'd probably just take me back to Zach, anyway."

His phone rings, and he picks up on the first ring. "What?"

He looks at me. "It's Zach," he mouths, wearing an I told you so, expression, and I rolls my eyes. He puts the phone on speaker for me, and puts a finger to his lips, telling me to stay quiet.

"I need some help, man," Zach says.

"What with," Derek asks.

"My folks all turned on me for no reason. And Kortney ran off somewhere. I don't feel like dealing with her, so i'm not even gonna try and look for her right now. Why does she have to ruin my life like this? Everything was fine until she showed up. Her attacks, drama, and just..." he stops, sighing.

Derek looks at me, concerned, and I look down. Now I know how he really feels. I should be happy to finally know what he's been thinking all this time, but i'm not.

"I'm sure she's not that bad, man," Derek mumbles, trying to get Zach to take it back.

"She is. She's such a little kid. I wish she'd grow up and just get out of my life for good. I really don't need this."

Blank, and numb, I step towards the phone. "Nice to know how you really feel, Zach. Thanks for telling me."

Everything seems to go still and silent, until Zach sighs. "Kortney?... I... I didn't mean-"

"Forget it," I interrupt. "I've known that you hate me for a while now; this is just the first time i've heard you say it out loud."

"I didn't say-"

"Just shut up, Zach. You can't take back words like those, so why even bother trying? I'll stay out of your way from now on. Don't worry about that."

"Kortn-"

I reach out and flip Derek's phone closed, hanging up on him.

Derek stares at me. "Are you-"

"Thanks for letting me listen. Is that ride still available?"

He looks wary. "Depends on where you want to go."

I shrug. "Home. Can you take me to the airport?"

He looks at me, trying to decide this for a while, before nodding. "Yeah, sure."