One of the Boys

Chapter 20

I've been staring at the all-too-familiar white wood door for at least a minute now. It's been so long since I've rung the doorbell, but doing so seems like the right thing to do under these circumstances. I lean forward and press the button, hearing the rendition of Fur Elise that I never use to signify my arrival.

The door opens and I mentally prepare myself for the apology I spent the whole car ride thinking over.

"Ally?"

"Jordan?" My mouth is open in surprise and I take a moment to recover myself before the rage at him returns. "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't I make it very clear that you had to leave town and leave Zac's family alone?"

"Jordan honey? Who is it?" Janet is asking from the kitchen behind him. Jordan honey?

"It's Ally!" he calls back.

"Ally sweetie," Janet comes up behind Jordan. "I've been waiting for you to finally come around. Zac's been positively miserable without you. Are you here to talk to him..."

"Janet, why is Jordan here?" I interrupt her "You don't understand. You need to be careful. He's..."

"Yes yes. I'm well aware of what his father's been cooking up, but we're past that now."

"You're what? How? Are you sure?"

"I can hear you, you know?" Jordan says from where he's glaring at me.

"I don't care." I snap at him.

"Ally, your concern is absolutely touching and I'm grateful for everything you've done, but Jordan, his father and I have had a nice long talk and although his father hasn't completely forgiven anyone, we've come to an agreement that Jordan deserves to get to know his mother, and I him. So, Jordan will be staying here for the rest of the summer."

I'm still suspicious about how this will work out, but if Janet says everything is fine there's not much I can do. I decide to assume the best outcome has happened, and that Jordan and Janet really do need to get to know each other. It must've been difficult for Jordan being ostracized from this side of his family by his father.

"As for Zac, he's down the beach," she says, pointing at the one opposite the expensive beach house we're currently standing at the front door of. It's the beach directly on Zac's front step, but we never go there because the waves are notoriously rough and it deters most people away. Zac tends to go there when he wants to be alone.

By the time I've reached the bottom of the steps and my feet are on the sand, the sun has fully set. Lucky for me the moon is shining quite brightly, and I can still see everything clearly, including the figure standing at the shoreline, holding his surfboard.

"Zac!" I call. "Zac!"

"I don't want to talk to you Ally," he says when I get closer. "Go away."

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to say."

"Come on Zac. We have to say something. Why can't you just tell me what you're really thinking for once? Why are you always so passive aggressive?"

"I'm passive aggressive? This is coming from the girl who seems totally interested in me one minute, and kisses my best friend the next."

"Look, Zac, I'm sorry." I try to think back to the speech I wrote in the car, but it just doesn't seem appropriate to say. It suddenly feels too flimsy of an apology.

"I don't really want to hear it, Ally," he says, and with that he runs towards the waves and paddles away, under the impression that I'll have no choice but to leave him alone this way. Why is he so effing stubborn?