Loss of Innocence (A Zach Herron Fanfiction)

Getting Nowhere

I took a deep breath, then squared my shoulders and walked over to him.

"Are you Zach?" I asked, surprised at how confident I sounded.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who's asking?" His voice was raspy and deep. It sounded beautiful, despite how he acted.

I swallowed.

"I am."

"And you are?"

"I'm Carly. Carly Waterson. I live in the house next door."

He nodded.

"Gotcha. So I guess you're not here for the party then?"

I shook my head.

He crossed his arms and stared at me.

"So why are you here then?"

I could practically feel my heart beating in my chest, and my palms began to sweat.

"I was wondering if you could turn the music lower." I said softly, looking away from his stare.

"What? Speak up, I can barely hear you." Zach said, sounding annoyed.

"Can you please turn the music lower? It's almost 3 in the morning and I'm trying to sleep." I said, my voice shaking the tiniest bit.

He looked at me with an expression of both confusion and amusement, as if he couldn't believe I was asking him this.

Then, he laughed.

"You want me to turn down my music?" He asked, still laughing.

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I-"

Just then, Zach moved closer to me, too close for my comfort.

"No." He said into my ear.

I shuddered and stepped away from him, feeling embarrassed and way too cramped.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Zach turned away from me in what looked like disgust, so I followed my instincts and ran away, my face flaming.

I maneuvered my way through the hoards of people, the smell of drugs and alcohol making me feel even more queasy than before.

I made my way to the front door and opened it, taking a big breath of the chilly outdoors air. My ears were buzzing due to the somewhat quiet of the outside, and I was breathless and unnerved.

I walked back to my house and hurried quietly back upstairs to my room, putting my pajamas back on and jumping into bed.

The house still shook with the volume of the music despite my one (simple) request, so I grabbed another pillow and placed it over my head, trying to muffle out the noise.

I could hear the music faintly now, the most dominant noise was the sound of my rapidly beating heart. I took a few slow, deep breaths to try and calm myself down from that awkward, nerve wracking, and humiliating encounter with my attractive yet rude neighbor.