Sorry, I Love You.

1.03

{ Before I post this chapter, I just wanna mention Jonghyun really quick. After hearing about his passing, I was completely torn apart. I wasn't even a SHINee stan but it still hurt so much to know that he was gone and that he was struggling to the extent of taking his own life. If you don't know who Kim Jonghyun is, he was a brilliant Kpop artist with a vibrant personality and insane amounts of talent. He gave the lgbtq community a voice in such a conservative country like South Korea. He made music to soothe those struggling despite struggling himself. He was a really really good one and it saddens me to know we lost him. I went to his vigil in Minneapolis last night, like many have all around the world, and said my final goodbyes. My heart goes out to SHINee, Jonghyun's family, and Shawols and fans all around the world. You did well, Jonghyun. Rest in peace.}

    In Zoe's couple days being in this new school, she got to know and recognize Chuck Lakowski. She quickly learned that he was known and liked by pretty much everybody. He wasn't quite the class clown but he tried to be. His efforts at being one was really what made him funny. Chuck was on the lacrosse team and it was something he was proud to boast about whenever he got the chance. Zoe enjoyed him. He was interesting, amusing, and had a very charming smile.

It was Zoe's third day at school when she met him. Chuck was holding the door open and talking to his friends as they walked in. His attention was focused on them as he joked and playfully hit one of them. Zoe took her chance to sneak passed him, turning to shoot him a cheeky smile and a thank you. From that very moment, Chuck would declare love at first sight was real. He could easily describe every detail of that one moment and did to every one of his friends that he ran into that day.

Chuck vividly remembered the sound of her heels clicking against the pavement behind him, even though he wasn't paying attention to it at the time. He could paint a picture of what her curly blonde hair looked like bouncing and floating through the air as she skipped past him. When she looked back at him, her eyelashes seemed to flutter in slow motion as her big, bright eyes pierced into his. Her smile was what drove him absolutely mad. Head over heels, if he wanted to sound really cheesy.

Zoe's slightly pink tinted lips curled upwards and pushed her cheeks up along with them. Her cheeks were so round that, as they rose with her smile, they nearly pushed her eyes closed. Still, her eyes sparkled with a playful glint that he had never seen before. Chuck could still hear the way she said thank you. She didn't just say it. She said it with a giggle. He loved her voice. It was soft and delicate but peppy and sweet. Just like her hair and her outfit that hugged her petite figure. She was absolutely, captivatingly adorable.

From that moment on, Chuck ran into Zoe in the hallways at any chance he got. He walked her to class as he asked her thousands of questions. Where she was from, if she had siblings, why she moved here, if she had met any friends yet. He invited her to sit with him at lunch and that's how she found her group of friends. Zoe came to understand where she had been welcomed into first. She had seen it in movies. Chuck was on of the popular kids. He was friends with jocks and cheerleaders. But it wasn't like Zoe cared, she was just excited to be welcomed with open arms so quickly.

Although Chuck felt like he had successfully claimed Zoe into his group of friends, he noticed the gravitational pull Zoe had on her classmates. Everybody was captivated by her and her fancy clothes and naturally good looks. He made sure to always rush to her class when the bell rang so he could walk her to her next class. Many times, he showed up to his own classes late but he didn't mind. All he cared about was that Zoe didn't walk to class with another boy.

He wanted Zoe all to himself. He wanted to keep making her smile and laugh and be the only one to do that.

Zoe really enjoyed Chuck's company. She liked when he would make a joke, she'd play along, and then he'd get all flustered and blushy. He was one of the cool jocks but he still got really flustered around her. Zoe also enjoyed the people Chuck hung out with. His male friends were all very friendly towards her and offered for her to sit by them in class. Even his female friends were nice. They were all very pretty and spunky. Zoe tried her best to be just as likable as possible by smiling, laughing, and asking them questions about themselves. It seemed to easily work.