Unexpectedly

Chapter 6

Zach was late. A whole fifteen minutes late. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I tapped my phone screen nervously. My hair was done nicely, my outfit looked great and I had even put on some makeup. Needless to say, I felt stupid. 

"Avery, I'm sure there's a reason he's so late," Thalia insisted as I called her over the phone. "I mean why would he just ask you out and then stand you up?"

"I don't know," I groaned, holding my hand to my temple. "It's just something that guys do."

Suddenly, my phone began to buzz. I checked the caller ID and nearly slipped off my bed. "Thalia! He's calling! I'll text you." Before even waiting for her response, I ended the call and answered Zach.

"Hey, ohmygod I'm so sorry," he said, sounding extremely out of breath. "Of course the first time I want to have a life on a Friday night my practice runs an hour late."

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, I told him it was no big deal. He definitely hadn't been trying to stand me up. "Awe, Zack don't even trip up about it. Trust me, I know what it's like." I laughed softly, making sure I came off as understanding. 

"Okay, so I took a quick shower in the locker room because going home would just take forever. Don't hate me but I'm in shorts and a sweatshirt. This place isn't that nice but-"

"ZACH!! It's fine! Just get here, I swear I'm not mad!" At this point, I was absolutely gushing over how badly he felt. There was actually a decent chance that he cared! After saying bye and promising he'd be at mine in less than five, I hung up the phone. I glanced at myself in the mirror again. If he was showing up in sweats, then I needed to change. Quickly throwing off my blouse and jeans, I picked up a pair of leggings, my favorite gray pullover and a jean jacket. The curls in my hair were too obvious with my casual outfit so I started to quickly brush them out until I heard a quick car honk outside my house.

Cursing under my breath, I grabbed my bag and spritzed perfume on myself quickly. My parents were downstairs watching their favorite showing about house flipping when they nearly saw me miss a step. It caught their attention and they both turned their heads from the love-seat. 

"And where are you going?" my dad called through the living room. My parents weren't strict about boys, but I still omitted the whole date part just because I hated when they asked too many questions. Walking out, I spotted Zach's car. My heart instantly started to thump. This was my first time going out on a date and I muttered a prayer that I don't mess it up.

Zach was all apologies again the second I got into the car. Just by the tone of his voice, I could tell how awful he felt. "The second I got out of practice I saw the clock I hated myself because the last thing I wanted you to think was that I second-guessed everything and flaked on you."

"I'd be lying if I said that didn't cross my mind," I admitted. "But then I realized you wouldn't have done that. Stop apologizing!"

Nodding his head feverishly, he insisted that he would make it up.

He turned the radio a notch down and we instantly fell into a natural conversation. Zach was surprisingly easy to talk to, which I wasn't prepared for. Given that he was so good-looking and athletic, I had always assumed that he wouldn't really have the ability to carry an intelligent conversation but I was pleasantly surprised.

Once we pulled up to the restaurant, I wished that we had just made plans to go through a drive-through and talk in his car for the night. For some reason, the thought of a more formal date made me nervous despite the fact that I knew I was already comfortable around him.

"So, uh, I know I'm in sweats and all but this is a pretty laid back place so we'll look fine," he said, seemingly noticing my shift in attitude. "You didn't really seem like the type to go out out and honestly neither am I so I thought you'd like this."