tag, you're it! | z.d.h 2

t w e n t y s e v e n ; zach

the rattling laughter of the four boys behind him only made his nerves jump even higher.

it was funny, very funny, but not if you were in the position of zachary herron.

his palms were sweating and he felt clammy all over. no one seemed to know english and that made everything harder. it was when a group of tourists walked by that he lost his voice.

you sing in front of thousands of people everyday, i don't think i could ever do that...

he shakes off his nerves and starts the long trek to the group.

"hey." zach speaks up and their eyes all turn to him.

one boy with curly blond hair chuckles and waves with his free hand, his other being occupied by a small brunette.

"hi."

"um, so basically i have to complete this list in order to find my—" he didn't know what to call her; girlfriend? best friend? lover? "—best friend. she ran away and said i need to complete this list."

he holds up his phone to them which had the checklist on it. a boy with chestnut hair steps forward and takes the phone from zach.

as the group reads over it, another girl cocks a brow up at him.

"what does this have to do with us?" she asks, her hazel eyes watching him suspiciously.

"number two, go to a party with strangers in dubai." the blonde boy speaks up.

"yeah, um, my friends are over there and we're down to pay for food, drinks, whatever it is you guys want if you're down to come."

the four eye each other before the girl with hazel eyes steps up.

"we're in."

—

"since we're supposed to be strangers, i won't tell you my name, so you can call me cookie," the girl with hazel eyes introduces with a small smile. "this is my boyfriend who you can call almond," the boy with chestnut hair waves. "you can call him blondie and his girlfriend who you can call bean." the blonde boy waves with a grin and the brunette by his side nods shyly.

"nice to meet you guys."

almond nods and opens the car door for them to climb into. corbyn and jonah climb into the back and the other three squish in with zach in the middle.

almond hops into the driver seat and cookie into the passenger seat after hugging the other couple goodbye.

"so we'll take you to our hotel. blondie and bean are gonna go grab our other friends and then we can set up the party at our house," cookie explains, pulling her long coconut skin hair into a messy bun. "while we're driving, mind telling us more about this list you have?"

zach intakes a sharp breath just at the thought of completing another task for her.

so he explained everything to them, simply because it felt good to speak her name to people other than the boys. it made him feel all bubbly inside as he told them their stories together. how they met, what they did, and only leaving out the boring parts. there were never boring parts when you were with venus-luna, except for when she's not in the room.

"wow, that's insane."

"yeah, i just can't wait to see her again."

jack looks at zach with sympathy as they slip out of the car and onto the concrete sidewalk. the four boys along with almond walk ahead up into the hotel as cookie and zach trail behind.

"ya' know, as cliché and unbelievable as it sounds, something like that happened with my almond and i—even if he hates to talk about it," she speaks up, her voice soft and seemingly comfortable. "we all met in first grade and went to school together since then. almond had a crush on me and i had one on him, but he would never admit it. so he wouldn't directly talk to me. not alone at least. but then on the last day of sixth grade, i slipped my number into his backpack and we started texting.

"besides our text conversations, he wouldn't dare come near me at school. at football games, he would flirt with my best friend when i left to the bathroom or to get food. after i left the school and went somewhere else, he finally admitted to me that he's liked—loved me since first grade. we reconnected and now here we are."

zach gasps lightly as the two lean against the building with their icy breath dancing in the air.

"wow... that's insane." he breathes, thinking of how much she had to go through just to finally get to talk to that boy.

"yeah, but we're strong as ever now. i think luna is testing you. she wants to know you love her before she gives you her all," she winks at him before pushing the door open to the towering glass building. "believe me, i know."

she really did. much more than he would expect her to.

how could a stranger suddenly give him the confidence his best friends couldn't even provide?