the photographer. [zdh]

five

"hold up," i said, raising my hand. "what did you just say?"

"after the tour, leah's coming to stay with us in cali. didn't you know?" said jonah.

"i-"

"didn't i tell you?" said tyler, walking into the back lounge. he had clearly heard some parts of our conversation.

i hope he didn't hear the part where i told the guys i liked leah, i thought.

i shook my head.

"oh, sorry, zach. anyway, now you know. i'm going back to the front to check how long it'll take for us to arrive at our destination."

before leaving the room, tyler turned back, made eye contact with me and smirked. "oh, and zach? you have a lot of time, so please make a move on her, okay? i heard a rumour that one of her childhood best friends likes her too."

oh. he did hear it.

and who was that friend?

someone i knew?

**

"hey, leah."

i turned around to see zach standing behind me.

"hey, z."

he shifted uneasily on his feet and didn't meet my eyes. "can i talk to you?"

i was slightly confused. zach seemed more off his game than usual, and it almost seemed awkward between us, which has never happened before. "sure," i said. "let's go to the back."

at the back, zach looked down at his lap before looking back up at me.

"do you like someone?"

i was slightly stunned. sure, we were best friends, and i always shared my (admittedly few) crushes with him, but he had never asked me about it before.

i looked down at my hands and hesitated before answering. "uh, yeah. i do like someone, actually."

"oh," he whispered. there was a pause, then he said, "anyone i know?"

i nodded.

inside, i was in a dilemma. i didn't want to tell him that i liked him. if he didn't like me back, our friendship would be really awkward. really, really awkward.

and i didn't want that. we were going to be staying together for the next few months, and after tour at the why don't we house too.

yet, i smiled at him. "i'd say you know him pretty well."

**

it's been two weeks since my conversation with leah.

in these two weeks, i've noticed her more and more, and i was falling for her.

hard.

recently, another of her best friends and emma's older brother ethan forrester confessed to her over the phone. they were really close and she looked up to him like the older brother she never had.

but she rejected him, and they drifted. and her brotherly figure was replaced by corbyn and daniel.

the fact that she rejected him made my heart sink.

ethan was literally her perfect guy. the type of guy that she always talked about back in middle school.

athletic, kind, funny, cute. according to leah before the whole confession happened, he was all four.

if ethan didn't fit the bill, would i?

i didn't think so.

i still remember once when we played a game of questions after the confession.

i asked her for her celebrity crush, and she had jokingly said jack avery, before quickly changing her mind to tom holland.

jack was already a tough competition. that guy had talent, and he was really nice. to girls in the jack avery lane that i've seen commenting on his pictures on the gram, he was the best out of all of us.

and tom holland? spider-man? how was i supposed to compete with that?

✎

a/n what is up with these short chapters :/