She Will Be Loved (GirlxGirl)

19. Ellen VII

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I noticed the beige blanket wrapped around my body. Instinctively, I glanced towards Zach's bedroom. The door was closed. He must had come back and slipped it on me. A soft, sad smile grazed my lips.

I got up from the sofa and stetched my muscles. When I returned home last night, Zach wasn't back still. So, I had decided to wait for him. I didn't even remember falling asleep.

I quickly freshened up and proceeded to the kitchen to make some breakfast. It was a Sunday so I didn't have any plans of waking Zach up. He couldn't have gotten much sleep last night, anyway. But whenever he wakes up, he would be happy to find a plate of fresh french toast waiting for him.

I put the headphones on and blasted an upbeat song to accompany me throughout the process. The music slowly encompassed me and I became engrossed in my work.

As soon as the eggs hit the hot pan, their savoury sweet smell spread across the entire room. My stomach gave a loud growl in response and I had to place my hand over it to calm it down.

"French Toast!" Zach's loud, excited voice filtered through the song, startling me. I turned fully to look towards him. He was in a pair of black trousers and a white sweatshirt, the hood piled up at the back of his neck. His hair was disheveled and his eyes had bags under them.

I slid off my headphones and they snugly fit around my neck. "Yeah, I am making them just the way you like it. With maple syrup and extra cinnamon!"

Zach's toothy grin reached his eyes. "Thank you." I smiled in return. He turned around and dragged himself to the small dining table, sitting down on his designated chair.

Once I was done with the cooking, I placed two toasts on each plate, added a generous drizzle of maple syrup, and neatly arranged the cutlery beside them. Walking over to the table, I kept one of the plates in front of Zach and his face lit up at the sight of it. As soon as I sat on my chair, Zach cut a big piece and put it in his mouth, relishing the taste. I did the same and quietly acknowledged my improving cooking skills.

"I didn't think you'd be awake so soon." I mumbled through a partially filled mouth of food.

Zach put his cutlery down and gave me a long look. He sighed heavily and finally spoke up. "I'm sorry, Ellen."

"It's okay," I protested. Zach raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Last night is over and today is a new day. We don't really have to discuss about who did what. Let's just leave it, okay?"

"No, El. We can't not address the elephant in the room. You are, once again, behaving like a friend and trying to cover up my mistakes. But this time I won't allow that."

"What're you talking about? Are you gonna punish yourself now or what?" I scoffed.

Zach rolled his eyes. "Look, El. I—"

"No, Zach. You look. I'm trying to tell you that everything is alright between Macy and me. We talked it all out and now there's a clean slate. And I guess if you hadn't told me about all this," I gestured with my hands, "then I don't think Macy would have found the courage to break off her engagement."

"Wait, what?" Zach's eyes were bulging in astonishment.

"Yeah. She broke it off, Zach. She wasn't happy so she broke it off."

"Huh."

We finished the rest of the breakfast in uncomfortable silence. I was savouring the last morsel of the french toast, when Zach spoke up again. "Remember that night when Macy came into the diner? The night when she was wearing that red dress...?" His voice was low, almost close to a whisper, and I had to strain my ears to properly register his words.