𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐭 || 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐧 [𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝]

7- Not Again

Hayden, 18 years & 6 months old

May 28, 2019

Yesterday was Zach Herron's eighteenth birthday. Like it was for my eighteenth birthday, everyone was excited that Zach was officially moving into his adult years. That included everyone he knew and a bunch of people that he didn't.

We're officially and finally eighteen. This is the year that Zach was supposed to take our relationship to the next level. He was supposed to grab my hand and say those eight letters that would mean so much more than before. But instead, he took our relationship back ten levels and almost erased it out of existence.

Zach's family flew to Los Angeles to be with Zach on his big one-eight. I'm sure I could have gone with them if I asked, but I didn't want to.

Zach hasn't talked to me in years and didn't even want to see me at Christmas. Maybe he didn't want to see me at all. Maybe he no longer wanted to be friends with me and when he moved out to join that boyband, he took the opportunity and dropped me.

By now I should just forget about him, right? He's clearly forgotten about me. Why do I still keep thinking of him?

Maybe because he promised to be by my side forever.

Cole also said he'd never leave me but since we broke up he's dated like a million other girls. He tries to avoid me at school and honestly, I'm grateful for it. I'd rather not see him with a bunch of different girls after he was with me for so long. The drama is too much.

Olivia has sort of dropped all her friends in this last semester. I hardly ever see her with the sporty girls or the popular girls anymore. Almost every time I see her she's alone. I don't know if I should talk to her or not. She hasn't talked to me in years, why would I be friends with her now?

Maybe I'll just text her. Ask how she's doing and what's going on. If she doesn't respond, then she doesn't respond and we continue our lives as they are.

These were the thoughts that distracted me from studying for my final exam in history. So I scooted away from my computer and reached for my phone that was lying on my bed. I got on it and sent Olivia a message.

Hey.

Something short and sweet to grab her attention.

As I waited for her response, I started going through some of my old messages. A stream from my mom from a few days ago where we sent each other a bunch of heart emojis back and forth, my last message from Cole from a few months ago asking me what I wanted from McDonald's at 11 pm, and then I scrolled to the bottom of my inbox and saw a set of texts from Zach.

It was from a few weeks after he left for Impact. He slowly stopped texting, calling, or communicating with me at this point. But the last message he sent me was I miss you, where I responded with I miss you too.

I clicked on the text box on the screen. I wanted to text him something but I didn't know what. I felt like I didn't know how. Then I finally found the words.

Happy Birthday.

After I sent the message I instantly regretted it. It was like I was texting an ex after years, which is exactly what I was doing. Except he's my ex-best friend.

After about a half an hour, Olivia texted me back. She said, Hey, I haven't talked to you in a while.

I can't believe she even responded. Even after I ignored her all the times she's tried to talk to me. I started a small conversation with her. We mostly talked about school and summer. We were graduating in a week. We both wanted high school to be over.

Then she had to eat dinner and I was left again with my homework. I didn't work on it long before my phone rang.

I expected it to be Olivia back from dinner but instead it was the last person I'd ever expect to contact me. Zach Herron.

Thanks the message read, Happy belated birthday to you too.

So now he remembers about my birthday. Almost six months later.

I started typing back to him but honestly, I had nothing to say. I didn't want to be straight forward and tell him a story from when we were kids when we've only sent three messages between each other in years but I couldn't let him forget about me. I couldn't let the conversation die. Not again.

Remember that pact we made when we were seven? About how we'd "be together" when we turned eighteen? I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

Almost instantly I got a reply.

I can't believe you still remember that.

How can I forget the moment you told me you'd love me forever?

Then another text came through. But honestly, I've been thinking about it too.