The Middle - Volume Two ✔️

Chapter 16 (Noah)

Noah

The Grill's quiet tonight. Uncharacteristically quiet for a Thursday night. Will thinks people are starting to wind down before the holidays, which makes sense I guess. Finals and Christmas are around the corner, so maybe people are too busy studying on Thursday nights now. This place is usually totally crowded with a full line up for the Open Mic. But not tonight, there are only 7 acts on the set list. I've never seen it so bare. And I notice The Middle aren't on there. They didn't perform last week either...

"Aubrey's not coming." John says with a sigh, putting his phone down on the table. "She's hanging with Kim instead."

"Cool." Will says, as Zach throws John an apologetic look. We're all thinking the same thing here. It's Zach's fault Aubrey isn't coming to the Open Mic anymore. He tried to apologise to Kim today. It didn't go well.

"Yeah, Kim didn't wanna come. They're dog sitting for Jamie tonight anyway, so they're just gonna hang with Benji." John says, throwing me an apologetic look. Why? Because he just said Jamie's name in front of me for the first time in a while. I don't care, but I am interested in this dog sitting thing. Why are Aubrey and Kim watching Benji...?

"Well, we came here to try and cheer you up, Zachy. So. Feeling better?" Will says to Zach with a smile. Zach just glares at him before downing the contents of his glass. I am actually getting worried about him. He's been drinking a lot lately. This thing with Kim has had a much bigger impact on him than I thought it would. I thought he'd bounce back from it okay. Clearly, I was wrong. He's even refused my offers to come out and pick up girls with me and the Track Team. It's weird.

"I feel fucking peachy." Zach replies, before slamming his glass down onto the table. "I think I'm just gonna head home, though."

"What? No!" John exclaims. "We've barely been here fifteen minutes!"

"I know, but. I thought I'd see her." Zach admits. "I know I won't now, so I wanna leave."

"Dude, come on. Stay" I try to encourage him, but he shakes his head at me.

"Going home to do some coursework is better than sitting around here drinking all night, right?" Zach says, before getting to his feet and walking away from us. God.

"Was it really that bad?" Will asks me and John, as soon as Zach's out of earshot.

Oh, yeah. It was bad all right.

Zach's been going back and forth with the idea of apologising to Kim, and earlier today, he finally bit the bullet and did it. Via text, of course. If he asked her to meet up with him, she'd tell him where to go. So, he texted her. He didn't let me read whatever he said to her, but I know he was totally shitting himself the second he sent the text. All I know is, it contained a heartfelt apology for what Kim heard him say at the Halloween Dance. I don't know exactly how heartfelt this text was, but judging by how nervous Zach was about it, I'm guessing he stepped up and admitted that he's crazy about Kim. Because he is. He's been in complete turmoil ever since the dance, so much so that I was actually hoping she'd accept his apology and put him out of his misery.

But that hasn't happened. No. Kim read his message not long after he sent it. He nervously awaited a reply, but it didn't come. No, instead, she took to Twitter. She re-tweeted the following from Inspirational Girl Quotes Daily:

"You don't find your worth in a boy. You find your worth within yourself, then find a boy who's worthy of you. Remember that."

Pretty passive aggressive if you ask me, but the worst part was, she also tweeted a selfie or herself and some guy, hugging and smiling into the camera. They both looked very happy, and now Zach's convinced she's moved on already. I mean, it's possible. Zach and Kim weren't even dating, so it wouldn't be crazy to assume she's maybe dating someone new now... Poor Zach.