Because of that Night (Book1)

chapter 18: Zooey

"He hates me."

Zooey gave Lila a skeptical smirk as she continued to wipe down tables in Chester's. The workday was coming to a close and the mid-day pick-me-up customers were long gone, leaving Chester's basically a ghost town. It had been just over a week since Michael had left for baseball camp, and although Zooey knew it was hard on Lila being this far away from him, a part of Zooey was relieved he would be gone for a majority of the summer. Though she loved Michael dearly, she sometimes got sick of playing the third wheel constantly and missed her friend. Having Lila all to herself that summer for two whole months made her giddy with excitement, but Lila seemed to have other things on her mind aside from their jam-packed summer spent together.

"I'm sure that's not true," Zooey reassured her.

They had been talking about Hunter. Lila had just started her part-time job doing landscaping work for Garnsey Brothers and she and Hunter had been placed on a mutual project, meaning they were with each other for several hours of the day. A part of Zooey was definitely jealous, but from the way Lila described her interactions with Hunter, as well as the work that she was doing, Zooey was more than to be spending her time at a summer job in central air conditioning with Seth.

"Hunter doesn't hate anyone," Seth said now, joining the conversation as he pulled up a chair facing backward so he could rest his arms over the back and look at Lila. "And plus, you're dating his brother, how can he hate you?"

"Have you not seen them lately? They're like cats and dogs," Lila pointed out.

"Sure," Zooey said, nodding. She bumped Seth's chair then, gesturing to the floor where she wanted him to be sweeping.

He had looked around, rolling his eyes a bit as he sighed and finally got back up again. He made his way to the back room, but not before he playfully whacked Zooey on her butt with his dish towel he had draped over his shoulder. It was an oddly flirtatious move, the last real flirtatious move Zooey had seen from Seth since he had kissed her cheek on New Year's. It made Zooey feel playful, and she felt a surprising giddiness she had never felt before with any other guy besides Hunter. For some reason though, she felt the need to push this feeling away, as though she were betraying her feelings for Hunter even though they held less significance than she thought they did.

She shook herself out of these thoughts, looking back at Lila who looked slightly humored. She cocked her head to the side, but Zooey ignored this and continued speaking. "Sure, they haven't been on the best of terms lately, but that's only because Michael's back in his superiority phase."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lila asked.

"It's happens all the time," Seth sighed, now moving around with the dustpan and broom. "Hunter's always had the brains, but Michael has a bit more of the brawn."

Zooey nodded along, now leaning against the front counter. Seth jokingly swept at her feet, and she giggled, hoisting herself on to the front counter as he moved past her feet and continued sweeping.

"We noticed it more once Mrs. Cooper was gone, but honestly, it's always existed with them," Zooey elaborated.

"What has always existed?" Lila pried on.

"Just the typical "competing against your brother" mentality. Hunter wins out academically, but Michael always will be the better baseball player." Zooey now directed her next point to Seth. "I think Michael's more desperate for the attention."

Seth thought on this for a second before shrugging in a sort of agreement. Lila's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.

"The attention of who?" she finally asked. "You mean their dad?"