Always With Me

Part 7- Becca Lowrey

 The sound of the television in front of my Dad and I was dulled out by the sound of his snoring on the recliner beside me. I laughed as I saw his stomach rise up and down in synch with his snores. His face was scratchy looking and he had patches of gray in his beard. He had huge bags under his closed eyes, but he looked content. He was a happy man despite any of his circumstances. I was grinning at the goofy man asleep in the recliner beside me when I heard the doorbell ring. I looked toward the door and saw blond hair showing through the small window in the door. I felt my heart fall to the floor as I hopped up to open the door. It was a Sunday night so I had on a pair of blue jeans and a large shirt. My shaking hands opened the door in front of me as Zack Goodman stood before me in the doorway.

        "Hey," He said.

         "Hey, Zack. What are you doing here?"

         "I need to talk to you," Zack said as he motioned for me to join him on the front porch. I followed and he shut the door behind us. It was dark outside, but the air was surprisingly warm. I lead him over to our front porch swing and we both sat down. The swing continually rocked back and forth beneath us in the quiet before he finally spoke.

         "I need to talk to you," He smiled.

        "So you've said," I laughed sarcastically as I looked into his deep green eyes.

         "What are you doing Friday night? After the football game."

         "I don't think I'm doing anything. Why?" I asked.

         "Do you want to hang out? Just the two of us."

         I felt my voice catch in my throat as I looked at his ecstatic face. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, and his smile was perfect and big. I was mesmerized by his smile.

          "I would love to," I said.

         "Alright then." He said excitedly and then stood up. I stood up at the same time as him and realized that I only came up to about his shoulder.

         I went back inside after we said our 'goodbyes' and I called Dahlia as soon as I ran up the stairs to my bedroom. I told her about our plans, and she got excited for me. She squealed on the other end of the phone and I laughed at her enthusiasm.

         "I knew it! I knew that he liked you! We can go to the game together on Friday and then you can hang out with him afterwards. Perfect plan! And I will hang out with Brent."

         "Sounds good to me. I just can't believe it," I gushed as I laid back on my bed. She was talking continually in the background, but I couldn't listen. I was too busy thinking about Friday night.

         "Well, we will talk tomorrow. I have to go." She said as she hung up. I could hear my heart in my ears as I obsessed over what I would wear and what we would do. I could picture Zack walking into the school tomorrow and him sitting on my porch swing while he asked me to hang out. I went to bed with an anticipation for the next day that I get to see him.

         I walked into school the next day and looked for Dahlia and Ellie. They were both sitting at the usual lunch table with their books beside them and they were in deep discussion about something. I walked up and they both looked up at me, giving me a huge smile. Dahlia had apparently told Ellie what happened last night because she looked at me with a genuinely happy look on her face.

         "I am so happy for you! What are you going to wear?" She joked.

         "I have no idea!" I said, beginning to wrack my brain on what I could wear. I was just about to begin to worry about what I would wear when I saw Brent sneak up behind Dahlia and put his arms around her. She turned quickly and then squealed, allowing him to pull her into a big hug.