Because of that Night (Book 2)

Chapter 26: Zooey

There was something about Michael's sudden appearance back in Borne a week before he was expected back that made Zooey feel like she could almost cry. As she squeezed tightly to Michael, she realized these two months were the longest she had ever gone with not seeing him since they were young. Zooey didn't have any brothers, but Michael was the closest she had ever had to a brother in her life. Losing him for two months was like losing a family member, and Zooey suddenly had hopes that now that Michael was back, maybe things could get better. Most of the summer had consisted of she and Lila hanging out together, which had been great, but she missed their little group of friends. She missed having Hunter around more, and she missed Seth more than she thought she ever would.

After the bonfire on the fourth of July, it had basically been radio silence from Seth for the remainder of the summer. Even on shifts at Chester's where they would both be working; Seth mainly kept his distance. When Zooey would try and make conversation, he was cordial, but short. He never engaged with Zooey any more than he needed to, and Zooey couldn't help but feel crestfallen. She knew she had made some mistakes that night of the bonfire, but she missed Seth's company. She missed the way they used to goof off with each other; their friendly banter, the subtle flirting. What was worse was that aside from when he spoke to Zooey, Seth seemed perfectly... fine. He was friendly to customers, he joked around with their other coworkers, it all seemed perfectly normal aside from her. She hated the feeling that she was the one overthinking all of this whereas for Seth, it was old news. He was just done with her, done with her friendship, and that was that.

Zooey was surprised by the electricity that coursed through her body as all of them came back together again at that carnival. They stood with one another; her, Lila, Michael, Hunter, and Seth, yet the feeling she usually had when all of them were together had been replaced with a tight, heavy feeling on her lungs. The air felt suffocating, it felt as though there were suddenly too many people at this carnival, and too many emotions to process.

She could barely register anything that was being said, even as she saw Seth and Michael's mouths moving. She could only make out Michael mentioning that his and Hunter's father was willing to pick them up from the carnival, and that Hunter didn't have to worry about getting everyone home. Everyone was still speaking, their voices overlapping with the many others surrounding them, from screaming children to parents corralling large groups of kids, to food stand vendors shouting out what they were selling. But then everyone seemed to be departing from each other again, Seth patting Michael's back promising they would catch up later so that Michael and Lila could have some time, just as Hunter made the same exit, though it seemed his held more hesitation. Zooey had a choice in that moment with what she could do, and she felt her feet being guided towards Seth.

"I'm gonna meet up with you guys later," Zooey muttered to Lila and Michael. Lila's arms were wrapped tightly around Michael, as though she were fearful that if she let go, he would be back in Texas again. "I'm gonna just talk to Seth for a bit."

"Ooh," Michael cooed, rocking Lila and him back and forth with a sly grin on his face. "I've been gone for too long I guess, missed out on all the fun."

Though Lila's arms had been holding so tightly to Michael, she pulled an arm away, wrapping her fingers around Zooey's wrist, as though she were now frightened that they both would leave her at any second to never return.

"Are you sure? Is everything okay?" Lila questioned, her eyes big and wide, making her brown eyes look like two, round almonds.

Everything wasn't alright, Zooey knew this, but she could sense the concern radiating off of Lila. Zooey didn't want to ruin the night for her with thoughts of worry over anything other than Michael's homecoming, so she plastered on her best, fake, confident smile and nodded. Lila remained hesitant, but Zooey felt Lila's grip on her wrist begin to weaken before they exchanged one final look with each other and parted ways.