**Epilogue**
May 2004....
As Ruby finished up her jog on her street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she saw Zac on his
driveway washing his car, shirtless and wearing only navy blue Umbros and a Duke
University hat on backwards. Instead of jogging up her driveway, she slowed down at the
sight of him and ran the back of her hand across her forehead. She rested her hands on
her hips and watched the muscles in his tan back as he reached across his back windshield
with a soapy sponge.
He looked across the street and saw her coming towards him wearing her red
jogging shorts and a black sports bra with her hair pulled up in a high dew drop. She ran
her hand over the top of her head as she approached the person she hadn’t spoken to since
the day she broke up with him.
“Hey,” she breathed standing in front of him.
He threw the sponge in the bucket and rested his wet hands loosely on his hips.
“Hey,” he replied.
She swallowed and looked around his front yard in the awkward silence they
shared. “How are you?”
“Fine,” he nodded. “I’m.. fine..I’m not fine, actually,” he told her with a laugh.
“You fucked me up real good, I hope you’re happy.”
She let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she told him.
He shook his head and smiled. “No you’re not.”
She looked down at the ground and watched a trail of water run off into the lawn.
“How are you?”
“I’m okay. I just got home last night from school...” she trailed off and looked up
at him with a confused face.
“What?” He smiled.
She leaned over to look at the side of him. “What the..” She reached up and took
the hat off his head. “Oh my God,” she held her hand to her mouth when she saw his
short, messy blonde hair that barely grazed the tops of his ears. “It’s gone.”
He laughed and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “Yeah, I got sick of it.”
“Wow,” she nodded. “I like it.”
“Thanks. So what have you been up to?” He asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “One more year of school to go and then who knows?
I got an internship at MTV doing animation for the summer.”
“That’s awesome,” he told her.
She nodded. “What about you?”
“Well I graduate in less than a month,” he said.
“Cool. You going to college?” She asked.
“Yeah. I got accepted to Berkley out in San Fransisco so I’ll be moving there in
the fall,” he said.
“Wow, Berkley. That’s a great school,” she told him. “You’ll really like it out
there.”
“I hope so,” he nodded. “So...”
“So,” she continued.
“You dating anybody?” He asked suddenly.
She shook her head. “I was but.. it didn’t work out. He never let me pick my
fortune cookie first,” she smiled.
Zac smiled back and looked down. “That’s just wrong.”
“What about you?”
He shrugged. “Not really. Maybe I’ll meet someone in California. Only blondes
aren’t really my type,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “Well you look good,” she told him.
“You look,” he said as his eyes ran over her body. “You look the same.”
She laughed. “Thanks.”
“But you’ve always looked good,” he said.
She looked at him all grown up and she couldn’t believe he was almost 19. “I
should get back inside. I need to take a shower.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “How long are you in town for?”
“A couple weeks,” she told him. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Maybe.”
She nodded and walked closer to him. She leaned up and replaced his hat
backwards on his head and placed a kiss on his cheek. She let her fingertips graze down
his stomach before she started to walk away. “You missed a spot,” she said pointing to a
streak of grease on his car door as she passed.
He laughed to himself and picked up the hose. He pulled the trigger and sprayed
her back as she walked across the street.
“Shit,” she laughed and turned around.
“Did I get it?” He asked with an amused grin.
“You’ll get it. You better watch out Hanson,” she pointed at him.
He laughed and bent over to retrieve his sponge. “See ya around, Ruby.”
...Hmm... how's that for an ending? Yeah, yeah, there's gonna be a freakin' sequel. Why? Because I can't let Zac and Ruby hangin'. Oh yeah... Zac can wash my car with no shirt on anytime. :) E-mail me!
Email: casey_nyc@hotmail.com
