"So, what are you doing tonight?" Zac asked. Adia lay on top of him, her head resting on his chest.
"You remember . . . I'm having a slumber party for my birthday? But first, I'm going shopping with Dru later this afternoon," Adia replied. "She still doesn't believe that I met you and that we're friends." Adia shook her head, laughing.
"Oh, yeah . . . I remember," he said. "I have a present for you." He moved Adia off of him and stood up. He walked over to his chest of drawers, opening a drawer. He pulled out a small box wrapped in rose colored paper. He handed it to her, blushing slightly.
"Oh, my gosh!" Adia exclaimed as she opened the box. Inside was a silver locket, with a rose engraved on the front. She put it on. "I love it! But when did you have time to go get this?"
"Isaac helped me sneak out of the house the other day, while my parents were out of town. He took me over to the mall. So, let's just say I owe him big time now," Zac said, smiling bashfully.
"Well, thank you for going to all the trouble just for me," Adia said. She kissed Zac on the nose. He started laughing.
"What was that?" Zac asked.
"A thank you," Adia replied.
"You call that a thank you? Your definition of a thank you must be different from mine," he said. "This is a thank you." He wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her passionately. Then he pulled away from her, kissing her lips one more time, lightly.
"I like your definition of a thank you better than mine," she responded, breathlessly.
"Oh, you do?" Zac said. He gave her a mischievous grin, pulling her into the closet and shutting the door behind them. They began to kiss again.
"Zac?" They heard Taylor come into the room. "Zac? Where are you?" Zac sighed loudly, opening the door.
"What Taylor?" Zac asked. He walked out of the closet, Adia following him. Taylor started to laugh, then Zac gave him a dirty look. "What?"
"Did you hear? We're going camping in a week or so. Just the family. And amazingly, Mom and Dad decided you could go, even though you're grounded," Taylor said. Adia was lost in la-la land, staring at Taylor's blue eyes as he spoke.
"Big hooky-freaking whoop, Tay. Is that all you needed to tell me?" Zac said. Adia flinched at Zac's abruptness with Taylor.
"Yeah, I guess so," Taylor said.
"Okay, then. Bye," Zac said, sticking his tongue out at his brother. Taylor rolled his eyes at him, shaking his head and chuckling lightly.
"I'll let you two get back to your make out session. Later, Adia." He walked out of the room as Adia waved in response. She turned to Zac, with an angry look on her face.
"That was kind of rude!" Adia exclaimed.
"Oh, come on . . . you know he just came in here hoping to get a peep show. I already knew about the camping trip," Zac said, nonchalantly. "Don't worry, I'll get him for it later." He tried to put his arm around her, but she pushed him away. "What's your problem?"
"You didn't have to be so rude to him! He didn't do anything wrong!" Adia said.
"Why are you getting so upset about this?" Zac said, confused. "It's just Taylor. He doesn't care if I get an attitude with him."
"Well, I do! If you piss him off, he could go tell your parents that I'm over here, when you're not even supposed to have visitors! And then you would be in even worse trouble, and I wouldn't be able to come over here anymore!" Adia responded. "Think about it, Zac!"
"Trust me, Tay wouldn't even think about telling. He knows if he did, I've got so much dirt on him, he would be grounded for the rest of his natural born life," Zac said. "Don't worry about it."
"Well, I do worry about it! If I can't come over here anymore, that would really suck! I would never get to see Tay- . . . ," Adia trailed off. She realized what she had almost said, and stopped. Zac knew exactly what she was about to say, and the thought of it alone made him irritated, but her admitting to it totally ticked him off.
"What? You'd never see Taylor again? Is that what it is?" Zac yelled. Adia looked down at her feet, ashamed. "That's all I am to you anyway! And we both know it! I'm your ticket to seeing Taylor! You're still hoping that somehow, despite the fact that he is my brother, he'll fall for you! You've never really cared about me! And guess what? Taylor will never really give a shit about you! He thinks your weird! He thinks that your this obsessed freak, and he doesn't understand why I would want to be around you!" Adia's eyes filled up with tears, and Zac suddenly felt bad about what he had said.
"How dare you," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. Nothing hurt more than his words. No one could ever make her feel quite as bad, or as happy, as Zac could. "I have met some real jerks in my day, but you top the cake! And you're right, I've never really liked you as anything more than a friend! Until now! You can say some of the most hurtful things I have ever heard, and you don't seem to have any conscience about it! I can't believe you would talk that way to me or about your own brother!" She took the locket off and placed it in Zac's hand. "Good bye, Zac. You're a real asshole." She opened the window to climb out.
"Well, you're a two-faced, backstabbing bitch!" Zac retorted, as she climbed out the window. She turned to face him again.
"Nice come back, Zac. Bite me," Adia said sarcastically, looking at him with angry, cobalt blue eyes. She climbed out the window.
"Well, fine then! Be that way!" Zac yelled out the window at her. She just kept on walking, ignoring him. He picked up the box that the locket had been in and threw it angrily against the wall. Then he plopped down on his bed.
Zac lay on his bed, reading Anthem again. He hadn't gotten very far. All he could think about was Adia. He had been a real jerk. Why was it so hard for him to tell her how he felt about her, without being mean? The locket he had given her was in its box on his night stand. She had really loved the locket, but she hadn't noticed the inscription on the back of it. Zac knew that, and he had known when he had gotten it, that she probably wouldn't notice it. In tiny script letters on the back, I love you, Adia. Love, Zac .
