05

5

I was headed to my car after school when I got a text notification.

Meet me at my house, Bloom

It was Zac.

I didn't bother texting him back seeing as I'd be at his house in the next ten minutes anyways.

I saw Evan standing with some of his friends by his car so I went over to him and offered a small smile, "Hey."

"Hi," he exhaled as he walked over and kissed me. "What's up?"

I looked behind him to see Jack and Lucas watching us with grins on their faces. I lowered my voice so they wouldn't hear, knowing they'd make a scene out of anything.

"I have to go tutor. I just wanted to let you know."

"Where?" Evan's face went straight.

"His place..." I mumbled, giving Evan a soft look. I knew it was weird that I was going to another guy's house, I would feel annoyed if I was in his shoes. Evan wasn't typically the type to get jealous but when it came to Zac, he really got under his skin.

Evan sighed, "Why can't you study at the library?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. He just told me to meet him at his house."

Evan nodded, clenching his jaw. I could tell he wanted to say something more but refrained from making this an unnecessary issue. "Fine. Text me when you leave there."

I nodded, giving him a small kiss before walking to my car, ignoring the hollers from Lucas.

I knocked on the door when I got to Zac's place.

"Hi?" I questioned when it was another boy that opened the door. I recognized him from school.

"You must be Jasmine! Come in."

I awkwardly stepped into the house, not sure why one of Zac's friends was here. "Where is Zac?"

"I'm Shane, this is John Jones." The boy who opened the door said as I followed him into the living room where another boy was sitting and playing video games.

"Hey," John looked over at me and smiled.

"Nice to meet you Shane and John Jones," I mumbled awkwardly as I shifted on my feet. They were both on the soccer team as well, I saw them with Zac at school but had never talked to them before. "Where's Zac?"

"Oh, he had some... errands to run." Shane told me as he took a seat on the couch.

I narrowed my eyes, unsure what exact errands Zac would have to run. "Okay, well I can come back later then."

"No need," Shane said, patting the couch. "He'll be home soon. You might as well wait here."

I blinked because this was all very odd to me. I felt out of place and wrong standing in Zac's living room with his friends.

"Are you sure?" I murmured quietly.

"Of course, silly," Shane chuckled. "We won't bite. Not like Lucas and them."

"What do you mean?" I asked softly as I sat down on the other side of the couch and looked at Shane with my eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

John sighed as he turned the game off and came to join us, sitting on one of the recliners. "Shut up, Shane." He shook his head.

"No," I spoke quickly. "Tell me what you mean about Lucas."

Shane shrugged nonchalantly, not seeming too worried. "Come on, Lucas and Jack, those guys are assholes. I've heard them hollering and making stupid comments at you."

I thought that was just how Lucas and Jack were. It was annoying but I dealt with them for Evan, because he's my boyfriend who happens to be friends with idiots. I didn't realize other people noticed the bizarre things Lucas would say to me to annoy me.

I shrugged softly, looking down at my hands in my lap. "It's fine, I just ignore them and don't bother listening to whatever they're saying."

John scoffed softly, "You shouldn't have to deal with them, period."

I looked at him and he gave me a sad smile. "I just deal with them when they're around Evan. I don't care what they have to say."

John nodded but seemed like he wanted to say more, but he didn't.

"Doesn't matter," Shane exhaled, scrolling through his phone as he spoke to me. "They're little asshats that don't know when to shut up. I don't know how you tolerate them."

I've never disliked anyone as much as I dislike Lucas and Jack. They were always teasing me and making stupid jokes but I would take it and not say anything because I didn't want to be the girlfriend that caused problems between her boyfriend and his friends.

"What are you guys doing here?" I changed the subject. "Zac isn't home and I have to tutor him anyways."

"We're always here," John told me, leaning back on the couch. "House is usually empty so we all chill here."

I nodded. "What about his parents?"

Shane and John shared a look, speaking with their eyes so of course I didn't know what it meant.

"That's probably information Zac should tell you," John answered softly, avoiding my gaze.

I nodded and let it go, seeing as it was a topic they didn't feel comfortable talking about.

Just then, the front door opened and Zac walked into the living room. "You're here," he exhaled when he saw me sitting with the boys.

I slowly nodded my head, my eyebrows furrowing as I took in his appearance. His hand was bandaged, lip was cut, and there a bruise forming around his right eye.

"What the hell happened?" I muttered as I walked over to him and took his bandaged hand in my hand.

Zac looked behind me to his friends. When I looked over, John was avoiding my gaze and Shane was giving me a sheepish smile. Shane and John definitely knew what this was all about but I knew they wouldn't tell me.

"I'm fine," Zac pulled his hand away from me and stepped back.

I blinked, looking between all the boys with concern shown on my face. I knew none of them were going to tell me what was going on or who Zac got into a fight with but I was standing here like a lost idiot.

I didn't know what was going on and I didn't like the fact that Zac was being distant towards me again. I wanted to know if he was more hurt and if I could do anything to help but he wasn't even looking at me.

"We'll be upstairs studying," Zac muttered lowly to the boys before he turned around and started walking away, not waiting for me to follow.

When Zac was out of sight, I turned to look at Shane and John. I crossed my arms over my chest, "Why is nobody filling me in?"

John gave me an apologetic smile, "You should ask Zac. It's not our spot to say."

Shane remained quiet, not wanting to speak and accidentally give something away.

I sighed before I headed up the stairs to Zac's room. I walked in to see Zac sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.

"I can come back some other time. We don't have to study right now."

I stood there uncomfortable, fiddling with my fingers because I could tell Zac wanted some space right now. Again, my fear of how he would react was swallowing me and I didn't want to say the wrong thing.

These were the moments where I wish I was more like Bea. Where I wasn't afraid to say or ask what I wanted to. If I was anything like Bea, I would have walked up and smacked his head, telling him he's an idiot for getting into a fight.

Zac shook his head and then looked up at me, "It's fine. Let's just get this over with."

I didn't say anything as I pulled out my books and got ready to start teaching him things.

About half an hour in, I sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the bed.

"What?" Zac looked at me, a blank face on. "Don't tell me I'm so stupid you're going to give up on me already."

I cracked a small smile, "You're not stupid, Zac."

He kept a straight face on, "Then what?"

I sighed, not knowing how to say what was on my mind because I didn't know how he would react. Zac didn't get very deep and personal, we hadn't had many real conversations aside from when he was drunk so I didn't want to overstep and have him get mad at me.

It had only been half an hour but it was impossible to tutor Zac today. His mind was somewhere else, he was barley listening to me as I spoke. He was lost in though. I kept glancing at him to see if he was paying attention but he wasn't. When I'd ask, he'd make up some excuse about how chemistry is boring but I knew that wasn't why he was distracted.

I sat up straight, "Do you... maybe want to talk about... uh, whatever happened?" I was staring at my hands because I was afraid to look at him. I hated how I was always worried about how he would react, so worried I couldn't look him in the eye.

Zac paused before he bluntly said, "No."

I looked at him, concern evident in my eyes. "Are you sure?" I knew I was pushing him which was a risk but I couldn't help but be worried about him. I didn't even know why I cared anyways.

This is Zac Miller we're talking about. He was exactly like this. He was cold and mean, he got into fights and smoked, he was dismissive of other people and didn't give a crap about anyone. I was seeing him exactly the way I always knew he was.

Zac exhaled through his noes which was his way of keeping his calm. "Yes, Jasmine. I am fine. Can we continue now because I don't want to get kicked off the team for failing a fucking chemistry class?"

Jasmine.

He only called me that when he was annoyed or mad at me.

My heart rate picked up when Zac spoke so aggressively. It took me by surprise but was expected at the same time.

I ignored the pang in my chest from his coldness towards me and instead, started explaining the lessons to him.