Jump | Zach Mitchell

twelve

"SO what did your Mom want?" I ask Zach as we walk under another shady path. 

He shrugs. "Just wanted to see how we were." Then he sighs. "I might've let it slip that Claire isn't with us, and she might've gotten pissed."

"I'm guessing you didn't tell her that Zara is supposed to be watching us?"

"Of course not. She wasn't doing her job anyway, and I have no idea where she is now." I bite my lip, suppressing a massive grin at his little rant. "Besides, Claire got us the tickets so we could spend time with her. Not her shitty assistant."

I nod. "That's true. Do you-"

Zach's cellphone rings again. He stops walking to check who it is, and I lean in, cheek brushing his arm.

Kelly.

"Ugh," I groan. "Don't answer it."

Zach frowns. "Why not? You know she misses me." Still, he hits the decline button. I internally applaud the tiny victory.

"Do you miss her?"

He blinks. "What do you mean?"

I roll my eyes. "The question isn't that complex, Zach. Do you miss her? Yes or no."

His shoves a hand in his pocket. "Yeah, I guess."

I raise an eyebrow. "You guess?"

People are rushing around us, trying to get to different attractions. Gray stops by another gift shop about a quarter of a mile ahead of us. He turns back to see where we are. I give him a small wave and he goes inside the money-snatching building.

Zach runs his fingers through his hair. I bite my lip. He looks so damn good. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Tell the truth." I give him a weirded out look. "What else?"

"Why does it matter if I miss her or not?"

Fuck.

"I don't know." I'm losing my patience. I hastily shift my weight, settling my hands on my hips. "But if you don't know if you miss her, maybe that means you shouldn't be with her."

Zach gives me a look. Crap. I messed up. "Why should I listen to you? You've never been in a stable relationship in your life."

"I'm just saying..." I backpedal. "As your best friend..."

"Yeah. Best friend," he says hotly. "You're supposed to be supportive and shit. You get on me all the time for being a dick-"

"Okay, well, I'm sorry if I think your relationship with Kelly is superficial!"

"I know you think that!" He shifts his weight too, coming a little closer to me. "I just don't see why it's such a big deal-"

"All you guys do is fuck!" I throw my hands up in the air. "There's nothing else there." I feel some people staring at me. When I turn to glare at them, I realize it's an elderly couple and they just heard me drop the f-bomb.

I take that as a cue to reign in my voice and my temper. "That's all I'm saying," I tell him quietly.

"That's what works, okay? That works for me." Zach's eyes are hard and cutting.

"Does it work for Kelly?" I spit.

Zach takes a heaving breath. "You hate Kelly. Why do you care if it works for her?"

My mouth drops open. "I do not hate her."

"Well, you sure as hell don't like her!"

"Yeah, well-" I stop myself from saying what I really want to say. My hands ball into fists by my sides. I force myself to look away from his seething form.

Zach throws his arms up. "Well what?" He lets them slap back down against his sides. "What, Jonelle?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"I said it was nothing, Zach." I clench my teeth. "So drop it."

"Don't tell me what to do," he snaps. "I'm not going to drop it. I'm sick of this."

I scoff. "Sick of what? Being wrong all the time?"

He shakes his head. "Sick of you being so bitchy any time Kelly comes up."

I cross my arms. "Did you ever think there was a reason for that?"

"Yes!" He stresses the word. "And I'm trying to figure that reason out right now, but you're being so damn stubborn-"

"Maybe the reason I'm holding back, Zach, is because of you." I cut him off. "Did you ever think about that?"

This stops him short. His brow furrows as he breathes hard. "What do you mean?" He asks. "Are you... are you scared to tell me or something?"

Well, I've really done it now.

We stand there, rigid and silent, surrounded by people with plans and smiles.

"Jonelle..." he trails off. "You know that you can tell me anything. Best friends are cool like that, you know? They can tell each other literally anything without having to worry about what it is."

My teeth sink into my lower lip harshly. I feel tears sting at my eyes from the harsh movement.

"Not this time," I say softly. My voice breaks halfway through the pathetic sentence.

Zach frowns, stepping closer. "Are you crying?" His warm hand encircles my bicep, leading me to the side of the pathway.

"No, I'm not." I look anywhere but him, anywhere but those big brown eyes.

He steps directly in front of me, shielding me from the eyes of the public. At the same time, he prevents me from finding any distractions. "You don't have to be scared," Zach promises. "Just tell me."

I sniff, pulling my arm from his grasp. "We should go find Gray," I say.

"Jonelle..."

I don't wait. I step around him and head for the gift shop. I don't even have to look behind me to know that Zach is following.