Burn in Water, Drown in Fire

Burn in Water, Drown in Fire ~31~ Inseparable

~31~ Inseparable

The University of Rhode Island was my favorite school. Although we hadn’t visited there, I already knew it would somehow be my favorite. Sure we went to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and etc., but Marine Biology was offered at URI. But now the college tours were over and it would be our last night in the hotel, seeing as our flight for home was tomorrow.

The three dozen teens from my school all sat around the hotel’s big table as we feasted for our last dinner together and after two hours of eating and conversing, I headed up to mine and Lulu’s room and watched TV.

I shook out my curled hair, threw on some pajamas with my stuffed stomach, and washed off the little bit of makeup Lulu put on my face.

I was in the middle of dying of boredom while watching some long a$$ commercial when someone knocked on my door. I looked through the peep-hole and saw no one; only a container of some sort on the floor with a card.

“Angel,” it read. “For the giving of thanks. –Zac”

He left me a pint of my favorite ice cream that we had shared time and time before. I smirked down at the container and then decided to walk down the hallway. Suddenly, I was caught by the waist and pulled around a corner by a room’s door.

“I’m sorry,” Zac said as he leaned on the wall.

“For?”

“Everything,” he sighed. “I never should’ve lied, or been an a$$hole, or trusted Devin or Luke, or—”

“It’s not that all of those aren’t important, but I wanna know why you never once considered telling me,” I spoke calmly. Over the four days of this tour, he’d kept his word by actually focusing on the colleges and not worrying about me. Not that he would anyways, right?

He frowned at me.

“I was the one that wanted to tell you, but no one else did. Like when I saved Lacy from the fire, that night I’d been trying to get Joey to tell you, but he just denied me every time. Even Brian was against it at first,” he explained with truth dripping off every word. “But who was I to tell them that if she’s going out with you—or in Brian’s case already went out with you—why would her thoughts change?”

“But you saved Lacy the night that Joey and I got together…” I recalled. Zac shrugged.

“Exactly why I thought that you knowing wouldn’t have affected anything,” he added. “And yet you’re mad at Brian and me when we actually wanted to tell you without finding out from someone else. All while Joey’s scotch free.”

“Joey isn’t scotch free, okay?” I replied. Of course Zac didn’t know about Joey and me. I didn’t even know about Joey and me because all we did was fight, but we had no official break up. “While I’m mad about finding out about him, he’s mad about finding out sh!t about me.”

“Meaning what?” Zac hissed.

“Meaning because of you and your arrogant mouth about anything I told you when I was drunk,” I clarified. He scoffed and started to lightly laugh.

“Sweetheart, you’re just fun to talk to when you’re drunk. My bad for letting that be known,” he snickered. I nearly growled at him.

“Says the boy who just drinks to forget right? I know you Zac. I know what I said all those nights and nothing is that juicy for you to have pride over.”

“Like you admitting you’ve gone skinny dipping?” he asked. I glared harder. Then his face got serious. “Or the fact that you want us to be together cuz you like me more than Joey and even though we both know I’m not a ‘nice guy’ that’s good for you, you’re attracted to me and think we’re perfect for each other.”

I scoffed and didn’t waste my breath on a retort to him. I just continued my way down the hall in search for the gift shop so that I could stock up on junk food for tonight and the flight tomorrow.

***

Zac Tyler? Perfect for me? Yeah right. When pigs fly.

Like the Swine Flu. Get it?

Har har.

But was it possible? Maybe. In the time before Joey and way before Lulu “called dibs”, it was possible, but now? Maybe not. Although I feel like my heart swells every time I see him—maybe for fear of his actions—it surely wasn’t returned in feeling. I didn’t want him to. That’s exactly why I tore off the bottom part of that note I wrote, because with what he read, he’ll think I still hate him. But with what I read from him…it’s obvious at the time he didn’t return the loathing emotion.

Even though I had a minor crush on him, I had Joey and there was no way we’d be “perfect” for each other.

But whatever, right?

With the bag full of snacks, I unlocked my hotel room with the room key.

“Lulu, I got our stash—” But why would that matter? I thought once I saw what the h3ll was going on in the room.

The order was Lulu, Zac, bed—correction. The order was stripped-down-to-underwear Lulu, shirtless Zac, and full-sized hotel bed beside the one I was meant to sleep in.

I don’t know what hurt the most:

The fact that he went back to someone who cheated on him, the fact that he already said he regretted fu**ing her, or the fact that even though he admits he has feelings for me, he’s ready to get it in with Lulu when we have some minor fight.

Nonetheless, I was hurt. After the ten seconds I stood there shocked at the sight, I turned and marched right back out the door, not caring about the curfew in a few minutes.

(Zac’s POV)

“Fu**,” I cussed. I grabbed Lulu’s waist and slid her off my hips. I found my shirt on the floor and threw it on over my head.

“Zac, what’s—”

“I’m not getting back with you,” I interrupted just to be clear.

“You’ve said that before,” she hissed. She right, but back then I didn’t mean it.

“Just like you said you wouldn’t cheat,” I retorted back.

“What the h3ll is wrong with you?” she asked. “You’re the one that had no complaints with this, but when Angel—”

“I can’t hurt her again, Lulu,” I said. “I’ve hurt her almost as much as I’ve hurt you.”

“So what?” she asked quietly, already hating the idea of me liking her best friend.

“I can’t keep hurting her,” I promised myself more than her. Lulu shifted positions.

“What about me, Zac? You’ve hurt me and you’re still hurting me,” she said, her eyes already tearing up behind her thick mascara. I shook my head.

“That’s not my problem anymore,” I said calmly, yet honestly.

“And why not?” she whispered. I stood up.

“Because you lost that privilege when you cheated on me,” I said with a raised voice. “Never have I ever done that to you. You can never make that up to me. But as for Angel, I owe her so much and this just fu**s it up more.”

“Why does it matter? She’s with Joey—”

“I don’t care,” I stated. “I need to fight for something and it’s gonna be her; even though I should’ve even before the whole Joey thing.”

Lulu shook her head in depression.

I hated that things had gotten this far with Lulu and me, but it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t want to be constantly mad at her, but come on, what else was there?

I started to walk out of the room and I was stopped by a teacher. Crap.

“Mr. Tyler…” a teacher chaperone addressed.

“Hey,” I said awkwardly, with no explanation as to why I was in a girl’s dorm at curfew. I walked around her and tried to find wherever Angel could be in this huge hotel.