"Guys! I'm getting bored." Max whined after stuffing his mouth with banana chips.
"So am I." Charlotte sighed joining Max on the couch.
"What are you doing, Zack?" I shivered because he was writing something on my back with his fingers.
"Nothing?" He whispered in my ear and rested his hands on my waist.
"Hey!" Max yelled, jumping up from the couch causing Charlotte to flinch and glare at him.
"How about we go to the amusement park? It's been so long." Max suggested and we all considered the idea.
"Yes guys, let's go. It'll be fun." Charlotte said getting up from the couch too.
"I have no problem." Zack said. "What about you, baby?" He whispered in my ear and kissed the side of my neck causing a shiver to go down my spine.
"Yeah sure. Let's go."
******
"I'll be fine, D. I'm not a little girl. You go and enjoy yourself." Celine was trying to convince Damien to go with us as she cannot go because she had an appointment with the doctor.
"How can I enjoy myself when you are not there with me and besides, I can't let you go alone." Damien argued back.
"But I won't be alone. Emilie will be with me. You know you can trust my best friend."
After a few minutes of arguing which seemed like hours, Damien finally agreed.
"What about Coco?" Liam asked glancing at Max.
"I've already taken care of that." Max grinned.
Liam raised an eyebrow at Max, urging him to elaborate.
"Eric will take care of her." Max's grin increased upon saying Eric's name. He seems to really trust Eric because Max is just so overprotective of Coco that he doesn't even allow us to touch her before washing our hands. She is only allowed to be fed with the cat food that Max buys.
*****
"Wow. I am surprised the crowd isn't much here." Zack commented.
I couldn't have been more grateful to see so less humans in a place like this.
"I want to go to every ride here." Charlotte said with twinkling eyes and Liam chuckled at her.
The both of them went away leaving the four of us behind.
"Hey, Damien! Look! You remember that you used to win that game from me every time?" Max said while pointing to a shooting game not far away from us.
"So, let's continue the tradition, Maxy." Damien grinned and I subconsciously smiled upon seeing his beautiful grin.
"What do you want to do, J?" Zack asked putting his arm around my shoulder. "I don't know." I shrugged.
"Let's go to the haunted house then." He smirked. "I'm not afraid of ghosts." I said smirking back at him.
***
"Ah!" I flinched back keeping my hand on my chest.
"Not scared of ghosts." Zack mumbled in between his chuckles.
"This skeleton just appeared in front of me out of nowhere.... I just got.. Startled." I gave him my pathetic excuse which only caused him to laugh louder.
As we walked deeper into the haunted house, the ghostly whispers and painful screams also got louder. Throughout the walk, I kept my arm wrapped around Zack's arm and he just looked so smug.
We reached a very dark place with just faint red ligts coming from the small lamps. I was walking very closely with Zack, looking in every direction when I felt someone suddenly grab my ankle causing me to let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"My ankle! Someone's holding my ankle!" I clung onto Zack with my arms tightly wrapped around his neck in a dead lock as I cried.
"It's alright, Jennifer. I'm with you." He said trying to calm me down but I didn't stop crying until we were out of there.
I had my face buried on Zack's chest as I broke down.
"Jennifer? Are you Okay?" I could hear the anxiousness in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Zack. It just... Reminded me of a past experience." I said looking down at my shoes.
"What is it, Jen? You can tell me." he said gently, cupping my cheeks and forcing me to look at his beautiful face through teary eyes.
"When I was seven, mom and dad had taken me to a water park. I was enjoying myself so much. While playing in the water, I had swimmed away from my parents to a place where the water level was higher. Then someone -"
I choked as I remembered the memory from years ago. I was trying to collect my thoughts while Zack waited patiently.
"Someone grabbed my ankle and pulled me down underwater. I was struggling to come to the surface as water filled my nose and I could no longer hold my breath. It was as if I was going to die. I moved my arms and legs everywhere, trying to free myself from the person's grip but he didn't leave me. Then, dad came and pulled me up, trying to calm me down. But as he did so, the boy who had held me had already swimmed away." I finished and Zack was rubbing my back to soothe me down.
"It's alright, Jennifer. You have nothing to fear now. Please stop crying, baby." He said in a soft voice, holding my cheeks as he stared directly into my eyes.
We were walking towards where Max and Damien were standing before being stopped by a group of girls.
"Hey, Zack. Long time, no see." The brunette girl in the middle said as she stared him down as if he was a piece of meat.
"Tasha." Zack said with no expression on his face, his voice, cold.
"I knew you couldn't forget your ex girlfriend so easily." This girl, Tasha smirked while twirling a strand of her hair. I don't know why, but I felt my heart drop in knowing that she was Zack's ex.
Zack didn't respond to her at all. "C'mon. I know you miss me." she winked flirtatiously as Zack rolled his eyes.
"Whatever was between us, is over. You better get the hell out of my sight now." I lightly flinched at the harshness of his voice.
It was exactly opposite to the soft and gentle voice he uses with me.
"I know you're just a player, babe. But it was you who had admitted to me yourself that I was the hottest girl you've ever seen." Tasha said looking proud of herself.
Who the hell even is this bi-
Witch.
Whatever. Who does she think she is?!
"Get lost." Zack had a stone cold expression on his face.
Tasha tried touching his arm but he grabbed her hand and yanked it away. "Did you not hear me?" He sneered.
"Whatever." Tasha rolled her eyes and turned to look at me but before she could, Zack stood right in front of me, covering me from her view.
"Don't even look at her." He threatened.
Tasha huffed loudly and flipped her hair behind her shoulder as she turned away from us, her minions followed.
"My name is Tiara, by the way." She muttered harshly and walked away. "As if I care." Zack whispered to himself.
Liam and Charlotte had also joined Max and Damien by the time we finally reached them.
"Let's go on the roller coaster, please!!" Charlotte asked us with puppy eyes. I hadn't seen her this cheerful in a long time and it made me happy to see her enjoying herself.
*****
"What if the coaster flies off the track?" I asked anxiously to Max, trying to convince him to not let me go on the roller coaster ride.
"That won't happen, Jen. Chill! You'll enjoy this." Max cheered.
"Have you been on this before?" I asked him.
"No."
I stared at him in pure annoyance.
"What if I get a heart attack?" I tried again.
"You won't." He simply answered.
"Okay.. What if a time portal suddenly opens there and we-"
"C'mon Jennifer. This isn't a movie." Max interrupted me.
"What if we have a 'Final Destination 3' here?" I asked with wide eyes.
Max face palmed himself and sighed dramatically. "You are going with me. Nothing will happen."
Yes. Max decided it would be good if we do something where Zack and Damien could be togetehr. Those two weren't in good terms right now and the tension between them didn't go unnoticed by any of us.
"Just imagine what if-"
"Jennifer Smith. You are irritating me now. Please shut." Max put his finger on his lips.
Soon enough the roller coaster started, increasing the beating of my racing heart. It was slow at first but soon after it caught up speed. I felt myself flying off the face of earth as I screamed at the top of my lungs but the surprising thing was- someone else was screaming louder than me-
Max.
His eyes were widened in fear as he kept screaming like a girl throughout the ride as he gripped my hand tightly.
Behind us, Charlotte was screaming in delight as Liam was laughing in joy.
Sitting in front of us, in dead silence, were Zack and Damien.
The coaster started slowing down as it reached the top curve and then stopped.
"Okay.. It stopping is better than it flying off-" I started only to get interrupted my Max.
"Oh my dear god. It stopped! We are stuck! Jennifer was right. We are going to die and rot here!" He cried.
"Relax, Max. At least we didn't fly off into another dimension."
"We are going to die todayyyyy...." Max screamed as the roller coaster started again going down on a very high speed.
*****
"Both of you look like as if you've been living in a cave all your life." Charlotte chuckled earning glares from me and Max. Our heads were a mess of black hair going in all directions.
"I'm never going on that thing ever again." Max stated.
"But I will. Liam! Let's go again." Charlotte said and dragged Liam away with her.
"I want ice cream." I whined to Zack who was trying to sort out my messy hair, combing them with his fingers.
"Okay." He grinned and took me to the ice cream shop.
*****
"The view is so incredible from up here." I awed, gawking out of the window.
We were on the Ferris wheel. The sky outside of the cabin was a beautiful mixture of orange and pink colours, giving it a magnificent glow. Below us, we could see all the other people laughing and enjoying themselves.
I caught Zack looking at me with a soft and gentle gaze. He gave me a loving smile when our eyes met, making my heart flutter.
"You're so beautiful, Jennifer." He softly murmured and placed his hand on my cheek, holding me as if I was a rare piece of glass which he cannot afford to lose.
"You think so?" I was taken aback by his sudden claim.
"It's the truth. Only you don't see it." He shrugged.
"So... that girl was your ex girlfriend." I was surprised by the sadness in my voice. Judging by Zack's expression, he looked shocked too.
"It was nothing serious, Jennifer. I was just attracted to her. I never loved her or anything. She was just a distraction I used to move on from Celine." He admitted, looking ashamed.
I placed my hand on his cheek just like he touches mine.
"It's alright." I smiled at him.
Zack spent a few seconds just deeply gazing into my eyes, seeming to be lost in his own world.
Then unexpectedly, he leaned in closer to my face, staring lovingly into my eyes with his breath fanning my face as he leaned closer. His hands, resting on my cheeks as he tilted his face and his soft lips touched mine.
I was too stunned to react for a few seconds, debating whether this was a dream or reality. The feeling that I felt at the unexpected intimate contact was overwhelming. But it was real!
Zack was kissing me! I was having my first kiss with Zack!
With burning cheeks and a fluttering heart, I kissed him back, making his lips curl up to form a smile against mine.
Our eyes were closed as we found us getting lost into the feeling of each other.
His lips felt so soft and gentle against mine, making me relish this present moment as much as I could. His hands were still holding my cheeks as his thumb slowly grazed over my skin.
He pulled back and planted a soft kiss on my forehead. A light shade of pink crept it's way onto Zack's cheeks and he was trying so hard to bite back his smile but failed miserably as he ended up giving me a pleasant grin.
I chuckled at his cute face and he stared at me in confusion.
"Look at your face, Zack! You're blushing. It's so cute." I said as I pinched his cheeks.
He grinned again. "You should look at yourself. As red as a beetroot." He said while pinching my cheeks back.
Everyone was staring at the two of us in confusion, trying to figure out the reason of the redness of our faces.
"It's not that hot, is it?" Max whispered to Liam who shrugged.
I buried my face on Zack's chest because I was so embarrassed by all their stares.
*****
I laid down on the couch, exhausted from the day. The memory of Zack kissing me on the Ferris wheel kept replaying in my head over and over again. I was trying so hard to control my squealing because I didn't want the others to think that I've gone mental, which might he true.
Am I having feelings for Zack?
They have been there for too long, your dumb head only noticed it now.
But Damien-
Just attraction, Jen. You know, a crush?
Was it?
You tell.
I was lost in my confused thoughts when the loud ringing of my phone pulled me out of it.
I stared at my phone screen in shock as I read the caller ID -
Mom.