Boyfriend and Girlfriend
Somehow, Zac and I made it back to my suite without running into anyone we knew. We crept quietly into my room and fell into bed together. If we woke Molly or Peyton, neither of them mentioned it when I saw them in the morning, and Zac managed to sneak out without being spotted.
It wasn’t that we were trying to hide our brand new relationship or anything. It was just that I had no idea how to explain it to the girls. I needed time to adjust to the idea that it was real before I could say it out loud, I supposed. In the end, Zac and I really just went back to life as usual for the rest of the weekend, texting and instant messaging with a few more hearts and smoochy faces than before, but otherwise unchanged.
In the end, we didn’t spend any more time together over the weekend, with our excuse being how much work we had to do since the semester was winding down. It was a little weird to be dating yet acting like we always had, but I wasn’t sure what else I had expected. Things couldn’t magically change overnight, even if we had just made a big confession to each other.
At least we were no longer fighting. That was a big enough change for me, even if everything else remained the same. Monday, when I went to the student center for lunch, I didn’t have to worry about whether or not Zac was going to sit with us and whether or not it would cause drama. I only had to worry about when and how we would tell everyone we were together.
It was nice to walk into the student center without the sense of dread I had felt for most of the semester. I joined the line at Baja Fresh, my favorite of all the restaurant choices, and tried to calm myself down. Of course I was happy, but I didn’t need to actually skip around or smile like an idiot all day.
The smile was gone soon enough, when I spotted Taylor’s roommate Neil and a few of his equally sketchy looking friends headed my way, and that creeping sense of dread was back all too soon.
“Hey, Georgie Girl,” Neil called out. “Isn’t that what Taylor calls you? Hey, does he call you that in bed, too?”
“Oh, man,” one of his friends, whose name I didn’t know, said. “She’s Tay’s little fuck buddy? Doesn’t really look like his type.”
“If she’s got a pulse, she’s his type,” another friend shot back.
“Actually,” a familiar voice said from behind me, his warm, soft hand coming to rest comfortingly on my shoulder. “This is my girlfriend, Georgina. Whatever you think you know about her, you can kindly keep it inside your tiny, drug-addled brains, and shut the fuck up.”
“Or what?’ Friend One asked.
“I’m sorry, did you think that was a threat?” Zac asked. “It really wasn’t. But here’s a thought. My brother might be a manwhore, but he’s really not that much of a sleaze about it. You think he would appreciate his friends airing his dirty laundry when I’m sure he knows about plenty of theirs? Again, not a threat—just something you might want to keep in mind.”
It was then that I noticed we had begun to attract something of a crowd, and Taylor’s friends seemed to be noticing the same thing. Neil gave a nervous little laugh, and said, “Alright, whatever. It’s cool. We’re cool.”
“We will be,” I replied weakly, “if you just leave us alone.”
“Alright, alright,” he said, holding his hands up in defeat. “We’re going. See ya later, Georgie Girl.”
I tensed at the nickname, which felt all kinds of wrong coming from him, but Zac gave my shoulder a squeeze and I relaxed some. But although the urge to scream, cry and possibly hide behind the checkout counter was suppressed, it wasn’t entirely gone.
“What the hell was that all about?” I asked, though I knew Zac couldn’t possibly have an answer.
“They’re just assholes,” he replied. “I don’t think they really meant anything by it, and of course they didn’t know we’re together now. I probably kinda made things worse, but I just didn’t like the way they were talking about you. But hey, it’s your turn to order. I’m going to go get some pizza, unless you need me to stay with you…”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine. Probably. But thanks.”
“You’re welcome. See ya soon.” Zac gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and then he was gone.
My cheeks were still burning by the time I’d bought my lunch and made my way to our usual table, where true to his word, Zac was already sitting with the rest of our group. His cheeks were bright red too, and I quickly realized why when Peyton spoke.
“So when the hell were you two planning on telling us you were dating?” She asked.
“Umm… surprise?” I said sheepishly. After squeezing into a seat next to Zac, I asked, “How did you know, anyway?”
“We wouldn’t have if I hadn’t overheard that little argument with the douchebag triplets,” Molly replied.
“Don’t remind me,” I said. “I’m trying to forget that ever happened already.”
“Well, anyway,” Molly said. “You two are dating. Really dating. Boyfriend and girlfriend.”
We both nodded.
“Guess this explains why you didn’t come back to the room Friday night,” Elijah remarked.
If I thought it wasn’t possible for Zac’s face to get any redder, I was wrong. Trying to compose myself, I replied, “That was the night of the party from hell, which none of you rescued us from, by the way. But yeah, that’s… that’s when it started. When we started. Dating, I mean.”
Peyton through up her hands. “Hey, I slept through the whole thing. Didn’t even know about it until the next day.”
“And you were already out the door by the time I realized all that commotion was actually inside our suite,” Molly added. “But hey, it all worked out, right?”
“Yeah,” Zac replied, giving me a sheepish smile. “Somehow it did.”
“It’s about time,” Molly said.
“You said it,” I replied. Looking at Zac, I added, “But you know, I’m just glad it happened at all. I was starting to think it never would, and yeah, it could have and should have happened sooner. Although, I might do a few things differently to get us here sooner, but I don’t have a Tardis, so I’m kinda stuck.”
“I’ll put Tardis on my list to buy you for Christmas,” Zac said, reaching under the table to take my hand in his.
“Are you guys always going to be this disgustingly cute?” Peyton asked, sneering a bit.
“It’s entirely possible,” Zac replied. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not a problem,” she replied. “Just really, really strange. I mean… it’s you two. Zac and George. But now you’re Zac and George, boyfriend and girlfriend. Have you two even been on a date?”
“Does being kidnapped by rabid sorority bitches count?” I asked.
“Not hardly,” Molly shot back.
“Then no, I guess we haven’t.”
Zac squeezed my hand. “Maybe we should fix that.”
“Maybe,” I replied, feeling myself blushing again. I was starting to wonder if my face would ever return to normal.
Thankfully, the conversation drifted away from us soon after that. Elijah mentioned some prank a few creative chemistry students had pulled, and while it was pretty funny, I found my mind drifting away. I was just glad to have attention focused somewhere else.
Maybe it was weird that Zac and I were dating after being best friends for so long and even enemies for part of the semester. Okay, it was really weird. I supposed it shouldn’t have been surprising that it was going to take our friends a while to get used to it; after everything we had thrown at them this semester, this might have actually been the strangest. Even I was having trouble believing it was real, but the fact that Zac kept our hands twined together for the rest of the meal was proof enough.
Neither of us had class for a while, so as the rest of our group said their goodbyes and left, we remained. After they were all gone, Zac turned his chair to face mine.
“So… hey,” he said.
“Hey?”
“I was just thinking,” he replied, chewing his bottom lip. “You know, what they were saying about how we haven’t really been on a date yet?”
“Yeah?” I eyed him. “I mean, we haven’t even been dating for a week yet. But I guess we have kinda done things backwards.”
He nodded. “We have. So, I was thinking, maybe we can go out for dinner or something this weekend. Like, Saturday? I don’t know; we can figure out the details later. I just thought it might be a nice idea.”
“It is a nice idea,” I replied. “Maybe that new Mexican place downtown?”
“If that’s what you want,” Zac said. He gave me a crooked smile. “I know this is going to sound really cheesy, but it doesn’t really matter to me where we go. I just want to be there, wherever it is, with you. And I wanna know that we’re okay, and we’re gonna continue to be okay. And… you know, together.”
“Yeah,” I replied, because I understood exactly what he meant, even if it wasn’t all that eloquent. “And I agree.”
Zac leaned in and gave me a quick peck that landed just on the corner of my mouth. It was still enough to make my face feel like it was on fire again, and I decided I was just going to have to get used to that feeling. He gave my knee a squeeze. “I’ve gotta get to class, but I’ll text you afterward, okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Maybe we can, umm, actually study in the library this time?”
Zac looked thoughtful for a moment, then gave me another crooked smile. “I suppose we could… but I can think of better ways to use those study rooms.”
I wanted to be angry with him for teasing me, but I was the one who had mentioned that awkward encounter in the first place. The truth was, no matter how angry I was with him at the time, the sex was hot as hell. And anyway, that was all behind us now. We were together. Nothing in the past mattered, as he had proven when he stood up for me in front of Taylor’s roommate and friends.
“Anyway,” Zac said, clearing his throat. “Are you done eating?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“I’ll get that for you then,” he said, stacking my tray on top of his.
With another quick kiss to the side of my mouth, he was gone. Like the pathetic, lovestruck fool that I was, I stared intently as he walked away. That was nothing new for me; the only difference was the way Zac turned and gave me a sheepish smile, like he knew I was looking and knew what I was thinking, too. And like he felt the same way.
Once he was gone, I looked around the room. It seemed like the whole world should have looked different now that Zac and I were finally together. It didn’t, really, but my perspective on it had changed, even if I was looking at the same old student center full of the same old students.
My eyes landed on the sorority tables, and because it was just my luck, the Tri Delta table was nearest. At least Bella was nowhere to be seen, but a few of her sisters seemed to be looking my way. When one of them leaned in to whisper something to another, I decided I really was just being paranoid. What could be of interest about me?
Even if they were gossiping about me, I decided that I really didn’t care. People could say some pretty horrible things about me and Taylor, as Neil had proven, but none of it really mattered anymore. It was over. I was moving on, and nothing anyone said or did was going to bring me down.