The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune
I woke the next morning to the odd feeling of blue jeans against the sheets and the even stranger sensations of big, strong arms wrapped around me and a body pressed against my back. Soft light was just beginning to filter through the shades so I knew it must be early, but that realization did nothing to help with my disorientation. I wiggled out of the embrace and rolled myself over, coming face to face with Zac’s snores. The blurry haze of sleep started to dissipate and I remembered the night before.
Zac twitched and wiggled his nose a little, probably noticing but not totally understanding my movement. His eyes opened slowly, eyelashes fluttering several times before he finally looked at me.
“Good morning, starshine,” he said with a small sideways grin.
I smiled back and wiped at the corners of my eyes. I could only imagine how terrible I looked, having gone to sleep with all my makeup on. “I actually fell asleep with you here, huh?”
“Yup, sure did,” Zac replied. “I’m never doing this again, though. You snore like a freight train.”
“I do not!” I squealed, then look up at the bottom of Justine’s bunk, hoping I hadn’t woken her up.
Zac followed my eyes up, then looked back down at me. “Don’t worry about it, I think she got up early for breakfast or something. I heard her climb down earlier and it woke me up.”
I rolled over again and glanced across the room for my clock. “Fuck, it’s almost 8! I didn’t set my alarm. We’re gonna miss class!”
His hand reached around to caress my hair. I pushed back the covers and started to stand, but he pulled me back toward him, clutching me close to his chest. Before I could protest, he said, “Relax, Toria. Univ 101 is cancelled today, remember? No classes until one. We can sleep until you’re ready for lunch.”
I relaxed under his grasp. Zac was right and I felt silly for forgetting. But I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in his arms and that just threw everything all out of whack. “Gee, are you sure your appetite will hold out until then?”
“Well if it doesn’t, your brains are in danger,” he replied, then made a show of pretending to chew on my skull, complete with loud zombie moans and groans.
I laughed and swatted at his face, but mostly ended up just smacking my own head. I curled up and drew the covers around my neck. People think I’m crazy for it, but I have to have the covers all over me even in the middle of the summer; I just can’t sleep without being all bundled up. Maybe that’s why I slept so well with Zac snuggled against me. As I curled into the fetal position, he twined his legs in with mine, twisting us into a warm, comfy human pretzel.
It seemed like I had just closed my eyes when I felt Zac’s face pressing against the side of mine. He nuzzled against my face like a kitten, his lips grazing my cheek as he said, “Wake up now, sleepyhead. For good this time.”
Hesitantly, unwilling, I pushed the covers back and sat up. Zac raised himself onto his elbows but didn’t sit up. He had already hit his head several times on the metal bars of the bunk beds and I guess he was finally learning his lesson. I brushed my fingers through my hair and looked down at him.
“You look awful, Zac. Did you stick your finger in an electrical socket in the middle of the night?” I asked, ruffling his already quite ruffled hair.
Zac scrunched up his nose and made a face at me. “Hey, I helped you sleep through the night. You shouldn’t be so mean to me.”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” I said. I threw the covers off and stood up. “I don’t know about you, but I need to take a shower and make myself pretty before lunch.”
“Well, I happen to already be pretty,” Zac replied, scooting toward the edge of the bed and shooting me a giant grin.
“Sure, if you say so,” I replied, walking over to my closet and pulling a towel off the top shelf. “Seriously, I’m about to get naked. So you should leave.”
“Aww, but things sound like they’re just about to get fun!” Zac said, picking up his cell phone and keys from the floor in front of my bed. I didn’t even remember how they had gotten there, but I supposed he must have thrown them down before climbing into my bed the night before. It was then that I realized just how tired I must have been. When I really thought about it and forced myself to remember, I could recall the phone conversation with my mom and how Zac had come into the room and laid with me while I cried. But it was like a dream. The kind that you don’t remember when you wake, but little snippets of it come to mind throughout the day, from a distance.
Zac offered me a small hug before walking out the room, calling out as he went, “I’m coming back in thirty minutes to take you to lunch, so you better be dressed by then. If you’re not, I’m taking you to lunch anyway.”
True to his word, he reappeared thirty minutes later just as I was brushing out my hair for the third time. It was a nervous habit. Sometimes I would sit backstage during plays and brush my hair compulsively, if my hairdo for that play would allow it. At least I didn’t count the brushstrokes like Marcia Brady, but I wasn’t very far from that kind of compulsion.
“Knock knock. Are you decent?” Zac called out, peeking his head around the door, one hand covering his eyes.
“I’m never decent,” I answered, gathering up my backpack and tossing the day’s books in it. “But I am fully clothed, so you can look.”
“Aww, that’s a shame,” Zac replied, giggling. He uncovered his eyes and smiled at me and I just couldn’t be angry about his perverted jokes. He had obviously taken a quick shower, or else he had just switched shirts and ducked his head into the sink. I wouldn’t put that past him or any other college boy, really.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go eat,” I said and chucked an ink pen at his head.
He ducked out of the pen’s path and held out his hand to me. Normally I wouldn’t have refused, but I thought back to the argument with Donovan and it gave me pause. Even though I knew it didn’t mean anything, Zac and I did have a tendency to act a little more than friendly. I had been upset about that too, when my mom’s phone call came in, but I had neglected to mention it to Zac. There was no reason to worry him. Which was why I pretended not to notice his extended hand and instead just picked up my keys and walked on out of the room.
If Zac did notice, he didn’t say anything. We walked to the Student Center in relative silence, but it was comfortable rather than uncomfortable. When we arrived at the food court a few minutes later, I saw Justine and Whitley already sitting at a table by the window, along with Zac’s roommate Evan. I didn’t really know Evan very well because when Zac and I hung out, it was usually in my room or the coffee shop. But I thought he was a nice guy. Still, it was strange for him to sit at our table.
I could tell that everyone at the table had been talking, but a hush fell over them when I saw Evan nod his head in our direction. As soon as we were within earshot, he called out, “Glad you guys could finally join us!”
I looked over at Zac and saw a faint blush come across his cheeks. It made him look even younger than usual and for some reason that amused me. In a strange way, I thought it was cute. Cute? Zac? As soon as that thought entered my mind, I decided I must be lightheaded from skipping out on breakfast. Yes, that must be it.
Zac didn’t say anything, only stuttered and set his backpack down in a chair. He nodded in the direction of the Chick-Fil-A and wandered off toward it.
“What the hell was that about?” Evan asked, glancing around at the table. “Did I put my foot in it?”
“That was… not very Zac-like,” I said, collapsing into a chair next to Justine.
“Apparently he’s embarrassed about sleeping with you,” Whitley said, giggling.
My mouth fell open. What had they been talking about when we walked up? “That is not what happened at all! Justine, tell them. You saw us!”
Justine looked up from her plate and her face was completely blank. “What? He was in your bed.”
“Justine!” I whined. “That is not helping my case at all!”
She looked over at the other two. “But I mean, they had clothes on. I told you guys, I didn’t really see anything incriminating. Snoring isn’t incriminating.”
“I’m going to go get some food. And while I’m gone, you guys better stop gossiping about me and Zac. If only just to keep him from dying of embarrassment,” I said, fishing my student ID out of my purse and standing up.
I just couldn’t believe it. They really thought Zac and I were together? Dating? Sleeping together? I didn’t know and I didn’t really want to ask. Maybe Donovan had a point in wondering about us. But it really wasn’t like that, was it? I tried to shrug it off as I walked through the line at Bene Pizza. With a steaming sausage calzone at hand, I walked back to the table. Zac had returned before me and I could tell that Evan was giving him a hard time about last night. His face was turning brighter and brighter red, and I thought he looked just a little bit angry, too.
“Guys, will you lay off Zac? Nothing happened last night,” I said, sitting back down next to him.
Crunching a potato chip, Whitley asked, “Well, you did sleep together. That’s not nothing, you know.”
Zac clenched and unclenched his fist, and I could hear him breathing heavier. I placed a hand on his back, hoping to calm him a little. He loosened his fist and began tapping his fingertips against the table. Finally, he looked up at everyone. “Nothing. Happened. Toria was having a bad night, alright? She needed me to be there for her and I just fell asleep there. That’s all. She’s seeing that theatre nerd guy, anyway.”
“Oh yeah? Thought I warned you about him,” Whitley said, raising an eyebrow.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know. We kind of had a date. I guess. We ran lines together. We’ll see where it goes.”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea where it’s gonna go,” Whitley replied.
“See, everyone knows what’s going on with you and him,” Zac teased, nudging me with his shoulder. I was glad to see he was joking around, even if he did still look a little upset. But his words weren’t all that funny, given that I had suddenly lost all concern for what people thought about Donovan and I.
“Hey, Victoria.”
Well, speak of the devil.
Everyone at the table turned around to look in the direction of the voice. I didn’t need to look up to recognize the voice, but when I did I saw that Donovan was only a few feet from the table, a smile plastered on his face as though he hadn’t left rehearsal upset with me the night before.
“Oh, hey Donovan,” I said, trying to sound friendly and casual, but keenly aware of the fact that I was shaking. I hoped Zac didn’t notice.
He stood next to me, looking awkwardly down at the table. “I was just wondering if you were going to the party at Kelsey’s place tomorrow?”
I wracked my brain to remember who Donovan was talking about. For a moment I didn’t even think I knew anyone by that name, then I remembered my brother. My brother Laertes, that is. The actor playing him was a senior named Kelsey and I had heard mention of parties at his house.
I realized that Donovan was just staring at me and no one else at the table was speaking. I shook my head and replied, “No, I don’t think so. I wasn’t really invited.”
“That’s why I came over here. To invite you,” Donovan said, smiling. He hesitated for a second, then added, “Actually, all of you guys are invited. It’s pretty laid back. If you’re all friends of Whitley and Toria, you’re definitely welcome.”
I looked over at everyone else and I saw Justine shaking her head discretely. I knew she had never been one for partying. Being in the theatre, I had been to quite a few unofficial cast parties over my high school years. But a college party would be different, wouldn’t it?
Zac nudged me again and I looked back up at Donovan. “I’ll think about it, alright? But it sounds like fun.”
Donovan smiled that heart-melting smile that I’m sure had won many girls over. “Great. I’ll look for you there. If you don’t have fun, we can always go somewhere else and chill. I’ll see you at rehearsal.”
With that, he turned and walked away. I didn’t realize I had been staring at his retreating form until Zac poked me in the side, hard.
“What?”
“We can always go somewhere else and chill?” He asked, drawing invisible quotation marks around the words and affecting a fake lisp.
I frowned. “That is not what he sounds like!”
“But he did invite you to the party. And he definitely had other intentions,” Justine pointed out.
I sipped my soda and ignored everyone for a moment. “Alright, look. I’ll go. But he invited you guys too, so I think some of you should come with me. That’s the only way I can deal with this.”
“Love to, but I think I have plans with Taylor,” Whitley said.
“You think?” I asked, glad for anything to divert the conversation to another topic.
She shrugged. “It’s nothing definite yet, but we talked about going out.”
“Well I’m free,” Zac said, “I think it sounds like tons of fun. I love a good party. And if Donovan turns into a total creeper, I’ll be your bodyguard.”
“Bodyguard? I don’t need a bodyguard. God, you all need to relax. I can take care of myself with this guy, I’m just nervous about going to a party with tons of people I don’t know.”
Zac wrapped his arm around me. “I’m kidding, alright? I know you can. Still sounds like fun. You couldn’t keep me from going if you tried.”
“Well then I suppose it’s handy that I’m not going to try. I think drunk Zac sounds like he could be a fun guy,” I said. With a smile that I knew would annoy him, I added, “At least, he couldn’t be any worse than regular Zac.”