Chapter 88

"Your house is fucking cold." Carter grabbed one of Taylor's black sweaters from the floor of his bedroom after she walked in from the balcony. She pulled it over her head, messing her hair, which was now an inch past her shoulders. "Dammit, and you're fucking skinny." She growled, pulling it off again.

"My bad." Taylor didn't bother looking up from his computer.

"Who are you talking too?"

"Ike. He's at Beth's house right now."

"Oooh." She grinned, looking down at their conversation. She instantly rolled her eyes at Taylor's first remark.

So have you guys... you know... *nudge*

Nice greeting there, Tay. Very subtle.

I thought so. Nice screen name btw.

It's Beth's.

*sweetchicknot is now known as GuitarStud

Oh yeah, much better.

So what's up with things there? Carter and Zac together yet?

They might as well be. Zac's sick though.

Is he ok?

*shrugs* I hope so.

uh oh. Here comes Carter. She sounds grumpy. I heard a thump and then a *GOD HOLY DAMMIT*

Hey Carter! You think I should come home? Is Zac ok?

Carter sat on Taylor's lap and grabbed the keyboard.

"Ok, Ow." Taylor grumbled.

HI IKEYDOODIE!!! Zac's ok. He just needs rest. I'm going over to his room now to hang with him.

Ok, just don't hang to hard.

Ha, you're so funny. *rolls her eyes* byebye, guitar...stud... HAHAHAHA

Carter giggled to herself and waved at Taylor before walking down the hallway to Zac's bedroom. His door was opened about six inches and she paused for a moment. Then, realizing this was Zac, not Taylor, and a bucket of mud wouldn't come crashing down on her head, she knocked once and pushed the door open.

Zac was laying on his bed face down with his head hanging off the edge. His hair was in a low ponytail and he wore a pair of dark red cargo pants and a black shirt that showed off his massive arms very well. So well, that Carter had to take a deep breath before she could think straight. "Hey doobie." He didn't have to look up to know it was her. "Were you harassing Taylor?"

"Isaac."

"Ah. Nice. Have he and Beth... you know..." He rolled over onto his back, his head still hanging off of the bed.

"What is it with you guys. Geez." She rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed next to him. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that Zac was almost 3 years younger than her. He had the mind, the stature, and the maturity of a 30 year old. Even though he was crazy, sometimes he seemed so deep, and so wise, Carter had to stop and think about how old he really was. But that's one of the reasons they had always connected. They were both schizophrenic.

Zac scooted down so that his head wasn't hanging off anymore. He was starting to feel his hard beating in his temples and he figured that wasn't a good thing. He smiled up at Carter. Sometimes he thought the same about her. For some reason, nobody ever noticed how beautiful she was. Even wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, she was still striking. Her hair was hanging on her shoulders and peaking out from underneathe was a pair of plain, silver hoops.

Zac knew that most people who had met Carter in the past year really didn't like her. She seemed to be the type that always got her own way. In reality, she was so convinced that she didn't care what other people thought about her, that sometimes she went to far.

That was why Zac was hesitating to move to quickly with her. Afterall, it was just yesterday when Zac and Justine had their big falling out at the library. Zac watched nervously when Carter went down the stairs and left him standing there with Justine. He had absolutely no idea what to say to her. He'd been caught. He was cheating. He was a horrible person.

"I'm a horrible person." He muttered, not realizing he'd said it aloud.

"You are not." Justine frowned and looked into his eyes. "Don't say that about yourself."

Zac looked confused. He sighed and shook his head. "So now what? I'd sit here and apologize profusely, but I know it wouldn't change anything."

"Why didn't you just tell me you didn't like me? I'm not a fragile little loser. I could have taken it."

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"Yeah, that plan turned out great." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm trying really hard to not sound like a total bitch here."

"You can be as big of a bitch as you want too. This is my fault."

"No, it's not, Zac. It's Carter's fault. It always is. She doesn't get the fact that she's a fucking bitch. But everybody else does. Ask Gabi, Jade, etcetera."

Zac looked surprised. "Jade doesn't hate Carter. She's just mad because Carter was with Taylor."

"Carter's been with everybody. She gets what ever she wants. Rich fucking snob."

"Ok. Hang on. Carter is not rich. And she's not a snob."

"She get's paid 200 dollars a night to sing! And she sucks at it!"

Zac sighed. "Ok, so we're not going to agree here. I'm not gonna argue with you. But we can't be together anymore. It wouldn't be fair to you because my heart wouldn't be in it."

"Yeah well, nothing is fair, is it?"

"Huh?"

Justine turned around and started scanning some books. "Can you do me a favor and go get Jesse? I wanna go home."

"Uhm. Ok."

He didn't really know what else to say or do. It was obvious Justine didn't like Carter at all, probably from the start. He wished he'd have known sooner. But it was a new day, and he had a fresh new start. And the girl of his dreams was laying down on his bed, placing her head on his stomach. He looked down at her, almost nervously. But... he never got nervous. He tried to tell himself that as he reached over and ran his fingers through her dark hair lightly. "So... uhm..."

Carter sat up with her eyes widened. "I got a new Charmed book today! VOODOO MAGIC!" She grinned.

Zac smiled, missing the warmth of her hair on his stomach. "And I bet you've read it already, right?"

"Yeah. You wanna read it?"

Zac frowned. "I haven't been that great with reading lately. Everything gets foggy and I can never remember what I read 2 sentences earlier."

Carter frowned too. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for him. Zac loved to read. He loved to learn, and he loved to be active and throw himself across the room and into walls. He hated having to save his strength. She wanted to give him a hug to make him feel better, but before she could, she heard a scratching noise coming from inside his closet. "Zac..." She jumped up and stood still. "Who, or what, is in your closet?"

"I... don't know." He stood up and got in front of her. Carter grabbed onto his arm and watched as he stepped up close to the closet. There was a high pitched noise that sounded almost like a chirp. Carter's fingernails dug into his bicep and he winced. "Ok, woman. Loosen the grip there." He grabbed the doornob and pulled. Then, he grumbled something and stepped back.

"No way. I'm not opening that door."

"But, you're the only one that knows how too."

Carter let out a whimper, slammed her thigh into the door, thumped on it once with her fist, kicked it again, and yanked the handle. The door swung open in her face.

"I don't have to tell you that you're a magical magical woman again. Ok, so, while you're at it, why don't you stick your head in and look."

Carter gave him a terrified, dirty look and peaked inside. Her eyes widened, she screamed, and she ran back and ducked behind his bed. "MAKE IT GO AWAY!" She screamed with terror.

Zac peaked in and laughed. "Ok. It's a bird's nest. There's a bird and three eggs."

"Yes I know."

"Dude, you're still afraid of birds?" Zac thought back to the time a sparrow chased Carter down the street, pecking at her forhead the whole time.

"Little known fact. Now, KILL IT!!!"

Zac laughed and closed the door. "How about this, I never use the closet, that bird seems to like it, so we'll just let it live."

"How about this. It's in YOUR closet. So, KILL IT!"

Zac smiled and walked over to her. He sat down next to her and put his arms around her. "I promise, I won't get the birdy get you. Ok?"

"They're the devil incarnate. You know this, right?"

"Yes, and so are flood pants." He grinned, mimicking her own words.

"Oh god yes!" She winced. "I don't see why the hell anybody would wear something they used to get beat up for wearing in fifth grade. What the hell are they on?!"

He laughed and kissed her forehead lightly. "Spam."

"Spam." She nodded. "Food from hell. Made by birds in little fiery factories. Sweat shops for evil animals."

Zac laughed. He loved it when she made no sense. And... he loved her. That was something that had never changed. He smiled once more and hugged her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go.

Carter
Home
Stories
Carter

Email: mryuck@csrlink.net