Little Zac took his older, wiser brother, Isaac's advice. He ended up calling Kelly and setting something up. They were going to a movie and then, going to the lake to talk. The lake was in walking distance of the movie theater and a breath of fresh air is just what Zac needed. He needed to clear his mind from all this confusion between Chrissy and Kelly. Maybe today would be the day, he would completely make up his mind in this crazy maze of Love. But, maybe Kelly wouldn't turn out to be all that he'd hoped for. There might be a side, he hadn't seen. How would he react? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as Zac and Kelly walked out of the theater, they started heading toward the lake. Kelly looked at Zac and smiled brightly, with a sparkle in her eye.
"Thank you for such a wonderful night, Zac," Kelly sheepishly said.
Zac put his arm around her, giving her a huge smile, "The night ain't over, honey."
The two were just about a mile from the lake when Kelly spotted six of her friends near the parking lot of the lake. She quickly became excited to see the four other girls and two other guys of the group.
Kelly waved towards the group and yelled across the street, "Hey...GUYS!"
The group of teenagers looked over at Kelly and immediately, one of the girls screamed, "Kelly, come over here and hang with us! Bring your boyfriend, too!"
Kelly flushed at the word "boyfriend". She really liked Zac and truly didn't know if he felt the same. She hesitated slightly before turning towards Zac, and asking, "Do you wanna go over there? Just for a little while? Then, we can go to the lake."
"Alright, doesn't matter to me," Zac shrugged.
Kelly and Zachary walked over to the crowd, and Kelly introduced her friends, "Zac, I want you to meet Jessica, Ginny, Sarah, Veronica, Mitchell, and Danny. These are my friends from school."
Smiling, Zac responded, "Hey, nice to meet you all."
Kelly's friends nodded, and welcomed him to the crowd.
Veronica smiled at Zac, "So, you and Kelly are going out? For how long?"
Zac felt an uneasy lump in his throat. It was from knowing he was hurting Chrissy. Zac gave a weak smile, and put his arm around Kelly, "Yeah, we've going out for like, a week."
Veronica reached for her back pocket, "That's cool."
What she pulled out of her pocket, stunned Zac beyond belief. He eyes grew bigger than baseballs when he saw the cigarette pack in her hand.
Amazed, Zac stuttered, "Y-y-you smoke?"
Taking out a cigarette and lighting it, Veronica glanced at Zac, and said, "Yeah, why? You want one?"
Zac was completely astonished, and he couldn't help but to think, "These are her friends?"
Interrupting his thought, Veronica became impatient, "Well?"
Veronica took an extra one out and placed it in Zac's hand. The thirteen-year old Hanson brother stared at it for a long time. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. No one had ever offered him one before, so why were they now?
Zac handed the cigarette back to Kelly's friend, "No thanks. Really, I don't want one."
Danny, one of the guys of the group, spoke up, "What's wrong? A poor Mama's Boy doesn't want a cigarette?"
"That's not it," Zac stated, now more firmly. "I'm not a Mama's Boy. I just don't smoke. It can kill you."
"Kill you? No, it can't!" Mitchell stepped into the conversation now.
"I'm telling you, it can!" Zac was nearly shouting now. "There are more than one thousand deaths a day due to smoking related things."
Kelly cut in, and spoke more softly, "Guys, lay off. If he doesn't want one, he doesn't want one." Then, she turned to Zac, "Calm down, honey. It's okay, really it is."
Zac took a deep breath, and exhaled, "Look, Kelly I gotta go. I can't stay here."
"What about you, Kels? You wanna light?" Veronica offered.
Kelly flushed, embarrassed that she asked, "No..." she became hesitant now, "I told you guys that I quit like, three months ago."
Zac still couldn't believe what he had just heard, "Really, I gotta go, Kelly. Call me later, okay?"
"Okay."
Then, after all was said, Zac turned around and headed home. He had an extreme amount of guilt, though. He had almost given up Chrissy, for a former smoker? Zac knew that what she and her friends did was wrong, and he didn't like it. Not one bit. He had to get home, though...fast. He had to get home, and apologize for what he had done. But, would Chrissy still have the same feelings she had before hearing his story?
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Chapter 11-Dreams Come True
Chapter 13-Be Gentle With My Broken Heart
Tulsa's Long Road Home
