Zach's POV
I shift into the seat of the bright yellow cab in front of my house with a sigh. Will is taking my mother somewhere that I don't care about, so I'm forced to get there by my own means. I'm going to his house. Jayden's house.
His house is just a couple miles away from my house, so it doesn't take long before the cab pulls up and I make my way to his front door. I'm sort of dreading ringing the doorbell. It feels really awkward being here. Liiza and I haven't been here since the incident happened.
I press the modern, white doorbell and the door opens almost instantly, drifting me out of my thoughts. A woman, probably in her thirties, stands in front of me.
"Hello, may I help you?" She asks politely.
"Uh..." I pause for a moment, gathering my thoughts. "I'm here to see Jayden"
The woman lets me in and gestures to a plush, leather couch to wait on while she gets Jayden. The place has changed a lot after all these years.
Jayden's house is huge. It is three stories, with high ceilings, winding, modern staircases and even a big dining hall.
Jayden's filthy rich, like me. His parents earn a lot of money. But, at least when I was last with him, they hardly know what is going on in his life because they're always busy, all day, everyday, and Jayden is usually free to do anything he wants.
"Mr. Mayer will be here in a minute." the woman smiles.
"Okay. Thank you." I replied.
Jayden walks down the staircase, stopping suddenly when he spots me. He looks surprised. I can't blame him. He must be wondering why I came back to him after 4 whole years of not even talking.
"Look who suddenly showed up," Jayden says slowly, smirk on his face.
He hasn't changed after all these years.
"Hi Jayden," I say, trying to be nice and masking the anger building up inside me.
"What do you want?" He asks, with a frown.
"I need your help." I reply slowly. "The only reason I'm coming to you is that you're the only one I can trust right now"
I pat the space beside me and tell him to sit, before I explain everything.
"I'm fake dating Liiza and I need you to go out with her best friend on our group date with the rest of my friends."
"What? Why?" He looks puzzled.
"Please. Jayden"
We spoke back and forth about it, he kept asking questions on top of questions but eventually, he agreed to help me, only because he wanted to restore our friendship.
"I regret what happened Zach. I'm sorry" He said.
I nod slowly. I always thought that he didn't care about our friendship and he only cared about himself but I was wrong, I guess. He actually apologized for what he did.
"But what will you do if they find out that we are both faking our girlfriends?" Jayden asks.
"They won't as long as we play it out well" I smile.
Jayden and I spoke for a while. He asks me a few questions and I answer them, most of them are about the plan.
After a short while, we head to his car, driving to Liiza's place.
• • • •
Liiza's POV"When are they gonna be here?" Rilee moans, flopping onto the coach. "Is this guy that I'm going to date hot?"
I murmur a quiet reply and bite my lip. Rilee has no idea why I'm so worried. What if Zach and Jayden got into a fight? Or Jayden refused to help or… I don’t know, there are many terrible scenarios that I could imagine happening.
The door slams open and Zach swaggers in, with Jayden right behind him. Does this mean Jayden agreed to help?
I jump to my feet, running towards them.
"Where were you guys? What took you so long? How did you manage to get Jayden to help? I thought you guys might have gotten into a fight by now." I blabber.
"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down, baby girl" Zach chuckled.
Jayden smirks. "You're still the same Liiza, aren't you?" I roll my eyes, slapping his chest. "Besides, we're not idiots that would get into a fight for no reason."
"Well, knowing Zach, you probably are." Rilee butts in.
"And who is this beauty?" Jayden smirks, checking Rilee out.
"Jayden, this is Rilee, Riles this is Jayden." I introduce them to each other.
"Liiza, can I talk to you?" Rilee suddenly drags me to the side. "Why didn't you ever mention that you have such a hot friend all these years?" She asks, excited.
"Trust me, he's not that cute on the inside." I chuckle and walk back towards the boys "Jayden I'm sure Zach explained the whole plan to you." I say. "Rilee here will be your new girlfriend."
"Sweet."
• • • •
The day passed quickly, as we chatted and got to know each other.
"Why don't we play 21 Questions? We haven’t spoken in so long, I’m sure so much has changed" Jayden suggests, taking a sip of his soda. We were all sitting cross legged in the lounge room, pigging out on candy and chips. I nod, along with everyone else.
"Me first!" Rilee beams, turning to Jayden. "When was your first kiss?"
Jayden chuckles, looking thoughtful. "Years ago. With a girl at summer camp up the old tree. Good times." He turns to me. "How many boyfriends have you had?"
I can feel my cheeks redden. "Um..."
Jayden bursts out laughing. "You don't have to answer that. New question: what's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?"
I think for a moment. "I convinced my family to buy plane tickets to Bali"
"That's pretty spontaneous"
We continue to take turns asking each other questions late into the night. Surprisingly, I learnt a bunch of stuff about everyone, mostly about Jayden since I haven't spoken to him in a long time. He's changed.
• • • •
I wake up in the morning with my alarm playing 'Sorry' by Justin Bieber. It takes me a bit to reorient myself. We all fell asleep.
Zach's head is lying on my lap. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Relaxed. Pure. Jayden's head is resting on Zach's stomach and Rilee is lying on Jayden's chest with her thumb in her mouth like a baby.
I chuckle to myself, pushing my body up gently so I can sit up. Sometimes I wonder how these crazies are my friends.
Gently I shake Zach's shoulder, trying to wake him. "Zach, guys, wake up. We'll be late to school."
"Just one more minute mom." Zach groans.
"Yeah, one minute" Rilee adds in.
Rilee opens her eyes slightly and frowns. "Since when do I have a brother?"
"Guys, wake up! Or I'll pour a bucket of coldwater on each of you" I threaten.
"What?" Jayden sits up suddenly, making Rilee fall onto the floor.
"Ow." Rilee winces "What was that for?"
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize you were on me" Jayden says sheepishly, helping her up.
"It's okay. This was fun." Rilee giggles
"Are you lovebirds done? " I ask tauntingly.
"Well. I'm going home. I need a shower. Jayden, you can come with me if you want. I'll lend you my clothes then I'll drop you home on the way to school. When will you join?" Zach sighs, getting to his feet.
"Wait, you're joining our school?" I ask.
"Yeah. I guess I'll just go in and organize the admission today and I'll start tomorrow if possible. I'll ask my parents today" Jayden answers nonchalantly.
"Don't you have a school you go to?" Rilee asked.
"I'm home schooled, I'd rather just join you guys"
Zach nods. "Thanks." The two boys walk out of my bedroom, leaving Rilee and I.
"Riles you can take any of my clothes." I gesture to my wardrobe. "You can go to the guest bathroom and shower."
She smiles, thanking me.
"Okay well, peace out." I giggle, walking into my washroom, slamming the door behind me.
After taking a shower, I come out with only a towel wrapped around me. Zach is in my bedroom. I gasp, feeling my face heating up. Zach spins around quickly, looking the other way.
"I-I'm sorry I left my phone here so I came here looking for it." He stutters softly.
"Um, it's okay. Did you find your phone?" I ask.
"Yeah. You should come downstairs. Your mom made pancakes." Zach answers quickly, before leaving, closing the door behind him.
Well that was awkward. I feel like screaming into my pillow, but instead I get ready quickly, trying not to think about what just happened. I don't want to miss out on any pancakes.
Liiza's POVSchool has been going as boring as it has always been, withe time slowing down whenever we need it to go fast. After a whole hour of boredom, the bell finally rang for lunch.Rilee and I went to our usual place in the cafeteria, by the windows, before Zach and his three new friends joined us."Hey girls," Zach greets."Hey Cupcake." I reply."Ooooh Cupcake, huh?" Caleb teases, wiggling his eyebrows."Hey, why doesn't my girlfriend let me give her pet names?" Jack whines."Look, Jack, if your girlfriend let you give her pet names, you would probably call her something stupid like Chipmunk," Caleb slides down beside Rilee.Chipmunk is actually not that bad honestly."Hey!" Jack frowns. "How did you know that I was gonna call her that?""Why don't you guys describe your girlfriends to us? I really want to get to know them!" I interrupt."Yeah, I'm so excited to meet them," Rilee adds."I'll go first," Jack says, raising his hands."My girlfriend's name is Stephanie. We would
Liiza's POV"What happened between you guys and Jayden?" Rilee breaks the silence.I freeze. What do we tell her?I lock eyes with Zach.Should we tell her the truth?Zach is the first one to speak up. "I think we better go home and talk about it there." He mumbles, standing from the seat.It was a silent car ride home."Rilee, you really wanna know what happened?" Zach asks softly."Yes.""Cause we can tell you right now.""Sure.""Are you sur-"Rilee cuts in. "Just get to the point, Zach.""Okay. Here I go," Zach starts, barely mumbling. "Liiza, Jayden and I used to be really good friends."Suddenly, Jayden barges into the room. "Hey, guys." He slides down next to Rilee with a wink."I never thought I would say this. It's good to see you, man." Zach says dramatically, going in for a fist bump.""You too, man" Jayden smiles.I glance at Riles. She doesn't look too happy. "Guys I-I'll talk to you later you later. I have to go." She lifts herself to her feet."Alright. See you later, b
Liiza's POVAfter talking to Cassandra for some time, she suggested we go to bed. "You look tired, why don't you go to your room and sleep for some time."I nodded, waiting for her to tell me where my room is."Your room is upstairs. The second room on the left," She smiles. "I think our butler took your luggage to your room."On my way upstairs, I hear my phone buzz and take it out of my handbag. It's a message from Rilee.I read it hastily and tap out a response.Rilee: Hey should I come over? We could watch a movie or sumnMe: Hey, nah im not home. My mom had to go to London for a while so I’m staying at her friends houseI sigh and
Zach's POVIt's been two days since my mom told me she was going off traveling for three weeks with Liiza's mom. She just dropped me off at my friend Logan's house. He's been looking for a roommate, and he offered to let me stay with him till he finds one. I still don't know who Liiza is staying with. I have to call her, but my phone's dead, and anyway, it's night time. She probably isn't even awake. • • • •I wake up to the sound of Logan knocking on my door. "Hey man get up! We got to go for our morning run!" He shouts.I hardly slept last night. Logan and I spent the night binge watching the first three 'Fast and Furious' movies"Give me 5 minutes." I yell back, rubbing my eyes and falling out of bed.I walk down the hall to the bathroom, splashing my face with some water and getting rid of my morning breath. Then, I throw on a maroon tank top and sweatpants and walk out."Let's go."After we're out the door, Logan and I look at each other mischievously."You thinking what I'm thi
Liiza's POV"Liiza, what is he doing here?" Zach asks, walking out of the cafe with Rilee."Too late." I mumble to myself."Oh great, and here comes the hulk." Andree rolls his eyes.I climb out of the car, putting my hands on Zach's chest. "Zach, calm down. Let's just sit down and talk about this.""There is no way I'm gonna sit with him." He stiffens his jaw and I can see the anger building up inside of him."Don't worry, I wouldn't want to sit with a pathetic, jealous wanna-be, like you, either." Andree smirks."You need to back off." Zach slips his arm around my waist."Oh, are you her boyfriend?" Andree sighs, feigning a confused expression. "I guess she didn't tell you that she slept in my bed last night. With me." He laughs. "I'm leaving. Call me if you need a ride. Mom said I should bring you back home safe and sound." After starting the car, he drives away.I don't even have his number."Care to explain?" Zach sounds furious.I look at Rilee with pleading eyes but she just sh
"Please, Liz." Jonah is on my front porch, begging me to help him make it up to Rilee."No." I snap. "You really hurt Rilee. Do you really expect me to help you after you hurt my best friend? If you want to make it up to her then you'll have to do it yourself.""Please. I really want to apologize." He looked solemn. "I want us to be friends again.""Whatever. Why are you coming to me?" My hand slides to our cold, metal doorknob as I go to close the door in his face."Wait! Liiza." He bites his lip in thought. "I'll sing for you. I have an awesome voice.""What?" I look at him in confusion."I'll get you a jewellery." He sounds desperate."Nu-uh.""I'll buy you makeup." He pleads.I roll my eyes in response."I'll buy you a pizza!"I contemplated his promise for a short while. "You've got yourself a deal."I know that I'm being pretty selfish, but hey, food is my first priority. I could never say no to pizza.Besides, I'm doing this for Rilee. She deserves an apology.Jonah exhales in
Scrolling through my phone has always been one of the most interesting things I do but at this moment, I literally feel like stabbing myself with a knife but the only thing stopping me is the pack of cadbury caramel chocolate, twix and pack of oreos.If I weren't stressed eating that stuff, I would be dead. Exams are coming up, I don't wanna study but I want to pass.With a deep sigh, I lock my phone in frustration and place my phone face down on the old, wooden surface of the school library table. As my eyes wander around the room, I lock eyes with the one and only Andree.All he was doing was walking but it looked to me like he was modeling for an advertisement. You know those slowmo steps they take, then run their hand through their hair? Yeah, that type. I couldn't miss the wink he shot me as he walked over.I couldn't help but nervously bite my lip, trying not to curse that he's here. Talking with him has always been hard since the incident that happened when we were younger."Ti
Liiza's POV ♫Give it to me I'm worth it. Baby, I'm worth it. I'm worth it. Gimmie, Gimmie I'm worth it. ♫ Rolling over in my bed, I slam the snooze button sleepily. It's Monday. Which means school. After taking a quick shower, I wrap my towel around my body and head to my walk in wardrobe. I pick out a few outfits and prop them up against my body, trying to formulate what I'm going to wear. Finally, I go with a white, cropped sweater and dark blue wash, ripped jeans paired with white Adidas sneakers and gold accessories. I grab my phone. One new notification: Rilee. Hey babs, can't pick you up today. Sorry. :,( How am I going to get to school? I'll have to call Zach to pick me up. I flick to the phone app and scroll down to his number but I am interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in!" I called. The door opens to reveal Cass. "Morning Liiza, just wanted to pop in and say breakfast is ready. Andree is already eating." I nod my head in response, flashing a quick smile,