Ch.5 The Morning After

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Zach awakes the next day puzzled. 

What a weird dream... he thinks before he turns around and sees Sage lying in his bed, still asleep, and everything rushes back to him. 

From the window, a ray of light lands on Sage's face. His chest rises and falls steadily, and black hair fringe his face. His complexion was light and innocent. A lock of hair falls upon his cheek, and Zach instinctively reaches to brush it away.

As if on cue, Sage's eyelids flutter open.

"Good morning," Sage says and smiles. If Zach hadn't been naked, he would've never believed Sage was anything but platonic.

"I-uh-um-"Zach tries to find something to say. Before he can, Sage gets up from the bed and silently dresses. Zach watches in awe as Sage leaves the room as if nothing had happened.

--

Zach arrives at school right on the bell, the Monday of. He's not usually late, but he was dreading seeing Sage again.

He had spent the next Sunday laying in his bed and combating the thoughts that ran through his mind.

"Think of it this way, you slept with your crush, that ought to count as something," said the demon his left said. It poked its trident on Zach's cheek. "Don't lie to me. I know you enjoyed it."

"No, no, no, that's precisely the problem," said the angel on his right. It beat its wings against Zach's ear. "You don't know who else he sleeps with. What if he takes it like that's all you want? Well, it's his choice, but is this really the relationship you want with him? Don't you feel something?"

That was what went on in his mind.

Zach decided he needed to talk to Sage about this, face to face. But when Sunday night rolled around, Zach felt more and more unsure.


The halls are filled with students rushing to their lockers and towards their next class. The clock tower chimes a familiar tune, and Zach is secretly relieved when he doesn't spot Sage in the halls.

He sighs in his next class, and the same thoughts revolve around his mind. It's Sage's freedom, he can do whatever he wishes. But he also feels a pang of jealousy and regret, because this was not the Sage he knew, and the thought that he might have shown that face to someone else so easily...

"Zach," he hears someone call in the distance.

"ZACH PEARSON!" yells the teacher, "answer the question!"

He jumps from his seat, "Y-yes?"

"I need you to find the derivative of this equation."

Zach fidgets uneasily.

Jason whispers to him from the seat to his right. "It's f derivative equals 2x-5."

"2x-5?" Zach repeats.

"Thank you, Jason." The teacher shoots a glare. "Just pay attention to class, okay, Zach?"

Zach nods and sits back down. He groans into his hands. I need to focus, midterms are soon. Jason snickers and hands him his notes.

"Thanks," Zach replies.

After class, the two walk towards the cafeteria. 

"You've been a little bit off today. What happened? Unrequited love?" Jason laughs and pats him on the back.

Zach wonders how much he can say. "Actually, yeah, there has been something going on my mind..."

Jason raises his eyebrows in disbelief. "Wow, Zach, you FINALLY got a girl?! Our boy Zach finally grew up."

"Shut up. I didn't." Zach rolls his eyes. "I'm asking for a friend."

"Uh-huh," Jason nods knowingly. "So, it's about you, but I'll keep quiet."

Zach resists the urge to punch him. "What happened was...this friend of mine, had a person he liked for a very long time. But that person turned out not to be the person he expected to be."

They turn around the corridor, their steps echoing down the halls. Jason crosses his arms and nods intently. "Uh-huh... So like, she was meaner than expected?"

"No...not like that," Zach says. "That person was just very...different." And it's another guy, not a girl, he wants to say but keeps his mouth shut.

"So you mean not necessarily in a bad way...Hm, to be honest, I don't see a problem," he says.

"But—"

"I mean, everyone is kind of different than people's expectations, right? Especially when it comes to people you like. I speak from experience," Jason smiles, and only then does Zach remember the tons of girls Jason has dated.

"But if you really like her, it wouldn't really matter, would it? That's just a process in getting to know someone better, and if you decide that you still like her after knowing those things about her, then you got a keeper."


A/N

Hurrah! I did it. Now I'm tired, I need someone to shoot me.

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