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“Jared, I still don't understand why you dragged me here,” Evan whined, glancing around at the throngs of teens drinking, socializing, and participating in less-than-appropriate activities.
“Hold up Hansen, you'll see soon enough,” his friend reassured, tugging on the blonde boy’s hand.
“Jared! Just stop-”
“Hey Zoe! Fancy seeing you here. Some crazy party, isn't it?” Jared said, stopping suddenly in front of the caramel haired girl.
“Oh, hey Jared! Yeah, I'm really only here because some of my friends dragged me along. I'm just gonna drink soda and stand in the corner until they need a ride home,” she replied, slightly sheepishly.
Jared nodded. “That's funny, I dragged dear sweet Evan here along to be my designated driver, maybe you two could hang out this evening while the rest of us go crazy,” he suggested, clapping Evan on the shoulder and pushing him forward slightly.
Zoe giggled. “Sure, I could use some company,” she agreed.
Evan turned bright red as Jared patted him on the back reassuringly. “Well, have fun you two, I'm gonna go get drunk and find a pretty boy to make out with. I'll text you when I'm ready to go,” the bespectacled boy said, backing away and finger gunning towards them.
Poor Evan was at a loss for words for several moments, opening and closing his mouth before finally spitting out “we have English together.”
“Oh, yeah! I know you, you're a seat away in the row behind me,” Zoe explained.
“Oh! Yeah, that's cool…” Evan trailed off.
Zoe smiled, amused. “I remember editing one of your papers once, the one about GMOs? It was really good,” she said, trying to start up a conversation.
“Oh, really? I had no idea you'd read it, I didn't think it was that good, but I'm glad you liked it,” he replied, words rushing out.
“Aw, it was good! You're too hard on yourself,” she retorted, swatting at Evan’s arm.
He blushed, and the pair fell silent.
Zoe was about to say something, when Evan interjected. “How do you know Jared?” he asked.
“Oh! We were lab partners in Chem last year and have AP US together this year,” she explained.
“Jared’s in AP US?” Evan asked, amazed.
Zoe laughed so hard she almost snorted. “Oh my god, yes he is, and he's not the worst kid in the class,” she joked, taking a sip of her drink to calm down, “and how do you know Jared?”
“Um, our parents are friends and his parents only pay for his car insurance if he talks to me,” the blonde replied.
“Aww, that's a little…” Zoe started, pausing to think.
“Sad? Pathetic? Yeah, I'm the kid who only has friends because parents bribe their kids to be friends with me,” Evan grumbled and leaned against the wall.
Zoe smiled sympathetically. “I'm sure that's not true. You have to have other friends, and I think deep down Jared really likes you. He talks about you all the time,” she assured, leaning against the wall next to him.
Evan shot up. “Wait, he talks about me?”
“Yeah, quite a bit for just being family friends,” she responded slightly suggestively, “mostly about stuff you did together when you were kids.”
“What…what do you know about me from him?” Evan asked cautiously.
“I know random stuff, like that you two used to put on shows in Jared’s backyard that usually ended in one or both of you being pushed into his pool. And he talks about how you've always been good at writing and drawing, and how much you know about botany,” Zoe elaborated.
Evan let out an involuntary sigh of relief, causing Zoe to giggle. “Okay, that's not so bad.”
“I do also know about the 6th grade play,” she said nonchalantly, taking a sip of her drink.
“No you do not,” Evan said darkly.
She laughed. “He may have showed me the video too…”
Evan’s face burned as he buried his head in his hands. “Oh my god, I'm going to kill him later,” he grumbled.
“Okay, but to be fair, the toga only fell down because you were really into your role,” Zoe offered, “and you were kind of adorable,” she added.
He somehow blushed even more. “Uh…well, um, yeah, maybe I put in a little too much effort for a middle school play about the social classes of Ancient Rome,” Evan admitted.
Zoe gazed at him for a moment, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“What?” Evan asked when he looked up and saw her looking at him.
“Oh! Nothing. I just was thinking…” she said.
“Well that explains everything,” the blonde boy added sarcastically.
Zoe laughed. “Ugh, no, I was thinking about how we've actually had a lot more classes together than I thought,” she explained.
“Really? I mean…English this year…”
“And Psych and Advanced Art last year, and Algebra the year before,” she finished.
Evan nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess.”
The conversation lulled for a moment until the sound of Jared’s voice pierced through the general din.
“Evan! Zoe! C’mere,” Jared called.
The pair exchanged a nervous look, but set down their cups and walked over to their friend.
“Yes?” Evan asked, slightly impatiently.
Jared only grinned and pointed towards a shirtless boy standing on the armrest of an easy chair.
“Let’s play spin the bottle!” he exclaimed, a proposal which was meant with a loud cheer from the crowd.
Evan immediately began panicking. “No no no no no, I can't-” he said quickly, trying to draw away the group.
Zoe grabbed him by the wrist. “C’mon, this could be fun to watch! Besides, it's highly unlikely that out of all these people you’ll be-” the girl started reassuringly, guiding him back towards the circle of teens as he reluctantly followed.
“Let's see, who should be up first…hey, shy kid! You’re up first! Give it a spin!” the guy on the armchair called, pointing to a furiously blushing Evan, who had taken to clinging onto Zoe’s hand.
Jared cackled from across the room.
He turned bright red. “Um, no thanks, I was just about to go,” he said, letting go of his friend’s hand and attempting to get out of the crowd.
Zoe tried to follow him in leaving the circle, but was trapped within and powerless to stop the chorus of teenagers chanting “Spin it! Spin it! Spin it!” towards Evan. Finally squeezing out of the masses, she got to Evan and grabbed his hand again.
“Hey, I have a plan, okay? Just give me a second then go up and spin it,” she said.
“Wait, but-“
“Just trust me, okay? I got this,” she said confidently, diving back into the sea of people.
“Hey, kid! What’s your name?” someone else called out.
“Um, Evan,” the nervous blonde boy responded simply.
“Alright, Evan! Come up already, there’s no escaping it!” he yelled, beckoning him over.
Zoe turned and met his eyes for a moment, giving a reassuring nod.
“Okay, well…fine. I’ll play,” Evan conceded, walking over to the table and through the pathway people had cleared for him. He saw the empty beer bottle laying menacingly on the table and gulped.
“Whenever you’re ready, just give it a little spin,” the same guy said, clapping Evan on the back.
He put his hand delicately on the bottle and gave it a push. It barely completed a full rotation before settling into place.
“Alright, looks like you’re getting seven minutes in heaven with…Zoe Murphy!” the lead guy yelled triumphantly.
She looked up and smirked at Evan. Somehow, she’d rigged the bottle. The blonde grinned in spite of himself.
“Here, let me show you up to the closet,” the host offered, leading Evan and waving for Zoe to follow up the stairs.
“How’d you do it?” Evan asked her quietly.
“Shhh! Wait until we’re in,” she replied, batting at his arm.
“Here you are! Someone will be up to let you know when your time is up,” the host gestured to a closet door. Zoe and Evan murmured their thanks as she disappeared and they slipped inside the closet.
Once inside, Zoe blew a bubble with her gum, popping it and grinning again.
“I stuck a little piece on the table to make the bottle stop on me, so we could just come up here and you wouldn’t have to deal with mocking downstairs or someone else in here,” she started proudly, “I mean, it had a great chance to backfire, sure, but it didn’t!”
Evan smiled gratefully. “Thanks for that, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stepped in,” he said bashfully.
Zoe smiled and hugged her legs to her chest. The pair sat in slightly awkward silence for a moment before Evan brought his legs up as well and cleared his throat.
“So…what do people usually do when they’ve spun the bottle?” Evan asked, genuinely curious.
“Well…usually they just kiss and make out and stuff,” Zoe explained, blushing slightly.
“Kiss, huh…” Evan started thoughtfully, leaning back against the wall.
Zoe smirked from her place on the wall opposite his. “Do you want to?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Evan immediately turned bright red. “I mean, if you want to, that would be fine. But if you don’t, that’s totally okay, I don’t really care,”
“What kind of an answer is that?” the green eyed girl asked, laughing and sliding her foot out to poke him.
The blonde boy laughed nervously. “I…I guess I would be fine with kissing you? But I don't want you to think I'm one of those creepy guys and I wouldn't want to force anything on you,” he elaborated.
Zoe raised an eyebrow. “So you do want to kiss,” she said pointedly.
“I mean…like I said, I don't want to-”
In one swift motion, the caramel haired girl crawled across the narrow closet over to Evan and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, leaning over his crossed legs. She drew away after a few seconds, leaving both of them in shock.
“Um…well, uh…wow…” he stuttered out.
Zoe giggled. “Did you like it?” she asked.
“Of course! I’ve…uh, I’ve never actually kissed anyone before. Except this one girl when I was five. So I guess this is technically my second kiss, but kinda my first,” Evan rambled.
“Oh my god, I had no idea it was your first actual-” Zoe started, slightly shocked.
“Oh, no, I don’t mind at all! I, uh, I actually maybe kinda sorta have had a tiny crush on you for like…a while?” the boy squeaked out, blushing furiously.
The green eyed girl fell silent. “Wait…really? You really like…me?”
Evan laughed nervously. “Why is that so shocking? I mean, you always are nice to me in English, even when I’m just kinda accidentally creepily staring at you, you’re pretty much effortlessly beautiful, you stand up for kids getting picked on in the lunchroom all the time, and that really means a lot? And…”
Zoe leaned back in, grabbed him by the shoulders, and mashed her lips against his again. When it was over, Evan looked up at her, stunned.
“I maybe kinda sorta like you too,” she said, beginning to crack a slight smile.
“Cool,” Evan choked out.
Zoe giggled and went in for another gentler kiss, Evan slowly unfurling himself and moving his legs down. His crush surprised him by settling into his lap once his legs were crossed, and caressing the side of his face before bringing her lips to his again. He somehow mustered up the courage to slide his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer in the process.
“I think you’re the most beautiful girl in the whole school. On the inside and out,” Evan rasped, barely above a whisper, in between liplocks.
Zoe smiled uncontrollably. “You really think so?”
“I know so,” he replied, smiling in return.
She kissed him again, this time getting a little bolder by letting her teeth graze Evan’s bottom lip. He was slightly surprised, but went along with it as she pushed forward and their tongues collided.
“Is that what making out is like?” a bewildered Evan asked once they were apart.
Zoe laughed. “Yeah, it’s a little weird at first. I can stop if you want me to-”
“No, no! It’s um…it’s nice,” he quickly said.
The girl grinned almost deviously and was about to go in again when the pair was suddenly interrupted by the closet door slamming open.
“Alright lovebirds, your time is- alright, way to go Hansen!” a suddenly reappearing Jared said, bursting through the doorway.
Both Evan and Zoe blushed at their current compromising position before she slid off of his lap and to the side.
“What…what are you even doing here?!” Evan exclaimed to his family friend.
“So, I spun the bottle and it landed on Brad, and if you think I’m gonna miss out on the chance to make out with a hunk of meat like him, you are sorely, sorely mistaken,” Jared said triumphantly.
Evan and Zoe could only nod in return.
“Anyway, get out of the closet! It’s my time,” the bespectacled boy urged, waving them out.
The pair wasted no time in quickly exiting and bounding down the stairs.
“Hey, come with me,” Zoe said, grabbing Evan’s hand and leading him to the back porch, which was completely desolate.
Once they were outside, she slammed the screen door shut and walked over to Evan.
“I have to admit…I wanted you to play so I could have a reason to do that,” Zoe said, slightly ashamed.
“Does…does that mean you've…liked me before tonight?” Evan asked.
The girl blushed. “Maybe I've always thought you were really sweet and cute,” she admitted.
Evan was at a loss for words. Zoe filled the silence with a characteristic giggle.
“I…” Evan started.
He was interrupted by the sound of the porch door being slammed open. “Hansen! C’mon, we need to move, now. I made a mistake,” Jared yelled out.
Evan cringed. “Um, I guess I have to take care of him. I'll see you around though?” he said regretfully.
Zoe smiled and nodded. “Of course! Here, let me give you my number…maybe we can hang out sometime soon,” she said, then paused as Evan handed her his phone, “preferably outside of English class.”
The blonde laughed. “Absolutely. I'll text you later? Once I get him home,” he said, gesturing to a stumbling, clearly drunk Jared.
“Yes. Wait, before you go…” Zoe said as Evan turned to leave.
“Hmmm?”
She got on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around Evan’s neck, gently pulling him closer and pressing her lips on his.
“See you in English,” Zoe said simply, unlooping her arms and smiling before slipping back inside.
“Evannnn, let's go,” Jared whined, “and congratulations, aren't you glad I brought you along?” he added, leaning up against Evan for support.
Evan slipped an arm around his friend to help him walk, and gazed up at the sky full of stars. “Yeah. Yeah I am. And…” he started, “thanks for showing her the 6th grade play.”