The Lakehouse

Chapter Three

It was morning. Alex had slept better than he had in ages with Zara in his arms, and he woke up feeling refreshed. He looked down at the sleeping form in his arms. Zara had her face tucked into his neck, her breath hot on his skin. One hand was thrown across Alex, and the other clutched his shirt in her sleep.

Even though what she’d said had bothered him last night, he’d been too tired and happy to be bothered by it. Now, however, he realized something; she must have been partially drunk when she had woken before...so her waking up in his bed in the position they were in would be very awkward. Alex gently moved Zara’s arm off him, but when he shifted out of her grasp, Zara woke up, blinking up at him sleepily. When she realized where she was, she bolted upright in bed, her eyes wide and confused, but fell back into the pillows with a groan.

“My head hurts.”

“Morning. Yeah, you drank a lot last night...” Alex explained

“Yeah, I remember...um,” Zara’s face colored pink, “we didn’t....have sex....did we?” she asked somewhat anxiously.

Alex’s eyes widened “you don’t remember anything?”

“Well, I remember from when we....I last woke up. But that’s kind of hazy and during the time period from the club to then, I must’ve blacked out.” Zara said it so matter-of-factly that Alex was startled and a little disturbed.

“You don’t drink like that often do you?” He asked. It came out sounding cold in his effort to sound casual.

Zara noticed the change in his attitude from warm to impersonal and her eyes hardened; he was judging her before he even knew her story...no way would he understand if she told him. “Often enough...” she answered.

And it was true; Zara drank more than she should have, but she did it alone, where no one could see her hurt. Not often in public like the night before. But she didn’t say it out loud.

Alex was annoyed with himself; she had seemed like such an innocent and loving person, and then it turned out she was a drunk; just another party girl. Jesus, she must’ve thought he was easy game. But it was his fault, he had let his guard down. “No wonder you were such a slut last night.” the insult was out before Alex had time to think but he didn’t bother to apologize. He just got out of the bed and walked away, leaving Zara numbly staring after him.

************

The air was tense and Zara was worried, but her mother soothed her. ‘It’s alright darling. Hush and hide here...don’t make any noise. And know that we both love you.’ Zara didn’t like the tone of her mother’s gentle voice--resigned sadness. She held onto her mother tightly, hugging her and inhaling her clean lemony scent deeply, memorizing it. Her father came over and gave her a kiss, smoothing her hair gently. Zara looked at both her parents, somehow understanding that she would never see them again, and then slid under the bed just before the door broke open. There were no tears.

************

Zara awoke with a start, realizing that the banging was coming from her own room door. She whimpered and folded herself into a rocking ball. She didn't remember where she was until she heard Ash, saying in a gentle voice. Zara, it’s only me...let me in. You’ve been in here for two days. It’s just me Zara. Let me in. Please.”

Zara stumbled from the bed to unlock the door and open for her best friend. Ash took in the appearance of the girl standing in front of her. Zara’s eyes were red as if she’d been crying, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was in her pajamas and clutched a pillow and presented a heart-rending sight.

“Come here” she said and enveloped Zara in a big hug, rubbing her back and comforting her . Zara was pleasantly surprised, but when she saw Alex peering in from outside, her eyes darkened and filled with pain. Alex was plainly surprised, but she closed the door before he could say anything.

Ash led Zara over to the bed, and they sat down.

“I’m sorry Ash. My past is catching up with me.” Zara looked at her with a rueful half-smile. Zara had told Ash about her past, so Ash understood.

“But something triggered it. You’re strong Zara. I’ve always wondered at your strength. I’ve never seen you like this. You’ve never broken down like this...not even drunk. What happened?” Ash asked.

Zara was silent for a moment before she sighed and looked at her friend,

“Ash, you’re my bestest friend, but I gotta fight my own battles. Especially this one.”

“Babe, I love you, but you’re doing a crappy job”

“I know...I just needed to wallow in self-pity for a bit”

Ash looked like she was about to say something, a shrewd look in her eyes, but someone knocked on the door,

“Girls? We’re ordering pizza...what do you want”

Ash bounced off the bed, grabbed Zara’s hand and yanked open the door, running straight into her brother. Zara, a small smile on her face, allowed herself to be pulled along as Ash chattered,

“Babe you need to relax a bit. We want pepperoni, and extra cheese...and get a couple of pizzas. We’ll be out by the pool if you need us.”

*~*

This is the life...I am so lucky to have such a good friend, Zara thought to herself as she soaked up the sun by the pool in one of Ash’s bikinis, luxuriating in the feel of sun on her body. She grinned to herself, stretching and wiggling her toes as she contemplated turning over, her eyes still close against the glare of the sun.

She’d spent the last few days by the pool, doing whatever she felt like to get herself back on track. She was feeling a lot more relaxed, especially since she hadn’t talked to Alex since that day...her eyes flashed with anger just thinking about it. But it was her time to relax and not think about any of that. Just do what she came here to do: have fun for once in her life....

“Girls...the Chinese has arrived!!!”

Zara stood up slowly and walked to the edge of the pool, staring at the water to decide if she wanted to cool down in the pool before stuffing herself. As she was thinking, she saw a figure in the corner of her eye; Alex, she thought automatically and dove into the water to avoid him, praying he hadn’t seen her or noticed the splash.

Alex watched Zara’s body as she dove into the pool and blinked. He hadn’t seen her since that glimpse in her room because she’d been avoiding him. She had looked hot, standing there in her bikini--Alex had been forced to remind himself that she was not what she seemed. Although he had his doubts; perhaps he had judged her too soon. At any rate, he regretted his hasty words. Ignoring the reasonable voice that was counseling him to keep walking, he decided that she perhaps hadn’t heard the call for food and wandered over to the pool area waiting for her to surface. When she didn’t surface immediately, he frowned and looked into the water. He saw Zara, but she wasn’t moving. Remembering how ill she had looked earlier that week when he had glanced into her room, he panicked and dove in.

Zara had been biding her time under water, waiting as long as she could in the hopes he would disappear. So when Alex jumped into the water, apparently with all his clothes on, swam towards her, and pulled her to the surface, she was too surprised to do anything for a minute. But she was soon on her feet, glaring at Alex who was beginning to look sheepish.

Zara reconsidered her reaction when she noticed his embarrassment. His face looked so comical, that her annoyance was quickly replaced by amusement, and she burst out laughing, collapsing onto one of the pool chairs. Alex looked astonished, his eyes widening slightly and only serving to increase the hilarity of the moment. After a minute though, Alex seemed to understand her laughter, his mouth curling into a sexy grin which turned into laughter as well.

“Hey you two...woah” Jake just stared at the pair, taking in Alex’s soggy clothing, and the fits of laughter. “Ahem...the food’s gonna get cold you guys...you can look like fools inside.”

Jake stood up, sticking his hand out to Zara and pulled her up. He slung an arm around her shoulders, “We are a pair of crackpots you know that?”

“We? When it was you who jumped into the pool fully clothed?” Zara snorted.

Alex stopped his arm falling from her shoulders. Zara turned to stare up at him, as he shifted uncomfortably and stared down at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets,

“Yeah, I am a bit of an idiot...Listen, I...I’m sorry, about um, about how I behaved the other day. I was out of line and I didn’t mean what I said and...I’m sorry.” He dared to look up, and saw Zara regarding him curiously, a small smile on her face.

She stepped back up to him, tucked her arm in his, and grinned up at him impishly “It’s ok...let’s go eat. I’m starved. And you need food if you plan on rescuing someone like that again.”