Believe Me

"Lindsey, Lindsey please." Zac cried out between giggles. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance," I grinned devilishly and poked his ribs between the arms he clutched around them in defense.

"This is so not fair," he gasped, attempting to grab my wrists. He succeeded on one, rendering my left hand useless, but the right was still free to torture him further, so I stuck it under his left armpit and wiggled my fingers. In response, he squealed wildly with laughter.

"You are the worst best friend in the history.. of.. people." As he grabbed my right hand, I stopped momentarily and glanced at him through narrowed eyes.

"Mercy?" I offered.

"Yes." He panted. "I give up. You win."

"Good," I replied indignantly, rolling off his stomach into the soft green grass that spread in patches over the Hansen's backyard as Zac pretended to lay back as if he'd been shot, limbs flailed in all possible directions. I eyed him warily.

"Ha-ha! Got'cha!" Crying indignantly, Zac flipped over and knocked me onto my back, pressing my shoulders into the grass and onto what felt like one of his typically strewn matchbox cars. This time I was the helpless one, as I squinted up at his outline against the mid-afternoon summer sunshine.

"That's not fair," I whined, the mother of all pouts coming across my face. "You said mercy."

"Well, I lied." He grinned triumphantly, pressing his bony knees into my chest. "Serves you right for believing me."

"For the record, that's the last time I'll ever do that."

"Uhh... figured I'd have learned my lesson." I murmured. Shaking myself from what felt like a dream into what was actually more of a nightmare, I raised my hands to a throbbing forehead. Feeling my hair stick to my fingers I retracted them and was horrified at the sight of them completely stained in red.

"You are absolutely insane!" A voice practically screamed into my ears. Groaning at the pounding it increased in my forehead, I squeezed my eyes shut until I steadied myself, the image of my hands ingrained into memory.

"Please," I whispered roughly. "Stop yelling, whoever that is."

"Lindsey?" I felt my shoulders shake roughly. At least the person who owned the voice lowered it a few decibels.

"While you're at it, stop shaking me." Prying my eyes open, the first thing I noticed was the dark night sky above me, the tiny stars still twinkling off in the distance.

At least that hasn't changed, I managed the reassuring thought with my head spinning. Realizing I was somehow lying down, and lying on something quite cold and hard, I groaned louder and struggled to sit up. Placing my hands next to my sides on the cold surface, I gasped as tiny stings bit into my palms and fingertips.

"It... it was an accident." Another voice, this one trembling, spoke up.

"Shut up." The first voice said firmly to the second.

"And you sit back down, Linds." At least now the voice had a blurry face attached to it, I realized as I squinted up at it. After a few seconds, a worried expression on Zac's face came into focus. He grabbed my hands gently and brushed his fingers against them, sending whatever it was stinging into my skin again.

"Oww, that hurts." I scolded him, trying to sit up again.

"Well it should." He dropped my hands and pushed me gently back down again. "And don't move."

"Why?" I was getting impatient, and rather cold, at this point.

"Just don't move." As his face moved out of my view, I felt his fingers trace over my arms, chest, stomach, then down my legs, wincing every time at the sting left by his touch.

What on earth is going on? And why am I wet and sticky?

"One.. more... piece." He said, sending a sharp sting into my ankle.

"Zac, I swear.. I'm sorry... it-it was an accident." Took me a few seconds, but I realized the second voice was female.

"Oww," I clutched my now-throbbing ankle. "Zac, whatever you're doing, cut it out!"

"I'm finished. Come on, be careful," he grabbed my hands, slowing pulling me into a sitting position. Pounding like a tympony drum, my head drooped into my chest and I gasped at the sight. My legs, nylons wripped and spotted with dots and scratches of blood from knee to ankle, were surrounded by a puddle of dark liquid and tiny glimmering shards of what minutes of squinted at finally lead me to recognizing it was glass. Moving my eyes to my arms, my stomach flipped at the sight of more spots and scratches.

"Thank God you're ok," Zac squeezed both my hands lightly.

"What the hell happened?" I looked at him increduously. Taking in more of our surrounding, I realized we were still outside on the sidewalk, muted music coming from out of the gymnasium.

"Zac, it slipped out of my hands, I never -" Glancing up and behind me, I heard the words I'd never dreamed I'd hear:

"Shut up Samantha, you absolute bitch."

"You sure you're ok?" Zac asked me for what felt like the hundredth time as he helped me to his feet. Noticing by this point my lips were practically blue and teeth chattering, he wrapped his coat around my shoulders and steered me toward the parking lot away from the gym.

"What happened?" I started to ask, then stumbled on my heel at the first step I tried to take. As I pitched sideways, Zac's grip around me tightened and straightened me up.

"It was an accident, I swear," Samantha rushed towards us, grabbing Zac's arm. "You believe me, don't you Zac?"

"Leave us alone." He shook her off with a cold voice, returning his arm to my back.

"Come on, Lindsey." He said softly, leading me with slow steps toward his car. "I'll take you home."

"Zac," Samanth continued her pleading behind us.

"Sam, just.. don't." He glared at her over his shoulder.

"..." Slowly Samantha's hands and face clenched. Noticing a crowd had started to stream outside the gymnasium doors, she opened up with:

"Fine then... Just keep walking away Zac Hanson! Let the fat slob take care of you, because you're not my problem anymore! We're finished!!"

"Unbelievable." Zac just shook his head.

"Oh dear..." I grimaced at my reflection, flipping the mirror back up. My left cheek, quite swollen but nothing compared to the knot near my left temple, was covered with tiny stratches, one extending from the corner of my eye to my jawline.

".. shouldn't have done that." Zac replied lightly.

"At one point tonight," despite the situation, I glanced at him with a wry smile. "I did look halfway decent."

"More than that," he added softly. If it wasn't deathly quite in the car, I wouldn't have heard him. Not that I believed it though, as the two of us idled at a four-way stop.

"Hmph," was all I could manage, before sitting up with a jolt as I remembered,

"Oh my gosh! What happened to David?"

"I told him what happened. He was concerned, but I sent him packing," was the reply.

"Packing?" I echoed, before demanding, "What did you say to him?"

"Just that I'd take you home, relax Linds," I heaved a sigh of relief. "I was kidding anyways."

"Well, it wasn't funny," I muttered, settling back against the seat and staring numbly as downtown Tulsa whizzed by us, overhead street lights flashing every few seconds.

He's just about the only friend I have left. Zac slammed on the brakes at my thought, sending the both of us lunging forward. After choking from near seatbelt strangulation, I glanced at him with a confused look. Zac's frame hunched over the steering wheel, the neon green of the dashboard reflecting against his face, the car quietly murmured in the background as he set it in park.

"Please tell me that's not true." He spoke so softly I leaned forward, straining to hear. It wasn't so soft that I couldn't hear the pain in his voice, I realized, a pit of guilt welling up in my chest.

Guess the thought wasn't just in my head. Inwardly I wanted to kick myself. I could still play stupid though.

"What?"

"You still have me." My mouth dropped when he turned his face towards mine, tears glistening in his eyes.

"That is.. if you don't still hate me."

"Zac, I..." It was my turn to turn on the waterworks, my stinging eyes informed me. "I d-don't hate you, it's just..."

"Just what?" He asked gently, twisting toward me in his seat. I couldn't answer when the first tear rolled down my left cheek, so I just shook my head.

"We used to tell each other everything," he reached over and wiped the tear away with his thumb. The sweet, gentle gesture was more than I could take, so I closed my eyes as tears flooded out of both eyes.

"Hey, shh-" he whispered, cupping both hands under my jaw, rubbing away my tears as soon as they fell. "It's ok."

".. Promise?" I pressed my damp cheek in his hand and opened my eyes, not prepared for the way he looked at me. Despite the dark night, the greenish glow on our skin, it felt as his soft amber eyes stared right into me. My heart thumped loudly as he held my gaze intently for what felt like an eternity. A feeling I'd taken for granted washed over me, a feeling I never appreciated enough until it was yanked from my life: comfort.

"I promise," he smiled, stroking my cheeks tenderly.

"God," I sniffed loudly, wiping my cheeks with my own hands, leaning away in embarrassment at my emotions. While it wasn't as comforting as feeling Zac's gentle touch, this was getting a little awkward, I realized, clearing my throat.

"Sorry, I'm such a mess," I threw him a small, embarrassed smile.

"You're not," he offered, looking intently into my eyes again. This time something felt different, he wasn't looking at me in the same way. I can't explain it, but certaintly wasn't smiling anymore. Not being able to take it, I lowered my eyes and looked down, distracted tracing an absent pattern in my dress.

I need to tell him everything.. Samantha, Mom, work, school, dieting..

"Zac...seriously," I started, swallowing a lump of guilt in the back of my throat as I felt his hands again, this time one on the back of my neck and the other beneath my chin.

"Lindsey," Feeling pressure from his fingertips, I lifted my face towards his. "I am serious."

"You're beautiful." My eyes widened as his lips parted slightly and grazed them so softly against mine that the feathery touch sent quivers through my body. Seeing as that was the last thing I'd expected, I sat motionless, staring at him dumbstruck.

Could've at least kissed him back, was the first thought that crept into my head.

"You always have been." He whispered, giving me another chance by gracing my lips again with another soft, angelic kiss. I inhaled softly, closing my eyes and surrenduring to the pounding in my chest, and returned the favor, pressing my lips against his. Sliding my tingling fingertips across his chest, I felt the soft petals of the orchid in his lapel and abruptly broke away.

"What.. what about Samantha?" I didn't mean the question to come out as bitterly as I felt.

"She was a mistake." My heart soared at his words. "I was an idiot for not realizing it weeks ago."

"For the record, those were your words, not mine." I grinned knowingly. "But you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that."

"Guess you'll just have to convince m-" Zac started to say when I grabbed his neck roughly, pulling him toward me and kissing him deeply. Whatever this new feeling was, it certainly felt ten thousand times better than comfort.

"Believe me now?" I pulled away and whispered.

"I don't know.." he pretended to think, glancing upward. "I might need a little more convincing.."