~ Zoie's POV ~
"He held my hand... the entire ride... and it was really sweet..."
Zoie couldn't drop her smile as she was talking. She was walking out of a classroom, and Jo was walking next to her.
"You guys just held hands?" Jo chirped. "That's it?"
"Well, yeah,"
"Aww, I think that's so cute!" Jo exclaimed. "Old flames rekindled and taking things slow, that's really sweet and romantic!"
Zoie nodded along and bit her lip to stop herself from smiling too much.
"What's really sweet and romantic?" Nicole, one of Zoie's classmates and Jo's friend, joined them as they were walking out. Nicole was also a sophomore. She had long red hair while Jo had short black hair. Together, they almost looked like Cady and Janice from Mean Girls.
"Oh, nothing," Zoie muttered quickly.
"Not nothing," Jo butted in. "Zoie's just catching me up on her love life. She went back home for Thanksgiving and spent time with this guy she used to date,"
"Oh, do tell!" Nicole clapped her hands in excitement.
"There's nothing to tell," Zoie blushed as she kept walking. "We had a great time and that's it,"
"Guess what, Nic?" Jo interjected. "They held hands in the car for an hour!"
"Oooh! Holding hands!" Nicole screeched louder, making Zoie more embarrassed.
"Without gloves on!" Jo winked playfully, joining Nicole. The two girls were giggling as they held hands in front of Zoie. Zoie blushed harder.
"Careful Zoe, if you don't put gloves on you're gonna get pregnant!" Nicole laughed.
"Geez, guys!" Zoie shoved her friends playfully. "Keep it PG-13, will ya?"
The two girls only laughed harder. They now reached the campus courtyard where a lot of students were walking around, sitting on the green grass, or just chilling by the fountain. They stopped in between some trees and Nicole tapped Zoie on her shoulder.
"But you know what, Zoe? I'm glad you found someone better," she said. "Miles is a total asshóle and you're so much better off without him!"
Zoie nodded her head and smiled bitterly. After what happened at the Halloween party, everyone at school now knew about her falling out with Miles. Anyone in their right mind would side with Zoie, but there were others who took Miles's side. Mostly, they were his baseball teammates and groupies. Including Karlie.
"Speaking of asshóles," Jo nodded in a direction.
Karlie and some of Miles's baseball teammates were walking together from the parking lot. She was walking with these three guys and she was giggling and twirling her hair, giving all of them thirsty eyes.
"You guys aren't friends anymore?" Zoie asked.
"Ugh, as if!" Jo snorted, mimicking Cher from Clueless.
"She moved out before the break and I took the room in Jo's apartment now," Nic explained. "You should come over sometime,"
"Wait, what happened with you guys?" Zoie pressed further. The last she checked, Jo and Karlie were total besties.
"After everything that happened, I finally saw her for what she is. And she's a total snake!" Jo hissed.
"As a fellow girl, instead of coming to your support, she was blaming you for why Miles cheated," Nic continued.
"Yeah, and not just that," Jo followed. "She basically went all around campus saying that Miles is being progressive and you just can't handle it,"
"And she pretty much threw herself at Miles the second you guys broke up!"
"And when that didn't work, she threw herself at the entire baseball team!"
"It's just so... gross!" Nic and Jo said in unison.
"Wow..." Zoie looked taken aback. "I didn't even know any of this happened..."
"Well, duh, you've been so MIA!" Jo replied.
Zoie could only shrug. After what happened with Miles, she chose to lay low and not participate in anything social at school. She even deleted Instagram from her phone because she was sick of people stalking or DM-ing her about Miles.
"But anyway, that's pretty much the low-down," Nic said. "We're so much better off without someone like her in our circle,"
Jo and Nic were watching Karlie as she walked into a building. Zoie followed their gaze. When she was about to walk in, Karlie caught sight of Zoie and gave her a bitchy stare. Zoie only rolled her eyes in response.
"You know, I think she's jealous of you," Jo said.
"Me?" Zoie gaped.
"Yeah, for some reason, she couldn't shut up about you or your brother. It's like she's obsessed or something," Jo continued.
"It's a good thing your brother and Karlie never got too far," Nic added. "He's waaay too good for her,"
The girls let out a laugh and Zoie forced out a smile.
* HONK! HONK! *
As if on cue, Zoie heard a loud honk and saw Asher's car speeding into the parking lot. The black BMW skidded into a stop right across from Zoie and Asher rolled his window down. Looking cool as always, he was donning his black sunglasses and his hair was neatly slicked to the side.
"Speak of the devil," Zoie said as she stood up straighter. "That's Ash, I gotta go,"
"Where are you guys going?" Jo asked.
"We're watching a Formula D race tonight,"
"A what?" Nic got even more confused.
"Gotta go, bye!" Zoie couldn't contain her excitement and walked off. This was going to be the first race she and Asher got to see after Thanksgiving break. She's been looking forward to this all week long.
"Hey! We're still on next Friday for your party, right?" Jo yelled as Zoie was far in the distance.
"Sure!" Zoie yelled back. Anything as long as she could go right now.
Zoie raced over to the car and Asher flung the car door open for her. She quickly got inside and she was greeted by his familiar, masculine scent.
Hmmm. That never gets old!
"Hey," he beamed.
"Hey," she smiled back.
"Sorry, I'm late," he said. "I was working on some stuff in the garage,"
"Ah, no worries,"
"You ready?"
Zoie got her sunglasses out and she pumped up the volume in the car. The 1975's Love It If We Made It was blasting through the speakers and her heart was bursting with it.
"Bring it on!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- - - - - ONE WEEK LATER - - - - -
Zoie became obsessed with racing. Ever since they got back, Zoie and Ash had been going to all the local racing games they could find in the area. If they couldn't find anything that night, they'd geek out on Netflix watching the Formula One documentary or catch a live game on TV.
Meanwhile, Asher had been obsessed with something too. Lately, he was always out and working in the garage. He said he wants to change some things up with the car, and he's been doing this for a week or so, but Zoie noticed no changes with the BMW. Whatever it was that kept him away, it must be important because he even missed out on watching a race on TV last night.
Luckily for Ash, Zoie had taped the race. She went out to the kitchen the next morning to surprise him with the footage. She had her laptop out and everything. Usually, she would find Asher cooking in the kitchen in the morning, but this time around, he wasn't there.
Is he in his room?
Zoie walked over to Ash's room and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Ash?" she called out. "I taped the race on TV last night! Do you wanna see-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Zoie felt two strong arms pulling her from behind. Her eyes were covered by a black cloth and she couldn't see anything.
"Come with me," she heard Asher's voice whispering to her ear.
"What's going on?"
"Just trust me," he said simply.
Normally, Zoie would be kicking and screaming. She never liked surprises. But this time, for some reason, she couldn't say anything. She just obeyed as Asher led her out of the apartment. They kept walking and walking and Zoie could hear the sound of cars. They were probably in the parking lot.
"Ash, where are we going---"
"We're here!" he cut her off.
Asher made her stand on a spot and he pulled away the blindfold. The first thing Zoie saw was the back of their BMW car. There was nothing different with the car, so Zoie didn't know how to react. But suddenly, Asher hit the car's remote and the trunk opened, revealing a beautiful antique typewriter sitting inside.
"Surprise!" he beamed.
Zoie's eyes went wide like saucers. She came closer and gasped in shock. This typewriter had been on her wish list for years! It was a gorgeous 1908 typewriter that authors like Fitzgerald and Hemingway used to write on. She's been asking her dad about this typewriter for some years now, but she never got her hands on it because they were so rare.
"Oh my God!" she gaped.
Asher smiled at her reaction. He came closer and typed something on the paper. Zoie couldn't see what he was typing. Once he was done, he then pulled it out. The paper read: "Happy birthday, Zoie. -A."
"Ash..." she gaped again.
"You're not the only one around here who can do birthday surprises," he beamed. "I was talking to your dad about what to get you for your birthday. That's why we were talking for a long time on Thanksgiving,"
Zoie couldn't believe her eyes and ears. Her heart never felt so full. She was holding onto that piece of paper like it was the world.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"Do I like it?" she asked back.
Boy, I can kiss you right now!
"Ash, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Zoie exclaimed. Her heart was bursting from her chest. "This is so hard to get! And how is it still working?!"
"It's not as hard as putting together a car, but it's quite up there," he shrugged.
"Wait, you built this typewriter?!"
"Rebuilt it,"
"What?!" she gaped again for the millionth time.
"It's not that hard," he shrugged again.
How!? Wait, what?! This man must be a genius!
"When did you do it?"
"The past week or so, that's why I've been in the garage so much,"
Zoie fell silent as she stared at him in admiration.
So, this past week... he's been busy... with this?
"Ash... This is... really sweet..." she spoke finally, her words came out in whispers. "Thank you so much..."
"Glad you like it," Asher smiled coolly.
Zoie could say the words "thank you" over and over again and it still wouldn't be enough. This was the best gift anyone's ever gotten her. She didn't expect him to know or to care this much. And now her heart was full-on exploding. Unable to control herself, Zoie leaped forward and pulled Asher into a hug. He was laughing as he hugged her back. The feeling of being wrapped in his arms was so divine. Zoie was losing control. Before she could stop it, she stood on her tippy toes and pulled his face towards hers...
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -