1,176A/N – I suggest reading the last chapter if you can't remember what happened. I know it's been a long time -sheepish grin- Please forgive me! I was going to write a summary of chap9, but I really should be studying!
What I Want in a Guy
Chapter 10
Sunny touched her lips in remembrance, unable to prevent the small smile that curled her lips.
She was also unable get her mind off how the kiss affected their relationship. Sunny understood Zac's feelings but wasn't sure how to feel or approach the subject.
Sunny admitted some attraction to him, it had been there from the start. But was it enough? Was it lasting? She wasn't looking for wedding bells, far from it, she just wanted something a little more substantial that the generally superficial couples in high school lacked.
There was also a problem that could be summed up in one word: Zane. Zac's older brother definitely held a certain attraction for her, a lot more than she was comfortable with, and if she weren't totally misleading herself, she'd say the feelings were reciprocated. Sure he was hot, but was he safe? The obvious answer is no. But really, what girl can resist s little danger?
Sunny's thoughts ran ahead of her, she didn't even know if he liked her as a person. She didn't know if she even liked him as a person. So why was she even thinking about him?
Zac was sweet and gorgeous, did she really want to miss being adored by him? He was just the type of guy who knew how to treat a girl right. And Sunny…Sunny wanted to be treated right. The only question was could she treat him right in return?
She was sometimes a little thoughtless, too outspoken, too sarcastic and altogether too spontaneous (a reason why this forethought was surprising). All factors that could hurt Zac. And she didn't want to do that. She…cared for him. He was a…friend? Maybe something more. And that scared her. Was she ready to take the next step in their relationship?
Her hesitantly given answer: yes.
ooOoOoOoo
"Infatuation. Love or lust? Essay due on Friday. Then you'll be home free for the summer," the substitute teacher commented with a smirk in reply to the chorus of groans.
Zac mindlessly wrote down the assignment on the board, his thoughts far away, so far in fact, he didn't realize he had packed his satchel and made his way to Sunny's locker when the bell had went for the end of the last period of the day.
She was there chatting with Raylee. Whatever Raylee had said made Sunny wrinkle her nose, then throw back her head with laughter. He loved seeing her so joyful, it made him happy that she was happy.
Raylee saw him coming towards them first, nudging Sunny with a not-so-gentle elbow. Sunny started protesting such rough treatment but stopped mid-rebuke upon seeing him. Her friend left with a knowing smile, nodding to Zac as she passed him. Sunny didn't even realise she had been abandoned until Zac reached her.
She gave him a nervous smile. "Hey," she greeted shyly.
"Can we talk?" he asked with some urgency.
She nodded, and followed silently as he led them towards the football field. He stopped at the bleachers, leaning against a post.
"Yesterday…" Sunny started.
"Was a dream come true," Zac finished for her, looking at her seriously.
Sunny's lips trembled. "Really?"
Zac couldn't contain his grin. Sunny looked at him, her eyes leaving her vulnerable.
"Oh, Sunny," he reached for her, running his hands up and down her arms in a comforting gesture. "And here I thought I would have to break out into song and dance to get you to notice me."
Sunny cracked a smile. "With a top hat, tails and a cane? Now that would have been a sight to see."
"More like crying out 'Stella' on my knees and ripping my shirt off."
"I can imagine you in flannel. Sorry to miss that. Do you have a flannel shirt?"
"What self-respecting American boy would go without one?" Zac said with a toss of his head.
"Mmm, flannel is hot," Sunny agreed mock-fantasising.
"You'd better believe it, babe."
Sunny bit her lip, and Zac's fingers tightened on her upper arms, his firm grip bordering on painful.
He looked at her with soulful eyes. "I like you." His eyes said he was lying. He didn't want to say he liked her, he wanted to say he loved her. But it was too soon, too serious, he didn't want to scare her away. He knew Sunny well enough to know that.
She smiled back at him sweetly. "I like you too."
Zac's grip on her arms loosened and he hesitated before asking, "So, does this mean we're…together?"
Sunny's eyes widened. "Um, well…I guess so."
Zac chuckled. "Don't sound so decisive."
"No, I mean yes. Yes, were together. Only if you want that is."
Zac didn't even bother replying before pulling her into his embrace, his mouth coming down on hers.
ooOoOoOoo
Zac's entrance at home was loud and obnoxious.
"Anyone home?" Zac called out. "See Sunny, I told you no one was home," he continued loudly, "now we can just make out in the entrance hall instead of having to go all the way to my room."
"Zac!" Zane heard a female's horrified whisper as he made his way out of the den, towards the front door.
Zane looked past Zac, his eyes immediately drawn towards Sunny. Their eyes met, but Sunny looked away after a mere second, letting her fringe fall to obscure the emotion he had glimpsed there.
Zac's grinning face swam into view and stole Zane's attention away from Sunny.
"Hey, bro. You remember Sunny, my previous tutor, now upgraded girlfriend," Zac said with a mischievous grin.
Sunny hit his arm in embarrassment.
Zac turned to her with a silly smile.
Zane felt a small pang of something akin to jealousy in the pit of his stomach. In all sanity, he shouldn't be feeling anything but happiness for his brother, which made him feel doubly bad. But then again who said he wasn't insane, he certainly couldn't clear his mental state since he wasn't all too sure on it himself at this point in time.
He gave Zac a congratulatory smile, turning to Sunny with a kind expression.
"Did he blackmail you?" he asked in an understanding tone.
Zac looked at Zane in mock-outrage, nothing dampening his good mood. Sunny gave a small chuckle.
"Not quite," she replied.
"Sunny!" a startled exclamation came from the top of the stairs. "What a pleasant surprise," continued Mrs. Donahue with a warm smile. "I do hope you are staying for dinner again."
"Sorry Mom, we've decided it would only be fair to swap. I'm having dinner at her home tonight."
"Playing 'meet the parents'?" his mother asked teasingly.
"Actually, yes," Zac said proudly, as Sunny blushed.
"When did this happen?" Mrs. Donahue asked in affectionate confusion.
"Today."
She smiled indulgently.
"That's wonderful darlings, I'm happy for the both of you. Now all we have to do is find Zane a girlfriend. Even Corey has a girlfriend now. It shouldn't be too hard, he's a rather good-looking boy isn't he, Sunny?" their mother asked seemingly oblivious.
Sunny flinched noticeably. "Um, yes he is, Mrs. D."
Zac's good mood suddenly deflated, and his face fell. When Sunny noticed this she grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He turned to her gratefully, squeezing her hand in return.
Zane saw the wordless communication between the two and had to turn his head aside. His eyes met his mother's and he realised that she wasn't as oblivious as she seemed.
ooOoOoOoo
"That wasn't too bad was it?" Sunny asked as she walked Zac to the door.
They had finished dinner and Zac had had the chance to get to know Sunny's family a little better. Sunny's dad had even given Zac some friendly advice, the words "Hurt her, and I'll hurt you" rang in Zac ears, as did the jovial pat on the back. He was sure the brawny man had left a bruise.
Zac's colouring was noticeably paler than when he had entered the house. He was unable to answer Sunny.
"Well he didn't show you his firearm collection. That can only be taken as a good sign," Sunny said cheerfully in wake of his silence.
Zac choked back nervous laughter, deciding it wasn't the time to crack.
Sunny smiled impishly up at him as they halted at the door. "Don't worry, he pulls that on all the boys Kirsten and I take home, consider yourself the luckiest of them all. He's either going soft, or he actually liked you."
Zac managed to roll his eyes. "Oh, and I can definitely see where you got that impression."
"You don't know Dad. He's ex-army. He was positively slobbering affection," Sunny commented with a straight face.
He remembered her father's stern features and the way they seemed like a granite bust of some ancient foreboding Roman emperor, unchanging throughout dinner and afterwards. "If that was him 'slobbering affection' I'd hate to see him if he didn't like me."
"Well, before we convinced him you were innocent of any wrong doing on Monday, I must admit he didn't care for you a jot, but now that's all settled, he's right as rain," she said carelessly.
Zac wanted to groan at Sunny's blasé attitude. Resisting the urge to gather her in his arms and have a make-out session in the hallway, he glanced briefly towards the family room they had just left, checking if the coast was clear. Seeing that it was, Zac cautiously gave Sunny a feather-like peck on the cheek.
She shook her head at him, opening the door. "Coward."
ooOoOoOoo
"Ooh, girl! I can't believe you and Zac are getting it on. He's so dreamy," Raylee pouted. "Dang, does this mean I can't ogle your boy? Cause if it does, I'll have to hate you. You know that right?"
Sunny couldn't resist a giggle, even though it wasn't her style. "I give you permission to look your fill. Just no touching."
"That's right, this bod is purely for Sunny's enjoyment." Arms came around her, pulling her back against a firm chest.
Sunny couldn't help but blush at Zac's tone and the implication of his words.
Harley, who had come up behind them with Zac, was scowling at Ray-Ray. "Find other eye candy Raylee, Zac's already taken."
"Sunny doesn't mind," she retorted.
"Well, I do!" he stated angrily.
She glared at him defiantly. "I don't see how this has anything to do with you," she pronounced chillingly.
Harley looked hurt at her words, but quickly covered it. "Nothing. It has absolutely nothing to do with me," he growled before stalking off.
Sunny looked shell-shocked, as if she didn't quite grasp what had just happened. Zac looked at the two girls and tactfully left them to talk.
"Ray-Ray," Sunny said warningly.
Raylee whimpered softly. "He kissed me…"
A smile started to bloom on Sunny's face . "That's wonder –"
"…Then he told me it was a mistake and never should have happened!" Raylee sniffled, and Sunny's smile faltered.
"That idiot!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Tell me about it," Raylee huffed, brushing raven curls away from dampened eyes.
Sunny glanced around for any sign of Harley. "Why I oughta…"
Raylee gave her a watery chuckle. "You sound like Popeye."
"Well I ought to pop his eye, the insensitive jerk," Sunny grumbled, intent on seeking vengeance for her friend.
"Don't worry about it, Sunny. We'll both get over it sooner of later," she said with surprising maturity. "He was right, it was a mistake. We're better off as friends. Stupid hormonal urges, sometimes I hate being a teenager," Raylee said dejectedly.
"Ah, but a teenager has Daddy's plastic to make her feel all better," her friend replied knowingly.
Raylee grinned at Sunny's allusion to her fondness of shopping sprees with her father's credit card.
"I can't help it if I'm Daddy's little girl."
Sunny rolled her eyes, but chuckled at her pouting friend.
"Are you going away for the summer?" Sunny asked abstractly, changing the subject. Luckily Raylee was easy to distract, having a shorter attention span than other people.
Raylee nodded. "Mom and Dad decided we should have some 'family time' in the Bahamas, plus it's their 25th anniversary coming up. Me and James think they're gonna ditch us at the resort and hire a yacht. We're leaving next week and won't be back for a month or so. I'm sorry for leaving you alone with the boys this summer, but now at least you have Zac you can desert them for."
Sunny shrugged. "I'm going to be working for part of vacation anyway. I won't have as much time to bludge like we normally do."
"Too bad."
By this time the girls had wandered on to the grass area near the parking lot. Both of them turned towards the sound of an engine's smooth purr approaching. The motorcycle looked familiar to Sunny and the hairs on the back of her neck stood to rapt attention as the rider swung off the bike, removing his helmet with practiced ease.
Sunny swallowed in recognition as the sun glinted against the rider's eyebrow piercing under his dark, shaggy hair.
Raylee hissed her appreciation, and pursed her lips provocatively as the male leaned over to tinker with something on the bike.
"I found my eye candy," Ray-Ray murmured to Sunny.
Sunny couldn't help but agree silently as Zane sauntered his way over to them.
His lips formed a lopsided grin upon recognising Sunny.
As he got closer Ray-Ray's brow creased in puzzlement. "Hey, don't you think he looks a lot like –"
"Hey, Sunny. Do you know where Zac is?"
In the corner of Sunny's peripheral vision she caught Ray-Ray's imitation of a fish and decided to divert attention by actually replying his question.
"He was heading towards the cafeteria, I think."
"Thanks," he glanced at the still gaping Ray-Ray, giving her a friendly smile. "You must be a friend of Sunny's."
She nodded mutely in reply.
"My name's Zane, I'm Zac's brother," he introduced himself, holding out a hand.
Raylee shook his hand mechanically, nodding once again.
Zane scratched his head in bafflement, his eyes meeting Sunny's in question.
"Don't mind Raylee," she said in acute embarrassment on behalf of her brain-dead friend.
Zane grinned, finding her discomfiture adorable. "No worries, Sunny. Thanks again. And it was nice…um, talking to you, Raylee."
He saluted them both, meandering over to the main building with familiarity.
Raylee suddenly gasped for breath when he was out of hearing range, like she had just emerged from a long stint underwater. Her face was beet red. She covered her face with both her hands.
"That was so embarrassing. I'm such a loser. And he was such a hottie. I can't believe I did that! Did he look at me strangely? He did, didn't he? Oh, far out, I'm such a freak!" Raylee ranted.
"Calm down, Ray. It wasn't that bad."
"And you! You know him! How come you never told me Zac had a brother?" Raylee waved an accusing finger in Sunny's face.
"He has three. His brother Jake is a freshman here. He's on the swimming squad. His other brother is in junior high. Zane is just on holidays from college. It's not that big a deal." Sunny shrugged again.
Raylee sniffed indignantly, but then looked slyly at Sunny through her eyelashes. She suddenly gave her a quick shove, and ran away laughing. Sunny chased after her, calling out breathless threats, grinning all the while.
Zane looked back at the duo when he reached the doors, the corner of his mouth tipping upwards at their childish antics, a warm feeling burgeoned inside his chest.
ooOoOoOoo
"Ah…Zane, how remarkable to see you here once again. Didn't you swear never to step foot on the grounds from graduation onwards?"
At the sound of that cool tone Zane turned around to grin charmingly at the speaker.
"Aww, Ms. Coleman, anyone hearing you might think I wasn't your all-time favourite student."
His former maths teacher beamed at him proudly, they each clasped the others hand warmly. "Sad but true. You were a challenge but also one of my greatest successes. My persistence paid in the end."
"That and the fact you have fantastic legs," Zane said straight-faced.
Trisha Coleman rolled her eyes at her ex-student's outrageous remark. "Always the charmer, Zane."
He grinned. "So has 'Hopeless Harry' finally popped the question?" he asked, referring to Trisha's boyfriend nine years running.
"Valentine's Day. I took your advice and threatened to leave him, I even went so far as to pack my stuff in boxes. The wedding is in two weeks," her smile was dreamy.
Zane congratulated her sincerely. "There is no one more desperate than a man who knows he's going to lose the best thing in his life."
Her smile turned beatific. "Wise words, young man."
He shrugged as if it was a line he'd gotten off a hallmark card rather than an instinctive thought.
"How has Berkeley been treating you?"
"As well as any college who's paying your tuition would," he drawled, smirking.
"So then what's this I hear about you wanting a transfer? Berkeley is top market and you worked so hard to get there, why are you giving up now?"
"How'd you hear about that?" Her answering stare refused to let him change the subject. "Well, I'm not giving up, I just encountered a few difficulties that I would feel better dealing with if I were back home, around family."
Realisation dawned, and she nodded sympathetically. "Of course…you must have been getting…home sick."
His grin was wry. "That too."
The bell for the end of the period went, causing a sudden influx of students flooding the corridors. Trisha mouthed a farewell, fluttering her fingers in Zane's direction as the crowd swept her along to her next class. Other students left Zane untouched, observing his tall, intimidating appearance, and mysterious aura. Most seniors, as well as juniors remembered him from their freshmen days for his reckless bad-boy reputation. Some of the more confident observers acknowledged him by nodding in his direction, most of which he didn't bother to return unless he actually remembered the person. He remained stagnant in the hallway, waiting for the crowd to disperse, gaining many interested glances from the female populace. Since this was a common occurrence, Zane ignored them.
"Zane! What are you doing here?" Zac asked surprised, worming his way out of the moving river of people.
"Well, I was looking for you, because some idiot forgot his cell phone, but Ms. Coleman saw me and we were catching up."
Zac took the proffered communication device, looking sheepish. "I just had my lunch period. Ms. Coleman, huh? Still got a thing for leggy blondes?"
Zane gave him his trademark lop-sided grin. "You know me."
"So, why were you looking for me?"
"Mom and Dad are going out tonight, won't be home till late, and I'm catching up with Kasey, Ben and a few of the other guys I haven't seen in a while. That means you have to pick Corey up and wait until Jake finishes swim squad."
Zac grimaced. "Can't Corey take the bus?"
Zane rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I won't leave the little ducklings astray."
"Mum would have your ears if you did." This comment caused Zac to grimace again, his face taking on a sullen look. "You and your girl will have lots of time to mack another day."
Zac's face heated and he cursed his brother silently for his embarrassing, if apt, assumption.
The tardy bell rang causing Zac to jolt, muttering under his breath. "Later, Zane. Porter's gonna grill me," he excused himself, dashing off to his next class.
Zane looked after his brother, bemused. Zac really needed to stress less.
ooOoOoOoo
"I'm really sorry Sunny," Zac repeated.
Sunny rolled her eyes. "And I've told you it's alright, we can hang out another time. We don't always have to be around each other."
Zac looked offended by the very thought, causing Sunny to laugh.
"I see that line of thinking doesn't appeal to you," she teased.
"No, it does not!" he replied adamantly, his arms snaking around her waist, pulling her closer. He lowered his head, ready to seal that thought with a kiss.
"PDA in the hallways is not permitted! Keep it clean kids!" a jovial voice that Sunny recognised called out to them.
Sunny's head whipped around to glare at her immature friends. Blake, AJ and JJ were standing close to the exit making kissing noises with puckered lips. When she took a step towards them, they all piled through the door laughing, making a dash for their lives.
When Sunny turned back to Zac her expression was exasperated rather than angry. "I guess you better get a move on and pick Corey up."
"I guess you're right," he said, starting to move away, but not before brushing her fringe aside and planting a sweet kiss on her forehead.
Sunny smiled and gave him a push in the right direction.
ooOoOoOoo
A/N – Well, hasn't this been a long awaited chapter. You all have every right to throw sticks, stones, and even a couple bad words at me, for this has been the longest time I have gone without updating, which I am truly sorry for. But I wanted to post this before the HSC starts which coincidentally starts tomorrow and goes on for a month. And if I didn't update today there would be no way I would update for another month, because I would be studying my brains out between tests. Actually, I should be studying my brains out right now for English paper 1, but I'm distracting myself. I'm trying to take Zane's advice and 'stress less'.
Opinion Poll Update:
Zac – 174 votes
Zane – 207 votes
It seems that Zane is still the favourite among you all, although Zac's supporters are catching up quickly.
Thanks to all my reviewers! I really didn't expect so many after the dodgy job I did on the last chapter, and this chap, as a matter of fact. Actually I don't think I'll ever be truly happy with anything I write, but that's a different matter. Thanks to all the wonderful people out there who do review! Mwah!