Realistic or Modern ｏｎｅ ｘ ｏｎｅ － ｔｅｅｎ ｒｏｌｅｐｌａｙ

[pudgefudges]

( Hehe I love this... Anyway I gotta go to work for a few hours so i'll respond when I get home! I think we're in different time zones? I'm CST so its 10:40am here, just for future reference )

Zim wasn't sure what he was hearing, he was angry at Skylar, but more angry at her parents. They looked at both of them now like they were abominations. He quickly followed out the door, not even bothering to look for Skylar. He need to punch a wall or something. This was the last time anyone would ever tell him he wasn't good enough, but maybe him and Skylar weren't meant to be. He jumped in his car and sped off with a screech. He thought about her parents words, they whole scene played over and over again in his head. He drove home and immediately b-lined for the liquor he had upstairs. He poured himself a glass, then another, then another. He wanted to lose himself and forget the events of today, in the midst of the golden liquor he had picked up a pen and paper, finding himself writing about his family and times with Skylar. He didn't even bother looking at his phone, he knew his message box would probably be empty.

 

[esor]

(Alright cool! I'm heading to a little crafting event soon anyway, so it works out alright!)

Sky sunk down against the wall, sitting on the floor and staring into the road. She didn't know how to feel, it felt like she's just Zim and her parents. She knew how much her parents were overreacting about it all. how their expectations were too high and they were just setting themselves up for disappointment but she couldn't say that to them. She felt awful, a few tears effortlessly falling down her face. She didn't even realise she was crying. After an hour of sitting there she stood and walked to the park, constantly checking her phone in hopes that she'd get a message from Zim. She didn't know if she was angry or upset. Well, she was both. She was angry at Zim for doing this to her family but she was wrestling with herself over whether or not she was being dramatic. Her mother's words played over and over in her head, and it hurt and stung more each time. She just needed to cool down, she needed her parents to cool down. So she sat there on a bench in the park, surrounded by trees, and she just stared at the tree in front of her.

 

[pudgefudges]

(Maybe we should do a post about how the summer went? Also maybe we can make it the last day of school to make it easier lol )

Zim awoke the next morning with a headache and a feeling of nausea. He had fallen asleep on his desk, pen in hand. He looked a the clock and realized it was 9:00am. Seeing as it was way past the time of school starting he decided to take a shower and try to wash away some of the feelings he was having. The tall boy let the water run over him, thinking about last night and how angry he got. He felt like he made an ass of himself but he also felt like Skylar should have jumped in. She never mentioned her parents were fucking lunatics?

During his shower he realized that today was the last day of school. Thank god. He wouldn't have to face her anytime soon. When he hopped out he got dressed and went downstairs to find something to eat.

 

[esor]

(Yeah! We could just write a post each about what they got up to during the summer)

The last day of school was the only day of the year Sky didn’t turn up. She couldn’t face it, her parents were angry and she was upset, angry and hurt. So, she stayed in bed all day, staring at her phone and hoping for a message. That was until about 2pm. She knew her parents wouldn’t stay mad forever, she’d never done anything wrong before though so she wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to stop acting like she’d killed someone. After a while she showered, dressed and left the house, her parents were at work so they couldn’t tell her off for leaving. She headed to the park she was at yesterday and just sat down on the bench, watching people walk past.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim spent his summer trying to forget about Skylar. He decided not to contact her, no matter how many times he almost dialed her number or wrote up a long sappy message he could not get himself to send it. Sometimes he wished she would just reach out to him to make it easier. Zim thought she hated him, and it hurt because he had very strong feelings towards her. Ever since that dinner he had this image in his mind that Skylar and her whole family thought he wasn't good enough - and Zim was tired of not being good enough. He was drawn to Skylar because he thought she was different, but when she didn't stand up for him at dinner he knew his answer about how she really felt. He knew he took it too far at the meeting with her parents, and he felt really bad about that, but he was a stubborn guy.

At some point Zim made some friends with some guys around town, they were older, coming back from college in the summer and bringing Zim under their wings. They took a few trips up to Seattle to party. Zim had his fair share of women thrown at him and he would indulge sometimes, but whether it was a curl of their hair or blue in their eyes they would remind him of her and he couldn't do it. Sometimes on those late nights, drink in hand, and plenty in his stomach already, he would think about Skylar and what she was doing.

The tall boy also got a summer job painting and fixing up houses around town. He started to build up muscle, and got another tattoo to fill up more space on his arm. This one was half a women's face made out of a single line, it represented his mother. Even if she got lost as a person when she got older, he still had happy memories with her from childhood. Meanwhile, Zim tried to avoid the bookstore and all their usual places as much as possible. He figured as more months passed the more she wouldn't want to see him.

-----

Zim found himself staring in the mirror, he watched and traced his own body with his eyes, sometimes not recognizing what was in the reflection. He never use to be built like this, and he wasn't sure if he liked it, especially since now all his clothes didn't fit. He glanced over to the bed on the opposite side of the room and the pile of clothes he bought. Today's the day, the dark boy thought. It was the first day of senior year and all he could think about was if he was going to see her. But more importantly, did she even want to see him?

 

[esor]

Sky had a really hard time not talking to Zim, the thing that made her happiest over the past 4 months had disappeared. It but her like a rock, all she wanted to do was talk to him. But she knew the way she handled the dinner wasn’t good, she wished she had stuck up for Zim and they could’ve still been together. But it was too late now, and she was terrified of messaging him in case something went wrong and they’d hate each other. At the moment it felt like he did hate her. Every day she woke up hoping she would have a message from him but she never did.

Her parents forgave her for her ‘wrongdoings’ but things never seemed to return to normal. She still tiptoed around them, she’d spend her nights studying and her days working in the bookstore. What else could she do in a summer with no Zim? At first it was awful, she was dreading each day, it was all the same. She had nothing to look forward to. So everyday she contemplated messaging him, she just wanted to see him, to apologise.

But there was one silver lining. One day a boy walked into the bookstore, his name was Max. He was tall, fluffy light brown hair and he loved books. At first, Sky was reluctant to talk to him, considering how things went with the first boy she met in that bookstore. It was hard for her to look at anyone in a romantic light after Zim, she was still so caught up on him. But her and Max would talk, they’d spend days together at the bookstore but never really in Sky’s free time. He’d offer to take her for coffee after her shift, which she accepted a few times. But she couldn’t commit to him fully, they’d kissed but it never really meant as much as it did when she’d kiss Zim. But she liked Max a lot, he was kind and funny and they’d always get along well. Though she couldn’t commit, Max understood. She was too hung up over Zim but of course didn’t tell Max that. He was a year older, went to a different school and graduated earlier that year. He worked for his dad somewhere in town whilst taking a year out instead of going to college. Her parents hadn’t met him, yet.

Sky wanted to see Zim, just to make sure he was okay more than anything. Over the summer she hadn’t changed much, she cut her hair just below her shoulders and got a few (of course hidden) tattoos, like on her ankle and her ribs. She’d taken up running as a way to get out of the house more often, usually going in the very early morning or later at night. It was a way for her to clear her mind, listen to music and just forget about everything.

On the first day back at school she sighed anxiously, looking into the mirror at the outfit she’d planned weeks ago. She did her makeup subtly, tousled her hair gently with her fingers and sprayed some new perfume on herself. Slipping on her shoes she put her earphones in and began walking, it wasn’t far thankfully. She set off later than she used to, there was less worry of her being late- she was a lot more relaxed about school now. She looked at her surroundings as she walked, as if they were unfamiliar, when in fact she’d seen them every day for the whole summer. Her whole life, actually. One more year she told herself, reassuring herself that afterwards she could leave this town, go wherever she wanted for college and have her own life. She still wanted to make her parents proud but it wasn’t her main priority anymore.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim threw on black jeans and a grey t-shirt, he messed with his hair a little bit to get it to look like when he got it cut a few days ago (Like his face-claim picture). "I'm leaving Aunt April!" He shouted as he was opening the door. He went out to his car and started the short drive to school.

---

When he arrived he swept his arms through both holes in his leather jacket, it was fall in the pacific northwest so it was getting colder out again. Zim was thinking of when he might see her, but as the day dragged on he didn't see one glimpse. Did she change schools? He thought, more than once to himself. When he finally got to Senior Lit he sat down at an empty desk and started messing with his pencil, eager for the last class of the day to be over. He slipped his jacket off and hung it on his chair behind him.

 

[esor]

Sky was hoping that Zim wouldn't be in any of her classes, that would be too awkward. She was just hoping she would see him in the hallway or outside after school. But as she walked into her Senior Lit class, she saw him straight away. Her heart dropped, it felt like it was in her stomach, beating fast and hard. She wasn't sure she could carry on walking in, but walking back out would've raised a lot of attention. So, she simply walked in and sat down, pretending as though she hadn't seen him. She ran a hand through her hair gently and looked at the teacher, waiting for the class to start. But she couldn't stop thinking about the fact he was there, his presence not too far away from her.

 

[pudgefudges]

( Maybe ZIm shows up to the bookstore and sees Skylar with the new guy? )

Zim looked up and had to keep his jaw from dropping, god damn she looked good. He felt his whole body heat up, not even thinking about the possibility that she would be in this class. Of course they had Lit together, figures. When the teacher began going over the syllabus Zim didn't catch a word, he just keep feeling this overwhelming urge to look back at her.

When class finally ended he felt like he could breath again, he was probably the first person out the door but he caught his teacher telling them to pick up their books from the bookstore in town. Fuck ... Maybe if I go later today she won't be there, he thought dreading the interaction.

 

[esor]

(Mhm! Love it!)

Sky watched Zim as he left the room, she couldn't help but admire his body- and hoped she didn't make that too obvious to the people around her. She shook off the lingering feelings and packed away her books, smiling at her friend who was at the back of the room. They spoke about Zim, and what had happened for half an hour or so before she had to go to work. It was nice for Sky to get it all off her chest, she hadn't actually spoken about it to anyone, just thought about it time after time.

She kept thinking about how quickly Zim left the room, and thought that it was definitely because of her. She was a little saddened by it, but she understood and couldn't blame him for it. At work she was soon joined by Max, she gave him a smile and they spoke about how her first day back at school went, of course she left out the fact that she saw Zim. Max knew of Zim's existence, but she refrained from talking too much about him. She stood stacking books, talking to him; the store wasn't very busy so she'd just jog over to the counter whenever a customer wanted to buy a book.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim had tried to make it to the bookstore as quick as possible after work but he had to run some other errands first. He found parking on the main street and paralleled into a spot. He strolled up to the door and opened it with a "chime", he looked around and didn't see anyone yet so he went up to the counter and pressed the bell before leaning onto the counter to wait.

 

[esor]

Sky finished pushing a book into its spot on the shelf and hurried over to the counter, but slowed down as she saw Zim. She gave a small smile, “How can I help?” She asked, standing behind the counter. Whilst she appeared calm her heard was beating so hard.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim recognized the voice immediately as he looked up. For a moment he felt like he just looked at her, as if there was unspoken words between him, unspoken feelings. Instead of expressing any of that he began, "oh um yeah I need the new books for Senior Lit." He saw the guy by the bookshelves but figured he was just browsing.

 

[esor]

She looked at him and nodded a little, setting them out on the counter. “$15” She spoke softly, turning to smile at Max as she watched him walk over. He grinned at her, “Coffee afterwards?” He asked, to which Sky nodded.

 

[pudgefudges]

( Any ideas on how they should reconnect again? )

Zim's head turned towards the male voice, he watched him reach the counter. Coffee? It took him a moment to process what was going on. He paid attention to the man's body language towards Sky and he knew, he just knew. Without thinking he slammed down a 20$, took the books in his arms and turned to go out the door. "have a nice evening, Sky," he rang out just before the door closed behind him.

Zim tried to stay composed as he walked to the car, she's a grown women she can date whoever she pleases he thought to himself over and over. He grumbled as his got into the car and threw the books next to him before driving off.

 

[esor]

(Maybe she goes to him to give him his $5 change? Or maybe she writes a note/letter to him with it in and slips it in his locker so he finds it whenever he opens his locker, he reads it and goes to find her to talk to her? Orrrr maybe since he picked up a summer job fixing up and painting houses, the owner of the bookstore could reach out to him to help fix up some things in the bookstore. Maybe Zim did the owners house during the summer and the owner wants him to do the bookstore, too. So him and Sky are pretty much forced to work in the same area and talk. Honestly i'm struggling to think of an idea!)

Sky stayed silent as Zim left, sighing softly. She explained to Max who that was, but for the rest of the day she couldn't stop thinking about Zim. His voice, his hair, his tattoos, his clothes, his body- just everything. She wanted to talk to him, badly. She wanted to break down and apologise to him and just hug him and feel the warmth of his body against hers. But she couldn't, and that hurt.

 

[pudgefudges]

( I actually really like the bookstore fixer up idea! That could work ^__^ If your down )

 

[esor]

(Yeah of course!)

 

[pudgefudges]

A few days pass and Zim tried his best to ignore Skylar in class, but she was hard not to look at. He remembered running his hand through her wavy hair and pressing his lips against hers. It now all seemed like a faded memory, not to come to pass again.

--

One day after school Zim got a phone call from a man who's house he painted in the summer. He didn't know much about him, but he paid well.
"Hey Zim it's Mr. Rosenbaum, I was wondering if I could get you to do another project for me."
"Yeah sure, anything you need"
"Well you see I own the bookstore in town and I need to re-purpose some beams that are on the ceiling on the inside. I'll pay (an amount that Zim literally can't refuse)"

Zim stopped, thinking about it for a moment. Of course it had to be the bookstore, and he has to be paying the most goddamn money in the world for it......
"Yes sure that'll be fine, thanks for the job." Zim spoke, almost through his teeth. He didn't know how he'd handle being so close to Skylar and her new boy toy but he needed the money. He had plans now, and those plans required money.

--
Mr. Rosenbaum thought he'd quickly text all his employees to let them know there would be work being done at the bookstore.

> Morning all! Just letting you know I am having work done on the bookstore, he's a nice fellow named Zim, so don't mind him during your shift starting tomorrow!

 

[esor]

Sky picked up her phone as she felt it buzz, reading the message she sighed. I cannot escape him.

She set her phone back down and rubbed her eyes, laying down on her bed. She knew she was working a lot over the next week or so, so she was bound to see a lot of Zim. She decided to distract herself by studying and doing homework, which she seemed to get lost in for a few hours. She then showered, ate and headed to bed.

The next day she got up and got ready for school as usual, the day went quite slow which she was thankful for. This was because she was dreading work, knowing Zim would be there the whole time. After school walked to work and began stacking and putting away books.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim grabbed his gear from the car and started towards the bookstore - He tried to shake off the feeling he had here a few days ago, Skylar had clearly moved on and that was okay. Right? He opened the door and saw she was there stacking books. He sighed and figured that he might as well get this over with if he was going to be working here a lot with her.

"Hey Skylar..." He began, gaining her attention, "Look i'm sorry about the other day, but i'm going to be in here a lot over the next few weeks. Do you think we can be cool?" He asked, hoping that instead of saying anything she would just jump into his arms. No, stop, she basically hates you and has moved on. He thought as he scanned the rest of the store to see if the other guy was there.

 

[esor]

As Zim spoke, Sky's face softened into a small smile. "Yeah, of course." She replied with a nod, looking at him for a few more seconds before turning her attention back to the books. She was surprised he apologised- not that it was out of his nature but she didn't think she deserved an apology. She knew she'd react the same way if he was involved with another girl, probably worse. If she could have things her way they would be back together like nothing ever happened.

After stacking books for a while she took her break, sitting on one of the chairs in the reading area and opening up a new book.

 

[pudgefudges]

Zim nodded and tried to return the smile, but it probably looked forced. "Okay well, don't mind the noise!" He called out to her as she started attending to other things. The boy spent a few minutes assessing the beams on the ceiling before he decided to get to work. Working construction and repair wasn't something he planned to do but he learned the skills from a mentor when he lived on the east coast and he liked working with his hands.

---

As the evening wore on Zim made substantial progress, he was working on chopping away at some rot that he noticed on the ceiling. He needed to get it all out before he started reinforcing with new beams. He hadn't seen Skylar for awhile so he figured that her shift was over, and it was sweltering hot in there, the heat must be on. The boy took his shirt off, and figured he was the only one left in the store, so it didn't seem like a big deal. He wanted to finish a couple more things before calling it a night.

 

[esor]

Sky liked staying late at the bookstore, the dark night and orange lights made a beautiful atmosphere. Plus she could read and get work done, drink a coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy the warmth- especially in the colder months of the year.

She walked in from the back, she knew Zim was still there because she heard the noises but didn't mind, she'd have to face him every day anyway so there was no point shying away from him. "Is it normal to be shirtless in a bookstore?" She said cheekily, going behind the counter and sitting on the stool.

 

[pudgefudges]

Not expecting to hear a voice, Zim jumped a bit and dropped the tool he was working on. "Jesus, you scared me..." He trailed off, hopping down off the ladder to grab what he dropped and face her. "I'm trying to start a trend, it's about time we spiced up bookstores." He teased, grabbing his shirt and putting it on again. He started to clean up his mess, "I'm about to head out.. Why are you still here?" Zim asked, seeing that it was late. He was also curious because he figured she'd go out with the guy he saw the other day with her. The stupid guy.