Chapter Nine  'Zac! Will you just play the drums, and stop daydreaming!' Taylor scolded Zac as they sat in the garage practicing the next evening after dinner.
'LEAH!' Zac cried as he ran from his drums over to Leah.  He picked her up and spun her around.
'Whoa Zac!' She cried.
He put her down on the ground and kissed her, in front of Tay and Ike.  Leah's  cheeks were on fire.
'Oh Zac, it's not obvious or anything.' Isaac said sarcastically.
 Leah sat and watched them practice.  When they were done Zac came over to her. 'Wanna learn how to play the drums?' He asked.
'Umm..if it's anything at all like rollerblading, then no.' She told him as she was pulled over to his drumset.
Taylor called Zac over to help him with something for a minute, and left Leah sitting there.  She grinned mischeviously and picked up the drumsticks.  Then she started banging away.  Zac ran over to her.
'Dear, that's NOT the way you play the drums!' He told her taking the sticks away.
'Well you are the expert aren't you?' She smiled.
'That's right.' He told her and kissed her softly.
'Okay Zac, me and Ike are leaving, you make us sick!' Taylor told him as he walked out of the garage.
Leah smiled at Zac and looked at her watch. 'Oh man! I gotta go! I have tryouts for the volleyball team today!' She jumped up, gave Zac a quick kiss on the lips and ran out of the garage. -  As Leah stood alone in the gym after tryouts, practicing for the second half of the tryout's the next day, she spotted someone in the corner of her eye. She spun around. 'Zac!' She dropped the ball and ran over to him givng a big hug.
'Hey.' He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
'How'd you know I was here?'
'Well when I went over to your house your mom told me.'
'Oh, okay.' She kissed him on the lips.
'So are you going to teach me how to play?' He asked her smiling.
'After what you put me through the past few days with rollerblades, hell yea!' She said, dragging him to the center court.
'First-'
'Ah. I'm an expert, remember? Just show me how, I'll do it.î
Leah grinned, she knew he wouldn't  be able to do it right.
'Okay, Zac.' She picked up a ball. Tossed it three feet above her head, and sent it flying over the net, landing in the middle of the court. 'Perfect.' She said admiring her work. She turned to Zac. 'Now, Zac, your turn.'
'Easy, piece o' cake!' He told her.  He picked up a ball, threw it and smacked it, it went straight down. 'Ermmm...'
'Yes Zac?'
'I uhhh..'
'Zac, that was brilliant!' She said laughing.
'Hey!' He wasn't going to let her laugh at him like that. 'You are such a little brat!' He told her, she was still laughing in hysterics. He reached out to grab her.
She took off.
Damn she's fast! He thought to himself as he ran after her.
She ran up the stairs to the balcony.  Zac ran up the stairs too. Halfway there he stopped. There was no sound.  Where is she? He thought.
He walked the rest of the stairs and stood in the middle of the floor, where a shuffle board was laid out neatly with red tape. He just stood there.
All of a sudden Leah jumped out from behind him 'BOO!' She scremed.
He jumped.
'Oh god, Leah!' He grabbed her and tickeled her.
'ZZZAAAAAC! ZAC!' He wasn't stopping. 'ZACHARY WALKER HANSON!' She screamed. This time he stopped. He looked at her.
'Yeees?' He asked.
She moved  closer to him. 'You're wonderful.' She said smiling.
'Oh I know.' He sighed. He looked in her eyes.
'I was serious.' She said, still smiling.
'You're beautiful.' He said, running his fingers through her hair.
'No I'm not!' She argued.
'Yes you are.'
'No I'm not!'
'Yes you ARE!'
'Am not!'
'Are too!'
'NOT!'
'TOO!' Zac argued.
'NOT!' Leah screamed.
'NOT!' Zac screamed.
'TOO!' She screamed back. 'You tricked me! You cheater!'
'Cheater? Nah!'
'Yea!' She told him.
'Well, You are beautiful. I mean it.'
She smiled. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.
'Now, I'm going to teach you how to play volleyball!' She insisted as she dragged him down the steps.
'Okay, but anything other than what I tried to do before!'
'That was serving m'dear.' She laughed. 'Well, in my case it was serving.  In yours it was...well...'
'Exuse me?' He said smiling.
'Shut up.' She told him.
'Fine.  So what are we going to try to do now?' He asked.
'mmmm.... passing.'
'Okie Dokie.'
'Dork.'
'What?'
'I said dork!' She cried laughing.
'I am NOT  a dork!' He said smiling.
'Whatever!' She kissed him on the cheek.
'Okay look, put your hands like this.'  She put her hands together so that her thumbs were flat on top.
Zac looked at her hands.  He didn't try to do what she did.
'What?' She said, when she noticed he was staring at her hands.
He took her left hand and brought it up to his face. 'What is that?' He asked, pointing to a scar obviously from a deep cut. Then he noticed others, as he looked at her wrist.
She pulled her hand away.
'What are they?' He asked her again.
'Nothing Zac, okay. Come on I-'
ì'Umm..Leah, that doesn't look like nothing to me, what'd you do to yourself?' He asked her.  He had some idea of what the scars on her left wrist were from, but he wanted to hear her say it before he said anything.
'Who cares.' She told him.
'I care.  Leah, tell me.'
'It's none of your business.'
'It is my business when I care about you and you could be hurting yourself!' He demanded.
'I cut myself.' She mumbled. He couldn't understand her, or maybe he didn't want to.
'What?' He asked.
'I CUT MYSELF OKAY!??'  She screamed in his face. 'Are you happy now?'
'No, I'm not happy. Leah, why'd y-'
'Look, Zac, I don't do it anymore.  I got help and everything, so there's no need to worry about me.'  She was lieing, she still cut herself, but she didn't want to tell him that.  She used to cut herself when her parents faught, whenever her dad hit her mom or yelled at her.  That's why they moved to Tulsa.  Her mom had friends there who were looking for new people for their business and so her mom got a divorce and packed up and left.  Now, it was just a habit she had, one she couldn't break.
'I...Leah... I am worried about you.  How can I be sure that you don't do this anymore?' He asked, she could see the concern in his dark brown eyes.
'Zac,' She moved closer to him until she couldnít go any further. She put her hands on his face. 'Because I'm telling you.' She told him.
He looked at her face.  So beautiful.
'Why did you do that to yourself?' He asked, holding her close.
'When my parents used to fight and stuff.' She spoke quietly now.  'Zac, I didn't mean to worry you.  I mean  I-'
'Shhh. Don't talk.' He said as he tipped her chin up and kissed her on the lips. Chapter Ten
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