Chapter 8

After their dance JC and Zoë returned to the table where everyone was sitting.  They were all watching them dance the entire time, and all had mushy facial expressions when they walked up.  “What?” Zoë, asked looking at Pam.

“That was so sweet!” she, said in a high pitch lovey dovey tone.

“That was our….” JC, started but was cut off by Pam.

“Your song.  I know!  I got to bear witness when you serenaded Zoë with that song when Tommy Jenkins broke up with her!” she, laughed and so did everyone else.

Well, everyone but Link.  He was now annoyed.  JC, had stolen his date and just danced with her to a song that obviously held a lot of memories and emotions for the two of them.  He was somewhat jealous.

Zoë, didn’t act that way with him  Never mind the fact she didn’t know him like she did JC, but he was her boyfriend or at least on his way to being her boyfriend.  And she shouldn’t get so mushy with any other man.  Not even a guy that’s supposed to be her best friend, he thought.

Link, stood up.  “Zoë, I’m ready to go.” it wasn’t a request it was more or less a demand.

“Already?  It’s still early.” she, protested.

“You gotta be at work early in the morning for the parade.  We should go!” he, stated again.

“She doesn’t have to leave if she’s not ready!” Justin, butted in, and Link shot him a disbelieving look.

“NO, it’s ok.  He’s right.  I do have to be there early we should go.” Zoë, said grabbing her purse from the table.

“You sure?” JC, asked growing angry with Link, just when he felt like he was starting to lighten up on the guy.

“Yeah, I’m sure.  I’ll see you at home.” Zoë, hugged JC and then the rest of the guys and moved on to Pam.  “I’ll see you tomorrow after the parade.”

“OK, I’ll see you then!” she, smiled.

Link, grabbed Zoë by her arm and started to pull her away from her friends.  “Did you see that shit?” Chris, asked no one in particular referring to the tugging Link was doing on her arm.

“Yeah, I saw it.” JC, grumbled growing even angrier.

Link, tightened his grip on Zoë’s arm and gave her a jerk, because she wasn’t moving as quickly as he wanted her too.  “Ow, your hurting my arm Link.” she, said pulling her arm away from him and then shoved him.

JC, was about to after them, when Justin stopped him.  “It’s ok.  Looks like Zoë’s got it under control.  No need to make a scene, C.”

JC, nodded and turned his attention back to everyone else at the table after Zoë and Link disappeared through the doors.  He was angry, and ordered another drink.
 
 

JC, stumbled into the house around 4:30 in the morning.  He was pretty drunk, having had way too many drinks after Zoë had left with Link.  It was his way of drowning out his anger.  The more he seen Zoë with Link the more he wanted to kill the guy.  He didn’t understand himself why he was being so protective over here.  He’d never been upset about her boyfriends in the past.  But then he hadn’t been around to witness all the goings on either.

So to help himself forget about his anger and the “longing” Lance said he’d seen in his eyes, JC decided to have a few dozen drinks.  And then bring his new found friend home with him.

They stumbled up the stairs, and into the hallway.  As JC was passing Zoë’s bedroom he had to look in to make sure she was safe in bed.  He tried to fight off the urge.  He’d seen her car in the driveway, but he wanted to make sure she was ok.  Better yet, make sure she didn’t bring prick boy home with her.

He slowly opened her bedroom door, as the brunet giggled.  “Shhhh, you’ll wake Zo up.” he, scolded her.  He peeked into her room and seen she was sleeping soundly in her bed.  Alone.  His curiosity, satisfied, he moved on down the hall to his bedroom.  Half walking, half making out with the girl he’d brought home with him, and they disappeared into his bedroom.
 

BANG, BANG, BANG

Zoë, sat up in her bed.  “What the hell is that?” she, said aloud.

BANG, BANG, BANG

Zoë, grew nervous.  She couldn’t figure out what the hell the noise was.  It was loud, and it sounded like someone was slamming something into the wall.

She jumped out of bed and peeked out of her door into the hallway.  The noise was coming from JC’s room.  She moved slowly towards the door.  She was scared.  She didn’t know if someone had broken into the house or what the hell was going on.  Then she heard JC scream out.  “OH GOD!!!!!!!” as if he was in pain.

Zoë, rushed to the door swinging it open quickly.  “JC, are you o…” she cut herself off, and JC froze.  Her eyes grew large at the site of the girl from the party riding JC.  They were having sex.  She quickly threw one hand over her eyes as she looked down and searched frantically for the doorknob with her other hand.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know ya’ll were.  NEVER MIND!  I’m sorry!” she, said as she found the doorknob, and quickly shut the door behind her.

She stood in the hallway for a second, completely and utterly embarrassed by what she’d just walked in on.  “I should have known what that banging noise was!” she, scolded herself.  She shook off her embarrassment and quickly retreated to her bedroom, stopping at her stereo to turn it on.  And she turned the volume up loud to drown out any further noises, she didn’t particularly want to hear.
 

JC, moved the woman off of him, and removed the condom he’d had on as soon as Zoë, had shut the door behind her.  His first reaction was to run after her and apologize.  But he quickly started questioning himself on why he’d need to apologize.  It was his house.  He could have sex in his own house.  She should not have barged into his room like that.

Soon, his mixed emotions turned into anger.  She shouldn’t have barged in like that, and he was going to tell her about it!  He jumped out of the bed and threw his boxers on.  “Where are you going baby?” the, woman in his bed questioned.

“I’m gonna go tell Zoë, about barging into other people’s room!” he, snorted as he marched out of the room, and across the hall to Zoë’s door where he heard the loud music playing on the other side.

Zoë, was curled up in her bed still trying to overcome her embarrassment of what she’d walked in on.  Fighting back feelings of disgust at what she’d seen and at the same time fighting back feelings of wanting that to be her, which made no sense at all.

When all of the sudden JC comes storming through her door in his boxers, his hair a mess, and slammed her bedroom door behind him.  “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?” he, demanded.

Zoë, sat up in her bed startled by JC’s voice.  “I said I was sorry!  I heard a loud banging noise.  And I heard you cry out, in what sounded like pain.  I thought someone was hurting you!  I wasn’t thinking clearly.” she, rambled.

“PAIN?”  JC, yelled.  “THAT WAS PURE PLEASURE!”

“I’m sorry, Josh!  I didn’t know!” Zoë, defended growing angry at the way he was speaking to her.

“HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW, ZOE?  I KNOW YOU’VE HAD SEX, HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?” he, yelled.

Trying to remain calm, so it didn’t turn into a full fledge yelling match, Zoë responded as calmly as she could.  “I said I was sorry, Josh.  It will never happen again I can promise you that!”

JC, looked at her and said more in a normal tone.  “I think you just wanted in on the action.” and smirked at her.

“JOSHUA SCOTT CHASEZ!!!” she, screamed.  “How dare you speak to me like that.  You’re drunk and obviously have no clue what the hell you’re talking about!  That’s absurd!  I think you need to go back to your room before you say something.  Wait let me rephrase that.  Say anything ELSE, you’ll regret later!”

“Aw, come on Zo.  You know you want me!  You wanted in on it.  You can come join us!” he, smirked again.

“THAT’S IT!  OUT!!!” Zoë, yelled jumping out of her bed and shoving JC towards her door, as he laughed.  “Get out of my room!  NOW!!!!” she, demanded still shoving him.

JC, grabbed her arms and pulled her into him.  He then grabbed her face and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her hard, slipping his tongue into her mouth to kiss her stronger, as she opened her mouth to scream.

Zoë, beat her fists into his chest pushing him away, and then smacked him as hard as she could, across his face.  JC, stood there for a second as if he didn’t know what hit him.  Then he snapped back into reality and realized what he’d just done.  “Oh JESUS!  Zoë, I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to do that!”

“GET OUT!!” she, yelled backing away from him and tripping over a throw rug in the middle of her floor falling to the ground.

JC, rushed to her side trying to help her up.  “Are you ok?”

“Get away from me!” she, told him.  “DON’T TOUCH ME!” she, screamed as he reached out for her arm to help her up.

JC, backed away from her.  “I’m sorry Zoë.  I don’t know what the hell I was thinking!  I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Just get out of my room, please Josh.  You’re drunk and I really don’t want to be around you right now.” she, said her voice quivering on the brink of tears.

JC, opened the door to leave and turned to look at her in the middle of her floor, her knees pulled in to her chest.  “Zoe, I’m really sorry!  Can we talk about this later?  Let me make it up to you!”

“Go away.” she, said her face buried in her knees, and her hand motioning for him to leave.

“I’m sorry, Zoë!” JC, whispered to her, as he shut the door behind him.
 

JC, sat on the floor outside Zoë’s bedroom door feeling horrible about what had just happened.  He just wanted to take her into his arms and hold her and apologize repeatedly.  What had possessed him to do such a thing?  Not only had he assaulted her with his words, and  scared the shit out of her.  But he physically assaulted her as well.  How could she ever forgive him for doing such a thing?  He was sure he had just destroyed the best friendship he’d ever had in his entire life.
 

Zoë, sat in the middle of her floor curled up for a few moments crying over what had just happened.  She knew JC didn’t mean it.  She knew he was drunk, and that’s why he’d done it.  She knew in her heart JC would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.  He’d been her source of healing far to many times to intentionally cause her pain.  But at the same time she was upset, and she just wanted to get out of that house.  She needed to get as far away from him as she could at the moment.  At least until he sobered up enough for them to have a mature conversation about what had happened.

Zoë, let out a long sign and got up from the floor and made her way to her cell phone that was laying on her desk.  She called Link to ask him if he could come get her.  When he wanted to know what had happened, she simply told him that she’d gotten into an argument with JC and he was drunk and she wanted to get out of the house, but she was too upset to drive.

Link, agreed to come get her, telling her he’d be there in 30 minutes to pick her up before hanging up.  Zoë, threw on some clothes, and then grabbed her backpack from the closet and threw a change of clothes into her bag and the other stuff she would need to get ready for work at Link’s apartment.

She walked over to the door and took the handle in her hand to open the door, but then remembered she needed her purse and cell phone.  JC, who was still sitting in the hallway got up quickly and scurried back across the hall to his room, shutting the door behind him quietly.

He heard Zoë, shut the music off and then exit her room, and walk off down the hallway.  His heart began racing. “She’s leaving!  Where is she going?” he, thought.  He turned in his room and looked at the girl laying in his bed fast asleep.  He shook his head in disgust at all the craziness that had happened, and then hurried over to the window which faced the street.

He watched as Zoë, walked straight past the Jeep, he’d bought her for Christmas.  “Surely, she’s not going to try to walk anywhere at this hour.” he, said aloud to himself still watching her.  She walked down the sidewalk and plopped down on the sidewalk outside the gates to his house.  JC, scurried to find his pants he had to go talk to her.  He didn’t know what she was doing.

JC, was hopping around trying to put his pants on as quickly as possible, and he had one leg in them when he heard a car pull up out front.  He raced back to the window and seen Zoë, getting into a black mustang.  He quickly saw that it was Link, when he leaned across the seat and kissed Zoë before she shut the door.  And then they drove off.

“SHIT!” he, yelled out.  “Just relax Josh.  It’ll all be ok.  She’ll come back.  She’s just mad.” he, told himself.  “But what if she doesn’t?” he, quickly thought.

JC, rushed around the room in search of his cell phone.  He had to call Justin, he needed his help.  He couldn’t let the best friend.  The best woman he’d ever known just walk out of his life like that.  He had to get her back.  Zoë, meant more to him than anything in the world and he couldn’t live without her.  He had to get her back.

“Hello?” Justin’s, groggy voice answered.

“J, it’s C.  I need your help!”