chapter 5-ana

“What the hell are you doing here?” Zay asks me. I look at him in complete and utter shock. “Me? What are you doing here?” Josh and Kevin looked between the two of us in complete confusion. “Wait a second, you two know each other?” Josh asked in just about as much shock as we were in. I couldn’t believe what was happening and my mind started to race, and a sudden memory slapped me in the face.

 

“Stasia wait up!” Isaiah called from behind me. I was running towards the door to my brother’s Diner Molly’s Musical Munchies and Isaiah had fallen behind a couple of blocks back. We were in New York for a weekend trip to visit Henry and check out what he had done with the rundown piece of property he had given my mother a heart attack over. I walked around the corner and saw a giant marquee with the restaurant's name up in the lights. I stopped to take a picture so that Zay could catch up. He came up behind me a few minutes later panting as he stopped to take a second. “See? look at that, it’s still here. We could’ve walked instead of acting like we’re running in the Olympics.” He joked. I laughed and he grabbed me around the waist and swung me around as we both laughed. He put me down, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Let’s see what your brother has gotten himself into with this place, shall we?” I smiled, grabbed his hand, and we walked through the door.

…

“Ana!” I was snapped out of my flashback by Josh yelling my name. All 3 of the boys in the car were staring at me like they were waiting for me to say something. “What?” I asked because I had no idea what was going on. “How do you and Isaiah know each other?” Kevin asked me. I looked at Zay, who was looking out the window lost in thought as we drove the hour-long journey to the pier. The journey that I was now stuck taking unless I wanted to walk back to my hotel. So, I took a deep breath and said, “We went to the same high school, and he was on the football team with my brother. We were friends.” Zay laughed under his breath. “Something funny man?” Josh asked from the other side of me, anger evident in his voice. “Nothing, just if that’s what you call what we were, then I’ve only had one other friend in my life.” My face turned beat red, and I was holding back the urge to turn to him and start screaming. “If you have something to say about it, spit it out, dude.” Zay leaned forward to look Josh in the face and said, “Nothing ‘man’ just saying, it was more than just a friendship. At least on one side of the situation.” I felt like I had been punched in the gut when he said that and the look, he gave me afterward was a slap in the face.

We arrived at the Pier after another half hour of silence in the Uber and as soon as we stopped Josh was out of the car and walking towards the water. I stood there, battling between going after him or staying to talk to Isaiah. “I’ll go talk to him,” Kevin said to the two of us, and after giving Zay a look walked towards the pier to talk to Josh. Isaiah started walking away from me toward the restaurant that we were supposed to be getting dinner at and I just stayed where I was, frozen in place. “Seriously? You’re going to walk away from me all over again?” I hollered after him. He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around and walking back toward me. “What do you want me to say Stasia? Oh hey! How have you been? How’s Henry? How have things been since the day you broke my heart and decided ‘I don’t love you anymore, but hey we can still be friends!’ what do you want from me? It’s been over 5 years! So excuse me if I’m a little stunned that the girl that my cousin hasn’t shut up about since he got back to Los Angeles this morning, just so happens to be the girl that I gave my heart to back in high school.” He was attracting attention, and I honestly didn’t know what to say. He was so angry; I had never heard him yell like that. I grabbed his hand and yanked him toward a bench just out of sight to 90% of the people now gawking at us. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I had no idea that you were Josh’s cousin. I had no idea who I was going to be working with, but Josh thought it would be a good idea for me to meet the band that I would be working with so I let him set the whole thing up and-” “Woah, wait hold on a second,” he said grabbing my hands which I hadn’t even noticed were flailing around while I went on my little tangent. “What do you mean working for?” I froze. Did Josh not explain everything like he said he would? “I’m out here to interview to be your tour photographer, Josh didn’t tell you?” His face turned as pale as it could. I’ll take that as a no. “Zay, say the word and I’ll go home tomorrow. I’ll give up the job and go home.” He looked away and ran a hand down his face. “You’re not going anywhere. I don’t need Henry tracking my a*s down and killing me for ruining this chance for you.” I smiled to myself knowing that, joking or not, he was right. I grabbed his chin in my fingers and turned his face towards mine so he would look at me. “Isaiah, I-” I was then cut off by Josh and Kevin walking up to us, “well now who is ready to lose their minds and drink until we drop!” Josh hollered. I just smiled at him and nodded. The two started walking away but Isaiah grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him, “I will be at the meeting on Wednesday, and I will make sure that you get that gig if it is the last thing I do. After everything we’ve been through, it’s the least I can do. Besides, you’re the only person who truly knows how to capture my good side, so I’d be an idiot to let you go again.” He let my arm go and walked away toward Josh and Kevin before turning back to me, “You coming or what?” I smiled and even though I was terrified of what the future held with this new bump in my path, I ran to catch up with them.