Comfy Closets - Chapter 21: Chapter 21

“I think something happened between Gia and Zach.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
Tapping out a rhythmic beat against the steering wheel, I bit my bottom lip in contemplation. “I can sense this... tension between them- and before you say it, it’s not the sexual kind.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Leah unconvincingly lied as a chuckle escaped her lips. “I’ve actually noticed though. When you asked her about hanging out today, she immediately looked unsure when you mentioned Zach was coming.”
“Yeah, it’s like she’s avoiding him...” I trailed off, pausing as I thought. “Should I ask Zach what’s going on?”
Leah hesitated in answering. “I... wouldn’t do that. Maybe you should talk to Gia directly to find out what’s up? She is your best friend,” she pointed out.
I groaned in frustration. “She keeps dodging my questions though! I’ve been trying, but she won’t budge. I know something is up though, and I want to find out.”
“Babe, you sure going to Zach is the best idea, though? I think letting them sort it out might be better.”
“But-”
“Yo, peeps,” Gia announced as she opened the backseat door to my car and got in, instantly stopping our conversation. “You guys weren’t about to make out, were you? Because I'll just take my own car,” she teased.
“Gia...” I said warningly as Leah snickered into her hand.
“What? I know one of these days I’ll accidentally cock block you, so right now, I’m making the effort to not do that. Appreciate the effort, Aly.”
All I did was grunt in response and start to pull away from Gia's house. My best friend was a weirdo sometimes- no, most of the time.
“I appreciate the effort, Gia,” Leah decided to quip.
“Don’t encourage her, babe,” I groaned
Gia leaned into the space between the front seats “Thank you, Leah. At least someone is.”
“Seatbelt,” was all I said. Gia huffed and sat back with a plop.
“You’ll never know when she might barge in and interrupt us, Lys,” she reasoned, then lowered her voice so only I could hear. “And well, I could imagine many scenarios just off the top of my head.”
I shifted slightly in my seat, unable to stop the dirty images from playing in my mind. Lust clouded my vision like an oncoming storm as all the possible scenarios played in front of my eyes like a scene.
What if something did happen in the car just now? Kisses would be exchanged, turning deeper, desperate and more passionate as we continued. Then she’d unbuckle her seatbelt, not separating our lips. She’d slowly and gracefully climb over the middle console, straddling my la-
“Babe, you just passed the place.”
“Sh*t!” I exclaimed as I tried to find the closest place to U-turn and get back to the bowling place. My lustful thoughts had taken over my mind, and Leah knew that was the case because she had this smug grin on her face. “Don’t say a word.” She lifted her hands up in defence.
“Did I miss something?” Gia asked, puzzled. “Wait, am I cock-blocking you guys right now? Get me out of here.” I didn’t say anything to that.
Luckily, we had arrived at the previously passed entrance and I parked the car soon enough, causing Gia to immediately dash out and speedily make her way to the bowling alley as if running away from our pheromones.
“Leah babe...” I groaned as I turned to her, taking off my seatbelt. “Why did you have to do that to me, you tease.”
“What?” she chuckled. “What did you imagine, huh?”
I gave her a flat stare, not saying a thing. She took off her seatbelt and faced me with a seductive smile. “Did it go... something like this?”
One of her hands went to rest on my thigh playfully, slowly rubbing the area sensually. I wanted to squirm at her touch, but instead, I stayed still and maintained a poker face, not wanting to let her know the effect she had on me.
“Did I... do this next?” Leah's hand slowly inched upwards a little, touching my inner thigh every so often. I could feel the heat pool down to my core, and I couldn’t stop the shiver from taking over my body, causing her to smirk satisfyingly. She took this as a sign to continue, and so lifted herself from her seat and gracefully moved over the console, just like in my daydream. As she straddled my lap and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, I could see the lust in her dark hazel eyes, her want as she looked at my lips. The weight of her on top of me didn’t bother me at all, instead, it caused the pleasure that was running through me to course with more fervour.
“This was where it ended,” I muttered, wanting to stir her on. I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.
The blonde lowered her mouth until it was millimetres from my ear, whispering. “Well, let’s continue it then.” With that, her lips travelled down, brushing against my skin along the way, until she arrived at the base of my neck. She planted a kiss there and slowly moved upwards with each touch, sometimes sucking the skin softly before moving on. As she traversed the planes of my neck, she quickly found my sweet spot with ease. A moan escaped my lips as the sensitive area was stimulated, my hands moving to clutch her hips to steady myself and hold her there.
I could feel her smirk against my neck, her mouth moving to suck at the area, with her teeth nibbling the sensitive skin every so often. Moan after moan came out of my lips, unrestrained and free from thought. When Leah was satisfied with her work, she pulled away and looked at it with pride. “You’re mine, babe.”
Giving the spot one more kiss, she moved to my mouth and was about to connect our lips, when suddenly, someone's phone began ringing.
“Damn it,” I groaned, letting my head fall back against the headrest. “They really did cock-block us.”
Leah cursed and got out her phone from her bag, not leaving my lap. “Hello?” she answered the phone with irritation. “Yes, we'll come in soon. Just start without us.” Hanging up the phone, she tossed it back into her bag, a sigh leaving her lips. “We should get inside soon. They’re waiting.”
“I don’t want to,” I softly whined.
She gave me a kiss to the lips that didn’t last long enough before pulling back and moving over, back to the passenger seat. “I know, babe. Me too, but later,” she said, a promise hidden in her words.
That was enough to spur me on to get out of the car. “Let’s get going then.”
We walked through the length of the parking lot, a little ways away from the entrance. The whole time, my body itched to wrap my arm around my girlfriend, but I forced that feeling down. What if someone from school was here and saw us? I didn’t even want to think about what would happen next.
Walking into the air-conditioned space, we quickly spotted the rest of our friends already putting on their bowling shoes and readying to start. Leah and I went to quickly rent our own before joining them, sheepish smiles on our faces for making them wait.
“Finally! You guys are here,” Riley exclaimed as she stood up and went to input our names into the machine. “I thought you guys came with Gia?”
“I was with them, but they just needed to... do something first,” Gia hinted, giving us a sly, suggestive wink. The boys, Ashton and Zach, didn’t catch on, but Riley did and gave us a knowing grin as she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. “Nice hickey, by the way,” the red-head whispered.
Immediately, my hand shot up to cover the spot that Leah marked with her mouth, tugging the neckline of my shirt higher in embarrassment. It must’ve been so obvious to the guy we rented the shoes from, which I now know he noticed because he kept smirking at me and sending winks my way. I thought he had an eye problem.
Leah looked indifferent to her teasing, but her pink ears said otherwise. “It was a good idea you left when you did, Finnegan.”
“Oh man, my innocent little Aly isn’t so innocent anymore,” Gia snickered. Why does my best friend insist on transforming me into a tomato all the damn time?
“Alright!” Ash said as he finished putting on his shoes. “Leah, I’m challenging you to a competition. Highest score wins.”
“Aww, are you still a sore loser from me beating you in the bake-off?” she mocked in a cute baby voice.
“No!” he said indignantly. “I would’ve won if it wasn’t for the bad oven.”
“We used the same oven.”
“Still!”
“Alright, children,” Riley chided. “Let’s just bowl and let that speak for itself, hm?”
Leah and Ash had a stare off for a couple more seconds until I pulled my stubborn girlfriend away and led her to the chairs. “Come on, let’s put our shoes on first.”
When everyone was ready, we started the game with Riley going first. She stepped up to the lane with an orange ball in hand, her focus as sharp as lasers as she got ready.
“You need help, baby?” Ashton yelled from his seat. The tanned beauty spun around with a withering glare, shutting up her boyfriend before going back to focus on her shot.
She walked a few steps back, taking in a deep breath before moving forward and gracefully swinging her arm, letting the ball roll loose. The ball hit every pin down.
“Damn, girl! Maybe you should be in their competition too!” Gia exclaimed in shock.
Riley strutted back to her seat confidently, patting Ashton with an agape mouth on the head. “It’s your turn. You need my help, baby?”
Ash stayed silent as he got up, taking his shot and getting six pins down. He ultimately got a spare in the end, but as he walked back to us with his head down, he looked like he got his ass handed to him.
Leah rubbed her hands together in excitement. “My turn.” She did the same thing as Riley, got into position and taking the same stance before letting her ball roll. The ball knocked down nine pins and it was easy for her to hit the last one with the next, earning herself a spare. I cheered for her as she came back to us with a shrug. “What can I say, Riley and our friends come here all the time.”
They officially shut Ashton up for good. It’s good for his ego.
The time flew by as we took our turns, Gia and I being the only ones in the group to mess around. Most of her shots went into the gutter because she was throwing the ball between her legs. My method was to put the ball down on the floor and try to push the heavy thing across the lane with my foot, to see how far it could go. Riley ended up putting the kid bumper up for us because we weren’t getting any points.
The atmosphere was fun and silly, with a lot of smack talk between Leah and Ash because they were always so close in points. But I noticed that Zach was being very quiet, just sitting there and observing everyone. He’s usually the one to crack a joke or make fun of Ashton when he failed, but none of that came from him tonight. I also noted that Gia stayed seated next to me and Leah, interacting with everyone but Zach.
Something was definitely up, and I was going to find out what.
“Hey, Zach? Can you come with me to order some food for everyone?” I casually said, prompting him to stand up and follow me without protest. In my periphery, I saw Leah give me a look as if to say, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea', but I nodded subtly in reassurance. I needed to do this to really understand what the hell was going on between those two.
I headed in the direction of the counter with Zach on my heels, before doing a quick turn to the direction of the front entrance instead.
“Aly? What are you doing? The food's this way.”
“Come with me. I need to talk to you,” was all I said. His face held confusion, but he followed me, nonetheless.
We exited the building and was greeted by an even colder environment, the winter winds taking our warmth away like a thief in the night. There were barely any people out here, only a couple smokers to the side and the occasional person coming in and out. I walked to the side, away from the smoke fumes, and turned to Zach.
He stopped by me, rubbing his neck as he leant against the outside wall. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
Clearing my throat, I readied myself for his resistance. “I want to know what happened between you and Gia.”
His hand stopped its movements as he let it drop down. He kept a cool and calm facade, as if to say my question didn’t bother him, when in fact it did. “What do you mean? Nothing happened between me and Gia. We’re fine,” he lied.
“Look, I know something happened to my best friend, and I’m guessing it’s something that’s got to do with you.”
“We’re fine, Aly. And even if there was something between us, it’s between Gia and me,” he said defensively, getting worked up.
I went about this the wrong way, I thought, sighing. It sounded like I was trying to attack him, but I just wanted to know the truth.
I let my head fall back and faced the streetlights and dark sky above, seeing my own breath in the air. “Zach, I’m sorry for saying it like that.” I apologized, looking at him now. “I know it’s between you and Gia. I understand that. It’s just- my best friend isn’t like her usual self, not really, and I just want to help her, in whatever this is. That’s all.”
Zach’s face gave nothing away, only that he was deep in thought as he stared off into the expanse of the filled parking lot. I waited patiently for his reply, letting him take his time to think.
Finally, he turned back to me, half of his face highlighted by the yellow streetlamps that intensified the angular structure of his face. His expression was serious, making him look older than he already was by years, with his hands in his coat pockets. “I just... I can’t tell you the reason why. It’s not because of you, I just can’t do it.”
“Zach, whatever it is, I won’t judge you. I just want to help Gia,” I said with all the sincerity I had in me. I truly meant it.
He bit his bottom lip, looking so unsure and... afraid? He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, so he closed it again. I placed my hand on his upper arm, my way of reassuring him. I don’t know why he was struggling so much, but I didn’t want to put pressure on him to continue if he really couldn’t.
Zach let out a shaky breath, running his trembling hand through his sandy hair. I’ve never seen him like this before. “Gia’s mad at me because she thought I was with Sarah,” he breathed out. Before I could say anything, he continued. “She’s not mad because I’m ‘with' her, but because I didn’t just tell her straight out that it was her.”
I knew there was more to it, so I decided to prompt him. “But...”
“But I’m not even with her! I told Gia I liked someone else before, but it’s not Sarah!” he exclaimed in frustration, starting to pace in front of me as he explained. “And the thing is, is that I can’t even tell her that it’s not Sarah, because-” he cut himself off. The pacing stopped, and suddenly all that could be heard was the whistle of the wind and only that.
“Because...” I encouraged him to continue, my tone soft and as understanding as I could manage to make it.
His eyes focused on the ground, as if not able to look at me. “I can’t tell her it’s not Sarah that I like because... because it’s Ashton who I like.”
The silence was all that was present now. I couldn’t compute what he had said right away because I never thought that this would be the reason why. I never even got a hint of this, never suspected he identified that way. But as I thought more as the seconds ticked by, I could see the hints that were present, but I was too obsessed with worrying about myself at the time, that I never even bothered to notice. He was always with Ashton since the first day he was here, spending more time with him than us. That was until... Riley.
In the midst of my thinking, his eyes continued to stare at the ground, anxious energy now surrounding his form. When he couldn’t stand the silence anymore, he looked up to me with apprehension as he awaited my answer. “Well? Say something. Please?”
My mouth had gotten dry, but I took a few gulps and pushed the feeling aside for now. “Well, okay.”
“Okay? Just okay?” he asked in disbelief. “So, you’re fine with me liking Ashton, or just... boys in general?”
“Of course, I’m fine with it! You don’t get to choose if you like boys or not. You just do or you just don’t,” I shrugged, stating matter-of-factly. “Heck, I definitely don’t like them in that way.”
Zach was about to agree until he registered the words that I had just said. I felt like it was right to tell him about myself. In some ways, it might help him.
“Wait- so you’re into girls? Am I hearing this right?” he asked incredulously.
I chuckled. “Yes, I am gay as heck.”
“Holy crap, I never even suspected,” he breathed out, rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, this was the easiest time I’ve ever come out to someone. Granted, I can count the number of people I’ve come out to on one hand.
“I mean, my girlfriend is in there right now bowling with our friends, so I thought it might’ve been a little obvious, but I guess not.”
“Wait!” he shouted out. “Leah is your girlfriend?! How the hell did I not notice that!” he laughed in disbelief. “It makes sense now. I’m guessing that’s your girlfriend’s doing, then?” he remarked, gesturing towards the very obvious hickey with a knowing smirk.
I tugged the neckline of my shirt up for the second time, getting a little frustrated now at the mention of it. “Yes, yes. Now get over it. I’ll have to put some concealer on this thing,” I muttered to myself, Zach chuckling at that. “So, what is up with you and Sarah then?”
The sandy-haired boy sighed at the mention of her. “Sarah was just someone who I could hang out with. At first, when Riley first got with Ashton, admittedly, I was jealous. But Sarah was there, and she was interested, so for some odd reason in my head, I thought flirting back might help me get my mind off of Ashton, and also maybe cover up the fact that I ever liked him, if that even makes sense.”
“But then,” he continued, a sadness entering his tone, “when I told Gia that I liked someone, I couldn’t just say that I liked her best guy friend. I didn’t know where she stood on that viewpoint. But one day, she saw me with Sarah, who was very touchy and flirty that day, might I add. She came up to me and said that I should’ve just told her, and she would’ve been fine with it. I felt so bad because now look at me and her.”
His head hung down in defeat, his frustration directed at himself. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. “You can tell her the truth, Zach. She’d understand.” Moving away, I looked at him with a reassuring smile. “She’s only angry because you kept the truth from her. She thought you didn’t need to because she could’ve handled it. One thing you should know about her is that she’s a very truthful and honest person. She expects that from others too, which isn't the reality most of the time, but it's what makes her real and genuine. Whenever I want an honest opinion, I can count on her to give it to me, always.” He nodded his head slowly in acknowledgement. “She will accept you for who you are, like she accepted me, and she’ll understand. Just give her the truth.”
Zach bit his bottom lip, rubbing his jaw as he thought. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. She deserves the truth, not all this bull-crap.” His olive eyes looked into mine, more vulnerable than ever. “Thank you, Alyssa, for understanding and helping me. I really wouldn’t know what to do about Gia and me, and it would’ve just gotten worse if we didn’t do this.” He gave me a hug this time, holding me to him tightly. “Thank you for not being like every other person in my old school. You’re a great friend, Aly.”
My heart warmed at his words. “It's no problem, Zach. Thank you for telling me the truth,” I said, smiling softly.
We pulled away, both of us smiling like goofs now, but Zach’s face soon morphed into one filled with uncertainty. “Aly, if I ever told Ashton about this… how would he react?”