Breakfast

When Zack awoke, the sun had yet to rise. Rather than trying to go back to sleep, he put on his running clothes and headed out the door. He ran up and down the blacktop path he had walked with his friends the day before. Once he hit the fork of the road, he went back. Zack made this round trip five times, before heading back to the cabin to shower. At some point during his fourth trip, the sun came up.

“Hey Zack,” Heather greeted him as he walked inside.

The brunette was making coffee, and from the glimpse of what she had out on the counter, Zack figured breakfast would follow soon after.

“Hey Roomie,” he replied.

“You should have woken me up, I’d have gone running with you,” the brunette pouted.

“Sorry Heather. I woke up early for some reason today, sun wasn’t even up yet,” he told her.

“Yeah, you made the right call. I’m not THAT much of a running junkie,” she laughed.

“I’m gonna shower. I’ll be out in a bit to help,” Zack told her.

“Thanks,” Heather replied.

As Zack walked down the hall towards their room, he stopped to get a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. As he bent over to get it, he couldn’t help but feel her eyes on him.

“Like what you see?” he taunted her.

No sooner had he said the words, he felt something hit him in the ass. When he heard the sound of metal hitting the floor, he knew exactly what it was. He turned around and stared at the bottle cap lying there on the floor.

“GOTCHA!” Heather shouted.

“That doesn’t count. I already used that one. That’s like saying the same Mama joke twice. Gotta be creative if you want to beat me, Heather,” he told her as he walked down the hall.

Zack was in the shower for only a few minutes when he could smell the distinct aroma of bacon in a frying pan. The smell made him shower faster. He quickly dried off and got dressed and rejoined his friend in the kitchen.

“You do the eggs. Half fried, half scrambled, half hard boiled for egg salad” Heather told him.

“Um, okay,” he laughed, “Which do you want to eat?”

“Fried. And toss some bread in the toasters, please,” she responded.

By this point the others had started waking up. Heather finished cooking half of the bacon and started in on some potatoes. Zack made the toast first and prepped the scrambled eggs. As each person came into the kitchen, he asked what kind they wanted. Chloe, Gavin, Brandon, Ashley and Victoria all wanted scrambled, so they went on first. As they started to heat, the first batch of toast popped. Zack threw another batch into the two toasters and checked the eggs. In about five minutes, those who wanted scrambled eggs were eating, two more batches of toast were cooked and Kurt had his fried eggs.

“Anyone for seconds?” Zack asked. When no one responded, he went to prepping more fried eggs for Heather and himself.

“Hey Zack, can you toss me the hot sauce, please?” Kurt asked.

“Sure! Glad I’m not the only sane person here,” he laughed.

While Zack waited for Heather’s eggs to cook, he filled a pot of water for the hard-boiled ones. When he had them on the stove, he flipped over Heather’s eggs and began filling the sink for clean-up. As he handed Heather her eggs, her fingers briefly touched his and their eyes met.

“Here you go, Roomie,” he said as Heather blushed.

Brandon, Ashley and Chloe shared a smile as Heather stared at Zack. They stayed focused on each other until Victoria reminded Zack that the sink was about to overflow. Heather stared for a few more seconds before realizing it and started to eat.

As Zack finished frying his own eggs, the plans for the day were being discussed. Heather, being the host, started the conversation by asking what everyone wanted to do.

“Well, today is too nice to spend it indoors, so I vote swimming,” Victoria stated.

“I could go for that,” Brandon chimed in and Chloe nodded.

“I’ve already got on a bikini,” Ashley informed everyone, even though she was looking into her boyfriend’s eyes when she said it.

“So do I,” Zack added, which brought about a round of laughter, “sorry Heather, you’re gonna have to wear a one-piece today.”

“What about you, Gavin?” Victoria asked.

“I don’t think Heather has any bikinis that will fit me,” the shy boy joked.

“Alright, Gavin!” Chloe and Zack thought simultaneously and smiled at their friend’s comment.

“And you, cousin?” Heather asked from across the table.

“I don’t know. I was thinking about sticking around the cabin and telling everyone why we call you ‘Curling Iron’ when they come in,” Kurt teased.

Heather, at the mention of the most embarrassing moment of her young life, grabbed a fried potato from her plate, smeared it in ketchup and threw it at Kurt. It stuck to the middle of his forehead.

“There you go, Heather. Now THAT was original,” Zack tormented.

Heather chewed her last piece of bacon as she prepared another potato and slapped it to Zack’s forehead.