Zack and Lisa talk about the past, the present and the future

Hours later, the afternoon was almost turning into evening as the red tinted sky slowly gave its place to a dark blue one. Zack already had called Heather again to inform her about Gavin and of them spending the night with Lisa and her parents. He was standing at the front porch idly looking at the sky while he thought and tried to make sense of the fact that the bear costumes weren’t at the cave anymore when he and the others went looking for the two suits.

”It’s obvious that someone moved them during the time I went looking for Chloe and the time we got back to the cave,” He thought. ”But who could’ve done it? Colin would have seen it.”

He sensed that he was missing a piece of the puzzle, however, before he could try and think about it, someone interrupted his thoughts.

“So, managed to get together with Victoria yet?” A female voice asked from behind.

Zack turned around to find a grinning Lisa. Despite her taunting question, she didn’t seem to be hostile towards him like he had previously expected.

“We’ve done some stuff here and there,” He answered. “Things got complicated, though.”

“It’s always complicated with you, Zachary,” Lisa sighed, standing beside him at the porch’s rail. “You have to simplify it, just decide what you want and take it, like you’ve done that time at Ashley’s party.”

Zack winced at the mention of his drunken induced affair that caused the end of their relationship. “Speaking of that, I’ve never got the chance to apologize properly to you for that,” He said with a sheepish look. “If I remember well, you threw me out before I could say anything.”

Lisa laughed. “I guess I should apologize for that,” She said. “But I had time to think, I realize now that even though it hurt a lot, our relationship was doomed from the start, Zack.”

He nodded. “Victoria again, isn’t it?”

“Yep, if you haven’t had sex with that girl at the party, we would have broken up when you finally managed to get Victoria,” She answered. “I guess that if I suffered, it’s my own fault, I knew very well where I was getting into when I agreed to go on a date with you.”

Zack reached his hand to her cheek and cupped it for a few seconds, caressing it with his thumb. “That isn’t entirely true, I’ve had a very good time with you, Lisa.”

“I did too, I’m not saying that I regret our time together,” The brunette said. “I was just sad ‘cause it always seemed like you were meant to be with Victoria and I wouldn’t have the chance to change that.”

“My situation was always complicated Lisa, but I don’t want you to ever think that there is something wrong with you,” Zack said, looking into her brown eyes as he tried to reassure his ex-girlfriend. “Any guy would be lucky to have you, you know?”

Lisa laughed again. “Thanks, but I find it funny that you’ve said that,” She said. “’Cause I was hoping to talk to you about another guy.”

“Really?” Zack chuckled.

“Yeah, tell me, does Gavin have a girlfriend?” She asked a little embarrassed.

“Gavin?” Zack raised both eyebrows. “No, the poor guy can’t even talk to girls other than Chloe, why?”

“It’s just that I always thought of him as a nice guy when we all were friends,” Lisa answered. “Then today I was talking to him and it was quite pleasant, so I was wondering if he had a girlfriend, that’s it.”

Zack grinned. “I think you two can be very good to each other,” He opined. “Gavin feels very intimidated by the girls in our group, with Chloe being the obvious exception, of course. The fact that he can talk to you without stammering helps your case a lot.”

“Think I got a shot, then?” Lisa asked with a smile.

“Totally, you should come to the cabin where we’re staying,” Zack said. “It’s near the lake, you guys can talk without the fear of someone butting in.”

“We’ll see about that, I plan to talk more to him later when he awakes,” Lisa agreed and then smirked at her ex-boyfriend. “Now, enough about me, tell me about those complications between you and Victoria.”

For a brief moment, Zack wondered if he should tell Lisa about his troubles, but then he remembered that she had just opened herself to him about Gavin, so he felt that he owed her the same courtesy.

“Well, there’s not much to tell,” He said, looking at the rapidly darkening sky. “It’s just that a few things happened during our stay at Ravers’ Cabin that left me a little, how can I say it, split.”

Lisa raised an eyebrow. “Split how?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Heather Ravers and now, whenever I talk to her, I get this feeling that we fit together, you know,” He tried to explain. “Like there’s a lot of chemistry in the air.”

“Wow, you and the cheerleader captain?” Lisa asked with a surprised look on her face. “I’d never have imagined that.”

“Me neither,” Zack chuckled. “And now there you have it, Heather on one side, Victoria on the other.”

“Dude, you’re in quite the situation, aren’t you?” Lisa remarked, grinning. “Well, we had a pretty good time as well and it didn’t stop you from pining for Victoria. My advice, forget any other girl that it isn’t her, at this point I don’t think you’d be satisfied with anyone else but her.”

Zack was about to answer when the window behind them opened and Lisa’s mother stuck her head out. Susan Rivera was thirty-nine years old and seemed a lot like an older version of Lisa. She smiled at them.

“Dinner’s ready, kids, get inside,” She told them. “Your friend Gavin wants to see if he can walk to the table.”

Zack and Lisa nodded and hurried inside. As they entered the cabin, Zack pondered Lisa’s words.

”What if she’s right about and I won’t be able to satisfy myself with any other girl?” He asked himself. ”It’d make things much easier for me.”