Ashley tries to figure out why Zack's acting strange

It took Zack a couple of minutes before he realized that he'd unintentionally left Ashley quite a bit in his wake, a few dozen paces behind him on the hillside path back to Ravers Cabin. Aware that her footsteps were echoing from farther and farther away, he paused midstride, and shaded his eyes from the sunlight to peer across the lake. It seemed an opportunity to continue getting his bearings in these beautiful lakeside woods, so distinct from the usual suburban routine of Azure Rocks. Something - some animal, Zack suspected, was ambling in and out of the trees across the water, but it was too far away for him to make any real guess as to its identity. Plainly, it was too big to be the same kind of squirrel or chipmunk that wandered around his backyard at home, but too small to be anything worth taking any alarm over.

Despite that indistinct shape rustling through the forest, the landscape in front of Zack was very still, and very peaceful, and he enjoyed having thirty seconds to himself apart from the pressure of social expectations and his simmering, ardent infatuation for Victoria Walker.

It took Ashley's hand landing on his shoulder to kick Zack out of his trance.

"Ease up, boy," Ashley chided him, but she was manifestly unserious. "We're not all basketball stars here, and some of us take more than four or five steps to climb these hills."

"We're definitely not all basketball stars here, Ash. Least of all me - you have to get some playing time in the games to be a star." Zack frowned. It had just been a harmless bit of teasing on Ashley's part, and he couldn't understand why he needed to be so self-deprecating.

"You'll get off the bench sooner or later," Ashley responded, her voice remaining offhand. Either she hadn't noticed or had chosen not to mind the bit of the edge in his voice. "When we used to play all the time in middle school, it seemed like you could make shots from everywhere. I don't think you ever realized how mad it made Peter to keep losing to a quiet sandy-haired boy whose voice hadn't even changed yet."

"I kind of had an idea." Zack grinned a bit despite himself, but he quickly regained control over his emotions and the distant, worried look he'd worn since leaving the lake returned in a flash. Come on. I'm letting my self-esteem get a boost from my basketball victories as an 11-year-old, he groused inwardly.

"Hey, Zack, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I am. No, I really am. It's awesome to be here with everyone and this is going to be an awesome week."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. But I'm just a little confused. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm happy to have the company, but why did you want to walk back up to the cabin with me? You'd really just gotten down to the lake. You seemed to be enjoying talking to Chloe and Vicky. And getting sunscreen isn't really a two-person job?"

"It's... complicated," said Zack, knowing full well his response was as lame as lame could get. But Ashley had quite effectively called him out, and he couldn't think on his feet quickly enough to come up with a good excuse.

Ashley considered for a moment. She didn't want to embarrass her friend, but she cared for Zack, and she didn't want him to waste his whole week brooding. And perhaps a bit selfishly, she didn't want to have one of the seven people she would share her entire week with in this kind of a mood the whole trip. Dealing with Kurt was going to prove tiresome enough, Ashley was certain.

"Zack, do you have feelings for Vicky?"

Zack's jaw set. Willing himself away from the conversation, his head jerked away from Ashley, and he busied himself with staring back across the lake at the animal he'd seen earlier.

Finally, he answered. "Yeah. I do. I have for a while."

"Why?"

Ashley's response caught him off guard. Zack was speechless for a few seconds, and was livid with himself for it - he didn't want Victoria's best friend getting the idea that he wasn't serious in his feelings for her.

"Um, well," he tried to recover, "it's first of all that she's just such a kind, genuine person. And she's crazy smart, too, I always feel as though I'm learning about five new things every conversation I have with her." Zack could feel his infatuation getting the best of his thoughts, desperately trying to wrap his ungraspable feelings for Vicky into words. "And her smile, when she's really happy - it's like four parts delight and one part mischief, and I'm always so happy to see it."

Ashley grinned. "That's so sweet, actually. I'm happy to hear that. You really notice the best things about people, Zack."

As this moment of truth receded, Zack noticed for the first time how fast his heart was pounding. Grateful that he had, seemingly, passed a test, he allowed himself to breath again.

This opportunity to relax proved to be short-lived.

"What about her ass? Is that maybe one of your reasons, too?"

"Um."

"I mean, it obviously is. Zacky, I've seen you sneak a couple of peeks. I'm not judging." Well, I've seen Brandon sneak a couple of peeks, too, Ashley added to herself, silently. There's going to come a time that I may need to punish him for that.

Ashley chuckled, a memory from the beginning of the past fall semester returning to her mind.

"You'll enjoy this story. So at the start of volleyball season, Madison had the whole team over for a pool party - she's not much of a party planner, but she figured she had a responsibility as the team captain. Since I'm dating her twin brother, I'm over at their house all the time, and I was able to help her put the whole thing together. I guess Maddy wanted me to feel comfortable at the party since I'd done her so many favors, so she invited Vicky as well. Nice of her, definitely.

So the volleyball girls, like our boys football team, follow that weird sports tradition of slapping each others' butts after a good point, and they were talking about that while everyone was getting out of the pool to go inside. I forget why it came up, some inane conversation. Vicky's walking up the ladder to get out of the pool, right in front of me, and I decide, you know, why not? So I smirk at Maddy and one of her friends to show them the plan, I wind up, and I slap her real hard on her right cheek. Miss Victoria yelps, looks back at me with this wounded but surprisingly not that angry look on her face. So I spank her again, same spot, same ****. Possibly too hard. There was a noticeable handprint there for the next hour or so.

Let me tell you, for how big Vicky's ass is, it is firm. Wouldn't pass up the opportunity to spank her again, I think."

"Ah," Zack said. He realized he was probably expected to contribute more of a response. "That's a very, really interesting story, ah, Ash."

Ashley struggled to restrain a chuckle. It really was no fun if you didn't get a chance to tease a friend after he or she confessed their crush, wasn't it? Hopefully she hadn't gone too overboard - there was a strange paleness to Zack's face, and it suddenly occurred to Ashley that there might be another indication somewhere on Zack's body of how he felt about her story of getting up close and personal with Victoria Walker's ass.

For an instant, Ashley considered this.

_Hey, Ash. Remember how a minute ago you were plotting **** on Brandon for ogling your best friend's ass? If you check out Zack's cock right now, you are the biggest hypocrite. _The rebuke in her head helped Ashley to collect herself, and she continued on, letting the moment pass by without a further thought.

"Look, I like you a lot, and I like Vicky a lot, and I think you'd be a great couple. I'm pulling for you. But don't rush into anything. It's going to be a long week and a long spring, and I think you should be careful, and honest, and get some quality time with Victoria before you make any kind of grand romantic decisions. I think you like her because she's a great person, yeah, but I also wonder if it's a little bit because she's this unattainable, virginal prize that a lot of other people want to have or want to be. So try not to obsess - I say, knowing that's probably impossible?"

Zack was silent for long enough to make things a little uncomfortable. But finally, he turned back to Ashley, and he looked a little bit more like his usual carefree self when he did.

"You're a good friend, Ash. That's good advice, and I'll listen to it." He paused for a moment, reflecting. "As best as I can."

Ashley grinned. "Glad to hear it."

Sensing how restless and worried her friend was, she walked over to Zack and gave him a big hug - although she was careful to approach him at a bit of an angle, not wanting to embarrass him in case any residual feelings from her story about Vicky might be lingering in her friend's cock. But Zack seemed to be at peace, and unembarrassed - he hugged her back, appreciating the gesture, and Ashley hoped that she could feel a bit of the tension come out of his shoulders.

"There are two other single girls at this cabin with us, Zack," Ashley pointed out. "I know you don't see Chloe this way now, since you guys have been platonic buddies for so long, but you never know if some night this week you'll suddenly look across a room at her, and, well... want to pull her body against yours and stick your tongue in her mouth. Among other things."

Not for the first time in this conversation, Zack found himself unable to meet Ashley's eyes - he found himself vividly recalling the sensation of his cock hardening at the sight of Chloe's boobs bulging invitingly out of her swimsuit. To his horror, even remembering his reaction was having the effect of stiffening his dick in his bathing suit once again.

"And don't sell yourself short," Ashley went on, "you're cute enough that Heather Ravers could definitely take notice, if you play your cards right."

Ashley sighed. For the first time, she realized how much drama could wind up unfolding around her during the next week. She'd been looking forward to this week as an opportunity to alternate between, on one hand, peaceful chats with dear friends on long walks in the woods, and on the other, long nights (as well as the occasional stolen morning and afternoon) exploring Brandon's body in the comfort of their own big private bedroom. But Ashley understood now that if all of her friends weren't careful, this trip also had the potential for bitter words and broken hearts.

She followed Zack's gaze - once again averted from her own eyes - across the water to a russet red shape rooting around the far edge of the lake. Her eyes just slightly keener than Zack's, Ashley recognized what was unmistakeably a fox, steathily creeping around the environs in hopes of an early dinner.

"Hey, Zack, look at that! I don't think I've seen a real live fox since I was five or six."

Zack jolted in recognition. "Ah, that's what that was! Thanks, Ash, you've got good eyes."

He screwed up his eyeballs for a moment, trying to garner more details from the vulpine creature on the opposite bank. Seeing the predatory fox lurking around, he suddenly found himself remembering Kurt, and dreading the likelihood that he and Ashley would have to talk to Heather's brutish cousin when they stopped back at the cabin.

Ashley's thoughts on the world around them were less pessimistic and a bit more philosophical.

"It's spring. The world's waking up. All of the animals - us included - are waking up and noticing what and who is in bloom."

She sighed. Eventually, she began walking once again, beckoning Zack to follow.

"Come on! I need your help carrying two extremely heavy bottles of sunscreen, after all."