Zoey Needs To Head Back

"Zoey, hey, you alright?" JJ asked the redhead again, this time with a bit more concern,

"I can't do this..." Zoey sighed while shaking her head, "Why am I even here JJ? What was the point of me staying here?"

JJ's brow jumped up, and he began to rub the back of his neck, "Uh...I...I don't know," He mumbled back, "You had a reason, you wanted to hang out with us and meet new people?" The jock guessed, though he only watched as Zoey gave a half-hearted shrug back, "Or maybe...I mean, I don't know you of course, but you maybe stayed for someone specific,"

Zoey narrowed her brow and pursed her lips, "I didn't stay because I wanted to fix what I had with Eric," She slightly snapped out, "I don't care about that anymore, I figured that he did it because he loved Anna but now...I don't even know who that guy is,"

"Yeah," JJ mumbled in agreement as he glanced up towards Eric who was nearly wandering aimlessly at the pond, "Something is up with him, and he needs to get checked for his own good," JJ remarked before shaking his head, "But I wasn't talking about Eric,"

"Then who?" Zoey sighed back, trying to play dumb,

"Well...look, I don't know what you're thinking right now about Kenny, but he's not an asshole," JJ began, "He's been my best friend for almost my whole life and that guy hasn't got a mean bone in his body,"

Zoey let out a small scoff, "I didn't think he was an asshole but...Eric has a point, Kenny has had sex with a lot of girls this week. Nicole, Mindy...m-me," She squeaked out with slightly red cheeks,

"Yeah, and he had sex with Rachel, and Kailyn, so?" JJ simply replied,

"So? He had sex with everyone but Anna, and now he's at the cabin with her!" Zoey exclaimed, "How can he just be girl hoping?!"

"When you had sex with him, he was still with Nikki, wasn't he?" JJ pointed out, "And I'm guessing he didn't make the first move and I'm also willing to bet, he wasn't even fucking happy where he was. Kenny isn't out to get as many girls as he can, Zoey, he just wants to be happy. It's not his fault that he can't go three feet without falling into bed with a girl who wants to fuck him,"

"So you think he's just innocent in all this? Basically a victim of circumstance?" Zoey retorted with a small frown, "If he wants to be happy why does he move onto other girls? W-Why doesn't he try and fight for one!" She asked as her nose flared,

"Kenny's great and all, but he's not perfect. He's oblivious, and he's got a week will when it comes to certain things. My bet, he doesn't think any of the girls he's been with even want him. Come to think of it, the last time he really thought a girl wanted to date him, it ended terribly," JJ pointed out, "You gotta look at it from his side, Nicole just crushed him,"

"I...I didn't crush him! I was nice, I...I liked him; I thought he liked me too! But he hasn't even come to talk to me, all he's done is mope around and...oh god," Zoey began to rant before hanging her head in shame, "I didn't mean that" She whispered out while squeezing her eyes shut, "I know what's happened to him this week wasn't fair,"

"This week hasn't been fair to a lot of people," JJ sighed back as he crossed his arms, "Kenny's had it rough, Anna too, not to mention you. I can't even imagine how shitty you must feel too,"

"I d-did," Zoey sniffed back, "But I felt better with Kenny, and everything seemed to be going amazing but...but when we got back yesterday, and I said I needed time to think he didn't take that time for himself. Instead of thinking he was having sex with other girls,"

"Which isn't fair, I get that, but from what he told me. You told him to talk to Nicole, and see what he could do with that relationship," Zoey shut her eyes, silently agreeing that she didn't try and take him for herself, "Then after Nicole broke his heart, he acted out and with Anna, she's in that same situation,"

"He picked Anna, didn't he?" Zoey finally asked, her blue eyes wet with tears, "This morning Anna needed him so much, and when we went out h-he picked to stay with her then go with me. K-Kenny wanted Anna way more than me, and now they are-"

"Stop," JJ interrupted, "Listen, I'm just...gonna be fucking honest, damn if I get shit from Kenny later. Ken, he fucking wanted you all yesterday. After he got past his thing with Nicole, he kept wondering what you two were. He lost hope when you picked to be in a room alone, and given the fact that you two have yet to actually fucking talk about what you're thinking, he probably thinks you're the one not interested,"

"What?!" Zoey exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock,

"Well, you said you had to think about things, did you ever pull him aside and tell him what you thought about? Have you done anything besides wait for him to suddenly pull you into his arms and say he wants you?" JJ retorted with a near amused smirk, "Zoey, Kenny's oblivious, and he's not built on confidence, the dude needs to be smacked upside the head sometimes and told to open his eyes,"

"Oh my god...I...I didn't say shit..." Zoey whispered out, "I just thought he'd...What was I supposed to think when he was being with other girls?!"

"Think what you want, but the way I see it, just because Kenny did something with another girl, doesn't mean he doesn't want you. It's not cheating, you know?" JJ argued, "And I know if you latch onto Kenny, he'll latch right back. Not a soul would become between you and him if you're together...that's the kind of person he is. But he won't become that guy to you if you don't fucking talk to him,"

Zoey swallowed hard and blinked a few quick times, everything JJ said made sense but at the same time, she couldn't shake the feeling that Kenny wasn't that committed to something with her. She wanted him and didn't even imagine being with another guy since they were together, how could he? Zoey couldn't tell if that just the romantic personality in her talking or if it was a legitimate concern. Should she fight for Kenny now? Was it too late? Was it-

Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and cleared her mind of all these what-if questions, "I gotta get back to the lodge," She calmly stated, "I need to talk to Kenny, I need to...figure us out today...right now," She firmly stated,

"That's probably for the best," JJ nodded, "Think you can make it back alright or should I follow you back?"

"I'm fine; you should stay and try and talk some sense into him too," Zoey said, motioning her head to Eric, "He needs it way more than I do, and that's saying something..." JJ let out a weak, breathy laugh and nodded looking up towards Eric while Zoey began to walk back down the mountain, "JJ?" Zoey softly said causing the jock to glance back, "Thank you, I really needed to hear that,"

"No problem," JJ smiled back, "Just trying to help out," Zoey flashed him a warm, thankful smile before turning her head back to the path ahead of her and continuing back towards the lodge.