Zoë Rivas: A Short Story

Grace really wished she could say that she saw it coming. She really wished it to be true. Truth is? She didn 't. Sure, the choice of repeating 10th Grade Science may not have been her finest choice, but now, she stood on the beach. Wearing white. She never wore white.

She looked down at her outfit. Sure, the skull on her shirt counted for something. And what about earlier in the summer? Her hair, in pigtails! She never did that.

Then again, she never dealt with having Zoë Rivas as her lab partner. She never saw how smart Zoë was. How beautiful her eyes looked when she got into something. How her chocolate orbs would sparkle, even in the gloomiest of days (which there were more then she anticipated). She never saw Zoë as more then a customer,

That warm hand fitting in hers. Being able to hold it whenever she wanted. All the wonderful banter and sarcastic remarks that they could trade while hanging out at Lola 's. Kissing, oh the kissing, that could happen. Figuring out how to track down two hostages which included a mutual friend before things got worst?

Grace gave a dark chuckle at the last one, hoping something like that never happened again. The thought of losing Matlin and trying to stick it together for Novak was something she definitely did not want to think about.

Maya and Zoë though. They had much more in common then they 'd admit. And yet, Grace never harbored a strong attraction to her blonde friend. Sure, maybe the fact that Novak still pined for her from a far, hostile distance prevented it. Yet the two were her opposites and she still held an attraction for only one of them.

One of them has stuff in common with you dummy.

The thought made her jerk in place, eye blinking, head shaking. Her mouth curled into frown and her face scrunched up. The amount of stuff Grace had in common with both her fellow juniors was pretty much the

The hacker smiled. They saw each other for who they were. She had opened up to the former TV star much faster then she did to Maya. Same with Tiny and Zig. Why though? What made the arrogant, manipulative cheerleader so special? What made her fall for the type of person she swore she would try to stay away from?

"Hey."

Grace turned so quickly, she worried she 'd have whiplash, startled at the sound of Maya 's voice.

"What 's up Matlin?" The blonde noticed the lack of edge to her friend 's greeting and tried to pay no meaning to it.

"Zig and I were wondering if you wanted to join us." Maya smiled nervously, her foot tapping as she waited for Grace 's answer. She turned around to see Zig smiling at her and her friend. She also saw Zoë look toward her with a small smile. Not at her, but toward her, where the only person was... Grace, who looked at Zoë while contemplating her own reply.

Grace shot a wry smile and said, "Let 's go Matlin. As long as you and Novak agree not to play too much tonsil hockey." She started walking toward Zig, leaving a blushing Maya.

As Grace walked towards the group, her eyes never left Zoë 's. The sparkle she came to observe was on full blast.

Why did she fall for this girl. Zoë saw Grace 's true personality on a level no one else had before.

She also let Grace