Meeting the Press and Back Home

Meeting the Press and Back Home

Zack followed Vicky deeper into the newsroom, “You already know Jake Hayes, our part-time photographer and Alice Phillips my unofficial second-in-command.” Zack once again waved at Jake and Alice, who had gone to sit next to her boyfriend. Vicky gestured towards another boy, this one had short blond hair and blue eyes and like Gavin looked every bit a nerd minus the glasses, “This is Cody Zimmer one of our reporters, he tends to be our fact checker as he is rather insistent on getting the facts correct. He is also our go to source for any information we might need on history.”

Cody looked up from his computer and gave a polite wave, “Welcome to the team, I’m Cody!” Zack smiled as he went to shake the teens hand, “Zack, I look forward to working with you.” Cody shook Zack’s hand, “Likewise dude!” Vicky then took Zack to another teen boy, this one looked more in shape and athletic, surprising Zack with his presence. The young teen looked like he would be more at home on a basketball court or soccer field. He had short blonde hair and dark green eyes, “This is Virgil Brody. You might recognize him as the vice-president of the tennis club, but he is also interested in the news side of sports so he volunteered to be our sports reporter.” Vicky introduced the teen who gave Zack a fist bump, “Virgil, I got you covered with all things sports related, nice to meet you man.” Zack smiled, “Zack, good to meet you too.”

Zack looked around, “I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were understaffed?” Victoria sighed, “Yeah, only you and Virgil showed up, though I am glad you both did. We needed a sports reporter and another writer so Alice and I don’t have to try to share the load of writing by ourselves. It’s a dismal turnout this year, but I am happy you came Zack. I thought about approaching you about joining the paper, but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject without seeming ****.” Zack looked at her in surprise, “Why were you going to ask me to join?” Alice rolled her eyes, “Zack everyone knows you are probably the best in our year when it comes to English and Literature. Joining the school paper seems like a no brainer to me.” Zack looked sheepishly at Victoria, “Sorry, I didn’t come in previous years,” besides his trying out for the basketball team Zack also couldn’t work up the courage to ask to join due to his crush on Vicky.

Vicky waved her hand dismissively, “You are here now and that’s what matters. We aren’t really doing anything today. We just stayed after hoping for people to accept the invitation to join the paper. We will probably have our first official meeting this Thursday if that works for everyone?” Zack nodded, “Works for me,” both Cody and Virgil nodded, as did Alice. Jake smiled apologetically, “Alice can fill me in later, don’t want to miss more than one practice on the first week back.” Victoria nodded in understanding, “No problem Jake, not sure how much we will need a photographer for the first edition, but I will have Alice let you know.” Jake smiled and nodded before Vicky suggested they all head out for the day.

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After leaving the Speedy Scout office, Zack thought about heading to the soccer field to see if Chloe would need a ride, but then remembered that his ex Lisa Rivera was also on the soccer team. Though their breakup had been amicable enough, Zack still really didn’t want to see her, it brought up too much guilt and he suffered from enough guilt over their relationship he didn’t think he could handle more. The young teen sighed as he headed to the parking lot and his car, he knew Chloe would likely get a ride home from one of her team members. He got into his car and turned the key, starting it, but before he could drive off there was a knock on his passenger window. He looked over to see Heather waving at him prompting him to roll down the window, “What’s up Heather? Everything alright, shouldn’t you be at cheer practice?”

Heather smiled, “We were taking a break and I noticed Vicky in the bleachers, so I figured you would be heading home. I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out Saturday? I thought we could grab lunch or dinner at Alfred’s. You can bring who you want.” Zack thought for a moment, “I will have to check to make sure my parents don’t have anything planned, so I will text you and let you know? Or I can tell you tomorrow during school?” Heather gave him a smirk, “Always the good boy?” Zack shrugged, “My parents like to plan family things for us to do sometimes on weekends.” Heather chuckled, “Just let me know yeah? Whether through text or talking to me tomorrow.” Zack nodded and smiled, before saying goodbye and heading out of the school parking lot.

Zack drove towards his home, head bobbing to the music he was listening to as he thought about the day. He didn’t know what Brandon’s deal was, Ash said she had talked to him and said he was fine, was his outburst really just about him eating lunch with her and Heather? Or was it Brandon just being Brandon? Zack frowned as he spoke to himself, “He really seemed to think I did something against him, but I hadn’t even seen him until he pushed me up against the lockers. Could someone have lied to him to send him after me?” Zack couldn’t think of who would do something like that, he didn’t really have any enemies, even with Brandon he was pretty sure it mainly stemmed from the rivalry between the football and basketball teams since Zack had a few friends from the basketball team. He shrugged to himself, “Hopefully it was just Brandon being Brandon with being an ass.”

Zack sighed as he pulled into his driveway, despite what happened with Brandon, it was a good day. He got to talk with Heather and he successfully joined the school paper. All in all it was a good day and he was smiling as he unlocked the door to his house, dropping his bag by the door and heading towards the kitchen. He didn’t see his parents in the living room as he passed, maybe they weren’t home yet? The mystery of where his parents were was soon solved as he found them preparing dinner in the kitchen, “I’m home.” Monica and Daniel turned to look at him sternly, causing Zack to look around sheepishly, “Uh, what did I do?” Monica turned and placed her hand on her hips, “Not letting us know you would be late getting home young man!” Zack looked at his mother in surprise, before looking past her to see his father not looking at him and he was pretty sure he could see his father’s shoulders bobbing with barely contained laughter.

Zack fought back a smirk, catching on to the game. He looked at his mother, “B-But I told Paris to leave you a note to let you know… I-I wanted to try and join a club to put on college applications.” Zack put on his puppy dog look that he knew his mother couldn’t stay mad at and sure enough Monica huffed, which broke the dam on Daniel’s laughter. Monica turned her glare onto Daniel, “If you could keep a straight face!” Daniel only laughed louder, with Zack soon joining in, which eventually caused Monica to break down as well. After a good few minutes of laughter Monica wiped her eyes and turned back to Zack, “So how did it go honey?” Zack smiled, “I joined the school paper!” Monica and Daniel smiled with the former saying, “I am sure Peter will be thrilled!” Zack nodded, “I plan on texting him about it after dinner.”

Monica smiled and nodded, “Well dinner will still be a bit, so you can go shower and change if you want.” Zack nodded, but stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, “Oh, before I forget, do you guys have anything planned for us on Saturday?” The two parents looked at each other with Daniel answering, “Not at the moment, why?” Zack smiled, “Oh, I just wanted to hang out with some friends Saturday, but wanted to make sure nothing was planned.” Daniel smiled, “Nope, nothing, you are good to go buddy!” Zack nodded and smiled at his father, feeling a little guilty for keeping that it was Heather he was going to hang out with, “Great, I will think I will just let them know at school tomorrow. I am going to go and shower be back in a few!” His parents nodded and Zack went down to his room, getting things together before hopping in the shower.