It's time to come to terms

Friday finally arrived and Zack was all but a zombie of himself. He would have ditched entirely if his mom would have let him, but he knew that would have greater consequences. He moped through his classes catching the attention of his close friends as well as Heather, Amber, and even Scarlett. He was just trying to wrap his head around everything that has happened.

___

First, it was Amber who tracked him down to try and cheer him up thinking it’s the least she can do. The eager girl popped up next to him as he opened his locker and nearly made him piss himself. He took a moment to adjust himself and greet the bubbly girl. She didn’t know all that was going on but figured chocolate milk and donuts could fix almost anything. Zack still startled, tried to process the grinning girl offering gifts. He did his best to smile and be appreciative of the surprise treat but just couldn’t shake off how he was feeling. Even in his funk, he had to admit that he actually liked having the sweet girl around. She hugged him tight and laid her head on his chest for a few moments. Amber would probably stay just like this all day if given the opportunity. This was possibly the first time Zack had felt at ease all morning and leaned into the nice girl with a bit of ease. Amber gave him a final squeeze before hopping off and giving him his space. On Amber’s part she was far from defeated. She was already planning the next step to cheer up the guy.

___

Heather took a different approach and went straight to the source. As Ashley shut her locker, she was startled to see a frustrated Heather staring back at her. “You are aware that you’ve single handedly turned our school into a soap opera, right?” Heather asked without holding back much at all. The troubled blonde had difficulty looking at her friend and instead focused on getting her materials for class. “All I’ve heard you talk about for the last several years was Zack to a point that I thought my ears would bleed. Now you won’t even go near the guy, and he looks like fucking Eeyore dragging through the hallways.” Ashley cringed knowing that others could see how hard he was taking it. “Please tell me he did something stupid enough that could help this make sense, then we can hate him together.”

Ashley looked away and took a second before she shook her head no. “No… he’s amazing. I just don’t want to do anything that we are going to regret or hurt him in any way.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you are doing.” Heather responded. Quickly noticing the pained expression on Ashley’s face, the brunette decided to slightly soften her approach. “If he makes you happy then give it a chance. If that’s not what you want, then we can slut it up at college next year.” Ashley cracked the briefest of smiles finally showing Heather that she was getting through to her. “Get your shit together or you’re going to lose him. There’re already multiple girls waiting to pick up the pieces. Shit, you’re lucky I’m his cousin.” Heather smiled and nudged Ashley finally getting a brief moment of life out of the girl.

___

Zack heard a surprising voice behind him as he made his way to his next class. “Hey, I must have missed you at Heather’s party last Friday. It wasn’t the same without you staring at my ass the whole time. I’m going to assume that’s why you’ve been so down lately.” Scarlett teased with her breathtaking smile while studying the meek guy. “There’s a kick ass concert tomorrow night. You want to be my bodyguard?”

Zack now slightly snapped out of his emo stage, tried his best to collect himself. “Wait, what about Luke?”

“What about him? We aren’t dating. He’s probably halfway across the country right now.” Scarlett eyed the guy up and down and found his innocence kind of cute. All the more fun to corrupt him. They haven’t really spent much time together before, but she figured she’d be waiting forever if she expected him to make the first move. “What do you say Bishop?”

Zack did his best attempt at calming his nerves and looked back at the beautiful girl that has been in far too many of his fantasies. “I mean sure. What time do you want to meet there?”

Scarlett laughed and laid her hand on the sweet guy’s shoulder. You can pick me up at 7. I’ll send you my address.” She grinned and lightly trailed her hand down his chest and grazing his abs as she turned to walk away.

If this is how the first two weeks of senior year have gone, Zack may be lucky to survive.

___

School finally let out and Zack walked to his car to get away from the place. He suddenly felt someone jump on his back and nearly panicked before recognizing the girly giggle. “Miss me Zacky?” Hannah stared at the startled boy she was currently wrapped around. Hannah loved the tease but was also surprised by Zack’s more muscular physique. Basketball might be good for him after all, and she couldn’t help but cop a few feels. Taylor rolled her eyes wondering why she even let her come. The brunette finally caught Zack’s attention and gave her brother a sweet nod followed up by a middle finger to Hannah. Hannah stuck her tongue out and then smiled squeezing him tighter just to irk Taylor. Zack blushed at the teasing girls actions and was surprised at seeing a third in his surprise attack party. Peter smiled and walked up to hug the guy as he did his best to swat Hannah off of him and create some peace between the two battling girls. Peter, Taylor, and Hannah have been inseparable since they were young. He also took an early liking to Zack who he basically sees as a little brother. They have a lot in common and also have a guilty pleasure in discussing mysteries together thanks to Zack’s uncle Malcolm. He didn’t hesitate to make the trip for a second when he heard Zack was having a tough time. He also knows that the two girls can mean well but often times make things worse in their unique ways.

“Wait, where’s my sister?” Hannah looked around surprised that the two were actually apart for once. The troubled guy took a deep breath and looked away before Peter caught on first and tried to change the subject. Both girls noticed something was off as well and Taylor’s kick to Hannah’s shin made it clear to not question him further. Hannah wrapped herself around the guy once again not sure if she was trying to get a bigger rise out of Zack or Taylor.

The loud distinct voice of her sister caught Ashley’s attention as she was trying to hurry to her mom’s car that she drove to school. Ashley was a bit hurt that her sister didn’t tell her she was coming in town. She was also fuming, seeing Hannah all over Zack. The fired-up girl fought off the urge to confront her sister as she wasn’t sure if she could face Zack right now.

The four continued to catch up and you could instantly see Zack starting to act like his normal self. He took advantage off the three college students bickering about their plans for the night and caught eyes with Madison before she quickly looked away. Taking advantage of the three caught up, he snuck off for a second. Madison was startled at seeing an out of breath Zack standing in her path. He took a deep breath and stepped a bit closer. Cautious to not draw too much attention in public, he locked eyes on the troubled girl. “I was in a weird place earlier. I should have kissed you back and would love to right now if we weren’t in public. I hate that I keep screwing everything up.” Zack continued to mumble and apologize to Madison as she finally wrapped her arms around him to shake him out of it. As caught off guard as she was, she was also touched by his honesty. No longer giving a shit about sneaking around, she lunged forward and kissed the surprised boy hard while wrapping her arms around him. This time, he kissed her back and couldn’t help but pull her close. Neither caring for the split moment. This time they were in the complete open and had plenty of spectators. This was certain to drive the sports team rival further once Brandon caught word. The only thing in Zack’s favor is that Brandon wasn’t around to witness. In current attendance was a hurt Ashley & Amber, interested Hannah & Scarlett, and disappointed Taylor, Chloe, and Paris.

Kevin shook his head, hoping he could get this under control before his planned date with Chloe.