Bad Blood

Kurt and Heather led the way back to the cabin, both with the flashlights, while Zack and Lisa followed behind. The young Latina noticed that Zack was staring at the ground as he walked, looking but not really seeing, gazing into something that only he could see. She was also aware that he’d been silent ever since they’d left the waterfall area. Even in all their time dating, Lisa had never seen her ex-boyfriend this pensive. Zack was usually an upbeat kind of guy and even when things weren’t going his way he wasn’t the type to revert into himself. Whatever had happened was big.

“Hey,” Lisa said, softly, nudging the dark-haired boy lightly with her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m…uh…I…” Zack looked up, startled then smiled weakly. “I’m just tired.”

“You sure? It seemed like you were going to say something back there at the waterfall, when it was just the two of us,” Lisa prompted him. “Something about your mum fucking someone and something being in the blood?”

“…you have a pretty good memory, you know that?” Zack replied, frowning.

“Only when something sounds significant,” Lisa looked at him with wide, open eyes. “And I can tell it was important to you.”

“The person I saw my mum having sex with was Heather’s dad.” He revealed, and then seeing the shock on Lisa’s face he continued, “That’s not the most surprising part. We actually caught them kissing earlier. But this time, while he was…inside…her, he said that he couldn’t believe they hadn’t had sex in eighteen years.”

Lisa, like Zack and Heather, was quick to do the maths. “So, they were having an affair right up to the point where you were conceived and now you think Robert might be your father?”

“Exactly,” he admitted, the devastation evident on his face. “You know, I was kind of torn up when I found out my mum was cheating on my dad. Yeah, because it was a betrayal of my father, and it reminded me of what I’m going through with Ashley, but it also made me think about myself. That sounds selfish but-”

“No, I get it,” Lisa assured him, comforting him with a small, warm hand on his shoulder. “You’re worried that cheating in something you inherited from your mother. Doubly so because of who you know your father to be now.”

“Right,” Zack agreed, taken aback by how quickly Lisa had seemed to have intercepted his own thoughts. “It sort of makes me wonder if I’m even capable of being faithful to anyone.”

“Back at the waterfall, you told me that I can’t put your actions on myself. That’s true for you too. You can’t put the actions of Robert or your mum on yourself,” Lisa told him. “You are not them. Just because Robert sleeps around or your mum has affairs doesn’t mean that’s what you have to do.”

“But I already have. I cheated on you. I cheated on Chloe. Earlier in the week I had a choice to make, I was standing right here in this forest with Ashley right in front of me and I had to choose between her and Chloe and I couldn’t deny the temptation of what was right in front of me,” Zack argued, pulling at his hair with both hands. “Maybe this is just who I naturally am; a philanderer and a cheat.”

“You are not. Lest you forget, Zack Bishop, you turned me down. That night you got hit by my dad’s car, I offered myself to you and you turned me down. I choose to believe that’s because you’re a good and honourable man who can make his own decisions and stick by them. I had to trick Ashley into giving us permission before you would even consider it.” Lisa growled, her eyes flaring with an enraged passion. “Do you know how insulting it would be if you’re this man who’s incapable of being faithful and I’m the one woman you were able to successfully pass up?”

“Ah…aha…when you put it like that I suppose…” Zack swallowed hard and laughed awkwardly. “I guess…I am capable of saying no, if I really want to.”

“Of course, you are, no matter who your parents are you still have free will. You are still your own person. Even if you are like them in some ways, you have your own life to live and your own choices to make,” Lisa insisted. “Pinning your bad decisions on your parentage is avoiding accountability as much as it is to blame it on **** or poor judgement. And no boyfriend of mine will be a man who can’t take responsibility for his actions.”

“B-boyfriend?” Zack choked on his own breath. “I haven’t even broken up with Ashley.”

“Trust me,” Lisa said with a slight smile and a sparkle in her eyes. “All in good time.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the boldness of his Latina ex-girlfriend. It made her feisty and fun to be around but also driven and determined and he knew in that moment that if she set her mind to becoming his girlfriend again it was a mission she would likely accomplish. The only real question was whether that was also what he wanted. Unfortunately, there was still another question plaguing his brain.

“You’re right. I can’t hold my mistakes against my parents but…” He sighed, wishing he could just move past it. “I think I need to know who my father is.”

“Really?” Lisa asked. “Even if it won’t make any difference to who you are?”

“Yeah. Because it will make some difference. Like Heather will be my half-sister. But beyond just that I won’t want to spend my whole life wondering,” Zack explained thoughtfully. “Like, every time I look at my dad, I’ll wondering if he’s really my biological father. Or if I see Robert again, I’ll secretly be thinking ‘you could be my actual father’. Or just seeing Heather in school, all I’ll be able to focus on is whether we’re related. For my own peace of mind, I think I need to know.”

Lisa nodded, understanding. “Then you need to talk to your mother as soon as we get back to the cabin.”

As luck would have it, Lisa said that moments before the trail opened up and they came upon their cabin. Their luck ran out there however, as Monica Bishop's car was already gone, as was Robert Ravers.

“Guess I’ll try and get in touch with mum tomorrow,” Zack said resignedly as he and Lisa followed Heather and Kurt up the steps to the cabin. As they reached the top, the four of them standing outside the cabin’s main door, Heather turned the handle and opened it.