The Judgement of Zack

Ashley grabbed their beers and returned to the living room, just as the next episode of ‘Keeping up with the Kar-Smashians’ began. Together the trio binged on the mindless television show, distracting themselves from the wait for Zack’s return, focusing on the trivial banality rather than the looming questions of Hannah’s victory and Lisa’s fate. It was strange that their lives had become more dramatic than even this so-called ‘reality television', but then fact was sometimes stranger than fiction. They got through three twenty-five minute episodes before the sound of Zack’s sedan pulling up broke through the noise of the intro theme for the fourth.

Ashley quickly turned the television off and hopped to her feet, like an excited puppy ready to welcome its master home. Heather stood too, but slower and more deliberate. Brandon remained sitting, unconcerned and willing to leave it up to Ashley and Heather to detail what had happened and their opposing views. Besides, he was much more interesting in seeing Madison.

Victoria entered the cabin first, confused and frightened by the welcoming party. It looked like a firing line to her, and she wondered if Kurt had called ahead. Maybe he had only been so nice to her to lure her back into this ambush, so they could all stand in judgement together, and tell her how awful she was, that she really was a slut, and there really was no saving her. Her face drained of colour and she wanted to run. Fear turned to panic as Ashley lunged forward.

She reached past Victoria and grabbed Zack’s wrist, dragging him off down the hall. Heather looked back to Victoria, seeing her confusion and mistaking it for being upset that they weren’t being included. “Sorry, we’ll explain everything to everyone else once we’ve talked to Zack,” she said, before setting off down the hall after Ashley.

Down the hall, in the bedroom Ashley and Heather shared, the petite blonde pulled Zack into the room, leaving the door open for Heather to enter a moment later. Zack yanked his arm from Ashley’s grasp, surprising her slightly, before turning to face the two women. Looking from one to the other, he said, “Okay, what’s so important that you couldn't tell me in front of everyone else? Last I heard from Chloe, you two were taking Brandon to try and record a confession from Hannah. Didn’t that work?”

“Oh, it worked.” Heather gave a short scathing laugh. “Brandon has Hannah’s confession on his phone right now as we speak.”

“So, why are we standing here?” Zack asked, irritably. “Why aren’t we taking it to the police station already?”

“Because Hannah had a recording of her own. A video of…” Ashley explained, finding the words catching in her throat as she even attempted to put into words the union of Heather and Robert Ravers that she'd seen on the screen.

“Me and my dad,” Heather finished for her. “Specifically, me giving him a blowjob.”

Zack chuckled. “You’re kidding.”

Ashley shook her head and felt like she might throw up. “I wish.”

“No, it actually happened. Me and my father are a little closer than parent and child should be,” Heather admitted, grimacing as Zack’s incredulous expression turned to abject horror. “And if the only issue was that I’m doing it and that it’s wrong, well I’d tell everyone to suck it up and stay out of my business. But, of course, the fact that Hannah has a video of it means that she can make my life a mess.”

“I get it,” Zack replied, rubbing his chin as he ignored the imagined images of Robert and Heather, father and daughter, as lovers. “We use her confession and she destroys Ravers’ Enterprises.”

“Yes, but that’s not all of it,” Ashley noted, swallowing hard. “This video also concerns you and your family.”

“See, the day this video was taken was the same day that I went to speak to my dad about the affair with your mum,” Heather elaborated, watching Zack’s face tighten. “Of course, as I said, my dad didn’t know anything about you maybe being his child, but he did confirm the affair, and the mere fact that I even asked the question is going to lead to a lot of speculation.”

“Dammit,” Zack growled, clenching his fists but resisting the urge to punch something. “I told my mom that she should tell dad, but I don’t know if she did. I wanted to leave it up to her, rather than me telling him behind his back. He deserves to know, just as I deserve to know who my real dad is, but not like this.”

“I know, I know it’s tough,” Ashley said, stepping forward and caressing his shoulder with a tender hand. “That’s why we need you to decide what happens next. We talked about it and we couldn’t agree, but this also concerns you, so you get the deciding vote.”

Zack exhaled hard, head bowed and asked, “What are our options?”

“Well, that’s my point,” Heather revealed, leaning back against the wall. “What option do we have? We tried and we failed. It was one thing when we had nothing to lose by helping Lisa, but now you and I have everything to lose. It’s not even a matter of simply coming up with another plan, we also need to keep the new plan a secret from Hannah. One slip and she can ruin us. As soon as she hears the knock on the door and the police announcing their arrival, she’ll have time to upload the video before she answers the door. We can save Lisa but only at great expense. And I know, your natural intuition is to play hero and sacrifice yourself, but think about your mother and father, Zack, and what you’re forcing them to sacrifice.”

Looking to Ashley, Zack said, “And I assume that you think I should sacrifice myself and my family for Lisa?”

“I’m losing too here, Zack. I’m losing my sister, and what she’s done will haunt my family for the rest of our days. But it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?” Ashley fired back.

“Do you at least have a plan?” Zack asked, looking for some kind of foothold he could use to get behind Ashley’s argument.

The blonde folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “Well, no. But I know someone who might be able to help. I already called and-”

“Wait, you already called?!” Heather interjected angrily. “Dammit, Ash, we said we’d wait until we talked to Zack before making any decisions. And instead you just went behind my back! That’s what you were doing in the toilet when we arrived, wasn’t it?”

“Yes!” Ashley admitted, stubbornly. “I couldn’t just sit back and let this happen. I had to do something even if you wouldn’t.”

“You were planning on going ahead with this even if Zack said no, weren’t you?” Heather realised, her fury growing. “You self-centred, selfish little bitch. Wasn’t it that kind of attitude that got us into this in first place? Hannah acting out of her own self-interest without thinking how it affected other people…no, even before that, indulging in your own desires at Brandon’s expense. It’s not enough that you burn down your own relationships, you have to burn down mine now too.”

“Sorry if the admonishment of a girl who would willing suck her own father’s dick and wants to do more than even that doesn’t carry a whole lot of moral and ethical weight with me. Chastising me for indulging in my desires when Hannah wouldn’t even have a video to **** us with if you could have stayed off your knees,” Ashley snapped bitterly. “You think being utterly devoted to your father to the point that you’d fuck him is any better than being self-centred? You’re delusional, Heather!”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d ever really loved anyone,” Heather shouted, stepping closer to Ashley. “All you have are games. You cheated on Brandon and you cheated on Zack, and look now, you’re even going behind my back and telling yourself it’s the right thing to do. You can’t help yourself.”

“Well, let’s see if I can help this!”

Ashley raised her hand and swung but her palm didn’t meet Heather. Instead it crossed Zack’s face, staggering him as he stepped between the two women. Immediately Ashley withdrew her hand, clasping it over her mouth, horror-struck at who she’d actually slapped, the red imprint glowing on his cheek. The sound seemed to ring out through the room continuously, moments still after the deed had been done. Both women took a step back, like boxers returning to their corners.

Having diffused the fight before it could begin, Zack stretched out his arms, a hand towards both women, looking from the blonde to the brunette and back.

“Enough,” he said. “I’ve decided what we’re gonna do.”