What's happened to us... | A The Music Freaks Backstory AU

the Final Part (PLOT)

So, everyone begins to give Zander the silent treatment, and he finds himself as lonely as ever.

Seeing how closed off Zander becomes, Luke gets more and more worried, and he decides to send  the e-mail he had saved about how Zander can trust both him and Hailey, and that he should talk to them.

This is Luke's last hope of reconnecting with Zander during this period.

So, now,

As November begins, its gets announced by the teachers that there will be research projects for the sixth grade exposition at the end of the year, and that they need to choose the teams they're going to be working with  for the rest of the year.

So, the classes pick out teams during the week. 

Hailey ends up pairing up with some of the girls from her class, Luke gets dragged into a team with Nathan and some girls, and Zander.... well, thats where the problem is. 

Zander doesn't have a team. He doesn't have enough courage to go up to anyone (even when Luke offers to let him in his team, he refuses, he doesn't want to be on a team with Nate). So he just stays out.

The thought of having to go up to the teacher later, so he can get placed into a team nobody wants him in feels extremely humilliating, so he stalls on it as much as he can.

In one of the days before he finds a team, he's eating lunch in one of the hallways. Every day he seems to loose his appetite a bit more. But this time,  something changes.

Nicholas aproaches him while he's trying to eat, and Zander, freaked out, doesnt immediatley trust him. But they're completly alone, and to his surprise Nicholas acts very different when its just the two of them.

Nick seems to be no harm. He tells Zander that he saw he didnt had a team, and asks him about it.  

Obviously, Zander is all like "Uhhh, hello, you told everyone to ignore me and now no one wants to be on a team with me".

Nick claims that the silent treatment wasn't actually his doing, and that all he was trying to do was call out how some people were acting as if Zander didn't exist. 

Zander doesn't fullly buy his crap, but he doesn't say anything.

Still, Nick continues. As he speaks, Zander realizes that Nick is not doing his open-out theater talk, and that that's why he sounds so different.

Nick explains that he is trying to "make up for his past actions" by inviting Zander to be on his team for the group proyects.

Zander questions how this is even possible since they're from different classrooms, and Nick explains that last year, a bunch of girls from the different classes decided to do their project together , and were allowed to, so Nick convinced the teacher to let him do this NOW since it was only one person.

Zander is confused, but the fact that Nicholas just removed the large burden of humilliation that was having to find a team after everyone else moves him, and he finally lets his guard down.

Seen this older boy go out of his way to help him and talk to him when nobody else would feels special and genuine. Looking at his blonde hair shining in the light of the hallway, and listening to his normal voice is enough for Zander to know that Nick is not a bad kid.

Almost at the end of lunchtime, Zander asks Nick why he hasn't eaten anything, to what Nick replies that his mother forgot to "throw him any", admitting that she doesn't really pay that much attention to him. 

Zander immediately relates to the feeling of having bad parents, and tells him that its okay, giving his lunch to Nicholas.

The school bell eventually rings and, when some other of the popular kids from 6th grade start coming into the hallway, Nick instinctly hits Zander in the face with hiw finger and stands up, completly ignoring him again. 

When people ask him what he was doing hanging out with Zander, he replies:

"UGH, LITERALLLY NOTHING, the teacher just forced me to let him into my team for the research project, and I had to explain that to him- It took ages to find him though, wierdo eats lunch in the hallways, he didn't even want it he gave it to me- "

This leaves Zander with an extremely bittersweet feeling.

Zander giving his lunch to Nicholas becomes a trend for the rest of the schooldays until vacation.

And, as time goes on, another trend arises.

Nicholas begins talking to Zander during lunchtime and even after school. They both prefer staying at school or walking around at parks rather than immediately going home. And when he does, he talks to him sincerly, and actually turns out to be a really cool guy, who just struggles to get his parents's attention and wants to help other younger kids feel like they have someone who has their backs. The more time they spend together, the more Zander becomes attached to him. Nick is the only person who actually speaks to him.

But obviously, whenever someone else shows up, its over. Nick, goes back to telling him off and calling him a gay wierdo who plays piano.

Still, attention is attention. Acknowledgement is acknowledgement.

And Zander has to understand, right? Just like its hard for him to act "cool" in front of the other kids, its difficult for Nick to show his true self, he knows that. He knows Nick.

But then again, it doesnt matter, Nick is all he has.  

- Lastly, I want to mention another important scene from one time, where, after school, and after everyone else leaves, Zander and Nick go walk at a park that's near the school, just to chat and pass the time. At some point, someone smoking a cigarette crosses near them, making Zander cough deeply and making him zone out for a long period of time, to the point where he seems deeply distressed and is shaking from this.  Seeing this, Nick is concerned and asks if Zander has asthma or something of the sort, to what Zander replies that he doesnt really know why, but the scent of cigarettes makes him really angry and makes him have "a lot of negative thoughts". Nick brushes this of as another wierd thing Zander has, but in the back of his mind, this is just another one of Zander's weaknesses.

Obviously we as readers know what's up, but middle school Zander has no idea how immense this is...