Loose Change~ Montgomery De La Cruz / Zach Dempsey/Scott Reed

Chapter 8

'Monty isn't the worst guy out there.'

What the fuck was he thinking? Why would he say that to her, especially after hearing the tapes? Did he just want to watch her crawl back to him? Part of him wanted her to forgive Montgomery, because Montgomery was his friend, and he'd never seen him as heartbroken as those days at school when Ophelia wasn't by his side. That part must have taken over when he let out his drunk confession.

He had never seen Montgomery so serious until Ophelia left him, but then again, he apparently didn't know Montgomery as well as he thought anyways. He hoped what he heard about his friend was a lie, but as he sat there studying the way Montgomery interacted with Ophelia, he didn't think it was.

It was Zach's fault that Ophelia was at Bryce's house with them, and he knew this. He had basically given her a reason to forgive him. He had never seen Montgomery act like such a 'gentleman' before. He opened the doors for her, offered her something to drink every few minutes, and even kicked Alex off the Xbox so that Ophelia could play a round with him.

Zach could feel her resistance towards him breaking, and it was all his fault.

Alex, who sat next to Ophelia on the couch in Bryce's pool house, and was watching Montgomery casually rest his arm over Ophelia's shoulders, was having a harder time staying silent.

He remembered when he first heard the tapes. He couldn't believe Montgomery wasn't on them. But then again, Hannah didn't know what he knew...

Alex's leg was touching Ophelia's, and he could feel her body stiffen. Looking over, he saw Montgomery was whispering something to her.

"Hey!" Alex interrupted, "Pay attention to the game, man!"

Montgomery laughed, but he agreed. He pulled away from Ophelia and turned back to his game. He hadn't noticed the silence in the room.

"Monty" Justin suddenly started, "Why don't you and Bryce go on another beer run?"

Jessica sat next to Justin, and she wasn't hiding her angry looks from anyone. She had been glaring at Montgomery the entire time.

"Why me?" Montgomery asked.

"You and Bryce are the only one with your fake IDs on you right now."

Bryce let out a laugh. He sat at the table in the pool house, sipping on a beer as they spoke. "Is there a reason I need to babysit him?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "You trust him not to fuck up the order?"

"Fuck you!" Montgomery yelled.

He didn't look like he planned on moving, so Alex paused the game.

"Come on man, just do the fucking run" Alex told him.

Montgomery let out an annoyed sigh. "Fuck you guys." He jumped to his feet, and then turned around to face Ophelia. "Let's go."

She stayed in her spot. "I'll just stay here."

"The fuck are you talking about? Come with us" Montgomery started.

Justin butted in. "She looks like a fucking fifteen year old, Monty. They're not going to sell you beer with her there."

"She doesn't need to be twenty one, dumbass. Just me and Bryce do."

"Yeah and you'd be the dumbass twenty one year old dating the fifteen year old." Justin flung his arm toward the door. "Would you just fucking go already?"

"Jesus, Justin, would you give me a fucking second" he snapped. Montgomery looked back at Ophelia. "Just come with us."

Ophelia shared a quick glance with Justin. He shook his head.