Jess went home at nine that night and Zack made sure to face time his aunt. He didn't end up going to the party at Jace's but he got several texts and then later some photos from his friends about it. Sunday was spent with his dad and then having dinner with Chloe. So overall, hie weekend was good.
He walked up to his cirlce of friends when he got to school. They were exactly where he knew they'd be, Jace's locker. It's where the group always was. Like some unspoken rule: Jace's locker is where we meet up.
"Hey, Zack." Ki smiles at his approach. Zack smiles back, the happy expression running through them all. "We missed you at the party. Getting shit-faced is definitely the way to go if you're disappointed over a lost game."
Zack rolled his eyes. He only went to about half the parties his friends went to and he never drank that much. They knew how to have fun without him.
"Well my aunt was in town and my dad didn't have to go into work." They all seemed to understand.
He left Jess out of it. That was one of the biggest reasons he didn't go because by the time he took Jess home, the party was just starting and Isaac really didn't feel like leaving his house again.
He didn't have any problem with his friends knowing he hung out with Jess. He was afraid they'd start to tease Jess more or try to be around him. Jess didn't like them and he didn't like being the center of attention. Zack knew his friends could have overbearing personalities and didn't know when to shut up.
It was also because Jess was just a different friend. He didn't fit into this friend group. He was special, different than the meat heads Isaac hung out with every other day.
"Chloe?" Jace looked invested now, referring to what he had said about his aunt being in town. Zack groaned at the hearts forming in his eyes. "Dude!"
"You're not dating my aunt." Zack dead panned. "She's too old for you."
"Age is but a number." Jace waved away Zack's word.
"You won't be saying that if 'your love' gets locked up for being with you." Andrew mused.
"She is not his love." Zack sighed. Jace had met Chloe once and insists it was love at first sight. He spent the whole time flirting with her and she found it quite entertaining. Now he was sure they were going to end up getting married.
"You wanna hang out after school today since we won't have practice?" Ki asked. They would still have athletics last hour but it would just be off-season work for the ones that didn't play basketball so they would get to leave the same time as everyone else.
"Sure." Zack smiled. It had been a while since he had gone over to Ki's. He missed Mrs. Lendev asking him kindly if he wanted to help make dinner and Mr. Lendev teasing him over the table while they ate. He hadn't gotten to ask Victoria, Ki's little sister, if he needed to beat up any boys for her in what felt like too long, and he missed Molly, the lab retriever that roamed the Lendev household.
Ki had been Zack's first close friend. He had befriended Zack when he came back to school and soon the two were inseparable. Jace came along not terribly long after and Andrew joined their little group in seventh grade. Zack considered them all family at this point.
"Cool. Vic misses you, she keeps asking when you're coming over again. I think she's got a crush on you." Ki said with a fond smile. Zack chuckled quietly.
He considered Victoria a little sister of his own. He really hoped she didn't have a crush on him, or if she did it was just a small one that would go away. He didn't want to be her first headache.
"Why doesn't Vic ever miss me?" Jace tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"Because you throw pillows at her and tell her to get out? Just a guess." Andrew joined in, leaning back on the lockers behind him.
"I wouldn't miss you either." Zack said quietly.
Jace turned to him, offended. "Excuse me?" Zack started laughing. "No! Tell me what you said!"
"I said your hair looks nice today."
"You liar." Jace hit him on the back of the head. It wasn't enough to hurt. Jace was laughing too.
"No, I mean it! The way you styled it today, it's totally sexy." Zack's easy smile was making Jace laugh more.
"Shut up, man! You're making it worse." He was starting to wheeze and it was causing the other three to laugh as well.
"I'm just being real with you." Zack said through laughs. "If I didn't tell you about your hairstyle turning me on would we even be friends?"
Jace shoved his shoulder but faltered because of his laughter. He ended up leaning against Zack to keep himself from falling over and Zack grabbed his arm, also laughing.
They looked like fools. Standing in a close circle, Andrew leaning on the lockers, Ki bent over clutching his stomach, Jace and Zack leaning against each other and they were all laughing their asses off. They may have looked like fools but they all felt light.
The bell rang and they tried their hardest to get it together. Although when Jace stood up and met eyes with Zack both boys were sent straight back to laughing. Finally Jace managed a weak punch to Zack's shoulder and they got themselves together enough to stand by themselves.
They went their separate ways for first hour and Zack already knew today was going to be a good day.
And it was.
At lunch Isaac caught Jess's eye. The boy was sitting with a ginger kid and was snacking on a bag of Doritos that Zack had stuck in his locker preciously. The sight made Zack smile as he went back to his usual lunch table.
His friends jokes and Dagger patted his shoulder. Some of the kids were still bummed out about Friday but most had gotten over it. The air wasn't heavy or mean, it was light and friendly.
When the bell rang to signal the end of last hour the air was still the same. He had made it through the day and was okay. He walked out of the locker room with Ki and both of them were chuckling.
They separated when they reached the student parking lot. Jace was running up behind them, trying to catch up to Ki because that was his ride. Ki was smirking at his little prank, making the boy think he was leaving him behind.
They ended up at Ki's house soon enough and after parking, the three went in. They all knew their way around and the rules here like the back of their hand so they slipped off the shoes and Zack went straight to Ki's room, beating the other two there. He collapsed on the bed and Ki was soon after him.
Jace came in not long after with a glass of water. "Your mom's in the kitchen. She said I don't look like I eat enough and asked if I'm okay."
The two on the bed chuckled. Jace sat his water down and then sat in one of Ki's gamer chairs.
Ki's room was much bigger than Isaac's. It had a bed in the middle with a game set up connected to the TV and gamer chairs to the right, the side closest to the door. Then on the left was a little sofa pushed up against the wall with his cloest just a little bit away. It was really spacious and often the target for their hangouts.
The door opened about 15 minutes later, just when Jace started loading up a game on the Xbox. Andrew shut it behind him and huffed as he took the other gamer chair. "Fuck you guys, you didn't even wait on me."
Ki shrugged. "You were taking too long."
Andrew rolled his eyes and yanked the controller out of Ki's hands. The boy glared but settled down to watch like Zack. The two began a match on Call Of Duty and the others on the bed watched quietly, chuckling whenever insults were thrown.
Finally Andrew had enough of losing and dropped the remote to slap Jace. Jace laughed and was using his arms as a shield. Amongst the chaos Ki reached over and stole the controller from Andrew's lap. He didn't even notice until he heard the starting countdown again and stopped hitting Jace to look over.
"Hey! I was playing."
"Not anymore." Ki smiled sweetly at him and Andrew sighed.
"Dick."
"Yeah, I bet you love dick don't you? Are you secretly a fag?" Ki arched a brow with a joking tone and Andrew just rolled his eyes.
Zack shifted ever so much in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. He knew they were just joking around and Ki probably didn't really consider the word a slur because with where they lived people spewed it out as an insult, the same as idiot or jackass. It still bugged him though.
"Shut up, Ki." Jace said, not sounding terribly annoyed but his voice was still a little sharp. "No one thinks you're funny."
"Aw, but that's no fun. I thought you liked my pretty voice."
"Your voice is anything but pretty." Andrew cut in.
"Your mom disagrees." Ki had a small smirk.
"Oh wow, he's twelve again." Jace said, eyes completely focused on the TV in front of him.
"He's always been twelve." Zack said, pushing down the unsteady feeling from before and ignoring it. "I think he's incapable of maturing."
"Okay, hardy-har-har. Joke's over." Ki said although he was smiling with amusement.
"He loves joking until he's the butt of it." Andrew said.
"If we're talking about butts let's talk about how I was balls deep in your mom's last night."
"That's so cringey." Jace said but he was smiling. Even Zack had to shake his head but he too was chuckling under his breath. Ki just chuckled quietly, he loved making corny jokes that are so bad you have to laugh.
"You're done making jokes for that one." Andrew said, looking over at the boy with his game controller. "You've reached your limit. No more allowed."
Ki fake pouted before his character died. Then he groaned and grumbled something. Zack wasn't quite sure what he said but it had fuck in it.
Later they all went downstairs as it neared sinner time. A twelve year old girl with dark brunette hair and lots of freckles ran up and hugged Zack as soon as she saw him. Zack hugged Vicky back and then she ran off again, not before walking Jace with a pillow.
The four sat on the couch and argued over what to watch. They still hadn't decided by the time Ki's mom stuck her head in the living room. "Hey, Zack, wanna help me with dinner?"
"Sure." Isaac smiled and walked away from his bickering friends. He went to the kitchen and the kind woman had him help whenever he could. He loved cooking with Mrs. Lendev, it was one of the best parts of staying at Ki's. Molly stood at the edge of the counter the whole time and waited for dropped food. On occasion Zack would slide her little bits of food and she'd wag her tail as she gobbled it down.
After dinner they all left. Jace had to catch a ride with Andrew because he didn't want to walk. They waved to each other before Zack climbed in his car and started the drive home.
Today was a good day.
○●○●○
Zack:
Lunch in the library?
Zack waited for a reply but it was only second hour so he wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to spend time with Jess again. Most of the time he was wanting to spend time with Jess again.
He liked being around Jess. The boy was easy going and it was nice to be around someone that isn't the same as everyone else you're usually around. Plus, it was a nice bonus that he had a really pretty smile.
Jess replied before the hour was over.
Jess:
Sounds good.
Should I still be checking my locker for a snack before lunch or are you just gonna give it to me there?
Zack:
I'll just give it to you there.
Jess:
Okay.
Isaac spent the rest of his morning classes in a pretty good mood. He was happy.
Dad was home more, his friends were getting along fine, and he was getting a closer friendship with Jess. His life just seemed to be going good lately.
When the lunch bell rang Zack hopped up with a smile. He tried to speed up so he'd make it there before bumping into any of his other friends. He was successful.
This time he beat Jess there so he walked over to their usual corner table. Jess was in seconds after he sat down. The boy walked over and sat across from Isaac with a smile. "Hey."
"Hey." Zack pulled a muffin out of his bag and slid it over the table to Jess. He then pulled another one out for him. "I've never tried these big ones before. Are they any good?"
Jess nodded. "I think so."
"Okay." Zack opened up his muffin the same time as Jess and was the first one to take a bite. He hummed when he did. "You were right. These are really good."
Jess just smiled at him and took a small bite out of his. "How was your day?"
"Good so far. We only have a minimum review in History so I didn't have to scan the book today. Any day I don't have to look for answers in that labyrinth is a good day."
Jess chuckled softly. "Sounds like it."
"Yours?"
"Fine. I finished all of my biology 2 assignment today and it's supposed to last us the rest of the week. I guess that means I'm getting free days in there for awhile."
Isaac raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Sounds sweet."
Jess nodded. "It is."
Isaac noticed that Jess only ate little bits of his muffin at a time. It lasted most of lunch hour while Zack's was gone within minutes. He didn't say anything about it though, he was just glad Jess was eating.
"What do you want to do when you finish hugh school?" Jess broke the silence, looking up at Isaac with dark, curious eyes.
Isaac thought about it. He had thought about that a lot. He knew the answer. "I wanna be a engineer."
That seemed to surprise Jess. "Really?"
"Yeah. I love the idea of making something, or being the brains behind its creation."
"That's really cool." He sounded genuine and he looked interested.
Zack felt a tug at his lips. "I guess. What do you want to do?"
Jess seemed to lose some of his enthusiasm. "I don't know. I mean, I have an idea I guess, but I don't know for sure. I like the idea of being a web designer or something technical like that. I did some research but I'm still not sure."
"Well that's okay, you got time to figure it out."
Jess smiled a little. "Yeah."
"So are you gonna go to college for like tech stuff?" He didn't know what exactly he was asking so it sounded weird. He facepalmed eternally, scared he suddenly sounded stupid.
Jess didn't seem to mind though, "Yeah, I plan on going to the closest community college to study computer science."
That wasn't too far away from them, about an hour drive. Isaac smiled. "That sounds cool."
"Yeah, maybe." He took another little bite out of his muffin. He made sure to swallow before speaking again. "Do you plan on staying here after you graduate?"
Zack hadn't really thought about that. He shrugged in response. "I haven't thought too much on that. I guess, unless I have a reason to go somewhere else, I will."
Jess nodded. "I get that."
"Are you planning to stay?" For some reason Zack really wanted to know.
"Well, I'm gonna move away for college. After that I guess it just depends on how I feel about coming back here."
"Yeah." Zack nodded. "Makes sense."
"It's weird to think about, y'know. Next year everything is gonna be about applying to college and graduating. I'm not sure I'm really ready for that." Jess looked down at the table, picking at his hands as he talked. "I feel like I haven't really gotten to live that much as a teenager yet and adulthood is already so close."
Zack frowned a little. He didn't like the gloomy look on Jess's face at the moment. He stuck his foot out and poked Jess's making the boy look back up at him. He tried to make his smile look the best he could. "Hey, we still got time right? If you think about all that stuff too much right now, it takes away some of our time. If you feel you haven't really gotten to be a teenager yet then use the time we have now to do what you want to do."
Jess stared at him. He soaked in the words and a slow smile came to his face. It was small but it was better than before. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Isaac smiled again. "Now, why do you say you don't feel like you've lived as a teenager?"
Jess shrugged. He took two more bites of his muffin and finished it, throwing the trash away since the can was right by their table. "I've never been that close friends with people before so I haven't gotten too many chances to do a lot of things. I also feel like it's my job to take care of my mom so I guess that gets in the way."
Zack watched the boy as he spoke. He didn't look too sad about it necessarily, but rather just like he was a little disappointed. Like he was ashamed he'd missed good opportunities.
"Well then, let's live your life as a teenager now. We've got time, and you've got me. I'll drive you wherever you need to go and take you places or do things with you if you want."
Jess chuckled a little under his breath. "Thank you, but I don't care too much for all the normal stuff. I'd be fine to just hang out. Y'know, like we've been doing."
Jess's smile made Zack happy. Jess liked hanging out with him, that also made him happy. He nodded. "Then we can keep hanging out. Whenever you want."
"Sounds good." Jess smiled and looked down at the table. "Thanks, Isaac."
"For what?"
"I don't know... maybe it's stupid. I don't care though, thank you for being my friend." Jess said and Zack's heart melted.
He opened his mouth to tell him he didn't have to thank him. To tell him that he loved being around him. He wanted to tell him that he deserved to have more friend. He didn't get to though, the bell rang and Jess smiled softly while standing up.
"I'll see you later?"
"Uh... yeah, yeah. I'll see you." Zack sat frozen in his seat. Finally he managed to look up again, just as Jess was getting ready to walk out the library door. "Hey," Jess looked over his shoulder. "No need to thank me. I like being around you too much to not be your friend."
He flashed Jess a smile and Jess smiled back. They went about their day after that. Isaac couldn't help the happy feeling in his chest.
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I was kinda sleepy when editing this so feel free to point out any mistakes.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
Love you ♡
- Z