"Zach? Are you even listening to me?" Chloe's irritating voice broke into his reverie
"Not really" he responded, "I didn't think I had to, I thought you just talked for the sake of it." He added
"Huh?! What the hell?! Fuck you Zach, fuck you! We are over!" She almost yelled it and most of those in the school cafeteria, that lunchtime, tried to overhear what was happening, Zach shrugged
"Okay, see you around." He said taking another bite of his sandwich, the relief he felt was extreme, the girl had been so damn demanding and time consuming, he hardly noticed the huffy way she stomped away from his table, he certainly didn't notice the looks he got from everyone else; the guys suddenly wanted to be as cool and nonchalant as him and the girls all wanted to prove that they could hold his attention better than Chloe had. Zach the playboy was born that day and he didn't notice that either.
"How do you stay so cool?" Mike asked, sitting down opposite him
"Huh?"
"In the face of a girl's fury, how do you stay cool?"
"Have you met Ness?" Zach gave Mike a look that could freeze someone at fifty paces "If you can face her down in a fury, or even hold her back from a fight, you can stay cool with any girl, because their 'fury' is laughable in comparison to hers." He nodded to Mike and stood, "see ya" he said, not in the mood to talk to the guy, he went looking for Ness, he knew where she would be, she still sat on the grass under a tree, like she had since 10th grade.
"Hey Zach, I just saw Chloe storm past, what happened?" she asked,
"Hey; she dumped me, thank fuck." He shrugged as he replied, "she never stopped talking, and if she did it was only to ask me why I hadn't answered or agreed with whatever the fuck she had just said, like how was I going to do that if I wasn't listening?"
"You are such a douche!" Ness punched his arm lightly, "You are supposed to at least half listen so you can respond with a grunt at the correct time" she grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yeah, but if I did that, she wouldn't have dumped me, and I would still be stuck half-listening" he grinned in response "at least I gave her the satisfaction of dumping me."
The next day he had another girl, hanging on his arm and the next week it was another, Ness laughed at his new Playboy persona but secretly she was jealous of every one of them. Zach turned on the charms and gazed into their eyes as if they were the only girl in the World, and she wished he would look at her like that.
Ness caught him in the parking lot on Wednesday afternoon, without a girl for a change,
"Are you going to Scott's party, Friday night?" She asked
"Sure am, guessing from the question that you'll be there"
"Yeah, it's just down the road from me so no big deal"
"I'll be driving there, gotta pick up Heather first." Zach grimaced, she was as clingy as all the others had been and he was bored.
"You sure you'll still be with Heather by Friday?" Ness joked, Zach just laughed.
It was still early when Ness arrived at Scott's house, but the party was already in full swing, she had spotted Zach's car as she walked along the sidewalk, so she knew he had already arrived. She grabbed a can of soda and cracked it open, while wandering through looking for a quiet place to sit and watch the shenanigans of her year group. Zach was easy to spot, making out with Heather in a corner of the living room, a can of beer in one hand which he drank from at regular intervals, Ness watched everyone through the evening, but her eyes naturally drifted back to Zach every few minutes, she watched him ask Heather to get him another beer, the girl was besotted and happily trotted off, to do his bidding. Zach grimaced, finished his current can and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as if he was trying to wipe a bad taste away. Heather returned with two cans, she had thought she could get to stay close to him if she got two at once, since he would only send her to get the second one later; Zach had other plans, he had clearly had a lot to drink and Ness watched as he downed half a can in one go and lost all his filters, she was close enough to hear Zach's voice, particularly as he suffered from the classic drunk volume problem, she didn't hear what Heather said to set him off but she heard his reply clearly
"You have an ugly soul, Heather, it kinda matches your face." He took another swig of his beer and promptly spat it out when Heather slapped his face, he looked momentarily stunned then shrugged and turned back to the beer.
Ness shook her head, he'd had too much to drink already but thanks to Heather he now had at least one more before he would even consider leaving. Zach was a belligerent drunk, she'd seen him have too much to drink before but he looked way past that level. She kept one eye on him while watching Heather grabbing another random guy and start making out with him, Ness almost laughed aloud as she watched, Heather kept trying to see if Zach was watching her, he'd already forgotten her existence and was wondering whether to find another beer or go home. He decided on another beer and got to his feet unsteadily and staggered through to the kitchen. It was about an hour later that Ness saw Zach heading for the door, his car keys swinging in his hand. She was on her feet and out the door behind him in a flash, he was barely able to walk, so she ripped the keys out of his hand.
"What the...?" Zach muttered as he stumbled after his keys.
"Passenger side jerk, I'll drive you home," Ness said pushing him gently but firmly to the passenger door.
"You're the best, Nesssssss" Zach grinned
"Shut up you douche, if you ever get too drunk to drive, call me, no matter the time, I'll get you home safe." She said as she helped him get into his car. "I'll remind you of that when you're sober too"
"I'll remember," he said "Ness?"
"What?"
"I..." he paused, Ness waited but he said nothing more, just sat with a silly smile on his face.
Saturday morning, Ness pulled up at Zach's house and let herself through the side gate to the back door, she knocked lightly before pushing it open.
"Hi Mrs. Greene, is Zach awake yet?" She said as she stepped into the kitchen
"Not a sound out of him, do you want to take a coffee up, I know he was drinking last night so he'll probably need it." His mom replied
"You are such a cool mom, yeah I'll take a coffee up and wake him, maybe some Advil too?"
"I'm a realistic mom, I know kids your age drink, I was a kid of your age once myself and I sure drank at parties, I'm glad he had someone to get him home though, I'm guessing it was you?"
"Yep, it was me, I don't drink much yet and by being Des nobody looks at me weird"
Mrs. Greene nodded and handed Ness two coffees, "The Advil is in the bathroom upstairs if he needs it"
"Thanks, I'll make him human again." Ness grinned and headed up to Zach's room. She knocked lightly as she had downstairs and gently pushed the door open, Zach was sprawled face down across his bed, he was still fully dressed, even his shoes. Ness sighed and put the coffees down on his desk then walked round to stand right next to his head,
"WAKE UP!" She yelled and scooted out of range as he jumped violently awake, arms and legs flailing for a moment before the pounding head and spinning room caused him to groan and collapse again
"What the fuck, Ness?" He mumbled into the duvet
"Rise and shine jerk, I have brought you coffee and can grab the Advil if you need them" she waved the mug of coffee under his nose and put it back on the desk, sat down and took a sip of hers.
"Urgh! How much did I drink?" He asked, slowly raising his head and trying to roll into an upright position
"You just kept sending Heather to get you more beer then you were mean to her and she slapped you, then you drank some more and then I took your keys off you and drove you home. I'm here to remind you what I said last night, do you remember that?" Zach peered at her, trying to make his mind focus,
"Let me drink the coffee and then ask me" He said
"Come and get it" she grinned
"Ness!" Zach whined
"You get your pathetic drunk ass to the coffee, it ain't coming to you." Zach groaned and tried again to sit up, he failed again so decided it was easier to just crawl off the bed and across the room, it was more of a commando shuffle than a crawl, but he got his coffee.
Twenty minutes later, the coffee had begun to do its work,
"You told me last night that if I was ever too drunk to drive, I should call you." He finally recalled
"You got it, now promise me that you will call if you need a ride, I don't care how late, promise." Ness said, Zach looked her straight in the eyes
"I promise." He said.
Life continued in its usual manner for them both, nothing exciting but it wasn't exactly boring, Zach continued to work his way through all the girls, adding to his appeal with each one; those that had dated him trying to figure out what they had done wrong, those that hadn't yet been chosen convinced that they were the one he would stop with.
"I don't want to have the hassle of asking one of the other girls to prom, they all read something more into it, so can we go together? As friends" Zach asked Ness a few weeks before the terrifying night that was junior prom,
"Well, since I've scared all the guys at this school, none of them have dared ask me, so I guess this time we are helping each other out of an awkward situation." Ness replied.
"What would I do without you?" He asked
"Stumble from one fuck-up to the next" She answered, a little too quickly,
"Yeah, probably" They both grinned.
"You look pretty" Zach said as Ness stepped out onto the porch, "girly even" he added as he offered his arm
"Your charming techniques won't work on me Zachary Greene, I'm not just any girl." Ness retaliated
"Nope, you are Ness Godwin, the bestest, most badass girl I've ever met, you'll always be my friend because, as stupid as I am, I'm not so stupid as to make an enemy of you."
"So smooth, still not falling for it" Ness laughed, Zach pretended to take a fatal shot to the heart
"Argh! I'm dead, my heart is destroyed, shattered by her cruel words!"
"Shut up and drive already, fucking drama queen" a grin spread across Ness's face and an identical one was on Zach's as he drove them to the prom.
It was late in the evening when Kelly Riven reappeared in Ness's life, spewing more bullshit than a bull with diarrhoea; Ness's fist closed as she turned to face the cause of the annoying noise
"Will you give your vocal chords a rest already, nobody here cares" she said through gritted teeth
"I'm not scared of you, you wouldn't dare hit me here at prom." Kelly asserted, pushing her flat chest out in a vain attempt to look busty.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" her fist clenched further, and she spread her weight squarely across both feet "just keep pushing Kelly, I don't need much excuse to smash you" she added. Kelly continued to bluster, and Ness was just shifting her weight to fly at her when two arms wrapped around her waist and arms, pinning them to her sides,
"Jerks" Zach whispered in her ear
"Get the fuck off me, Zach, I'm sick of this stupid ho and her fucking bullshit, I only need one punch"
"No," he said, then added softly so only Ness could hear "not here" Ness struggled but Zach was not letting go; Kelly laughed, and Zach glared straight at her
"Go away Kelly, now, or she will get loose and you will regret goading her, you should know by now that she will break your bones." His tone of voice had the desired effect and she backed off, disappearing into the crowd, Zach relaxed his grip
"What the fuck, Zach?" Ness spun around and pushed him away "just one punch, that's all it needed, she would be out cold, no more problem"
"Not at prom, Ness"
"Why not? She gets to spew her bullshit at prom so why can't I punch her at prom? Maybe I should punch you"
"If it would make you feel better, then do it, I'm not going to make a scene." Ness growled and cracked her knuckles
"One day Zach, you will push me too far."
"Come on Ness, you know I'm right"
"I hate you, leave me alone" she finished, pushing past him. He let her go but he watched where she went, then headed towards the band to see if they would take a request.
Ten minutes later he stood in front of Ness again
"May I have this dance?"
"No."
"Oh, come on, Ness, it's our favorite song! Please?"
"Fine." She stood, and Zach pulled her to the center of the dancefloor before she could change her mind, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear
"I'm sorry" Ness looked at him, sighed, and put her arms around him
"I forgive you, Jerk" Zach just squeezed tighter for a moment
"Best friends, together forever" he mumbled into her hair
"Best friends forever" she replied. In Zach's mind he added 'I swear, I'll never let you go' but he kept that to himself.
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Author's Note
What do you think of Zach now? What about Ness? What's going to happen next? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, maybe your idea will get included (or maybe it already has - I have a few chapters more already written). Votes are always very welcome and please do share with your friends if you think they may enjoy the antics of these two characters.
See you next week!