Chapter 22

Zac lay on the middle of the bed, the covers ruffled underneath him.

Why couldn't they understand? What was so difficult about it that they felt they needed to know about his every breath? Not even Diana had been so persistent. Who cared anyway. He had dealt with it, and it was over with.

It just frustrated him. He just couldn't take all the constant nagging, all the rules, all the expectations. He had gone back to the little park, it wasn't really that far away, but he'd taken a good 4 hours just sitting there, smelling the smells and breathing the air.

Going back to the park was something he hadn't ever planned on doing again. He had wanted to erase that part of his past, right along with his relationship with Isaac and Taylor.

He cringed when Taylor's face came to his mind. Maybe he hadn't been rational the other night, but his hate, his passionate misstrust for Talor just made it so unbearable.

Of course it wasn't just his fault. It was Allison's too. God he hated her. He hated her name, and her face, he hated the way she smelled, the way she spoke to them.

She was decietful. She made Taylor think that she was the end all be all of his world. That he was the only one for her, and that she'd always be there for him, always be around to help him out. She got him started acting like an asshole to everyone around him. She changed him.

And how dare Isaac and Taylor even consider Zac the primary problem. Mom didn't even understand that girl, she thought she was perfect, and granted, the girl earned major props for making everyone believe she was perfect, make them all think she would never do anything wrong. And then she goes off and screws up your relationship with the rest of your family cause she wants to get down Isaac's pants and there's nothing you could do about it.

Either way she messed things up big time. It wasn't a problem for Zac to get back into a relationship with a girl, it hadn't been the girl that had messed up the way he thought, it had been his family.

The dull realization came moments later. Why had he even been civil around Isaac? Wasn't Isaac part of the problem? And why was he feeling just a sliver or guilt towards what he'd said to Taylor the other night? Taylor had brought it all upon himself. There shouldn't be an ounce of sympathy in the way Zac was thinking now, it just wasn't right.

Zac sighed, staring hard at the ceiling and shaking his head.

It wasn't easy being completely submerged into the world of someone who's so incredibly hard to get along with, and even harder yet, was the fact that Zac was just beginning to uncover the whole reason they had been pushed appart.


"Well lets just go pick him up anyway."

Mary's pouty eyes stared up at Brent's.

Looking into the backseat of his car, he smiled at the two girls chattering to eachother.

"She likes him a lot. I mean, she talks about him all the time. It's every other word that comes out of her mouth."

Brent smiled at Mary, talking to himself silently.

When was the last time Taylor had ever seen a girl anyways? I mean, he spent all of his time in the dark and gloomy appartment, doing nothing but watching tv and sleeping. His life was far from marvellous, and when he'd come right down to it, taylor had seemingly avoided girls since they'd really become good friends.

Why was that exactly?

"What are you thinkin' about?"

Mary had called him last night, and just out of the blue asked him to go to dinner, so he'd obliged, and she'd filled him in on the Taylor/Nikki scene. It was just weird.

They'd gone to school together, and Taylor didn't even know who she was, especially considering their school was a pretty large one, but Nikki had seemed to pick him right out of the crowd, and more then just pick him out, she'd learned his birthday and his shoe size before she even knew who he was.

Whispering Brent leaned just a little closer to Mary.

"Don't you think it's just a bit strange, I mean, she's like, all over the idea, but she doesn't even know him."

Mary raised her voice and frowned.

"I think it's cute! It's just a crush!"

The car went momentarily silent and Brent gave Mary a stern look.

Whispering again as the girls in the back went back to chattering, he looked away from the road.

"She doesn't know him, that's a problem. I think her mind will change when she does."

Turning away from Brent Mary looked out the window.

"Who are you anyway, the personality dictionary?"


Tammy and Isaac sat watching the wedding singer, all the lights off.

"What time is it honey?"

Isaac looked over into the kitchen at the digital clock on the face of the microwave.

"It's 11. Why?"

"Oh I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff, like what Zac's thinking, and how long he's going to be staying here. Just stuff about Zac I guess."

"What does the time have to do with it?"

"Oh I was just wondering whether or not he was going to come out at all tonight, but he's probably asleep now."

Isaac looked back at the television, and then turned slowly back to Tammy.

"I'm having second thoughts."

Confused, Tammy frowned at Isaac.

"I'm sorry? About what exactly?"

"Well about whether or not I should be involved at all in this. Maybe I've stepped in too much. Maybe Zac doesn't need this on top of everything else, maybe...maybe I've put myself too far in the middle of this for anyone's comfort."

"Isaac, how could you say that?"

Sighing, Isaac turned back to the tv, slowly shaking his head.

"I don't think you understand, it's like...like all of a sudden things are all okay for him, and I don't know how that could be. He carried a hate, a vengeance in his heart and mind for so long for me, and now he's willing to treat me like a brother for once? That's not natural, and I just want to know what he wants and why he thinks that being cool to me is going to get it."

"Maybe he's just lonely Isaac. Maybe he doesn't know what else to do. Your brother was and still is, very attatched to your mother, whether or not he's willing to admit it. He needs someone to depend on for things, and your as close as he can get. Maybe if you provide that stability for him, you might be rewarded."

"Tammy I know..but..."

Stopping Isaac looked defiantly at the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

"Of course."

Quickly standing, Tammy moved towards the ringing phone, picking it up on the 4th ring.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi Tammy, how are you?"

Smiling Tammy walked slowly towards Zac's door.

"I'm doing alright, did you need to talk to Zac?"

There was a brief pause on Kristin's end before she agreed.

"Yeah, if you could that would be really great."

"Are things going okay now?"

"Umm....I dunno."

Tammy frowned and walked to Zac's door, rapping on it lightly and waiting for a response.

"Zac?"

When there was no response, Tammy pushed the door open, peering inside to the dimly lit room.

"Must've left his light on."

The light next to the bed softly lit Zac, whose back was facing her.

"Zac, kid wake up."

There was a pause, and as Tammy went to shake him awake, he turned over.

"I'm awake."

Holding out his hand with a stern look of expectation on his face, waiting for her to place it in his hand.

"Who is it?"

"It's Kristin."

Sighing, Zac rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Just gimme the phone please."

Gently placing it in his outstretched hand, Tammy turned and walked out of the room. It might be an interesting night.


Chapter 23

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