Chapter Ten

 

        The following day, Zach walked through the somewhat crowded halls of the school, peering about for Greg. It was currently morning and there were about five minutes left until the first bell of the day would ring. Zach wanted to try to talk to Greg about yesterday. He felt like a complete idiot for trying to do that because of the way the Sophomore reacted and he wanted to apologize.

        It wasn't too long though until Zach spotted Greg walking towards the back stairs, which were located in their own room. Zach picked up the pace a little, about to shout until he saw Greg walking into the stair room. A couple seconds later, he reached the stairs and quickly went in to see Greg about halfway down them.

        “Hey Greg, wait up!” Zach called out, his voice reverberating off the walls.

        Zach was relieved to see Greg stopping in his tracks. When he reached him, he slowed to a stop.

        “Look, I want to apologize about yesterday,” explained Zach.

        “You don't have to,” Greg said. “It wasn't your fault or anything.” He sighed before giving a small shrug. “I guess I'm just not really ready for another relationship right now.”

        “Not over Kyle yet?”

        “I guess you could probably say that.” After looking to make sure no one was coming into the stair room, Greg slowly went on to tell Zach about what Kyle had done to him. Every now and then he paused, either struggling to find the words he needed or just having trouble telling the next part. There wasn't really a lot of detail given though because he didn't want to relive the memories as he told it. The Sophomore felt a bit weird talking about it, but at the same time, it made him feel better – like a huge boulder was lifted off of his chest, allowing him to breathe freely again.

        “I'm going to kill that prick for doing something like that,” Zach said angrily through slightly clenched teeth when Greg had finished.

        “No, it's okay,” the shorter male replied. “Don't bother with him. I'm fine.”

        Zach didn't say anything for a moment as he looked at Greg, who gave him a somewhat faint reassuring smile. He then sighed before saying, “Alright. But listen dude, you can trust me. I would never do something like that to you. I would probably kill myself before I have the chance to even think about doing something like that. But, it's your choice.” He smiled some. “If you don't want to go out with me right away, then that's fine. I can wait.”

        Greg smiled. “Thanks.”

        “No problem dude,” Zach said as he clapped the younger male on the arm.

        The bell rang a couple seconds afterwards and the two parted ways after saying their good-byes. Zach was a bit disappointed in the fact that Greg didn't want to go out with him right away, but he completely understood nonetheless. There was still a part of him that wanted to beat Kyle into a bloody pulp after hearing about what he did to Greg, but he would refrain from doing so since Greg rejected the idea.

 

        After lunch, Zach began to make his way to sixth period. He didn't really care for history though, so he didn't bother trying to get there too quickly as he somewhat slowly weaved his way through the crowds in the halls.

        “Hey Zach.”

        The Junior looked to the side to see Lisa walking alongside him.

        “Hey,” he greeted, giving a small smile. “What's up?”

        “Not much,” Lisa replied. She sighed a couple seconds later. “Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you.”

        Both of them slowed to a stop and turned to face one another. Something told Zach that he already knew what she wanted.

        “I was wondering if you would maybe—well—want to go to homecoming with me,” she said.

        Zach didn't say anything. Sarah shifted a little where she stood as she looked up at Zach with a sort of yearning in her eyes.

        “I want to get back together again,” she continued. “I miss you. I didn't realize it before, but I now realize how much I like you.”

        Zach still didn't say anything. It was his turn to shift around a little nervously as he tried to find the words he wanted to say, but he was having a bit of a difficulty doing so. He wanted to just tell Sarah no and just leave it at that, but at the same time, he felt it was a bit too harsh and he wanted to try to make the rejection a little more softer so maybe she wouldn't be too upset by it.

        Before he did have a chance to say anything though, Lisa, who appeared to have been unable to contain herself any longer, threw her arms around Zach. The Junior boy was a bit surprised by this and he gently and slowly pulled away a few seconds later. Lisa glanced up at Zach afterwards as her arms fell to her sides before looking down to the ground in a slightly upset manner.

        “Sorry, but I'm kind of interested in someone else,” Zach said softly, trying not to get off as being mean. He sighed as he watched Lisa become a bit more upset. “It's like you said though. Our relationship never worked before. It would probably just be for the best if both of us tried to see other people instead of going through the same problems we always have all over again.”

        “Right, I understand,” Lisa replied in a saddened tone of voice.

        “Sorry, I really am.”

        “It's okay, don't worry about it,” she said weakly.

        She turned around and slowly walked off, Zach watching her for a few moments as he stood there. He felt a little bad for doing that, but he knew it was for the best. There was no point in trying to get into a relationship when he knew it wouldn't work out. Letting out a sigh, Zach continued on his way to his sixth period class.

Author's Note

Is the last part believable enough?

Reviews

[Jack Isaac]

[random review] Your story line and structure all seem to be in place, and nicely done. The last part is very credible –I can picture this all vividly –except there is Lisa and Sarah who seem to be the same person. The story reads like an ordinary day at school, sort of matter-of-fact, and well done if that is the intent of the story. Yet it seems that you wanted to show passion between Zach and Greg and of Sarah, all the words seem to be there, but your choice of words are way too ordinary –this is probably why you doubt the credibility of the last part. I think you want your characters to portray a tug-o-war of conflict here. Hope that helps! Thanks for the read!

[Jack Isaac]

[random review] The first paragraph appears to jump in at mid-thought, bringing the chapter mark back a few paragraphs into Ch 9 would probably help a lot. You want the opening paragraph to draw the reader in.