Zac stood under the stream of hot water and let it wash over him. Dinner last night had been very weird, with Taylor pulling attitude with every bite. But Taylor had eaten. Of course, he’d asked to leave the table right after he was done, but still, he had eaten.
Zac sighed and poured some shampoo into his hand. He quickly washed his hair just to get it over with. He loved his hair, but it was such a hassle. Sometimes he wanted to just chop it off, but he knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
He leaned against the wall, feeling every muscle in his body relax. He loved showers; they just made him feel so much better. Nothing in the world except coming home could beat a hot shower.
“Zac! Could you hurry, please?” Taylor yelled from outside, pounding on the door.
Oh, well, all good things must come to an end, Zac thought as he grabbed a washcloth and the soap. Once the washcloth was nice and soapy, he put it on his arm and brought it up. Big mistake. He had to bite back tears as the soap cleansed the stinging cuts. Hastily, he washed the rest of his body and stepped out of the shower.
He dried off briefly and pulled on a shirt and boxers. Normally he would just walk out with the towel tied around his waist, but he couldn’t anymore because of his arms.
Taylor stood outside of the bathroom. He raised his eyebrows when he saw that Zac had dressed in the bathroom, but didn’t say anything.
Zac yawned, and went into the bedroom. He sat down and logged onto his email. He clicked on one that was slightly unfamiliar.
Zach-
It’s me, Jenni from MSN Messenger. I hope you don’t mind me emailing you like this…if you do, just say the word and I’ll stop. I’m just really upset right now and I don’t know who to turn to. It’s probably not that big of a deal, but…it’s Taylor. She called me last night around 12:30, crying, and asked if she and Morgan could spend the night. I said yes, so she came and cried some more but wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. Well, they both said someone had broken in, but I know they were lying because Taylor was home all night. When I woke up this morning, she was crying in the bathtub, and Taylor only sits in the bathtub is she’s upset (don’t ask, it’s a long story). She told me she couldn’t tell me. I’m really sad that she doesn’t trust me enough to tell me! We’ve been best friends forever! Well, I’m rambling now, so I’ll let you go.
-Jen
Zac sat back, studying the email and running the words through his head. That was strange. He was about to hit the reply button when Isaac appeared in the doorway.
“Breakfast is ready.” He looked around the room. “Where’s Tay?”
“Bathroom.” Zac gave the computer one last glance and got up. “I’m sure he’ll be down soon.”
Isaac shrugged, and led the way to the kitchen.
Zac let his hair fall over his face once again. The bruise was fading, but he knew his mom would be one to notice it. He sat down at the table with his plate and began to eat. He heard someone once ask where Taylor was, but that was all he heard of it because Avery began to tell him a story about getting a Barbie doll. She didn’t leave out the slightest detail.
Finally, Avery finished her breakfast and her story and left the table. Zac looked up and was surprised to see that Taylor wasn’t at the table. He finished the rest of his breakfast and excused himself from the table.
“Please? Please?” Zac begged.
“No. You’re not going,” Isaac said and turned back to the mirror.
“Oh, come on!”
“Well…no!”
“Taylor, you’ll let me come, won’t you?”
“Sorry, Zac, no can do. I don’t think you’ll be going to anymore parties for a good long time.”
“You guys,” he whined.
“We told you. No. That’s our final answer,” Isaac said, turning to Zac and crossing his arms.
“How did you talk us into this?” Taylor muttered as the three boys made their way up to the house.
Zac grinned. “You wanted to bring me all along.”
Isaac rolled his eyes. “Behave,” he said pointedly to Zac before entering the house.
“Who, me? Always.”
Isaac rolled his eyes again and opened the door.
The place was packed; people everywhere. The air was slightly smoky, and most of the lights were turned off. Some song by Jennifer Lopez was blaring over the speakers, and people were dancing anywhere they could: in the corners, in the middle of the floor, on the couch…
“Remember, no drinking!” Isaac shouted over the noise.
“Why, you mean you would bring me to a party where there’s going to be,” Zac paused, looking horrified, “BEER?”
“I mean it, Zac. We catch you with anything, we’re going straight back home and you won’t be coming to any other parties anytime soon. Got it?”
“You guys worry too much. I’ll see you later.” With that, he made his way through the crowd, trying to find anyone he knew.
“Zac, my man! Long time no see!” Casey, one of Zac’s friends, slung an arm over Zac’s shoulders.
Zac recoiled as soon as he got a whiff off Casey’s breath. He had been drinking big time.
“What, so now you’re too good for me?” Casey slurred.
“No, man, nothing like that. Its just Tay and Ike’ll have my head if I get caught with a drink.”
Casey nodded. “Oh, I see,” he said before collapsing.
“Whoa!”
“I’m okay, I’m okay. The world just tilted.”
Zac helped Casey up. “Well, I think that’s a clue that you’ve had too much to drink.”
“What? No. Come on, I wanna introduce you to some people.”
“Isaac! Taylor! You better come quick; it’s Zac.”
Isaac and Taylor exchanged glances, and then followed the boy to Zac. They found him dancing on a table, a beer in his hand and his shirt off. They pulled him down.
“What are you doing?”
“Come on, have a little fun.” Zac swayed side to side.
“Where is your shirt?”
“Here it is, Ike.” Taylor handed Zac his shirt.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Isaac hustled his brothers out to the car. “In the back, Zac, and you better not spew all over my car.”
Zac climbed into the back, laughing. “Spew!” he shouted, then screamed with laughter.
About halfway home, Zac sobered up enough to tell his brothers that he didn’t feel too good. They got him out of the car just in time.
“Okay, I think I’m okay now.” Zac wiped his mouth.
“Good. Get back in the car and lay down. Get in, Tay. We gotta get home before he loses it again.” Isaac climbed in the driver’s seat.
“How are we gonna get him inside?” Taylor asked, looking back at his moaning brother.
“I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.” Isaac hit the steering wheel. “Why did you do it, Zac?”
“I don’t know.”
Finally, they pulled into the driveway.
Isaac got out of the car and looked at the house. It was only 11, so he knew that his mother and father would still be up. However, they might not be downstairs. “Tay, you get Zac. I’m going to go see if Mom and Dad are in bed. Wait by the car.”
Taylor nodded. “Okay.” He watched Isaac enter the house. “Alright, come on, buddy.” He held Zac up. Literally. Isaac finally returned.
“They’re reading in bed, so we have to be quiet but this shouldn’t be too hard.” Isaac slipped one of Zac’s arms around his shoulders and he and Taylor half-dragged, half-carried Zac into the house.
Finally, they pushed him onto his bed. Zac closed his eyes, but they immediately flew open. He jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Taylor held his hair back and Isaac kept watch as Zac paid his respects to the porcelain god.
Zac opened his eyes slowly the next morning. The blinds were pulled up and sunlight was streaming in the window. He closed his eyes, but couldn’t go back to sleep. The light was just too bright. He sat up slowly, putting a hand on his aching head.
“Oh, look who’s up. Hey, Ike, come here!” Taylor shouted.
Zac winced.
Isaac pounded up the stairs. He stopped in the doorway, standing beside Taylor. “Oh, so you finally wake up. Don’t worry, we know how much you love breakfast, so we saved you some.”
Mackie walked slowly into the room, carrying a tray. “Here, Zacky,” he said, putting it down on his brother’s lap.
“Thanks, Mack,” he said, glaring at Isaac and Taylor who just smirked.
“Okay, you can go play now, Mackie.” Isaac walked toward the bed. “Well, come on, Zac. Eat up!”
“Could you not be so loud?”
“Oh, sorry,” Isaac whispered.
“Come on, Zac, eat quickly. After you finish, we’re going to go practice.”
