Day Eight

The Hollingsworth BBQ had us all a little shook. Emett had told my parents what happened at the lake, who in turn told Hayward Hollingsworth, Hunter's father, who was furious with Mark and Damon's rash actions.

Not gonna lie, I wasn't happy with them, either. They'd made an inexcusably inappropriate scene at a public event, surrounded by hundreds of bystanders, and not to mention the crowd of young children just a few meters away. It was easy to sympathize with Hayward. If it were my property, I'd be livid, too.

Nevertheless, Mark was busted up. He had the right to be scared of Damon, especially now that he knew what the guy was capable of.

In the span of time which Gorveau spent sipping a swampy colored smoothie and typing viciously into his laptop, I chatted quietly with Mark.

"Zak keeps looking over here." He muttered, nonchalantly diverting his eyes past mine.

"Well, Mark, he's probably noticed all of this." I upturned my palms, acknowledging his injuries. An entire side of his neck was black and blue from where Damon had grabbed and punched, his upper lip was swollen the size of a dime and plum in color. Not to mention how busted and scratched his knuckles were.

"What? My flawless face, you mean?" A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, Galassi."

"Hey, guys." A familiar voice chimed behind us. I flipped a few locks of caramel hair over my shoulder to meet a pair of blazing azure eyes.

"Hey, Zak." I smiled. Mark, next to me, remained silent in the space when one without history with Zak would have said hello.

Gorveau's beady eyes casually observed our conversation, flickering between us and his computer screen.

"You guys are comin' to my lacrosse game today, right?" He looked in between the two of us. I exchanged a brief glance with Mark before turning back to him. "It starts at 4."

"Well, I have something-" Mark started.

"Yeah, we can make it." I beamed up at Zak. Mark narrowed his chocolate eyes and parted his lips as if to protest, but remained silent. "Who are we playing?"

"Springfield." He scoffed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Springfield High was West Burrow's arch rival. They cheated at every opportunity they could, trashed our campus after a big loss, and generally were shitty people.

"Kick ass." Mark's intense chocolate eyes locked onto Zak.

A sliver of a smile flashed across Zak's face. ""Course."

My mind reverted to the picture Mark had shown me of he and Zak and Willow. Zak's smile had been so wide, so genuine, so happy; a different Zak than the one I was used to seeing. A Zak who was real, one that wouldn't destroy me at the end of the chemistry test.

The boys shared a moment of silence, as if they both wanted to say something but neither of them was willing to initiate conversation.

Something told me it had to do with her.

--

"Oh my God." Gwyn wailed. "This class is so boring."

Populski had been in the middle of one of his famously tedious Art lectures for the past half hour, leaving half of AP Studio Art in a drooling, zombie-like state.

I shot Gwyn a sympathetic smile over my shoulder. Her swampy, mascara lathered eyes twinkled at me. "Let's talk."

My fingertips numbed at the thought of girl talk, but I raised my eyebrows out of politeness.

"Yeah, sure."

"Mark has been acting so weird lately." She pulled a Mac lip gloss from the purse beside her and applied a glob to her puckered lips. "Don't you think so?" She smacked them together.

"I think he's stressed out." I reasoned, gauging her reaction. She narrowed her eyes as if beckoning me to continue. "With the chemistry test and everything, I mean."

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes, flipping a bleached lock over her shoulder. "Yesterday was just crazy. Who does that Damian guy think he is?"

"Damon, you mean?"

"Yeah, him." She rolled her eyes. "It's like he's obsessed with you guys, or something."

"Yeah, he kind of is." I furrowed my brow, realizing that for once Gwyn had actually made a valid point.

"I'm so jealous. I'd love to have someone obsessed with me." She puckered her lips. "I don't have anyone."

"You have Mark." I forced a smile through my lips. It was hard to understand what she meant. It wasn't like I enjoyed having Damon around all the time.

"That doesn't count." She retorted. "It's different with him." She looked down at her desk blankly, her eyes widening before they flickered up to meet mine again. "Forget I said that."

The bell rang then, causing Gwyn to practically jump out of her seat. She grinned effervescently, beckoning me to ignore the sparkle of ingenuity flickering in her swampy eyes. "Bye, girly. I'll see you at the lacrosse game."

She snatched her purse and slung her designer jacket over her shoulder, stilettos clinking down the hall.

She and Mark were a great couple, even I would go as far as to say that they were obsessed with each other. I found it strange how desperately she longed for someone to fawn over her. It was as if her life source was validation, and anything less just wouldn't cut it.

I disregarded the thought and grabbed my stuff. Even a rocket scientist would have trouble understanding the mystery of Gwyn Ryann Harris, so I figured I wouldn't bother trying.

--

After school, I drove over to Creamie's to pick up some Germie Wormies for my brother. The chocolate chip covered walls were bare of people, a typical result of the midday Monday drawl.

As expected, Melanie and Andrea were chatting from behind the counter when I walked in. As Melanie's eyes met mine, her gigantic mouth spread into a smile. She pushed herself off her stool and made her way over, ponytail bouncing with each step.

"Hey, there." She chirped, patting my shoulder with a friendly hand. "It's nice to see you again. Didn't bring Zak this time." She laughed, seemingly innocent.

"He's getting ready for the lacrosse game." I explained, upturning my palm to match her demeanor. "You know, boys and their sports."

She rolled her eyes, nodding. "God, tell me about it. When Zak and I were dating, it was like, the only thing he cared about. So annoying. Andrea can vouch for me, can't you?" She whipped her head toward the red head, who looked up from her phone to roll her eyes and nod.

"Cause you complained about it all the damn time." She said, already distracted by the glowing screen again.

"Anyway," Melanie turned back to me. "What are you here for?"

"Germie Wormies." I pointed my thumb behind me toward the case of assorted candies in the corner of the shop. "For my brother."

"Aw, cute." She squeaked. "Hunter Hollingsworth gets those when he comes here, actually."

"Oh, yeah. He tutors my brother."

"Wait," Her jaw dropped as he propped a hand to her hip, "You mean, you guys, like, hang out? At your house?"

I nodded and her eyes widened almost as wide as her mouth.

"You lucky bitch." She almost whispered, shaking her head. "You know what, I'll grab you those Germie Wormies. Wait for me at the counter and we can chat." She flashed me a smile before speeding away.

Reluctantly, I did what she said and walked over to the counter where Andrea's amber glare flickered up to meet my eyes.

"You know, you really shouldn't get too attached to Zak. He's a real heart breaker. I mean, I'm sure you know all about what happened with-"

"Need anything else?" Melanie abruptly dropped the candy into my hands and returned to Andrea's side. I looked expectantly at the red head, but she'd already become preoccupied with her phone again.

"That'll be it. Thank you." I gave her a small smile, still hoping Andrea would continue. She didn't.

Melanie rang up the candy, talking a mile a minute. "So, you must be close with Hunter, then. God, I would literally kill someone to get his attention. I mean, he's so gorgeous. His hair and his smile and his laugh, oh, my god, he's so perfect. Do you know if he's single?"

I blinked. This chick was a level one fan girl. It was weird, I knew that Hunter was one of the most popular people at West Burrow, but I had no idea that there were people as obsessed with him as Melanie seemed to be.

"I think so." I said slowly, hoping my tone would slow her down. Her blue eyes flickered from the cash register to me as she handed me the bag of Germie Wormies.

"Um," Andrea looked between us, her eyes narrowed. "What about Gwyn?"

Suddenly, I was interested. I knew these girls were part of Gwyn's posse of adoring followers, but they didn't know I knew her, too.

Melanie's lip curled. "Shit. You're right. God, I hate her."

"Wait, what?" I cut in, narrowing my eyes at them. They exchanged nervous glances with one another. "What does Gwyn Ryann Harris have to do with Hunter?"

"You know Gwyn?" Melanie's eyebrows quirked up.

I shrugged. "A little bit."

Melanie and Andrea exchanged another glance and turned back to me simultaneously. It was weird how similar they were, almost like they were robots programmed to act a certain way.

"I don't know, we probably shouldn't say anything." Melanie grabbed her stool and sat down so that only her upper torso was visible. "She's supposed to be our friend, after all."

"It's okay, it's none of my business." I smiled and turned to leave when Melanie sprung from her seat and latched a death grip around my forearm.

"If you're friends with Gwyn, we're friends with Gwyn." She blurted, fingernails digging into my skin. "Do you understand?"

"I won't say anything." I smiled, gently detaching myself from her grasp. "Snitches get stitches, right?"

"Bitches get stitches." Andrea corrected me and they smiled in unison.

Melanie gave me a wave of flapping fingers. "Have a nice day, Zoe."

"You, too." I replied, making my tone rise a few pitches higher than normal to mask my cynicism.

As I crossed the parking lot, it became clearer and clearer.

I wasn't the only one acting anymore.