Day Three

I didn't expect to wake up to the wide eyed stare of my little brother, Emett.

"She stirs!"  His face lit with excitement.  Before I could formulate a sleepy sentence, he added, "You mumble in your sleep, ya know.  Like...a lot.  It's funny." 

"What time is it?"  I asked, sitting up in my bed. 

"Uhh..."  Emett leaned away from my bed and sprang to his feet.  He looked at the clock on my nightstand and stared at it in confusion for a few moments.  Biting his lip, he turned back to me and shrugged his shoulders.  "I can't read it."

I shifted my body so that I could see my clock. 

5:03 a.m.

"Emett." I groaned, trying not to grow agitated.  "It's five."

My brother's green eyes widened as his blond eyebrows raised.  "Really?  So that's what it says!"

I wiped my eyes with my hands and rested my back against the bed frame.  "You need to go to back to bed.  Mom and Dad are still sleeping."

"I'm too hungry to sleep."  He complained.  "Can you make me pancakes?"

I let out a half-laugh.  "You're funny, kid."  I met his eyes and realized he wasn't kidding.  "Oh, you're serious.  Emett, no." I vetoed.

"Lame!"  He exclaimed.  "Come on, Zo.  You always make me pancakes."  He crossed his arms over his chest and softened his eyes.

I sighed.  "I'm not going to win, am I?" 

"Nope."  He grinned from ear to ear, showing off the empty space in his mouth where his canine tooth used to be.

I stared at him for a second before letting out a sigh.  "Well, alright. Let me get dressed."

"Yes!"  He pumped his fists into the air.

"Shh."  I hushed him, swinging my legs out of the covers and placing my feet onto the soft, beige carpet. 

"You're the best!"  Emett chimed, wrapping his skinny nine year old frame around my torso.  I ruffled his toe-head and smiled. 

"Yeah, yeah."  I murmured, pecking the top of his head.  "I'll meet you downstairs."

He unwrapped himself from my body and playfully remarked, "You better." Before skipping excitedly out of my room.  I could only heard his feet clump down the first few stairs before my room was quiet again. 

I looked around, admiring the mustard color of the walls and the various plants potted in clay containers lining the crown molding.  With a deep inhale and a smile, I made my way to my closet and threw on some clothes for the day. 

I drew the cream curtains of the windows open and grinned down at the happy rose succulent set upon the white window sill. It had been a gift from Emett for my 14th birthday, and surprisingly enough had survived and flourished for the following 3 years.

I found Emett perched atop the kitchen island counter, swinging his legs back and forth rhythmically whilst tapping his fingers on his knee and bobbing his head to a non-existent beat.  He had chosen to wear a pair of dark blue jeans, a red baseball shirt with navy sleeves, dusty navy converse, and a black and white 'i <3 Boobies' bracelet.

Wait...an i <3 Boobies bracelet?

"Emett..."  I approached him gingerly, grabbed his wrist and gave him a sickly sweet smile.  "What's this?"  I asked, twirling the bracelet between my fingers. 

He knit his eyebrows as he looked down at the band and back up at me.  He shrugged.  "Nikolas gave it to me."

I cocked my head to the side and met him square in the eyes in a way I hoped he wouldn't take as threatening.  "Nikolas, huh?"

"Yeah!"  He chimed, a half grin spreading across his face.  "Everyone at school has one."

I licked my lips and gave my brothers hand a squeeze.  "Do you know what this says, Emett?"

His lips pursed together, making an expression that uncannily resembled our father.  "Uh..."  He started, looking intently in confusion at the bracelet.  "It says....I....love....b-ba-bas-baseball. Because I like baseball." He looked up at me for validation. 

I brushed my hand through his messy blonde hair and smiled at him.  "Close. You were really close."

His face glowed with pride.  "Really?  It says 'I love baseball'?"  His tone raised a few pitches.

I giggled.  "Almost. It says,"  I leaned in close to him and whispered, "Boobies." 

"Ew!"  He repelled, shooting away from me.  I laughed as he squirmed and fidgeted around the kitchen, trying incessantly to rip the band from his wrist.  "Gross." He murmured, stretching the band away from him with his fingers as far as possible.

"Come here, you rascal."  I called him over.  He held his wrist out to me and turned his head away as I began to peel the bracelet off his wrist.

"I don't like boobies."  He paused for a moment as a childish snicker spread through his lips.  "But I like pancakes."

I gave him a bright smile.  "Now you're talking."   

My parents hadn't noticed anything wrong with Emett until he started school.  At first, they were against the idea of taking my brother to see any kind of behavioral specialist, like his teacher recommended, but once he began to lash out in temper tantrums and intentionally destroy anything and everything he came in contact with, they took him in to see a doctor, who'd identified my brother had ADHD and dyslexia.

After eating a fresh batch of chocolate-chip pancakes with a bowl of strawberries, I grabbed my car keys and turned to give a brief goodbye to Emett and my father, who had peeled himself out of bed only 10 minutes before.

"Goodbye, sweetheart. Have a great day." My father groggily called to me as I rushed out the door.

"Bye, Dad." I smiled and turned to exit, just as Emett slammed into me.

"Woah! Emett-"

"Grab me something from Creamie's after school?" He blinked his eyes up at me.

I sighed. "We'll see, okay?"

"Love you!" He yelled as he ran away into the kitchen, grinning and spinning with delight.

"You too." I cooed and smiled, shaking my head as I closed the door behind me.

Seeing Zak was refreshing.

"Zoe!" I caught Zak mouth as I cruised beside him on the way to school. His dark hair was spiky and windblown from what had to have been his morning shower and skateboard ride. His expressive blue eyes brightened as I came to a stop.

I rolled the driver's window down and leaned out the side of the car to greet him. "Hey." I smiled, holding my hand horizontally across my forehead to shield my eyes from the unforgiving, radiant sun.

"Hey!" He called, grinning. He kicked his skateboard into his hand and stepped into the perfect position for blocking the sun, a golden halo-like light bordering the edges of his body. I lowered my hand and raised my eyebrows politely at him.

"Need a ride again?" I joked.

"Can't a guy just say 'hi'?" His tone was playful, which was a good indication that the chemistry test was in full gear and he was in acting mode.

"Anyway," His mouth twitched into a smile, "I just wanted to tell you that you were great yesterday in Theatre."

"Thanks." I smiled, planking my hand against my forehead to block the sun. "You were, too."

He shook his head at the ground. "You're really talented."

"Thank you." I watched him carefully as he looked up and met my eyes.

"Let's rehearse after school. You know how to get to my house, anyway." His smirk returned, almost as if he knew I wouldn't reject the idea.  "What do you say?"

I heaved a sigh, cursing Gorveau for assigning the chemistry test in the first place.

"Sure." I looked over at the clock in my car and realized how little time I had to get to school. "Okay, Riley, we have like, two minutes until homeroom starts. Get in."

"So demanding." He teased as he grabbed his skateboard and jogged over to the passenger's side, hopping into my car, and buckling himself in.

I rolled my eyes. With intent to jolt him forward, I slammed on the pedal. Zak's body lurched against his seat belt, making him grunt.

"Did you do that on purpose?" He laughed over at me. I gave him a close-lipped smile and sped down the highway.

"Meet you after school." I confirmed as we leaped out of the car, galloping across the parking lot. He nodded dismissively as we parted ways.

I bursted into first period and 36 pairs of eyes locked onto me.

"Zoe Scott." Mr. Nipps scowled, lowering his bifocals.  "How kind of you to join us, late."

"A-About that-"

"Oh, I'm sure you have a profound excuse, seeing you're without a tardy slip."

I clenched my empty hands. I shouldn't have wasted time on Zak.

"Go on, share with the class this brilliant story of yours."  Mr. Nipps sneered. 

I looked to Mark then to Gwyn beside him, who gave me a smile and two bony thumbs up.

Clearing my throat in an attempt to stall, I looked back at the teacher.  "I um, I don't, I don't have one."

"Well, I look forward to seeing you in detention after school, Ms. Scott.  Take a seat." I clenched my jaw and slid into my desk.  "I'm sure you'll enjoy Mr. Galassi's company."  He added.  "Now, back to Pride and Prejudice..."

"You got detention?"  I hissed over at Mark. 

Only his eyes moved. He admitted a breathy chuckle. "Yeah."

"What?  What did you do?"

"Nipps caught me smoking yesterday."

"What?" I scowled.

"What?  Kyle hooked me up, I couldn't resist."

I told myself it wasn't entirely Mark's fault. Kyle had always been a bad influence on him, especially when Mark was trying to get clean.

"Mark, you were doing so well."

"I know." He muttered, eyes falling.

I pursed my lips and slouched into my chair. "Weed?"

"Nah, cigs."

"Didn't you buy nicotine patches, or something?"  I asked, only half listening to the lecture. 

"Hell, no.  You know I hate those things."

"Hate what things?"  Piped the effervescent Gwyn, who had abruptly decided to join the conversation.  She blinked her wide, swampy eyes at us expectantly. 

Mark and I shared a glance before he murmured to Gwyn, "Patches." 

Gwyn made a duck-lipped expression and tilted her head.  "Patches?"

Mark flared his nostrils, turning to her.  "Babe, nicotine patches." 

It took a second for Gwyn's face to light up in comprehension.  She nodded, then began to scrunch her face in disgust. "Ew, I know right.  Smoking is so gross.  Who even does that anymore?"

"Ha, not me."  Mark closed his eyes and shook his head. He puffed his lower lip out, resembling Donald Trump, which made me start giggling.

"Why is she laughing?"  Gwyn frowned over at me.

I met Mark's eyes, the two of us cackling.

"Guys!"  She whined.  "Why are you laughing?"

"Don't worry about it, babe."  Mark wheezed.

--

"How's the little bro doing?" Hunter asked, chomping on a wad of gum on our way out of math.

I smiled.  "He's coming along.  It was so funny-" I giggled to myself for a second. "This morning he was wearing one of those I <3 Boobies bracelets-" 

"What?" He laughed.

"Yeah, he said that his friend gave it to him.  Apparently all of the hip fourth graders wear them nowadays."  I gave him a suggestive look.

I'd known Hunter since sophomore year. Our fathers were friends through work, so our families regularly got together for BBQ Sundays at the Hollingsworth mansion.

When Emett turned six, his ADHD was at its worst, and my parents were desperate to find a tutor. When Hunter offered, it was almost like fate. He'd been working with my brother ever since.

Zak found us a couple moments later. Being the two most well-known names around school, he and Hunter already knew each other.

"Hey, guys." Zak smiled, all charm. His eyes flickered to Hunter, who gave him a friendly nod. "You ready to go?" He turned to me.

"Yup." I looked at Hunter. "Catch you later?"

"Sure." He looked from my eyes to Zak's, his display of pearly-white teeth showcased confident as ever. "See you, bro."

"Later, man." Zak acknowledged him before he disappeared into the mesh of kids. "I think I'll drive." He muttered, watching Hunter retreat.

"Oh, really?" I was uneasy with the idea of him driving my car, but some part of me believed it could be fun - that I should play it off nonchalantly.

He gave me a playful smirk and started toward the student parking lot, leaving me no choice but to follow.

He was a better driver than I thought, and wasn't too terrible of a singer, either, as it turned out.

I turned off the music as we pulled into the Creamie's parking lot. The building itself was rather newly-built, much like the rest of town. The exterior was painted in white and pink stripes, making it stand out even from miles away. As for the building's interior, all of the walls were painted a minty-green hue and littered with chocolate chips. The place always smelled like cotton candy, no matter how many cans of Febreze were sprayed in an attempt to mask it.

"Emett loves it here." I said quietly as we walked in.

"Emett?"  Zak quirked a curious eyebrow.

"My brother."  I clarified.

"Didn't know you had a brother." He muttered, analyzing the menu. "What's he like?"

"Where do I begin?"

Zak gave me a small smile. "How old is he?"

"Nine." I said over my shoulder as I made my way to the glass display case across the shop. I grabbed the bag of sugar-coated, multi-colored gummy worms and jogged back over to Zak. I held the bag high.  "This is what he always gets when we come here. He's lactose-intolerant."

He furrowed his brow sympathetically. "That sucks." He looked from my eyes to the bag and half-smiled. "Germie Wormies?"

I nodded. "They're his favorite."

"Must be nice," Zak muttered, eyes skimming the ice cream choices. "Having a brother."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Two sisters. Lanie's 4 and Piper's 7." He said quickly, as if the subject was a bit sensitive. He turned to the menu and quickly added, "How's the triple chocolate fudge brownie flavor? Is it any good?"

"Yeah. Mark gets that one a lot." As if on cue, my phone vibrated.

SaltySweetSassMaster: WHERE ARE YOU

Furrowing my brow, I quickly responded: Creamie's, why??

SaltySweetSassMaster: u forgot didn't u

SaltySweetSassMaster: we gotta serve jail time today zo

.  .  .

SaltySweetSassMaster: u know...detention and all that fun stuff

.  .  .

SaltySweetSassMaster: nipps is really mad but if ur already at creamie's can u pick me up somethin im starving

"I-I'm supposed to be at detention. We gotta go."  I shoved my phone into my jeans pocket and rushed to the front counter to pay for the candy. Zak grabbed me by the forearm and tugged me back, his dark brows furrowed.

"Wait, what?" His eyes danced with amusement. "You got detention?"

"Yeah, it's cause I was late for class this morning."  I shot him a glance, subtext communicating my annoyance with him. Carefully detaching myself from his grasp, I shuffled through a wad of cash, paying with a five.

"Keep the change."  I murmured, making a beeline for the exit.  Zak raced after me as I jogged through the parking lot to my car.

"Hey, relax.  It's gonna be fine-"

"I was late for class this morning, and now I'm late for detention, too. Mark said Nipps is pissed."

His words came slow and deep. "You're fine. He probably hasn't even noticed."

"Okay."  I gave him a half-hearted nod. "Let's go." We locked eyes for a quick second before climbing into my car and speeding away from Creamie's toward West Burrow High.

I was most certainly not fine. This was his fault. The chemistry test had started two days ago and Zak was already getting me in trouble. Trouble was the last thing I needed.

Maybe he wasn't taking this as seriously as I was. Maybe he didn't care about it as much as I did. Maybe all of this was for nothing and I was wasting my time.

It's for the grade, Zoe. Do it for the grade. Don't let Zakary Riley manipulate you.