𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 || 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞.

it was sometime around 3:45 p.m., and zak couldn't find darryl anywhere. he was starting to grow a little worried. usually darryl was right by his side at the sound of the final bell, and they would walk home together very shortly after.

but it's been almost half an hour since the dismissal bell rang, and zak hadn't even seen a hint of the boy.

at least everyone else was gone by now. he didn't have to deal with navigating through the chaos in the school halls. he could have been home by now. even though it probably made him sound super lame, he didn't really want to walk home by himself. he'd much rather be with darryl.

he wandered the nearly empty halls aimlessly. there were the occasional students at their lockers or those still waiting for their rides to arrive, but he tried his best to avoid them. he wasn't bothering them. they weren't bothering him.

maybe darryl went home by now? but that didn't seem right. darryl never did that. even if he couldn't find zak right away, he would always wait. so where was he now?

zak absentmindedly pulled the sleeves of his sweater down over his hands, covering everything but the tips of his fingers. he was fidgeting. he bit his lip softly, eyes darting around the portion of the hallway he was pacing down. he rounded a corner and froze. there was darryl himself, back against a locker, and a certain mousy haired boy standing in front of him.

he jumped back and pressed himself against the wall, hidden from the view of the two boys. they hadn't seen him, thankfully. zak wasn't one to eavesdrop, but in picking up the seriousness of the exchange just by the boys' facial expressions, he couldn't help but strain to pick up any piece of the conversation he could.

"..then why do you hang around him so much?" he'd recognize that accent anywhere.

"i-i don't know." darryl was scared, but why?

"so...you don't like him at all?"

"n-no, of course i don't. why would i?"

...what?

zak's heart stopped beating.

"at all?"

"no, i could never."

the words hurt him like a stake through the heart. he felt as though he had been hit by a semi truck, and then as though it had reversed and hit him again. did he hear right? maybe he didn't.

there was a quiet clanking noise, as though someone had bumped into a locker. it was quiet for a moment.

"good."

zak couldn't comprehend what was happening. his mind was blank. he couldn't even form a single coherent thought. vincent? darryl? he felt as though he was choking, like he was trapped underwater. he wasn't focused on staying hidden anymore. he wasn't focused on anything.

"z-zak?"

but zak was long gone.

⊱ ────── {⋆❉⋆} ────── ⊰

zak didn't remember stumbling home by himself, or darryl frantically calling after him. he didn't remember dropping his house key twice trying to unlock the front door with his trembling hands. he didn't remember the way he was too spaced out to even acknowledge his mother when she was so worriedly asking him what was wrong. he didn't remember falling onto his bed, not even able to crawl under the covers.

he only remembered those heart-shattering words from hours earlier.

darryl didn't like him. at all. why would he even spend so much time around zak if he didn't like him? but he said it himself, and zak couldn't pretend like he didn't hear it.

the last few weeks of his life seemed so surreal now, all of the times that he and darryl hung out in and after school. when they'd talk about anything and everything that was on their minds. when they would sit awfully close together on zak's small, twin-sized bed and watch netflix together. when they would just spend time enjoying each other's presence.

did it really mean nothing?

if darryl didn't actually like him, why would he go through all that effort to hang out with him? was it out of pity? because zak had never really had a friend before, and darryl felt bad for him?

on another note, why did vincent seem...glad that darryl didn't like him?

but he couldn't focus on that long enough to think of any possible explanation. he was more worried about his best friend. or...at least, who he thought was his best friend.

zak cried for the first time in a very long time that night. he gave in to the urge, letting his tears fall. he paid no mind to the way they soaked his pillow case or dried and formed marks on his face. he curled in on himself and just...cried.

and down the street, darryl laid awake for hours. he didn't think, he didn't feel. he remembered how broken zak looked, cowering by that corner of the hallway. he remembered how zak fled from the scene, not even slowing down when darryl called out to him.

there was no doubt that zak had overheard the conversation. why else would he have reacted the way he did? darryl just wished he could have said something to the boy, but zak was long gone before he even really knew what had happened.

darryl wondered how zak was doing. the answer was pretty obvious, and darryl didn't like it at all.

zak was broken. he was completely lost as to what he would do now. the one friend he really, truly had turned out to be a lie. he didn't even know if he could face darryl after this. what would he even say? maybe he wouldn't have to deal with it if he just stayed home from school. but he couldn't stay home forever.

his head was pounding. it ached from how much he had been crying silently to himself. he couldn't handle it.

he was so stupid. this crush was so stupid. of course darryl would have never liked him like that. he couldn't even get darryl to like him as a person. he was so, so stupid.

why would anyone actually want to be his friend? he should have known it was too good to be true.

everything always was.

⊱ ────── {⋆❉⋆} ────── ⊰

word count: 1045

hi yes it's been a minute. i would have loved to update sooner but i have been given so much english homework over the past few weeks that i just perpetually wanna cry. also im a huge simp for this stupid boy on my chess team and he literally has been living in my head rent free since i met him someone please send help.

yeah anyway here's some angst lol