Not Even Real | Dream SMP School AU

51 - Unwanted Thoughts

As Zak shut the door behind himself he let out a long sigh. After he and Darryl had gotten out of the basement, they'd received an earful from the principal. Something out "obeying the rules" and "getting to class on time". Zak hadn't been listening.

"Honey? Is everything alright?" He heard his mom call from the kitchen where she was cooking dinner. Zak glanced in her direction before storming upstairs into his room.

No, Mom. Everything is NOT alright.

Zak jumped onto his bed face-first, trying to ignore the sad exhale his mother let out. It wasn't his fault this time. It was never his fault! Then who's fault was it?

Darryl. Darryl... no... it's never his fault. Why... why would I think that this time?

After contemplating the options of who to blame, Zak sat up and walked to his window. He stared longingly into the street, hoping that by some miracle his friend would show up and they could hang out without thinking of all the horrible things that had happened.

But Zak knew that wouldn't be happening. All that Darryl wanted to talk about was that bright red egg they found.

"God, it's so STUPID! I should never have let him go off on his own. Now it's like he's being... HYPNOTISED by this STUPID. RED. E-"

A soft knocking sounded from Zak's door. He punched the air to calm himself and answered the knocking.

"Hello?"

"Zak... is everything alright?"

His mother's caring voice made him feel guilty for being mad. He paused before replying again.

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, everything's alright." 

He felt her hesitate before she went downstairs. Zak waited by the door for another few seconds before walking back to the window. The longing for his friend to be back at his house only grew worse as he stared into the street. Rain began to fall from the now gray and dreary sky.

Great, just another depressing thing to add to this day.

Just as he thought that, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He opened it to see a message from Darryl. His heart jumped with excitement. Was he finally okay? Zak couldn't wait any longer. He opened the message and read it quietly to himself.

"Hey Zak! I got home not too long ago and realized that I can't remember everything that happened?? Like I got home and just wandered for a bit in a fog or something. It feels like a got knocked out and woke up like a zombie or something."

Zak stared at his phone for a second before typing a reply, dropping his phone, and running out of the room.

Hey Zak!  (•◡•) /  I got home not too long ago and realized I can't remember everything that happened?? (╥﹏╥) Like, I got home and just wandered for a bit in a fog or something  O_o

It feels like I got knocked out and woke up like a zombie or something! （>﹏<）

I'm on my way Dar

-At Darryl's House-

Oh god, please tell me he's okay.

Zak raced to the door of this best friend's house. He frantically knocked on the door before it swung open, being left unlocked. Zak ran through the house looking for Darryl. His searching finally ended in Darryl's room, where he was sitting on the floor watching YouTube. He looked up to see Zak gasping for air while trying to speak.

"Dar! *gasp* Are you *gasp* okay?!" Zak fell to the floor and continued to gasp for air.

"Hi, Zak! I'm... mostly- are YOU okay?" Darryl scooted over to his friend who was "dying" on the floor. Zak held up a shaky thumbs before letting his arm fall back to the floor.

After a while of the two sitting in silence (besides Zak's heavy breathing), Zak sat up and faced his friend. Darryl was still smiling at him, his big green eyes shining brightly.

Ah... he's... brighter than usual today. And... prettier? Wait- what? PRETTIER?! WHAT AM I SAYING? I'M ACTING LIKE... like I... like him. Oh for chri-

"Zak?"

Zak snapped out of his spiral and looked at his friend once again. A strange feeling rose in his chest. His face felt hotter than normal. He looked at the wall before the feeling could get worse.

"S- sorry. Are you okay? That text you sent me... do you really not remember anything?"

Darryl thought for a moment. His intense thinking was slightly scary for someone who seemed so chill all the time.

"I don't... have amnesia. I can remember... some... things. It's just blurry. Like I was seeing without my glasses that whole time. And- and while wearing noise cancelling headphones that don't do 100% of their job! And... uh... like I wasn't able to think before speaking..."

The two sat in silence once more, this time only being broken by the sounds of Darryl's house.

God damn it. Now I can only think about Dar. This is concerning though.

"Like he was sleeping in his own head while his body was on autopilot..."

Darryl perked up, a sudden realization hitting him.

"Exactly!" He exclaimed.

"Huh?" Zak replied, still only half listening.

"It's like I was asleep and my subconscious was in control! Zak!" Darryl grabbed his friend's hands in his own, shocking Zak and causing him to stare right into his friend's eyes "You're a genius!"

The feeling came back as Zak stared into the eyes of his friend. Butterflies and blushing.

"Y- yeah- you- you're... pretty..." Zak whispered, his voice barely heard.

Darryl's eyes widened, his grip on Zak's hands lessening.

"Wh- what?"

"You're... huh?" Zak blinked a few times, trying to focus.

"I thought you said... never mind. You're still very smart to think of that though. I wonder why I can't remember anything..." Darryl let go of his friend's wrists and walked to his bedroom window.

What did I say? OH! OH MY GOD I'M AN IDIOT!

"Idot!" Zak facepalmed.

His friend turned around, confused.

"D- did you just say "idot"? Like... like a miss-saying of idiot?" Darryl tried not to giggle as Zak slowly turned his head up.

"Uh... y- yeah. I've been saying that for a while. H- have you never heard me say that before?" Zak asked.

"No? You've never had to say it before! I kinda like it though. Idot!" Darryl started laughing to himself, causing Zak to laugh as well.

For the next while they kept laughing and bringing up words that they mispronounced. It was as if everything that had happened in the basement of their school was leaving their minds.

Much time passed before Zak was called to go home. His mother had been worried about him since he had left the house.

"Oh, honey, please come home! You don't have to talk about it just come back!"

"I... okay. I was just at Darryl's house though. Uh... wait- could I see if his parents would let me stay the night? Just to... hang out more?"

Zak heard his mother sigh followed by suspenseful silence. Eventually she broke and allowed him to stay. Zak thanked his mother and ran to tell Darryl.

"She said I could stay!" Zak exclaimed, startling Darryl who had been looking through a small book collection.

"Wh- what?"

"My mom! She said I could stay the night!" Zak skipped into the room as his friend stood up.

"Oh! Of course! We should go get some snacks from the gas station down the street!" Darryl suggested, taking Zak's hand in his own.

The two boys walked down to the gas station together, continuing to talk about the various things that had happened so far in their school year.

This is going to be a great night! I can't wait!