The Party Scene Saga: Stories Yet To Unfold

Part 5

Zack was waiting at the end of the driveway as I got off the bus, and I just managed to steady myself as he came charging towards me, engulfing me in a hug.

"Woah Zacky, where's the fire dude?" I giggled, detangling myself from him.

"I'm sorry, I just missed you today." he admitted, blushing slightly. "Anyway, how was it?"

"Surprisingly, didn't get murdered." I stated, earning a laugh. "Oh, I made friends too."

Zack nodded approvingly. He pushed the front door open quietly, and quickly pulled me up the stairs before anyone knew I was home. We disappeared into our room, and plonked ourselves down on the floor. Zack genuinely seemed down in the dumps, and before I even realised, I'd cupped a hand against his cheek.

"What is it, Zacky?" I asked quietly.

"I just missed you so much today." he murmured. "That's the first time since I can remember that we've been separated. Everyone kept asking me about you, and I didn't know what to say to them. And believe me, I'm over the moon you made friends - hey, isn't that some kind of record for you? - but don't forget me?"

I stared at Zack, completely dumbfounded by the comment he'd just made. Just because I had new friends, it didn't mean I'd automatically forget the one person who'd understood me more than anyone on the planet. I took my hand away from his face and wrapped my arms around his neck. We cuddled each other tightly, and I leaned closer to his ear.

"Zachary Steven Merrick...how the fuck could I forget my own brother?" I said quietly. "Don't think like that."

I felt Zack nod as we continued our hug. I'll be honest, not being with Zack all day made me miss him too. But, it was something the pair of us would have to get used to. Eventually we broke apart, and I saw him wipe a few tears away out of the corner of my eye. I looked up at him and smiled, then began telling him everything about my day: how me and Rian bonded, how all his friends accepted me, how no one judged me for being a pothead, how pretty much everyone knew where I'd come from yet they never said a word to me. As I was telling Zack about Rian and his friends, I noticed his eyes glaze over a little. He seemed uninterested and jealous. I stopped talking mid-sentence.

"What?" he asked, snapping back to reality.

"Zack if you meet my friends will that make you less jealous?" I asked bluntly.

"I'm not jea-"

"Yes you fucking are, don't even deny it." I snapped. "I can see it in your face. So...will it?"

Zack took a minute to think. I hoped he'd say yes, because everyone else wanted to meet him too. Eventually, Zack nodded, and I flung myself at him. He just about caught me, and giggled at me when I squealed.

"You'll love them, honestly." I gushed.

*

My first week had been amazing. Making friends, being accepted, enjoying school...it was like a dream. It was the start of my second week, and I awoke a lot earlier than everyone else in the house. I just sat in bed, listening to Zack's snoring rumble on and on, and watched the last little bit of sunrise through a gap in the curtains. It was an absolutely beautiful day already; the sky was a beautiful bright blue, and the birds were hardly making a sound. I watched the hands on the clock tick nearer to 7am and braced myself for the alarm. That thing was so fucking loud! But with Zack, it had to be. The alarm sounded, and Zack's arm came flying out, quickly batting it to silence.

"Morning Zacky." I grinned.

"Yeah." he grumbled, not moving his face away from the pillow.

I smirked menacingly. Quietly, I crept out of bed and across the room and dived on top of him.

"FUCK!" he yelled. "LILY YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Zachary, no cursing in the house!" I heard a voice grumble.

"Yeah Zachary, you heard mom." I smirked.

"Fuck. You." he mouthed, flipping me off.

"I'm sorry, what was that Zack?" I said loudly, sticking my tongue out at him.

He slapped me on the thigh, signalling for me to move. I jumped off his bed and waited for him to crawl out of it. Me and Zack shared a shower day (yes we have a shower schedule - dad's a nut), and I was determined to get in there first today. He always beats me to it. As Zack was stretching, I pulled my towels and wash bag from under my bed and sprinted out of the room when he'd done stretching. Zack stared at me for a split second before tearing after me. I laughed in his face before slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Lily you fucker!" I heard him hiss.

I chuckled again, and left Zack to bang on the door whilst I got in the shower.

*

"So you guys don't mind my brother coming along tonight?" I asked them for the fifth time today.

"For the fifth time Lily, we want him to come!" stressed Rian.

"Yeah but I was just thinking that it might be awkward for you guys if my brother is just sat in the basement staring at you..." I mumbled

"If he's awesome as you are, then we definitely want him there!" chuckled Alex.

"I'm more awesome." I smirked quietly

"We'll see..." winked Alex.

I punched him in the arm, then left with Rian for the bus. As we waited for the bus to fill up, I decided to ask him a question that had been killing me all day.

"Rian," I said quietly. "Why were you and the guys so insistent on coming to my house in future for practice?"

"Well, we've just started a band together. And we figured, since your brother plays guitar, he wouldn't mind playing bass for us." he explained. "Plus we know you have a good taste in music, and we want your judgement. And we kinda just wanna see how good this basement of yours actually is."

I felt my mouth form into a small smirk. Little did they know Zack was already a master on bass. I was unbelievably flattered they'd invited me for that reason, but something about the look on Rian's face told me he was hiding something. Our usual conversation about music kept us occupied on the ride home. I loved how Rian's face just lit up whenever he was talking about his favourite bands. He reminded me of Zack a little.

"Okay, so your place?" I asked as he got up.

"Yeah. 5:30. Don't be late." he smiled.