The Party Scene Saga: Stories Yet To Unfold

Part 15

Jack

Lily stormed across the basement and disappeared up the stairs, closely followed by Lisa. I kicked myself, literally. I was a fucking dick at Rian's last night. I shouldn't have opened my fucking mouth when she was pouring her heart out.

"FUCK." I yelled, slumping down onto the couch with my head in my hands.

Zack and Rian soon went upstairs, obviously to see where the girls went, leaving me alone with Alex. Ever since Lily was in therapy, he's been acting so weird around me. It's like, he doesn't even want to be around me. He was about to say something, when Rian and Zack came back. Rian shook his head; she'd gone. Zack was silent, but that wasn't anything unusual.

"Guys I'm sorry for even asking her to come. I didn't think this would happen." said Alex, but he seemed to be talking to Rian and Zack more than me.

"I knew she'd react like that." murmured Zack. "She's damaged, Alex. She's not all there."

I glared at Zack; how the fuck could he say that about his own sister?! She wasn't damaged...she just had a few more problems than the average person! I got up from the couch, making the guys realise I was still here, and confronted Zack.

"Your sister is a fucking beautiful person, Zack. Inside and out." I told him, trying to sound calm. "And if you think she's 'damaged', then you don't fucking deserve her! Sure, she's not had the best of times recently, but why should that state how we treat her?!"

"I don't think it, I know it!" he yelled back. "And whose fucking fault is it that she's not had the 'best time' recently, huh?! Fuck you, Jack!"

I was about to retort when Rian stood between us. He stared me down until I looked away from him and he finally stepped away.

"Quit the bullshit. Take all this fucking stupid and pointless anger, and let's put it to good use shall we? We do, after all, have a show in DC after New Year!" barked Rian.

I glared at Zack some more, then we launched straight into practice. I have to say, it was then best band practice we've ever had. Everything ran smoothly, with no one messing up on any of the songs or interrupting halfway through. Maybe we should get angry before we play more often. It all ended kinda awkwardly. Zack practically threw his bass in its case and got out of the basement as fast as he possibly could. Alex took his time putting everything away. Rian sat behind his drums, pointlessly drumming quietly. I took this as a cue to leave and disappeared out of the basement. Just as I was about to leave the house, Rian's mom called me back.

"Just a minute, Barakat..."

I turned around; she was walking up the hallway toward me and I felt myself blushing. Kathi was actually pretty intimidating!

"What the hell is wrong with you kids?" she sighed.

"I have no idea..." I mumbled. "Everything's just falling apart."

"Well you all need to sort it out, Jack. You guys are the closest group of teenage boys I have ever seen. Don't mess it up."

I nodded slowly; she's right. I'm not gonna let my feelings come between me and my best friends. I knew exactly what I had to do. I left the house and made my way to Zack's. All I had to do was speak to him and do my best to avoid Lily. As I got there, Lisa was just leaving. When she saw me, she walked right over to me with a scowl covering her face.

"No, you're not upsetting her-"

"Calm the fuck down, Lisa. I wanna talk to Zack." I snapped, brushing past her.

I left her stood on the sidewalk and knocked on the front door. Carla opened it and seemed relieved to see me. She invited me in and hugged me briefly.

"Oh Jack, thank god you're here! Please go and speak to Lily!" she begged.

"I..uh...I'm not sure that's the best idea..." I said quietly, scratching the back of my neck. "But is Zack home? I do need to talk to him."

She nodded and pointed upstairs, but she was obviously curious about why I wouldn't talk to Lily. Quietly, I crept upstairs and waited outside Zack's room for a minute before I knocked. Someone mumbled, so I guessed I could go in. Pushing the door open, I froze when I saw who was actually in there. Lily was curled up on Zack's bed, hugging her legs tightly. She realised I was stood there and freaked out.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! she screamed.

"I just wanna talk to Zack!"

"GET. OUT!"

Lily came charging over to me, hitting me as hard as she could and pushing me out of the room. The door slammed in my face just as Zack came upstairs.

"Mom told me you were here..." he said slowly. "Did Lily-"

"Yeah." I murmured, sliding down the door and sitting on the floor.

Zack didn't say another word. He sat down next to me, still not saying anything. I rested my head against the door gently, when I heard Lily's muffled cries. I wanted to run in and just hold her whilst she cried, but I knew the reaction I'd get. This was all my fault; me and love, we just don't mix at all. Nothing ever goes right in any kind of relationship I have and it's all because I'm a fucking ass. Me and Lily, we were the greatest of friends. Nothing was awkward between us, we'd never dream of not speaking to each other and we never had any kind of fight. Ain't it funny how things change...

"I hate all this shit." Zack groaned. "Why can't everything just go back to the way it was?!"

"Because I'm an ass." I muttered. "What? It's true!"

"No it isn't, Jack." he said, shaking his head. "Everyone's played their little parts in it all and we can't do shit about it. It's Lily who needs to fix things, or at least start fixing everything. She's at the centre of it all. But Jack..."

"Yeah?"

I looked up at Zack; he looked as if he was about to cry. He's a weird kind of guy is Zack; he acts all shy and quiet around people, but with friends he's just an average guy. I kinda knew what he was about to say, becase it was probably the same as what I wanted to say to him.

"Fuck Lily. You don't need her. You have Rian, Alex, me and Grieco. We don't need any girls to keep us happy. So we will never let a girl come between our friendship. Agreed?"

"Agreed." I said quickly, grinning broadly.