Sick Little Games (Zack Merrick)

• The Tape •

{ s i x t e e n }

"Of course everybody remembers, dumbass. You guys kissed in front of us all! We may have been high but we're not blind." Mariah explained to me with a laugh, scrunching her curled hair up in her hand while pouting in the mirror. I frowned at her.

"It wasn't even a kiss...it was like, sharing the smoke." I stated back, probably making it sound a lot more like a question that it should've been.

I'm gradually becoming a lot more comfortable with Mariah, day by day, it gets easier to speak to her like I've known her for a while. Sure, sometimes she doesn't make the best choices, but she can be nice a lot of the time.

"Your lips touched, so yeah, it counts. Does this..." She hesitated and frowned before looking at me and shaking her head.

"What?" I urged her, a little curious.

"Well, I was just wondering if you're into Zack. I know Oli...um, if I tell you something, can we keep it between us? I don't really trust talking to anybody else." She leant against the sinks and eventually pulled herself up so she was sitting on them.

She paused for a long time, and I noticed her begin to pick at her nails before shaking her head again.

"Oli wants to... He thinks that you're hot and his type and..." She explained, awkwardly trailing off each time she started a sentence. I'm guessing she can't find the words to explain whatever it is.

"He wants to date me?" I guessed curiously.

"No, he wants to um, have sex with you, and you don't have to do anything! You probably like Zack, right? Anyway, Oli hasn't been himself lately and he's like, threatened me a few times. I'm sorry Justice, I was going to try and set you up with him but I can't knowing that you aren't like that...

"You're probably still a virgin and Oli is just trying to play his games because you're hot and he's blackmailing me-" I cut her off, god she can talk for so long.

"It's okay," I said immediately. Jack was definitely right about staying away from Oliver and being cautious, awe he's such a nice brother. He'll probably he ecstatic when I tell him how right he was about Oli.

"What's he blackmailing you with?" I asked, sitting on the sinks like her.

"He said he'd tell Alex that we hooked up, but we didn't. I know Alex though- and he'll probably jump at the chance to argue with me." I furrowed my brow. What sort of relationship was that. I didn't bother asking why she was even staying with him. I have a feeling I already know the answer anyway. But seriously, isn't it a little low to blackmail someone just to have sex with their friend.

"Why don't you try recording him saying it to you? Like tell him I said no and record the conversation on your phone?" I'm not the best at advice, I'll admit that, but this doesn't seem like a bad idea.

"Th- get the fuck out!" She smiled, but it turned sour as she started to shout. I glanced next to me to see a girl abruptly leave the bathroom with wide doe-eyes and the door slam shut behind her. Mariah's smile came back and it focused on me.

"Thanks Justice, I'll try that today and let you know at lunch."

*

A w k w a r d.

That's one way to explain it. When I came into the cafeteria, Zack was sat alone at the table we usually sit at. He was picking at an apple, seemingly studying it. Usually, I'd be the first to sit with him, I'd sit next to him for five minutes and then eventually the rest would join us.

Today though, I couldn't get that ki- sharing of smoke, out of my head. I mean, it shouldn't be a big deal, we were high. Really high. It barely even counts, but it still happened.

So when I grabbed a sandwich and sat next to him, his knee grazing my thigh, awkward is the only world to describe.

"Hey, Jess." He muttered quietly, giving me a small smile before biting into his apple. Unusual- I noted, he's usually more talkative too, he must be feeling just as awkward as I am.

"Okay one of us has to bring it up," I didn't realise I said that out loud until he looked at me with wide eyes and then laughed a little. I couldn't help but laugh too, and just like that, the awkwardness between us washed away.

"Now you have," he teased, "I'm sorry I just...threw myself at you? I think that's what happened anyway, I woke up with the biggest headache yesterday." He put his head in his hands but almost as fast as he did pulled himself back up and took another bite of his chosen food of the day.

"Same, it was fun though. I enjoyed myself," I hesitated. Would flirting with him really be that bad; if he can throw himself at me, I can do the same, but I think I'll just stick to light flirty comments for now, "and I didn't even mind the throwing part." I winked and his jaw hung open for a few seconds before he laughed. He opened his mouth to reply when he caught sight of something.

"Mariah's here." He said with a chuckle, bumping my thigh with his knee. I grinned and got up, sliding myself into the opposite side of the table. I noticed her curly hair bouncing towards me before I noticed her.

"Hey!" She squealed as she got to me, sliding onto the bench next to me and completely ignoring Zack.

"You," she pinched my cheek and then grabbed my head to pull me forward and kiss it. I pulled myself back, giving her a look. What the hell was that? "Are my saviour; honestly. It worked." She grinned.

What? I think she noticed the confusion on my face.

"I got the tape; I'm free, you're free. Let's go to a party!" He excitement didn't die down.

"I think some Matthew kid is having one this weekend. He's pretty cool; in my math class." Jenna sat down, giving us the information as she joined the table.

"We are going to a party this weekend Justice." Mariah finalised from next to me.