DOTING : 13 Reasons Why / Zach Dempsey ON HOLD

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I drove myself to school that morning; I told Zach I would be fine but i'm not quite sure if he believed me or not. I pulled into the parking lot, locked my car, and started heading towards the front doors. I started to see Zach's locker in vision and noticed Bryce, Justin and a few others hanging around, all in their letterman jackets.
"Hey babe." He said smiling as he noticed me walking up. He was leaning against his locker so I went and stood in front of him.
"Morning." I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him softly. That earned an enormous amount of comments from his friends.
"Damn Zach's getting it tonight!" Bryce called out and Zach punched his chest aggressively, followed by a kick in the shin from me.
"Shut up, Bryce." Zach groaned.
"You excited for the game tonight?"
"Hell yeah." Zach said as if it was obvious and I just laughed while rolling my eyes. The first bell rang so we started walking to first period together.
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Once the bell rang for the last class of the day, I walked out to my car and sat in there for a moment. I looked at my phone and saw a text from Zach.
Hey babe, i'll see you at the game tonight, wanna go to my house after for food? Love you❤
I already knew my mom would say yes so I didn't bother to text her at the moment, so I just responded to him.
Yeah sounds great, love you 😘
I turned my phone off and drove out of the parking lot to my house.
I walked in and saw my mom in the kitchen.
"Hey mom," I called out to her as I slipped my shoes off at the front door. "Dad still at work?"
"Hey Sweetie, yeah he's still at the shop. How was your day?"
"It was good. I'm going to Zach's game tonight and was planning on going to his afterwords, that okay?"
"Of course, just keep in touch." I kissed her cheek and walked into my room to relax for a while before heading back to the school. I decided to read for a while so I sat on my bed and did just that. It wasn't until I looked at my clock and saw the time that I realized I had to get ready. I kept on my jeans and blue tank top but grabbed my cream cardigan from my closet. As I threw on my flip flops I head out of room before yelling to my mom.
"BYE MOM, IM HEADING OUT LOVE YOU!"
"STAY IN TOUCH!" I hear being shouted from the other side of the house.
"ALWAYS!" I grab my bag off the hook and head out of the house.
I get in my car and head over to the school and see a bunch of people driving into the park lot. Once parked, I make my way to the gym along with the crowds of people. Once I get into the gym, I see Zach on the court warming up. We make eye contact and I tease him by mouthing the word 'damn' and pretend to check him out. He just laughs and rolls his eyes; I got distracted when I saw Clay talking to Courtney and Marcus. They seemed to be interrogating him or something so I head over.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Marcus whispers in Clay's ear.
"Hey chill out Marcus, it's a game." I tell him annoyed. Suddenly we are approached by Tyler, asking for a picture.
"Fuck off, Tyler." I tell him rudely.
"I seriously just wanted a picture for yearbook." He protests. I turn to see Zach looking at me, about to walk off the court to punch Tyler in the face. I slightly lift my hand from my side, signaling him to stay back and that I was fine. He nods his head and I decided to walk away from their conversation. I head up to the top of the bleachers. A loud buzz echoes throughout the gym, and everyone gets ready to start the game. But suddenly, Clay begins to walk onto the court slowly.
"Jensen get off the court, the games about to start." Zach yells at him.
But all he does is stand there. Within seconds, the crowd begins booing and the coaches start yelling at him but he just continues to stare blankly into space. Then finally he blinks his eyes a few times and backs off the court.
"What the fuck.." I mumble to myself before regaining my focus on the game.
As time went on, the guys only did better. Zach was leading the team making shot after shot; I knew my voice would feel raw after cheering so much but I didn't mind. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time, seeing how great Zach was made me extremely happy. Suddenly the ball was thrown out and was tossed up into the bleachers, landing in Clay's hands. I was only a couple rows above him so I was fortunate enough to see this whole thing play out. Clay grabbed the ball but instead of throwing it back, he just held it in his hands.
"Jensen, come on, throw the damn ball." Zach yelled at him, clearly annoyed at his behavior tonight. But still, Clay just stood there still holding the basketball. Tyler nudged him a little, telling him to throw the ball but nothing changed.
"Clay, give them back the ball.." I slightly yelled towards him. The players begin yelling at Clay when Tyler finally grabbed the ball out of his hands and tossed it back.
The game continued on and the score was at 22-16 and we were in the lead thanks to Zach. Scouts would be begging him to play for them after tonight, not like that mattered. Although Zach was amazing, his passion for marine biology was stronger than his love for basketball.
Shot after shot after shot, Zach kept scoring endless points for the team. The crowd was chanting his name and he was on top of the world. I was glad to see him so happy, it had been hard these past few weeks. But I know that no matter what it is, he always works through it. My thoughts were once again, interrupted by Clay.
"Stop! Stop it! Stop the game!" He continued shouting over and over while he raced down the bleachers. He stopped in his tracks and stood still; the whole gym was staring at him. After a moment, he softly ran out of the gym out into the parking lot. After some quiet confusion from everyone, the crowds cheered up again and the game continued on.
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The game was amazing and everyone played great, especially Zach; he won the game for the team. I was waiting outside of the gym for Zach to head home as crowds of people poured out of the doors. Once it slowed down, I saw Zach walk out, covered in sweat but with an enormous grin on his face.
"Hey you." I said as he walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up and kissing me.
"Thanks for coming, babe." He said happily.
"I love coming to your games, especially when you played like you did tonight." We began to walk hand in hand to my car through the parking lot.
"You know I can walk to my car by myself, right?" I laughed.
"Yeah but i'm a gentlemen so." He said sarcastically and I lightly hit his chest rolling my eyes. Suddenly he stopped walking.
"Shit, we gotta go back to my car I forgot something for you." I was confused but began walking to his car. We walked over and he unlocked the passenger side door and grabbing something out. He turned to face me with a bouquet of flowers in his hands and still, I was confused.
"What?? I didn't do anything? You're the one who played great tonight?"
"Yeah but I thought I should thank you for coming...it really means a lot to have your support." I began to feel all that mushy gushy love pouring out of me before walking over and giving him a tight hug before taking the flowers.
"Let me just throw my jacket in the car, hold." He walked around to the drivers side but was completely stunned when he did.
"What the fuck!" He yelled with anger; I eagerly followed him to the other side of his car and stood shocked;
'Why me' was scratched into the side.
"Holy shit.." I quietly breathed out.
"It was Jensen. I fucking know it." He started to pace angrily around with his hands balled into fists. I knew Clay had done it too, but I couldn't find anything to say at the moment. Zach punched the top of his car violently.
"Hey, come on." I said quietly and I walked over and grabbed his hands and held them. He took a deal breathe and just looked down.
"It's alright, we'll figure it out."
"I just want to forget it happened." I look up at him slightly concerned but didn't want to question him.
"Okay. I'm gonna go back to my car and i'll meet you at your house." He just gave a slight nod and I reached up and lightly kissed his cheek before walking away.
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I drove up to Zach's house and saw he was already home. I walked up to their house and entered, only to see him arguing with his mom.
"Mom, it's fine. Just drop it, it's not that big of a deal." He said in an exhausted tone.
"Zachary, don't say another word. We are going right over to the Jensen's house tomorrow morning and getting this fixed." She said angrily, Zach just looked so put out and upset; I walked over slowly.
"Hi sweetheart, sorry about that." Mrs. Dempsey spoke to me, although she didn't really seem sorry.
"No worries." I said as Zach just walked away and headed to his room. I gave her a smile before following Zach. He shut the door before slumping onto his bed. He just had a flat line expression and seemed tired.
"I don't want her to make a big deal of it." Was all he could manage to say.
"She's just trying to help.." We stayed silent for a moment before he spoke again.
"He did because of Hannah," He started. "She called out to me that day in the hallway, and I just left." He looked down disappointed. I could tell he was holding back small tears. He raised his head and his eyes met mine.
"What was wrong with me...why didn't I help her." He said in a quiet, whimpering voice: like an abandoned puppy. He took a deep breath to try and hold back the tears and I saw his glossy eyes. I went over and sat next to him, and just held his body close to mine. I just held him. I knew he had hated himself back then and how he handled it all, but I saw the change in him. I know he's a different person and that's all that matters. But in this moment all he could think of was the things he had done wrong. We just sat there in silence, not needing to say anything. Eventually, we both fell asleep holding each other throughout the night.