Bright: DEH/BMC Fanfic

Chapter 8

As Jeremy drove, Zoe flipped through the radio stations. Nothing was on except rap and country, her two least favorite genres. After a few minutes, she finally plugged her phone into the aux cord and started her classic rock playlist. 

"I didn't know you were into Journey." Jeremy said casually. His eyes didn't falter from the road.

Zoe shrugged, "Yeah, but who doesn't like 'Don't Stop Believing'?" 

"True."

They rode together in silence until they reached Jeremy's house. Michael was sitting on the front steps.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked as he and Zoe go out of the car. 

"We're gonna livestream remember? 'Kill All People 4' came out today." Michael took a video game out of his backpack. It had a gory cover of people shooting zombies with big font made of blood saying 'KILL ALL PEOPLE 4: REVENGE OF THE DEAD.'

"Ah crap, I forgot." Jeremy put his hand to his forehead and then looked at Michael. "Can't we reschedule?"

Michael walked towards Jeremy and Zoe. "We can't reschedule man, we already told our fans."

Jeremy sighed, "But I promised Zoe I'd study with her. We have a big test coming up this Friday!"

"It's fine." Zoe said. "We can just study tomorrow."

"No, lets just do it today." Jeremy declared.

"How 'bout this," Michael started, "How about you and Zoe study at your house and I livestream with Rich here. I know how to work the setup; I just need the keys and your password."

Jeremy thought this through for a few moments and then nodded. "Okay, fine." He handed Michael the keys to his house. "And the password is..." he glanced at Zoe and then back at Michael, "JeremyFear001." 

Michael laughed, "Wow, you made a pun out of our your own name!"

"Shut up," Jeremy mumbled. He turned to Zoe, "Come on, lets go to your place."

They got back in his car and Zoe started giving him directions. She felt bad about him not livestreaming. What teenage boy would rather study than play videogames? It made no sense to her. 

Finally they made it to Zoe's apartment. They climbed the flight of stairs and entered her front door. Like usual, her mom wasn't home.

"Want anything to eat or drink?" Zoe asked as they walked by the small kitchen. Jeremy shook his head, so they went into her room. 

At the sight of her room, she suddenly felt embarrassed. There were clothes all over her floor and bed, and candy rappers on the desk. "Umm well," she started as she tried to clear off her bed and desk, "I wasn't expecting company."

Jeremy laughed and then sat down on her computer chair. She did the same but on her bed and leaned against the wall. 

As they took out their books and notes, Zoe noticed Jeremy looking at the picture of Evan on her desk. She flushed with humiliation. "Crap."

"So, uh, you have a boyfriend?" Jeremy asked, straightening up.

Zoe didn't know what to say. "Oh God, I wish I had gotten rid of that thing!"

She looked down at her lap. She decided to tell the truth. "Ex- boyfriend." She put an emphasis on "Ex."

He nodded, "Ah, I see. If I may ask..."

"I know," Zoe cut him off short, "It's weird to keep a picture of your ex. It's... complicated." If there was one word to describe Zoe, it was "complicated." 

Jeremy nodded again. A few moments passed before he said anything else. "I have pictures of my ex too." He admitted.

Zoe looked up at him, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah," he chuckled halfheartedly, "but on my phone." He took out his phone and clicked on the photo app. He handed it to Zoe.

She began scrolling through his phone. There were hundreds of happy pictures with him and Christine. She gave it back to him. "Well, if I may ask... why did you guys break up?"

"If I tell you, then you have to tell me what happened between you and this guy." He pointed his thumb to the Evan picture and smiled.

Without thinking, Zoe said, "Sure."

Jeremy sighed, "Well, we didn't have much in common. That was the beginning of it anyway." He paused and then cracked his knuckles awkwardly. "Ouch. Anyway. So she also didn't really like Michael, or the fact that I hung out with him all the time. Especially since we started a YouTube channel together.

"Eventually she got sick of it and was all like, 'It's either him or me.' So I chose him."

"How long have you been friends with Michael?" Zoe asked.

"That's the thing," Jeremy explained, "We've been best friends since elementary school. It wouldn't be fair to him to just stop being friends, you know?" Zoe nodded in agreement. "Especially after what I did to him last year. But that's a story for another time."

"He says especially a lot." Zoe thought.

"So," Jeremy finished, "we broke up. Now, it's your turn."

Suddenly realization flooded over Zoe. Where would she even begin? "Um, well..." She couldn't get the words out. It was all too much.

"Our whole relationship was built on a lie." She said quietly. She looked at the picture and sighed. She could feel the tears beginning to form.

"Last fall... or school year, I don't know months, or... seasons." Zoe began to stumble on her words. "My brother took his own life." She saw Jeremy's eyes widen, but he said nothing.

 She continued, "He was a terrible person. He had no friends. So when Evan," she pointed to the picture, "said they were friends, I was shocked.

"He told me and my family these crazy stories of how they hung out over the summer, and even showed us emails. He started a whole thing for my brother, Connor, called the Connor Project, where he raised money and gave speeches. One of them's on YouTube." Zoe began fidgeting with her thumbs, her brain hurting, trying to figure out what else to say.

"He... comforted me. He gave me my brother back. So, then we began dating and then..." Finally the tears overwhelmed her and she began to cry.

"Then... he told us it was all fake. The emails, their friendship, everything!" She tried to wipe away the tears with her palms. Jeremy handed her a tissue box that was on her desk.

"He was doing it so he could get some sort of family replacement; so he could get me." Zoe sobbed, "He's the reason my family shattered. He's why my parents divorced and why I'm here."

Silence. The only sound was Zoe crying. All of it was out in the open, and now he knew how damaged she was.

Finally, Jeremy broke the silence. "I... I'm so sorry Zoe. I shouldn't have asked; it was none of my business." He looked down in shame.

Zoe stared at him and shook her head, "No, it's fine. I'm sorry that you have to see this." She waved her hands at herself dramatically. 

Jeremy looked at the picture of her and Evan with a face of disgust. Zoe did him a favor and put it face down. "There." She said, "Honestly, I need to get rid of that thing." She smiled slightly and then laughed at her foolishness. Jeremy laughed too, and then they began to actually study.