Loose Change~ Montgomery De La Cruz / Zach Dempsey/Scott Reed

Chapter 11

"She's being so fucking confusing" Montgomery complained. He took a swing out of the bottle in front of him. He winced. He had grabbed a random metal water bottle off of the coffee table next to the couch and took a swing, expecting beer. It was something much stronger.

"One minute she's acting normal. She's laughing, smiling, starting conversations. The next she's shutting herself off. Acting like she's fucking depressed. Y'know? Crying and shit. She fucking screamed at me today when I️ wanted to go inside her house with her."

Zach felt his shoulders tense. He tried his best to remain relaxed. He didn't want Montgomery to suspect anything. Zach knew way more than he should, stuff Montgomery would be willing to tear him apart for knowing.

Zach watched Montgomery take another swing of his drink. It was obvious he didn't like the taste, but he kept drinking. Zach wondered why pure alcohol was so desirable among kids his age. It was disgusting.

Montgomery held the drink out, offering it to Zach. "Take some."

Zach, who until now stayed standing by the door, slowly lowered himself onto the couch, which was positioned across from the door in the clubhouse. His hesitation was clear. He didn't know why Montgomery wanted to meet him here. It wasn't even baseball season yet.

He shook his head.

"No, thanks."

Montgomery kept his hand out. "Drink it."

Zach let out a forced laugh. "Really, I'm good. I've got a lot of homework-"

"I'm not fucking asking, Dempsey."

Zach frowned, upset and offended by Montgomery's tone. "I️ don't care if you're asking or not, I'm not fucking drinking it." Zach scoffed, "Are you planning on driving yourself home?"

Montgomery brought the bottle back to him and took another sip, angrily. "Don't you fucking worry about me."

Zach shook his head. He was suddenly less nervous, and more angry at the boy in front of him. Annoyed too. He asked, "Why the fuck did you bring me here, Monty?"

Montgomery shrugged. "We're friends, aren't we? Don't friends hang out?"

"Cut the bullshit" he said, "Is it about Ophelia? You still pissed at me because you think I️ have a thing for her?"

As he said this, Zach looked away from him. A nervous bead of sweat ran down his forehead. He hoped to god it wasn't really that.

Montgomery just laughed, "Zachy, if I️ thought for one minute that you could actually take Ophelia from me, do you think I'd be talking to you right now?"

Zach felt a rush of embarrassment and self-consciousness. Zach was good looking. A lot of girls at school thought so. He was funny, wasn't he? He's made Ophelia laugh before. What made Montgomery think so low of him? He could take Ophelia if he really wanted to, right?

But had he tried to take her? Zach had always felt a romantic pull towards Ophelia, ever since they were little. They grew up in the same community, and their families forced them to be close. But she was always out of his reach. Was it because she was dating Montgomery? No, that didn't start until freshmen year. Was Zach really just below Montgomery in her eyes?

Montgomery finished him off by saying, "You are not her type."

No. There's no way someone would want someone like Montgomery and not him.

Montgomery was so mean. Zach was sweet, his mother raised him to be. Zach wondered if maybe his mother had raised him to be too sweet. Too soft. Montgomery was tough. He spoke how he wanted to anyone he wanted. Zach couldn't even find the courage to call him out for what he knows he did. He couldn't call anybody out.