hostage → z. dempsey

I. The Beginning

"it's too cold for you here,
so let me hold both your hands
in the holes of my sweater"

     how does someone who used to be considered a god fall? it's a lengthy question, one that the teenagers of liberty high were currently facing today. because the god of their entire school, bryce walker, was finally going to be put to trial for the things he had done to more than a few girls in their own high school.
     claudia florent sat in silence with clay jensen as they waited for their last period of the day to end. there had been a substitute teacher whom had already decided to not stop the teens in the classroom from talking. yet still, claudia and clay sat in silence, refreshing their phones over and over again to see the news on what zach dempsey had said in court today.
     soon enough the news story went through, and the two teens were not ready for what had been revealed. it was no secret to the two that claudia was still very much in love with zach, and clay with hannah.
     "you can't be fucking serious," clay jensen stated, looking towards the brunette girl as they sat. "he has to be lying. he's a liar." the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day for the weekend. "he's such a fucking liar. hannah would never . . ."
     "clay! you don't know anything, if zach says that that's true, then maybe it is," claudia said, picking up her bag and walking out with him into the hallways, soon enough making their way outside. it seemed as if that was going to be the end of their conversation, because the two could only stand there and think in silence.
     finally, clay looked towards claudia and said, "you're not going to go see him, right? you know he doesn't deserve your pity. not after everything he did to you."
     claudia shook her head. "you know i can't. i haven't been able to talk to him since hannah's tapes. why would you think i would go back to him?" she shook her head. "but i do need to go. my mom wants me to get a head start on dinner tonight." and with that, she nodded her head at clay and walked towards her car, getting in and driving out of the school parking lot.
     she didn't know what she was supposed to do with the information that zach had leaked in the trial. about how him and hannah had been together the summer before she committed suicide. about how he had kept it a secret from everyone, including claudia herself. and instead of heading home, she found herself driving towards the dempsey household.
    maybe she shouldn't have gone there. maybe she should've kept the loud silence between her and zach and just continue on with her life. however, claudia couldn't. because she herself was supposed to testify for hannah's cause, and she wanted to get the entire story, for herself and hannah.
     to claudia's surprise zach was sitting on his doorstep, a mug of coffee in his hands. he was still dressed in his suit, but his hair was strewn around like he had had his hands running through it multiple times in a frenzy. he was alone, there was no car in the driveway except his own. not even his own mother would talk to him after the information that got leaked.
     claudia parked her car on the street, looking at zach as she walked out of her car and walked onto his lawn. she kept her distance, looking towards the boy that she had spent so long thinking about. but this time he wasn't on the pedestal that claudia had put him on so many times before. he was bent, broken, and shattered so many times through. the boy that claudia loved was sitting before her and all she could think about was that even still, she wanted to sit down and hug him. to tell him that everything was alright was something that she has wanted to do for a long time. but she can't, because she shouldn't.
     zach was the first to break the silence, saying, "you read about what happened in the trial?"
     claudia took in a deep breath.
      "i did."
     the boy shook his head, looking down at his cup of coffee. "i'm so sorry, claudia. you know i-"
     "please don't apologize to me. please. we were broken up, you're allowed to be with other people," claudia stated in a sad tone.
    "then why are you crying?" zach asked.
     a single tear has made its way down claudia's face, she hadn't even realized it till it had dropped onto the grass of his lawn. more and more started to roll down her cheeks, and claudia felt herself feel more and more inclined to leave.
    "because i love you. and you loved her. and all i can think about is how i wish that hannah had been me. i wish that had been you and i that summer, not you and her," claudia said, wiping her face.
     zach stood up from his seat and walked over to her, putting his hand on her arm. claudia leaned into his touch, as much as she didn't want to.
    "and i just wanted you to love me. i wanted you to love me so much and i thought and thought about why you didn't come back. and it was because of hannah," claudia explained.
    "claudia, please you need-"
    "you let bryce walker, of all people, break us up. how could you have done that, zach? you know i loved you. yet you let a rapist make you believe that i didn't."