𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 | 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥/𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲

12. Looking out

Jack's p.o.v.

I sat down on Corbyn's bed, pulling out a textbook. "So I was thinking we could start with outlining the interpretations, and then we can talk about how having access to Soviet files impacted-" I begun to say before being rudely interrupted by Corbyn.

"Booooring. I'm bored." He groaned. I laughed, throwing my pencil at him. "Ow!" He complained, walking over and laying down on the bed. "Get your lazy ass up, we have a whole project to do!" I joked, lightly kicking his arm with my foot. He turned over and propped himself up, swinging his legs in the air behind him. "You look like a boy in love" I teased. He rolled his eyes. "It's a comfortable position!!!" He argued defensively.

"Fine, I'll test it out and join you" I suggested, laying beside him and swinging my legs. "It is actually kind of fun" I admitted. I propped myself up a bit more and grabbed my textbook. "So as I was saying, cold war interpretations."

Corbyn nodded as I explained the whole project to him. We began working and eventually after a solid two hours of work we had completed the project.

"Thank God THAT'S done!" Corbyn huffed, spinning around to face me in his desk chair. I was sitting on his floor, my legs crossed. "Based on the mark I got last time I did this topic, i can guarantee we're gonna get an A!" I beamed proudly. "I hope so" Corbyn muttered. "When we were learning about Hitler I got a B- for refusing to write his name with a capital "H" because I felt he didn't deserve the privilege."

I snorted, rolling my eyes at how silly he was. Corbyn yawned, stretching his arms wide. "I'm gonna go grab a drink, you want anything?" He asked. I shook my head no, indicating at my water bottle that was across the room. "I'm good for now" I replied. He shrugged, walking out of the room.

I began to pack all my books and pens away in my bag when I heard a voice outside. At first I ignored it, but something about it was so intriguing. It sounded so... familiar. I slowly walked over to the window, peeking through one of the white lines of his shutters. I squinted, noticing a small figure sitting outside the house directly in front of Corbyn's. He was sitting on his porch, his hood up and covering his face. In his hand he held a little black notebook. I was about to leave the window when suddenly the boy pulled down his hoodie, revealing his face.

A gasp escaped past my lips as I saw the face of the boy who I'd been trying to forget. It was Zach. Countless times throughout our friendship I had tried to ask Corbyn about Zach, and he'd always told me he'd known nothing about him, yet this whole time they'd not only been neighbours, but living right opposite to each other??

I examined Zach's face closely, noticing there were tears streaming down his face. I made the gap between the shutters a bit bigger so that I could get a better view, but I suddenly noticed his eyes look up. Before I could move, his eyes landed on me. I panicked, knowing he'd seen that someone was watching him. I'd been caught.

"What you looking at?"

"AH FUCK!!" I yelled. I jumped away from the window, my heart racing at 100 miles an hour. I turned around to see Corbyn sitting on his bed, watching me, and confused. "Shit. Oh fuck. Sorry, you scared me-" I babbled, stumbling over my hurried words.

"No need to have a freak out" Corbyn joked, holding his hands up in defense. I sighed, nodding. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." I mumbled as I looked back over at the window. I slowly moved the shutters a little to look through them, but Zach was gone. I sighed, walking over to Corbyn's bed and sitting beside him. "It's nothing really. I just- nothing. It's nothing, honestly."

Corbyn raised an eyebrow, looking at me with concern. I sighed, giving in. "I just heard a voice outside and when I looked I- ... I saw Zach." I confessed. I noticed Corbyn's face fall a little at the mention of him. "Oh, yeah, Zach..." he mumbled quietly.

"You didn't tell me that you guys are neighbours. He lives directly opposite you..." I questioned, wondering why he was acting weird. "I guess I just didn't think it was important" he replied suspiciously, averting his gaze. I could tell he was lying to me, but I shrugged it off, deciding to let it go. I tried to change the conversation to make Corbyn feel a little less uncomfortable.

"Uhh I think I should get going now, but - umm, you can come stay over at my place tonight if you want?" I suggested, looking at Corbyn. "I-" he began, before being cut off by his phone ringing. I looked at the screen, and noticed the caller ID was the name "Zach". He quickly flipped his phone around before I got the chance to see, but it was already too late.

"What the fuck Corbyn?" I asked angrily. "He has your phone number?!"
He stayed silent, not responding. "I know you're trying to hide something from me, and that's not cool. I thought we were friends! Don't lie to me, Corbyn. You know more about Zach than you claimed to, don't you?" I asked, hurt that my closest friend had been lying to me for so long.

"Well?" I urged. Corbyn sighed, defeated. "Yes, ok? I didn't tell you everything I know about Zach. You happy now?" He spat out. I went quiet. A thick slience fell upon the room. For a minute I just sat there, before finally speaking up. "I'm sorry Corbyn, it's none of my business. You don't have to tell me everything, I was just upset that you lied to me" I muttered sadly.

Corbyn sighed, placing his head in his hands. "I know. Fuck, I'm sorry." He cursed. He looked up at me, and in that moment where his eyes met mine, I saw just how much desperation was in them. "I wanted to protect you from hearing the truth. I didn't want you to find out, but - it looks like you're willing to hear it one way or another." He dryly laughed, and I nodded in agreement with his statement. Surely I'd find someone who'd tell me.

"Well, if you're gonna hear it, I'd rather you hear the truth - the real truth, and not one of those bullshit rumours from school."

Corbyn's tone had shifted, and there was a serious look in his eyes. I nervously gulped, shifting my position a bit. "What ever it is, I'm ready to hear it. You know I won't stop until I find out." I urged. Corbyn nodded, trying to find the words to say.

"Have you ever noticed how- how..." he begun, yet he seemed unable to finish his sentence. "How what?" I pressed, growing impatient. "How he..." he tried again. I sighed, eager for him to continue. "Spit it out" I whined, rolling my eyes.

"Zach's different. His story's different, and its dark. You don't know what happened - you don't know what it did to him. It was bad, and it-" he began babbling. I groaned. "Get to the point, Corbyn!"

He pursed his lips, his nerves getting to him. Finally, after a deep breath, looked into my eyes, a stern and unwavering intensity piercing through me.

"There's something you should know about Zach Herron..."