Limelight

Zach: Distraction

(I said I was updating Limelight every two days then just... stopped... :/ ANYWAY

*whispers very softly* The Tattooed Mistakes sequel is coming Thursday, check out the promo video on Kreatable23's YouTube channel...!)

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Zach let out a long sigh as the human boy he'd been trying to impress rolled his eyes and brushed past him. Telling people he was in a band was not working, and neither was bringing up the fact that he had helped at the cheer championship. He leaned against his locker for a second or two, scanning the other humans and zombies along the hallway until he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"What was that?"

He didn't even have time to turn around before Alonzo was lightly smacking him upside the head as he gestured towards the human walking away.

"Another failure, obviously," Zach shrugged and pulled a face, but other than that, he didn't seem all that upset.

Al frowned as Zephyr and Roz joined them, "I thought you liked Diaz? Why are you still going after random humans?"

Zach sharply turned away and started fiddling with his Z-band the second Diaz was mentioned, "Because...!" he trailed off, then muttered, "... I'm serious about Diaz..."

Now Al was completely lost, "... You're serious about Diaz... so you're hitting on people... who... aren't Diaz...?"

After a pause, Zach nodded, "Yup."

"... Why?"

Roz groaned and tipped her head back, "It's 'cause he's a coward, Al."

"Hey!"

They all ignored him as they started walking down the hall.

Al snapped his fingers, "Right, 'cause you're scared of getting rejected," he pointed back at where the human boy had been, having disappeared round the corner by now, "What do you call that?"

"Somebody I'm already getting over," Zach stated plainly, "But I don't want to get over Diaz. I don't want to have one conversation with him, get shot down then move on like I always do. I wanna know him."

Zephyr raised an eyebrow, "So, how are you supposed to get to know him if you never talk to him?"

"... Don't call me out like that, Zeph."

"You seriously aren't even gonna try?" Zephyr just laughed. He shook his head, "Man, you're pathetic."

"Oh, I'm pathetic?" Zach challenged, a small smile on his face, "I'm sorry, remind me, how long did it take you to even admit you were crushing on Al?"

Zephyr's smile disappeared. "This is not about me."

Before they could get any further, though, a certain zombie at the other end of the hallway caught Zach's attention.

"Oh, Z, there he is..." he muttered, just loud enough for his friends to hear him and they all looked up.

Zeke, Fritz and Diaz were walking some distance ahead of BFZ. Even with his back to him, Zach couldn't take his eyes off of Diaz. Al nudged him encouragingly.

"Go talk to him!"

"No. No way. I-I, I can't."

"You can't?" Al gave a disbelieving laugh, but Zach was already letting himself be distracted again. A girl none of them knew – another human – was walking past and his nervous expression was quickly replaced by his usual 'charming' smile as Al rolled his eyes, "Zach...!"

Zach ignored him and the three of them watched as he talked to the girl, obviously wasting both his time and hers. When she turned and walked away, he let out a short huff but that was all. Roz was the first to speak.

"How long are you gonna keep this up?"

Zach's eyes shifted from her to the girl and back again, feigning confusion, "Keep what up?"

"Using other people as a distraction!" they hissed, "If you're so desperate to get a date, why waste your time on people you don't really care about? You don't know if Diaz is gonna turn you down!"

She gestured down the hall towards Diaz and his friends as they were just leaving. Zach briefly glanced up at him with a pained expression, then shook his head and returned to arguing. Zephyr also joined in and so when something did happen, Alonzo was, amazingly, the first to notice. His eyes went wide and he looked back and forth between Diaz, who was now disappearing from sight, and Zach.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...!" he quickly grabbed Zach by the shoulder and turned him around, causing Zeph and Roz to stop, too, "Did you see that?"

Zach frowned, "See what?"

"Dude, Diaz just looked at you!"

His jaw dropped, "What?"

Al nodded, "Before they went around the corner. He turned back and he looked. Right. At. You."

"You're kidding."

"I swear."

"Great!" Zach said with a sarcastic smile, throwing his arms up, "Perfect! He probably saw me talking to that girl, too."

Al gave him a gentle shove, "So what? He's seen you talking to a million people! How's this any different?"

"Because-"

Roz suddenly spoke up, "Wait, Zach, no. Al's got a point."

"I do?" both he and Zach frowned at Roz, but then Al quickly recovered and lightly punched Zach's arm, prompting him to turn round, "I do!" he said, more confidently. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, paused and looked back at Roz, "What's my point?"

"He still turned around, even though he knows you were flirting with somebody else. If he is interested, then he obviously isn't letting that put him off."

"OK, yeah, but that's only if he's interested."

Al groaned and slumped over Zach's shoulder, "He is interested...!" Zach stared blankly back at him while Zephyr bit his lip and turned away to (unsuccessfully) hide his smile. Al straightened up, grabbed Zach's arms and shook him aggressively, "I saw the look on his face! He is so into you!"

"Alright, garzi'ka, calm down," Zephyr gently pried his hands off of Zach and pulled him away, "Let me handle this."

"This could be so easy...!"

"I know, I know..."

Al pouted but easily gave in, wrapping his arms around Zephyr and resting his chin on his head while he spoke to Zach.

"Look, do you actually want a shot at this? Do you want to date Diaz?"

"Yes! Obviously!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't be hitting on other people, at least not when he's around."

"Or at all."

"We got that, garzi'ka," Zeph patted his hand, "What I'm saying is he'll think he doesn't have a chance with you. You still haven't actually talked to him for real."

"I'm going to!" Zach insisted, not meeting Zephyr's eyes.

"When?"

He still wouldn't look at any of them, but they were all staring pointedly at him.

"... Someday."