truth or dare (jachary)

chapter 30

jack 🍜

my eyes rolled open in the early morning with the light blaring in through daniel's bedroom window, right into my eyes. i groan and roll over.

and there's zach, eyes closed, pretending to be sleeping peacefully.

does he think i'm stupid? i know the way his left eyebrow slightly twitches while he's asleep, the way his hair falls over his eyes, not to mention the fact that he snores. and i can tell by the purple bags under his eyes he hasn't slept.

i huff and get up, making my way to the kitchen, where i know daniel and jonah will be their annoyingly morning person selves. i stood at the top of the stairs, taking a whiff of the breakfast jonah was making.

i heard them talking in hushed voices, so i snuck my way down the stairs and sat on the bottom step. i heard my name a couple of times, followed by zach's most of the time, but i couldn't tell what they were saying over the sizzling of whatever was cooking.

i rest my head in my hands. the hushed voices in the kitchen stopped abruptly as the loud floorboard at the top of the staircase creaked behind me.

i slowly turn my head, praying it would be corbyn. but no. zach looks down at me with a worried look in his eyes. i shoot him a glare before getting up and walking into the kitchen.

daniel was sitting at the breakfast bar, looking down at a plate of burnt pancakes, while jonah cooked the bacon at the stove, both of them failing miserably to act natural.

i hop in the chair next to daniel and chuckle at the charred black pancake on top. he laughed back but i could tell it was mostly out of pity.

jonah started to say something but stopped when we heard zach walking down the stairs.

"jonah." he said. he sounded mad.

daniel awkwardly cleared his throat. we both swiveled our chairs around slowly. zach looked at me for a split second before saying, "i'll wait in the car," and leaving before jonah even had the chance to reply.

jonah turned the oven off and put the bacon on a plate, setting it in front of us. he threw away the ruined pancakes and turned to face me. "i'm really sorry. i'll talk to him." all i could do was nod.

and with that, jonah left. i felt bad for ruining everybody's night, so i stayed around a little bit and helped daniel clean up. afterwards we played video games, which helped me take my mind off of everything.

i was getting into my car to leave daniel's when i got a text from jonah.

z is at his parents house. said he has a plan but won't tell me ab it. idk whats going on. sorry:/

his parents? the ones who threatened to send him away? that explains why he's been acting so weird.

i know i should probably leave him alone, but before i knew it i found myself pulling into his neighborhood, almost by instinct.

i park at the curb. i see his little sister and another girl playing in the yard. his parents car was parked in the open garage, and zach's was parked next to a small blue car i don't recognize.

he's home, his parents are home. this can't be good.

he'd be pissed if i went to the door. but what if he's in trouble?

i make my way up the driveway, but before my knuckle meets the door, it swings open. zach's standing in the door, eyes wide open. there's a blonde girl behind him, looking confused.

"zachy who is this?" she asks, twirling her hair around. zachy? barf.

"zach. i- you- why are you-" i stutter, realizing i didn't actually have a plan.

zach looked nervously between the two of us. his mom's voice broke the awkward silence. "honey don't leave the door o-" she stops behind him and looks me up and down. "you need to leave."

"o-okay. zach, are you-" i tilt my head, searching for words.

"now." she says, shutting the door in my face. is this why zach won't talk to me?

my head is spinning as i make my way back to my car. all of a sudden reese runs up to me. "JACK!" she starts jumping up and down. "did you bring isla? her and liv would be best friends."

i try my best to think straight. "no, sorry. wh-who's liv?"

she's still bouncing around, full of energy. "zach's new girlfriend's little sister," she gasps, "wanna help me find her? we're playing hide and seek!"

i take a deep breath. i feel like i'm gonna pass out. the door swings open again. it's so loud it sounds like it could pop off the hinges at any second.

zach's mom looks like she could kill me. "AVERY! don't make me call the cops."

"girls, get inside," the mystery girl shouted.

i ignore everyone, just staring at zach. he was too ashamed to even look at me.

tears threatened to fall at any second, so i rushed to the car and drove three blocks, not looking back, before pulling over and breaking down. i slam my head against the steering wheel.

reese's words keep replaying over and over in my head.

zach's . . . new girlfriend.