Senior Year

11

"Okay so today I have an assignment for you two." Mr Hartford told his two students who were sitting in the chairs in front of him.

"What is it?" Zac asked.

"What animal are you most afraid off?" Mr Hartford asked.

"Snakes definitely snakes." Zac nodded to himself.

"I can't really say I'm afraid of an animal. I mean I do know to stay away from danger but I don't think I'm afraid of animals." Naomi shrugged.

"Then what are you afraid of? What makes you crawl in your skin? What do you think is creepy?"

"Clowns, definitely clowns."

"Good, I want you two to go touch and take a picture with your fears."

"What?!" Zac and Naomi yelled.

"You two have to go to a zoo and carnival, be friendly with your fears and take photos to prove it."

"Why?" Zac raised a brow.

"I'll explain later. I need those pictures or video by Friday."

"You're joking right?!" Naomi exclaimed.

"No I don't think so. Now let's get back to our lesson on reading music." Mr Hartford clapped his hands and grabbed the sheet music.

Naomi and Zac gave each other a look before going back to the lesson.

"I can't believe he actually expects us to do this." Zac whispered as the two walked out the school building.

"I can. The man has had us do weird things already. I'm starting to think he teaches deep lessons in weird ways." Naomi shrugged.

"So you're actually gonna go take a photo with a clown?"

"I really don't want to but I also want to know where he's going with this."

"You have fun with that. I'm not going anywhere near a snake."

Zac said suddenly feeling creeped out at the thought of a snake. Naomi smiled at the look on his face.

"Hey losers." Zoe said walking out the building with Martha and Chloe.

"Hey ladies." Zac smiled making Martha roll her eyes and mumbled 'McGregor' under her breath.

"I'm going to the mall. You ladies wanna tag along?" Zac asked looking at Chloe.

"I would love to come with you but...." Chloe sighed.

"We have a test to study for." Martha said grabbing Chloe's wrist and getting into her car.

"What about you two?" Zac asked Naomi and Zoe.

"We're going to the library. You can join us if you want though." Zoe offered.

"No thank you. I hate libraries. I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." Zac sighed walking over to his car.

He drove himself to the mall and went straight to the froyo store. He got in expecting to see Aliyah and Jessica not Aliyah, Jessica and Markus.

"Oh, Zac over here!" Aliyah yelled flagging him down from their table.

"Hey.... I didn't know Markus would be joining us." Zac said sitting down not taking his eyes off the boy.

"I didn't know I was going to be here either. I just thought I was dropping them off then your sister asked me to stay."

"Great." Zac said sarcastically.

"Now that you're here can we get our froyo?" Jessica asked impatiently.

"I'll get it." Markus offered getting up from his seat.

"I'll come with. You don't exactly know what we always order." Aliyah smiled getting up along with him.

As soon as they were out of earshot Zac turned to his sister with a glare.

"Why the hell would you invite him here?" Zac scolded.

"What do you mean? He's cool and I thought he should join us. You're always inviting people, why can't I?"

"You can invite people just don't invite him." Zac said emphasising his point by pointing at Markus who was laughing with Aliyah.

"Why not? Aliyah likes him and so do I. Why don't you like him?" Jessica raised a brow.

"Forget it."

Jessica rolled her eyes at her brother's behavior. Markus and Aliyah came back with four cups of frozen yogurt.

"Dig in!" Markus yelled as he took his seat with Aliyah next to him.

They had a conversation and Zac would glare at Markus whenever he made Aliyah laugh or blush.

After having froyo they decided to go back home. Zac getting a little angry when Aliyah agreed to let Markus drive her home.

The whole week didn't really go well for Zac. He had to spend almost the whole week after school watching Markus flirt with Aliyah, Chloe couldn't hang with him for the whole week, Martha kept making gym class unbearable and on top of that he had to touch and take a picture with a snake.

"I want you two to come here tomorrow." Mr Hartford told the two teens.

"Why? Tomorrow's a Saturday." Zac said.

"I know. That's what makes it perfect."

"What's so special that we can't do it on a school day?" Naomi raised an eyebrow.

"I can't tell you. If I do you may not come. All I can tell you is to wear comfy clothes."

"Okay, I'm in." Naomi shrugged.

"Really? Just like that? What if he's taking us to be human sacrifices for a demon cult?" Zac asked the girl.

"Then I'd have something exciting to do on a Saturday other than playing video games online." Naomi shrugged. "Plus if this has anything to do with me having to hug a clown then I have to show up."

"See, she gets it." Mr Hartford smiled.

"Okay fine. I'll come here tomorrow." Zac sighed.

"To save gas it'd be better if I pick you two up from the park. It's not that far from your houses right?"

"Yeah, it's like a ten minute walk from mine." Naomi shrugged.

"Twenty from mine." Zac sighed in defeat.

"Good, I'll pick you guys up at noon." Mr Hartford smiled. "I think that's enough for today. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"We still have five minutes left." Zac pointed out.

"That's five minutes of doing whatever you want. You can leave the room but not the school got it?" Mr Hartford looked at them sternly and they nodded.

Naomi grabbed her backpack and got up making Zac raise a brow.

"Where are you going?" Zac asked looking at her quizzically.

"Debate club." Naomi deadpanned.

"Why debate club?"

"That's where Zoe is and we're hanging out after school." Naomi shrugged walking towards the door.

"So I'm guessing you'll be staying here until the bell rings?" Noami asked with her hand on the door knob.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Zac shrugged.

"Okay then see you tomorrow Zachary." Naomi smiled before leaving.

"Seriously? Why doesn't she just call me Zac?" He whispered to himself before taking his phone out his pocket and play a game.