Bang and Burn ~ Dreamnotfound + Skephalo

Chapter 36

George walked into the conference room, not expecting to find Zak sitting alone in the dark at one of the tables. He had his legs pulled up to his chest and a folder full of papers on the table in front of him. He didn't look up when he heard the door open, but he did whisper, "Hey."

"What are you working on here?" George asked as he approached the table.

Zak grabbed one of the papers and handed them to George. It was some sort of quiz that talked about some kind of coding method that George was unfamiliar with. On top of the page was the name, "Slater a.k.a. Ambxon." Beside it was a large "100%" written in red ink.

"What are you doing with this?" George asked.

"Amb was always one of the top students I taught," Zak responded as he picked up another paper with his name on it. "Amb was a smart kid. He took every lesson seriously and usually had one of the highest test scores. That's why he and Dylan constantly argued. Dylan was always causing chaos, while Amb just wanted everyone to be calm and do their tasks." He placed the test paper back onto the table. "This isn't the first time I've lost one of my students, but it still hurts like hell. Like, I spend months training them, hoping they have all of the skills they need to succeed. I got to know every one of my students on a personal level, so hearing that one of them died hurts so much." Zak's bottom lip began to quiver. "To make it worse, Amb died saving the same kid he tried so hard to hate. He was selfless and caring, and now he's just...gone."

George took a seat beside him and took the paper out of his hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

"I know it is. One day, I'll move on, and I'll be fine." He pulled his cyan hoodie over his hands. "Just not today." He wiped under his eyes and sniffled. "I'll be fine soon. That's all that matters."

The lights flickered to life above them. "Guys?" Darryl called out. "Everything okay?"

Zak wiped his face one last time and forced himself to smile. "Hey, Darrie! Just finishing up some paperwork real quick." He slammed the folder closed and got up from the seat. George watched with concern in his eyes as Zak continued his charade. "I'll be back in a second. I just have to put this away. Don't wait up!"

Darryl sensed that something was wrong, but he decided not to press Zak for information. He'd talk when he was ready. "Okay, Zak. Take care of yourself." He watched as Zak left, holding the folder close to his chest.

George stood up from his seat. As soon as Zak was out of earshot, George decided to tell Darryl what was going on. "He was in here, crying. He's torn up about Amb's death."

Darryl nodded. "I know. He's been trying to put on a brave face, but Zak isn't that good of an actor around me. I'm naive, but I'm not blind." Darryl went to the other side of the room and grabbed a large whiteboard that sat on a set of wheels. He rolled it out towards the table and grabbed one of the markers as Clay and Nick walked in, both holding a can of Nick's carbonated melon milk.

"You were right," Clay admitted. "This does slap."

"I told you!" Nick smiled to himself. "Finally, someone listened to me."

When Clay saw George, he smirked. "George, I'd like you to meet my new best friend: Nick!"

George raised his eyebrows playfully at Nick. "I'm being replaced now, huh?"

Nick shrugged. "What can I say? You never drank my milk." Clay wheezed loudly and nearly fell over, and Nick processed what he had just said. "Oh, shit. That's not what I meant."

"Can we just get started?" Darryl asked.

Clay shook his head. "Not yet. I'm waiting for someone."