𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 ~ 𝒛𝒅𝒉

Chapter Nine: This is only the beginning

The cold air is making me shiver, as I pull Paige's beanie over my ears. I can already see Zach from afar, fully dressed in black just like I am, waiting with his bike in his hands. He texted me to come by bike as well, so that's what I did.

"I see you got my text." He grins as I approach him, nodding his head to my bike.

I can't help smiling back. "I did what you told me to and brought my bike. But can I ask why?"

"So it's easier to flee if we have to," he shrugged. "We have to think ahead, through running we're not gonna get far."

"Good point." Thinking of getting caught, a nervous feeling appears in my stomach again, and my palms get sweaty. I know this revenge thing is only fair, but I can't help feeling uneasy about it.

Zach notices my nerves. "But that's not gonna happen, we won't get caught. Things will go exactly as planned." He sounded determined, probably trying to calm me down, but I don't think it's working.

"And what exactly is that plan? We have to work as fast and discrete as possible," I ask him.

"It's simple. First of all, you know where he lives, right?" Zach raises an eyebrow.

"Of course." I've been to Jonah's place a few times before, always for parties.

"We'll bike to his house, and then you go stand on look-out, while I slash his tires. Easy peasy." Zach shrugged, like what we're about to do is nothing special.

"That's it? The plan's that simple?"

"Like I said, easy peasy. Quit the doubting, Wilson, it'll be fine," he soothed.

"I hope so. Come on, let's go, it's dark enough. I wanna get this over with as soon as possible." I get on my bike, and ride off with Zach in my wake.

Time skip

"We're here," I whisper, as Zach and I park our bikes in front of Jonah's house. I guess we're really doing this now.

"Fancy house." Zach seemed impressed, like I was the first time I got here. It is indeed a really big house.

"His parents are quite rich." And quite influential. I don't wanna think about what can happen if we get caught.

We both take a look at the house. All the lights are out, which is good. It's hours past midnight, so they're probably asleep. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping, because then there's less chance they'll catch us.

"That's Jonah's car." I point at the Range Rover standing on the driveway of the house. I know Jonah adores his car, it's his everything, so seeing his tires ruined is gonna hit hard. And that thought makes me quite satisfied.

Zach takes a deep breath. "Let's get this over with. Go stand on look-out, and whistle if you see anyone coming. Pay attention carefully, and try covering your face, in case cars drive by."

I shortly nod, as nerves rush through my body. A lump appears in my stomach, and I'm starting to feel nauseous, but I have to focus. It's gonna be fine, I tell myself. Zach knows what he's doing. I think.

Zach puts on the hood of his sweatshirt to conceal his face, and disappears behind the car. I glance all around the house and street to look for something suspicious, but don't notice anything. So far this is going well.

Suddenly I hear the quiet hissing of air, and then a huge bang, almost giving me a heart attack. What the hell just happened?

Zach's head pops up, panic flickering in his eyes. "Go, now! Run!" he hisses, as he jumps up and sprints towards me. He grabs my arm, pulling me with him so fiercely I almost lose my balance.

Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I start running as well, away from the driveway, to my bike. We have to get out of here, we can't get caught.

"Hey!" A deep voice suddenly calls, making Zach and I jump, but sprint even harder. I clamber onto my bike, my feet trying to find the pedals, and then catapult off. Zach does the same, as we both burst into motion and race off. My blood's rushing through my ears, my heart's pounding and my legs go numb, but I don't stop cycling, leaving Jonah's house behind me.

After a few minutes, when I'm finally sure we're far enough from his place, I skid to a stop. My heart is beating so hard it's almost bursting out of my chest, as sweat drips from my forehead.

Zach clambers off his bike as well, looking as shocked as I'm feeling. "That didn't go as planned." He sounded out of breath, his cheeks flushed.

"I slashed the front tires, but the rear one burst. I thought it was gonna catch fire, it nearly blew out my brains," Zach runs his hands through his hair. "Who even was that voice? Was it Jonah?"

"I have no idea, I was too scared to look over my shoulder." I shrug, my chest heavily going up and down. This was by far the scariest thing I've ever done.

"That's good. That means whoever that was didn't see our faces." He sighed relieved.

"I thought for sure we were gonna get caught." I breathe in deeply. "I thought we were screwed."

"But that didn't happen. We did it, Wilson. Part one of the plan is completed. We're quite the team." Zach grins and holds up his hand for a high-five, as I burst into laughter and answer his gesture. His enthusiasm about all of this is contagious.

"I can't wait to see his reaction tomorrow." I can't hold back a smile. I have to admit, even though it was terrifying, doing this made me feel slightly better about what happened. Slightly.

"Me neither. And remember, this is only the beginning. We're building up slowly, until he cracks." Zach smirked.

"Exactly, so let's call it quits for tonight. Good work, Herron." I smile softly.

"You too, Wilson. Goodnight." He winked, jumps on his bike and then cycles away, as I try ignoring the butterflies in my stomach. What is he doing to me? And why do I like it so much?