Eleven

Isaac played on his phone until he went to sleep too, making sure to plug in his phone before passing out. They were both woke up by his alarm at six. Jess groaned and rolled over, stuffing his head in a pillow, and Isaac felt a wave of guilt while shutting the noise off.

"Sorry, I wake up early to go on a run and shower before school." Isaac's voice sounded awake except for the slightly more deep tone.

Jess groaned again at his words. When he spoke his voice was muffled a little by the pillow. "You stupid athlete."

Isaac chuckled and ran a hand down the boy's back. He didn't think about the action it just felt like something he should do. "Go back to sleep, I'll wake you up when it's closer to time to go."

"Fine. I'm still mad at you." Jess grumbled and Zack laughed again.

"Fair enough." He got up and grabbed a pair of socks before leaving his room. He pulled on his socks and put on his shoes as well before walking out the door.

He made a loop around the neighborhood and 25 minutes later he was walking back inside, more sweaty than before. He walked down the hall and tried to catch his breath as he went. When he made it to his room he tried to be as quiet as possible as he walked in.

He grabbed clothes, getting school clothes a shirt and a pair of jeans, before leaving again. He went to the bathroom and shut the door behind him so he could shower.

After a shower he took his time drying off and putting on his clothes. Once dressed, Zack made his way to the kitchen. He wasn't a big breakfast person but he always ate something. Today, like most days, he made a piece of toast. After eating and downing a glass of orange juice he went back to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Once everything was done he crept back into his room and checked the time. 7:35 They had 30 minutes before first bell and it only took eight to get to school. Zack decided he might as well wake up Jess since he didn't know how long the boy would need to get ready.

"Hey, Jess." He gripped Jess's shoulder and gently shook. The boy groaned, but didn't move. "C'mon, we got school."

Jess finally moved, rolling over and blinking sleepily at Zack. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty-five."

Jess huffed in annoyance while sitting up. His hair had different strands sticking up in certain places and Isaac had to bury the urge to reach over and fix them. Jess yawned and reached his arm up to fix the tussle of hair by running his hand threw it a couple times.

His hair fell back into shape, looking in that half messy flop it usually had. He turned to face Isaac. "Can I borrow this shirt for today? I'll give it back tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're good."

Jess nodded. "Cool." He then stood up and stretched. "Do you have a spare toothbrush I could borrow?"

"We should." Zack stood up and Jess followed him into the bathroom. In one of the drawers under the sink Zack found a spare and then left Jess on his own.

Jess didn't take long to get ready and he borrowed a phone charger from Zack before leaving. Once they got in the car he plugged in the car charger and started charging his phone. "It's at 50% so with this it should be able to make it through today."

"Alright." Isaac nodded. "You ready to go?"

"I'm never ready to go, but I have to." Jess sighed dramatically and Zack smiled a little to himself.

He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, then they were off on the way to school. Jess bounced his legs and played with his fingers the whole drive and it made Zack wonder. Was school that bad for him? He did say he got stressed out easily when it comes to people.

"You okay?"

Jess looked over suddenly and then nodded once he processed the question. "Yeah. Yeah I'll be okay."

I'll be okay. Not, I am okay.

They made it to the school without talking for the rest of the way. Isaac parked in the first space he found and turned it off. Jess was looking out his window and his leg was still bouncing.

"Hey, you wanna go to the library at lunch again today?" Zack suddenly spoke up and Jess looked back to him with surprise.

"What?"

"Do you wanna sit in the library with me at lunch again?" Zack spoke softer this time.

Jess nodded slowly. "Sure."

After his answer Zack smiled. Jess slowly felt himself relax a little. He usually calmed down on the walk to school but now he didn't have that. However Isaac smiling like that was a pretty good replacement.

After another minute of Jess staring off into space the boy finally opened the car door and stepped out. Zack did too then. They walked up towards the school together but once inside the doors Jess said he was going to his locker and walked off. There was five minutes until first bell so Zack just went to where he knew his friends would be. Over by Jace's locker they were circled and laughing.

Andrew smiled when he saw him. "Zack! I thought you were gonna be late." The other two patted him on the back as he walked up to join them.

"Yeah, had a bit of a later leave today." He said back and they all nodded.

"So, apparently Chelsea slept with Mikey." Ki said, deciding to catch Zack up on the conversation so far.

Zack's face fell. Chelsea was Ki's situationship and he was hoping for something serious. "Oh shit man, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Glad I found out she's not going for something serious. I'll just stay single for now." Ki shrugged but they all knew he was probably a bit more bummed out then he was letting on.

"I'm thinking of throwing him a party Saturday. If we win our game we can say it's a victory party." Jace spoke and Andrew nodded.

"Oh alright." Zack nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Hey guys!" Ethan came up to them with a smile and threw his arm around Andrew's shoulder as he joined their little group. Andrew tensed up and threw his arm off. "What're we talking about?"

"I'm throwing a party Saturday." Jace said and Ethan beamed.

"Hell yeah!" He then spotted Mason and Tally walking together. "Hey, guys, c'mere!"

The two boy perked up and stopped talking about whatever they were talking about. They walked over to join the group and Ethen grinned at them.

"Party at Jace's Saturday."

"Oh cool." Mason smiled and Tally nodded.

Then the now bigger group went on to talk about something else. Ethan turned the conversation on Mason and got the boy to talk about if he's really dating one of the nerd girls. Her name was Kristi and according to Mason they've been together two weeks now. Ethan was about to say something about her and Mason threatened to break his nose. That's when the bell rang and they all started off to their first period.

Mason and Isaac fell in step together since they had the same first hour. Mason seemed to be still a little mad about Ethan disrespecting Kristi and Isaac felt a little guilty. He wasn't even that close with Ethan but he still felt a sense of responsibility over what had happened. He cleared his throat and Mason looked his way.

"Kristi Wilkins eh? Isn't she that pretty brunette that's like part genuis?"

Mason seemed to relax a little but he was still on guard. "Yeah. That's her."

"Hey she's cute. Good going man." Zack nudged his shoulder with a little smile. "I'm glad you're happy."

Mason smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I am."

They continued to walk in quiet but the air had been cleared between them. They walked in quiet and stepped into first hour together. They went to their seats and sat down quietly.

Zack yawned as the teacher stood up and started talking. He tried to pay attention to the lesson but didn't do the best. He ended up drawing random lines on the corner of his notebook half the time.

●○●○●

Lunch came antagonizingly slow. Isaac felt like every minute that ticked by felt like an hour. Although, finally the lunch bell rang.

He got up and left the room quickly. The lunch crowd was hectic but he managed to make it halfway to the library without many problems. Then he bumped into Jace.

"Dude, where are you going?" Jace looked confused and the two stepped over towards the side of the hall so they didn't get knocked over. "Aren't you coming to lunch?"

"Not today. I got something to do." Zack spoke, looking through the crows as to not draw suspicions. Jace looked confused.

"What do you have to do?"

"I've gotta go to the library." But it didn't stop the quiesting look on Jace's face. Isaac sighed. "I'm meeting someone there."

Suddenly a wash of realization came over him and Jace beamed. "Dude!"

"Not like that!" This is exactly why he had been hesitant.

His friends wouldn't understand why he wanted to eat with Jess over them. Or worse, they'd try to tag along. He wasn't sure why the idea bothered him but he didn't want his friends intruding in on his time with Jess. It was also because Jess didn't really seem to like his friends but that wasn't as much of a reason as he wished it was.

"Don't make it weird, please."

Jace raised his hands up to show his innocence. "Hey, I'm no cock block. Go on, enjoy your youth. I won't expose you to the rest."

Then the boy walked off before Zack could correct him. He gave up with a sigh and continued to walk to the library. When he opened the door the quiet in the room was almost overwhelming in comparison to the noise out there.

He scanned the room and found the boy he was looking for reading a book at the corner table. He smiled to himself as he noticed the way two little hairs fell away from the rest and fell over Jess's forehead. He caught himself staring and internally was scolding himself for being weird.

Finally Zack walked over to the table and knocked on the side of the wood as he stepped up. Jess looked up and away from his book, meeting Zack's eyes. Once he processed who it was, a little smile lightened up his face. "Hey."

It was one singular word but it was pronounced softly. The way his voice had been when they were alone and talking gently. Zack didn't know why that for some reason made his stomach flip.

"Hey." He tried to sound more nonchalant as he slid into the chair opposite of Jess. He watched as slinder hands put a bookmark between pages and the book shut. Jess's full attention turned to him. "Whatcha reading?"

"'They both die at the end'."

"That sounds... depressing." Zack didn't know how to respond to that. The title was laughable but extremely intriguing.

"Oh, for sure." Jess nodded. "I've wanted to read it for ages and then Maria had it today and asked if I wanted to borrow it so here we are."

"Maria?" Isaac wasn't sure if he recognized the name.

"Blonde, green eyes, braces. She hangs out with Lia all the time." Jess gave a brief description and Zack thought it over.

"I think she might've been in my bio class. Is she the one that always has her hair up in a braid?"

"Yeah." Jess smiled a little.

"Oh okay, I gotcha." Zack remembered her now. He did recall seeing her and her redheaded friend talking to Jess once or twice. He then zoned back into their previous topic. "Well is the book as good as you thought it would be? Considering you waited so long to read it and all."

Jess smiled again. "Oh yeah, it's really good."

"Do they both really die in the end?"

"From as far as I know, yes. I'm kinda hoping for some twist where they don't but I'm not gonna set myself up for heartbreak with that wish."

Zack just chuckled. Jess watched him with a small smile. There was something about their interactions that felt different now. After last night the atmosphere was different. They were closer.

"Are you okay to go back home tonight?" Zack whispered, not sure why because there was no one around but it felt appropriate anyway. When Jess's smile dropped and his eyes fell to look at the table Zack silently regretted the question.

"I should be. My mom usually forgets arguments fast and just goes about normally." Jess nodded slowly. Zack itched to ask questions but the memory of Jess's voice in his car was stopped him. The way he sounded was something Zack didn't want to trigger again.

"Alright. If you need me you can call me."

Jess smirked a little. "I don't have your number."

"Oh-" Zack realized that and then grabbed his phone. He clicked it on and clicked on contacts quickly. He then handed it over to Jess. "Go ahead."

Hesitant at first, Jess took his phone into his own hands. He typed in some things and handed it back. He had filled in his number and put Jess in as the name. Zack saved it and quickly sent a 'hey' text.

"There. Now you have my number." Isaac spoke right after Jess's phone buzzed and the boy looked down at the text notification.

Jess smiled and nodded a little bit. "Okay, cool."

They both faded into silence. Jess was playing with his hands and Isaac was watching him. There was something about Jess that just made him feel like he could observe the boy forever. He wasn't sure what it was yet but he wasn't really trying to figure it out.

"There's a game this Friday, right? Isn't I kind of an important one or something?" Jess looked up with curiosity.

Isaac smiled and nodded. He was just glad they were talking, he'd welcome any topic. "Yeah, if we lose it'll be the last one of the season."

"Oh. Just like that?"

Zack nodded. "Just like that."

"Well, do you think you're gonna win?" Jess looked uncertain as to what he was asking. He was just trying to keep the conversation flowing. Zack shrugged in reply.

"It depends on how their team plays and how we're feeling that night, I guess." Zack wasn't the overly confident type. He hated people that were too cocky. He didn't like the idea of being seen as arrogant, especially by Jess.

"Yeah." Jess nodded.

"So, I guess since you're here and talking to me you're not mad about being woken up early anymore?"

Jess's smile widened. "I forgot about that, but no. I stopped being mad the second I fell back asleep."

"Damn. That easy to get your forgiveness?"

"On this matter, yes. Don't get too comfortable with that idea though. Sleep doesn't instantly make me forgive everything."

Zack chuckled. "Of course not."

Jess looked a little more serious and his eyes dropped down to the table. "On a serious note though, thanks for that. I'm not sure there would've been a whole lot of other places I could've gone and I really didn't want to be home last night."

Zack's heart squeezed. "Was there not someone else you could've stayed with?"

Jess just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not really that close with anyone. I hadn't even been to someone's house since sixth grade until yesterday and I wouldn't have asked to come over out of the blue. You really saved me."

The words hit Isaac with brutal force. He wasn't close enough with someone to even hang out after school? Zack thought he wasn't extremely close to anyone but there being no one at all hadn't even crossed his mind.

Guess I'll be the one.

"That's just not right." Zack shook his head. "You're really chill and you don't hangout with anyone out of school?"

Jess just shrugged again. "I've grown very fond of my solitude."

"Well, if you ever get sick of it feel free to come over to mine. I hate my solitude so don't ever feel bad for intruding on it."

A small grin played on Jess's lips. "Yeah, alright."

"Do you never eat lunch?" Zack said again after a moment of quiet. He had really been just trying to distract himself in order to stop admiring the boy in front of him but now it was a genuine curiosity. Did he not eat?

"Uh, no not usually." Jess suddenly looked a little uncomfortable, shifting under Zack's gaze. "The school food sucks and so I didn't eat it. Then, after a time my body just got used to it and I don't really get hungry around this time anymore."

"Do you at least eat at home?" Isaac was doing his best to convey how genuinely concerned he was. Not eating isn't healthy.

"Yeah, I always eat dinner and I snack throughout the time before dinner."

Zack nodded. "What kind of snacks do you like? I'm gonna start bringing some."

Jess's eyes widened at that. "No, no! You don't have to do that, I'm fine. Really."

"It'll ease my conscious. They'll just be small snacks if you want but it'll be better for you than just eating once a day."

"I'm okay, really I am." Jess pleaded but Zack wasn't going to budge. If he didn't do this he'd feel too guilty and he didn't need something else to keep him awake at night.

"Whether you tell me or not, I'm still gonna bring snacks for you. You could make it easier on us both and at least make sure I grab things you like."

Jess let out a sigh, realizing this isn't a battle he's going to win. He instead thought of cheap things. "Uh, I like those gigantic muffins. I'll eat any type of fruit one. I'll eat any type crackers. Fruit in general is good."

Isaac nodded, trying to make a list in his mind. "Okay, anything else?"

"I don't know. Yogurt? That would probably be impractical to give me at school though."

"Nah, I'd make it work." Zack smiled as Jess shook his head.

"You're too damn persistent, Isaac. I'm gonna feel guilty now." Jess looked down at his lap. Before he ducked his head, Zack could've sworn he saw a little bit of pink on his face.

"Don't feel guilty. What's there to be guilty about?"

"You spending your money on me."

Zack just laughed under his breath at that. "Nonsense. I'll probably end up eating the snacks too when I'm home. So just think of it as I'm sharing my snacks rather than me buying them just for you."

Although he really was mainly gonna be buying them for Jess.

"Fine." Jess sighed. "I'll try and get over it."

Zack grinned wide and with his face it was hard to feel anything negative at all.

•○•○•○•○•○•○•○•○•

Isaac has a big heart. He just wants to make sure Jess is eating something for lunch.

Poor Jess, he's overwhelmed at the idea of someone actually caring for him.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed.

Love you ♡

- Z