Three

Isaac already felt like he'd lost brain cells today and he hasn't even been to first period yet. He woke up to his alarm late so he had to rush, then he found out his phone wasn't fully charged because he forgot to plug it in before falling asleep so it was at 68. He had to find a car charger before leaving so he was running late still even though he had gotten ready in record time. Then when he got to school he had to search for an open parking space.

He went to his locker hoping that he had a water bottle from practice or something in there because he needed to drink something. However when he opened the cold metal door and searched the rectangular box he was disappointed to be met with no sight of a bottle.

"Yo, Zack." Dagger grinned and patted his friend on the shoulder. Isaac looked over and met the boy's eyes with a grin of his own. Leave it to Dagger to swoop in and brighten up the morning.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We're hanging out at mine after practice today, wanna come?"

It was Wednesday so since coaches took into consideration that some of their team attended church that night they let practice out at a normal time. Which meant all athletic kids that didn't attend church got a bit more free time than usual and that often lead to hangouts.

Isaac smiled at his friend and nodded. "Sure, I'll be there."

"Alright!" Dagger cheered happily and patted Zack's shoulder before walking off and up to another group of kids to invite them.

When hanging out at Dagger's it always promised to be interesting because of the wide variety of people he hung out with. There were only a few kids who consistently invited people over and out of them Dagger was the only one who didn't have a set list of people you knew were gonna be there. He was more of a wild card.

Dagger had a care free nature and just went with the flow so he got along and made friend with all kinds of people. He could blend into many social groups and was welcome around nearly anyone. So that meant when hanging around his house you never knew who else was going to be there.

Isaac loved that. He got along with his teammates perfectly fine and didn't have any major issues with anyone but it was nice to mix it up sometimes. He got tired of only talking about gossip and drinking games.

The bell rang and Zack mumbled a curse under his breath as he rushed off to his first hour class. The teacher glared at him as he entered.

"You're late Mr Johnson."

"I know, I'm sorry." It was under five minutes so he knew she wouldn't send him to get a slip but she would glare. He found his seat in the second row, next to Mason who smiled over at him.

"You're late Mr Johnson." Mason mocked Ms Jenson in a high pitch voice. They both laughed.

No more conversation was held as the old teacher cleared her throat and started talking. They both quieted and listened to her talk about the lesson she would be assigning.

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Practice let out about ten minutes after the final bell rang. Zack laughed at a joke Ki had made as he made his way to the parking lot with a group of his friends.

Dagger walked over, carrying himself with a confidence that only someone like him could have. He slung his arm over Zack and Andrew's shoulders, joining their group of four. Jace and Ki smiled widely at the while Andrew tried to shrug off his arm. When it came off the taller boy's shoulder Dagger just patted his arm and kept walking, keeping his other arm around Isaac.

"You lot all comin' by?" The chipper boy asked. The four nodded. "Alright cool."

He patted Zack's chest before retracting his arm from around his shoulders and starting in the direction of his car. A sophomore and a freshman were standing there, both basketball players, probably catching a ride with him since they couldn't drive yet.

Zack separated with his group to get in his car. He checked his phone as he started it up and sighed at a text from his dad saying not to wait up for him. He didn't even get home on normal days until midnight so when he said not to wait up that meant he'd be staying hours into the early morning.

Isaac shook off the lonely feeling in his chest, something he has to do a lot lately. It didn't matter he was used to the quiet house, he had gotten used to it by now. He'd manage by himself, he always did.

He let out a breath and then pulled out of his parking space. His car followed the tracks of many other cars as he left the student lot and turned right instead of his usual left. Dagger didn't live far from the school so two turns later and he was pulling up to the house his cheerful friend lived in.

Dagger's house had a pretty big living room and kitchen area so that made up for the smaller bedrooms. So, whenever people come over they're always crowded in the living room.

As soon as Isaac stepped in the house he was greeted by Jace and Ki who probably drove here together. Dagger was next to greet him, from the couch, and waved him over.

Zack sat next to the boy, Tally was standing in front of them talking. He looked around from his seat to figure out who all was here. Elise was talking to one of her softball teammates, Carlie, over towards the corner and Jordy was here with Levi and Aaron. Levi was classified as a stoner kid but he really only vaped, and then Aaron was kind of a social floater he could talk to anyone and they would know him but he seemed to like a few jocks the best (those jocks being Tally, Dagger, and Mason). Andrew was also here, talking to Jace and Ki over by the entrance so he must've just got here. Zack knew more people could probably be coming because Dagger liked to invite tons of his friends over at a time.

Eventually Tally started up a tournament by getting Dagger to get his Xbox set up. Only two people could play at a time so they started a tournament to see who the best player was. Raine, a girl who was friends with Elise and showed up about 5 minutes after everyone else, ended up winning. Ki was a bit salty about that but everyone else congratulated her.

After that Jace whipped out the alcohol since Dagger's parents weren't home and they played a couple rounds of beer pong. Zack decided against playing because he had to drive himself home. Instead he watched and cheered for Andrew and Jace as they played twice and beat Dagger and Aaron, and then beat Jordy and Carlie.

There was some more talked after that. For Zack that mostly meant dealing with Andrew who was slurring his words by now and Jace who didn't seem to be affected by the drinks but was laughing a lot more than usual. Ki and him tried to keep the conversation as normal as possible but ended up giggling themselves every now and then because Jace would burst out laughing at something that wasn't supposed to be funny but apparently was.

"Hey I'm probably gonna head out, you got these two?" Zack asked looking at Ki, who nodded.

"Yeah, I'll take 'em home."

"Alright." Zack patted his back once and then walked over to where Dagger seemed to be in a debate with Levi. Tally and Aaron were standing to the side looking like they were paying attention to the debate and laughing about it while also having their own mini conversation.

Zack walked over and tapped Dagger on the shoulder, putting a pause to the debate as Dagger swung around to look at him. His face lit up to a smile, "What's up?"

"I'm gonna head out."

"Oh damn, alright." Dagger reached over and grabbed his arm so he couldn't leave, turning to face Levi. "But first can you tell this dipshit that geese have coordinated attack plans."

Zack burst out laughing and looked at the frustrated Levi. "Best not to argue with Dagger, everyone knows he's a genius who's never wrong."

"Exactly!" Dagger exclaimed, letting go of Zack who stood back up.

As Levi went to point out something about them being animals and then probably to spew into scientifically proven facts Zack walked out. The smile stayed as he got in his car but sometime while he was starting her up and driving off it had faded away.

He sighed and reached over to turn the radio on. Music, he needed music to distract himself. A song he sorta recognized came on and he tapped his thumb against the steering wheel with the beat.

Of course as he reached the familiar turn that would lead him to his street his frown deepened. Music couldn't take away from the fact that he had to go back to that empty house. He didn't like being there all by himself.

So instead of turning on to his street he turned the opposite way. He decided to drive through town until he saw something to do. There was always something to do, he'd take anything that would take up time. Anything so he didn't have to go home until later when he could just lay around and hope to fall asleep early.

He drove for a bit, looking around and tapping along with songs from the radio. He decided to stop at a fast food place and went to the drive through line. However once he got a look at the menu he realized he wasn't really hungry. He ordered a just a cup  of mozzarella sticks and a medium Coca-Cola.

He sipped on his drink and ate one of the cheese sticks as he drove off again. He decided he would just take the long way home because he was wasting gas just driving around but still didn't want be home so soon.

He pulled up to a stop sign and changed the radio station because TikTok by Kesha was not a good song, doesn't matter what anyone says.  Some parts are a bop but the song as a whole is not good.

Zack ate the last mozzarella stick and looked over at his window. There was a playground right there, it used to be a church playground but then the church moved locations so now it's just a playground. That's not what caught his attention though.

There on the swingset sat a very familiar black haired boy, rocking lightly back and forth while looking at his shoes.

Zack turned his attention back to the road and started looking for a place to park. He found a lot in front of the old building across the road from the park. It used to be the church but now it was sold to someone else who was trying to fix it up and turn it in to who knows what. Isaac got out of his car, silently thanking God for the distraction.

He walked a little unsteady as he made his way in the direction he saw Jess. He wasn't sure exactly what he was gonna say or do, all he knew was he wanted to talk to the guy. They didn't know each other well but Zack wanted to at least attempt to be friends.

He crossed the street, walking on the crosswalk even though there was literally no one around, and stepped onto the grass. Jess hadn't seemed to notice him but then again he was facing the opposite direction and had his back to him.

He walked over and sat down on the swing next to Jess's but he sat opposite of him, facing the direction he came from.

"Hey."

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Chapter threeeeeee!

What do you think of Jess and Zack so far?

Love you ♡

- Z