Unloved

Summary: Everyone has left or ignored the eighteen-year-old Zack -- nobody seems to care for him anymore. But what happens when he decides to run away, then gets caught up in something bigger than anyone, even Cody, had expected? (Zack's POV)

Author's Note: The character's personalities have changed just a little bit, but they are still a little bit the same. Zack's has probably changed the most, so just bear with me, please. Also, this is my first fan fic ever, so it may not be all that great. Please read and review!


I looked out at the stars one night, and my mind drifted to my old crush -- Maddie. She had gone to college already, leaving me here with a broken heart. Did a mention that not only was she my old crush, but my current one, too?

She had left me here, with nothing to hold onto. Cody, being eighteen, as I was, had also left for college. I stayed at the Tipton, finding random jobs around Boston so I could keep up with paying for the suite, the same one I had lived in when I was about twelve. What about Mom, you ask? She died, and Dad left. He never comes to see me anymore, he has a new wife and kids. He doesn't care about me. Nobody does.

If they did, why would they all leave me? I couldn't get into a college, even if I had dared to apply. Well, I did get some scholarships, but they weren't enough. No, I couldn't go to college. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I spent my day working, doing nothing but working and eating, and at night I slept for three to five hours, all so I could get enough money to eat and hold up a rent. I rarely got new things, unless they were absolutely necessary. I saved most of my money, I had to. I couldn't spend it all and go broke, then starve to death and die.

Nobody noticed me, nobody cared about me. Nobody, nobody at all. Esteban ignored me. Muriel didn't even approach me, Moseby only talked to me to yell at me, Maddie never came to see me at the Tipton, Cody never came... Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Me, once cool and popular Zack, had become a loner.

So I would decided to run away. No; not run away, just take a "walk". I had no idea where I would end up, nor did I care. I just had to get away. Let my anger out on something, maybe a tree... I don't know. My hair was the same as it had been for years, and I had tucked some of it behind my ear before heading out, with only a water bottle in hand. Nothing more.

About four hours later, I had reached Maddie's college. I hadn't meant to go there, I just... ended up there. I stood there for minutes, just looking at the building, wishing that I had never messed up, that I had become the man I had wished I would become. But what I didn't know was that I'd actually turn out to be better than the man I had wished to become.

The slamming of a car door behind me had taken me from my thoughts. I had quickly turned around, to see a beautiful Maddie coming out of the car. I sighed, knowing now that she would have to notice me. And, for once, I was actually upset about that. She ran up to me, anyway, and hugged me -- or she tried to. I pushed her away.

"Zack... What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly concerned. Of all of those three years, she wasn't concerned until then. What a great friend.

"Everything's wrong!" I yelled angrily, not even attempting to hold in the anger. "Mom died, Dad doesn't want to even hear my voice, let alone come look at me, Cody left for college, you left for college, nobody talks to me, I'm constantly ignored! You never come to see me on any of the breaks that you've had for the past three years, Cody's never come to see me or even calls me, Mom can't come see me, Moseby only talks to me when he wants to yell at someone, Esteban ignores me, Muriel won't even come near me, London never even notices that I'm there, and Arwin doesn't even look at me! Everyone ignores me. Nothing is right anymore, Maddie!"

Maddie was silent. Now she was at a loss of words, over three freakin' years of not even seeing me? I really feel loved. Finally, she spoke. "I'm... sorry, Zack," she had said, her voice quiet.

"Is that all, Maddie? An 'I'm sorry'? Yeah, Maddie, that helps. I don't even know why I'm here. I think I'm going to go back to my idea of going somewhere that nobody knows me, where nobody here will have to deal with me. I might go to California, that'll keep me out of your hair. So just go back to your college life, your boyfriend, whatever. And, since you probably have more communication with my brother than I do, tell him I'm leaving." With that, I walked away, not looking back, and ignoring her cry of "Zack!". She didn't deserve for me to be nice to her, no matter how much I loved her. She had ignored me for three whole years! What was I supposed to do?

And then, thirty minutes after I had left the college's campus, I felt something in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't regret, it wasn't guilt; it was pain. Five minutes later, everything went black, and the last thing I saw was the evil smirk of a man I didn't recognize.