Zoey let her face fall on the table as Paige and Ethan continued discussing a certain 'incident' during class.
"Ugh, I heard it was bloody and everything." Paige whispered, with a look of concern. "Blood is gross. Boys are gross too, but, blood is worse. I'm glad there aren't any videos of it looming around. I mean, It'd be full of boys and blood, and I don't want to see anything… gross."
Ethan playfully rolled his eyes at her and leaned in closer from behind Zoey to gossip. "Are you kidding? I wish there was! I heard Jeremy got beat until he was blue everywhere. He's been stuck at the hospital ever since. Apparently, the dude was going to cut his throat too, but thought making him suffer was better."
Paige cringed. "I wonder who could do that without puking. Just the smell of it makes we woozy."
Ethan chuckled a bit, which got him a shush from the teacher that he ignored as usual. "I bet it was Nathan, that guy is scary as hell. Have you seen his guns? And- You have to admit. Jeremy's a total dick. He had it coming."
That was true. Zoey wasn't sure how the fight between them started, but judging from the video she saw, it was clearly Mal who ended it. The only reason more people didn't have it spreading around was because of the way he had threatened the small crowd. Good thing one of Jeremy's friends sent it to her. She deserved to see.
Zoey let her head rest on her arms as she stared sideways at Paige, who was still whispering to Ethan. She was too lost in her own mind to listen to them. Mal was back. Back to try to ruin Mike's life.
Zoey cared deeply for everyone around her. She always gave people second, third, even fourth chances. But when she thought of Mal, all that filled her was frustration. Frustration and anger. That manipulative, corrupt, cold-hearted, crappy version of her boyfriend was back. The one who didn't care about lying to others, sabotaging them, hurting them, hell- he probably would have got away with murder if there weren't camera's everywhere on Total Drama.
Zoey sighed and closed her eyes. She loved Mike with all her heart. Loving Mike meant loving all of him. Even Mal. That's why she found it necessary to feed him soup herself. She had to show him that she could be trusted. Mal was cold, sure, but there had to be light in there somewhere… right? There was light in all the others.
The thing getting on Zoey's nerves now wasn't thinking about him, but about the video she saw. She couldn't even finish watching it. She remembered loud cracks and horrible twists that left Jeremy passed out on the floor. Thank god, Mal didn't use that knife on him. He would have diced Jeremy up and got thrown in jail for it. But, since he didn't, that proved Mal at least cared about consequences… sort of.
The worst part about it all? The entire school was going to be gossiping about it everywhere she went. They're probably looking for someone who has their shoulder bandaged, that'll give it away. Mike was already known for, on occasion, not showing to school at times. Not to mention, Mike doesn't really look like a delinquent or anything. There were plenty of those that stuck out at school. She didn't really think anyone would suspect him.
Zoey felt completely disconnected with reality as the school day passed by. All she could think about were her memories of Mal during Total Drama, and how he was now in their apartment. Alone. Doing god knows what.
The moment school was over, she rushed to the bus stop as fast as she could. She wanted to run home to make sure he was okay, and that he wasn't already doing something unspeakable. But instead, she sat on the bus as it headed the opposite way of the apartment.
Soon, Zoey was swinging her legs on her chair as she waited for her turn, which didn't take too long. She got up as a woman called her name out, leading her to the hospital room she was itching to be in. The TV was in front of the bed, playing an old show for nothing more than white noise. Jeremy looked duller than she had ever seen before.
His face went from lifeless to baffled as he noticed Zoey walk in. The nurse that directed her there shut the door behind herself to give them privacy. "Hey, Jeremy." Zoey smiled. "…Are you doing alright?"
Jeremy sat up with his messy and sweaty hair sticking to his head. His skin had thick blobs of dark blue, almost purple, scattered over him, and he had casts on some fingers and his shoulder. The rest was hidden under the blanket he was in. "What? Are you here to rub it in?" He asked with a croaky voice.
"No, I'm asking. Are you okay?" Zoey had a genuine look of concern on her face as she walked closer to his bed. Jeremy scoffed. "You shouldn't be here. You said you didn't want me, because I was too fucking crazy. Well just look at who you're dating."
Zoey frowned. "You scared him." With everything Mike had been through, it made sense why a cut was what triggered Mal. And Mal's personality… suddenly made more sense too. Was it the fear that triggered him? Or the blood? She wasn't really sure.
Jeremy looked taken aback. "I scared him? Look at what he did to me! And he was laughing while doing it, like the psycho he is. He enjoyed it."
Zoey looked down at the floor. "You enjoyed bothering him in the first place. And Mike isn't a psycho."
Jeremy scoffed in response. "Oh, god forbid you call him that name. Turns out when he's edgy, he wants you to call him Mal."
"You were scared too." Zoey mumbled, more to herself. Then she looked back up at him. "I saw the video. I'm sorry he hurt you, but, I know you messed with him first. All I want to know is why."
…
By the time Zoey got back to the apartment, she felt exhausted. The one day she had taken a break from school, she woke up to blood all over the bathroom floor. It felt like she wasn't ever going to get a break. And as if her senses were in tune with her thoughts, a strange smell caught her attention as she sniffed hard while unlocking the door. It smelt bitter. Like… something was burning.
Zoey's face went pale. What was she thinking? Leaving Mal at home by himself? Of course he would go out of his way to set it on fire! Why wouldn't he? He's Mal!
Even though she knew another personality would be in question, Zoey couldn't help but scream, "Mike!" as she stepped inside. Her worried face froze as she locked eyes with Mal, who was caught like a deer in headlights.
Dark smoke was pouring out of the toaster, as he stood in the kitchen, chewing on burnt bread. The toast was almost black- could it even be called bread anymore? Mal blinked for a moment, cheek full of toast, before he pushed some of his messy hair up and swallowed his bite, raising a brow at her. "…What?"
Zoey let out a sigh of relief she didn't realize she was holding in. "It smelt like something was burning, I got scared." She stared at him in discomfort after she took off her shoes and hung up her jacket. "Why are you eating such burnt toast?"
Mal shrugged, keeping his Mike voice in play. "I don't know. It came out like that."
What was the point of pretending to be Mike? It was obvious he wasn't. Mike was a master in the kitchen, and here Mal was, literally eating what resembled a slice of charcoal. His Mike voice got better though, now that he looked like he had more energy. Although his face wasn't as lacking as yesterday, dark circles were still at the corners of his eyes. He was wearing a black tee shirt and finally got out of those wet and bloody jeans, which were replaced with dark grey sweatpants.
"Weren't you paying attention?" Zoey questioned, amazed at how he wasn't disgusted by the horrible flavour. Mal looked down at it. "Not really, I just woke up."
During Total Drama, Mal was an expert at being in Mike's shoes. But ever since he came home, it seemed like Mal was only barley trying. Was he weak because of the fight? Maybe he knew she knew and didn't really care. Were they both supposed to know? Then why keep pretending? Zoey shook her head a bit as her thoughts overwhelmed her.
"Mike," Zoey smiled, taking the toast from his hands. "You shouldn't be eating that." She wasn't going to get him out of his comfort zone. If he wanted to play Mike for a while, it was fine. She knew the truth anyway.
Mal glared at her while her back was towards him. "Why not? It's not good to waste food. You have to conserve every bit of energy you can. Aha, I mean, at least I think so." Zoey threw the burnt food in the garbage before looking back at him.
So is Mal just… always in survival mode? It's not like Manitoba who is realistic and adventurous. Mal is… paranoid.
"Well… It's nice you care that much, but it's best you eat food that's actually good for you. You don't want to get sick, especially with your shoulder already trying to heal." Zoey waited for some smoke to leave the toaster before putting fresh pieces of bread inside.
Mal shrugged, at least with his one shoulder that was working, and let himself sit on the couch after grabbing the remote. "Whatever. Where were you?" Zoey was pouring herself some water. "At school, where else would I be?"
Before Mal could play off an excuse for asking, Zoey looked at him. "Actually, I just came back from the hospital. I was visiting Jeremy." She let the cool water relax her a bit as she drank it, right before fresh, golden toast popped out of the toaster. "Who?" Mal looked uninterested, switching through channels on the TV. "The guy you fought." Zoey reminded. That finally grabbed his attention.
"Ooh, Was he crying? I bet he was." Mal chuckled a bit before clearing his throat and continuing. "That's too bad. He must be in pain." He held back his obvious smile.
Zoey spread butter on the toast, before bringing it with her when sitting next to Mal. She sat pretty close to him, which made him uncomfortable. "I can eat on my own this time." He mumbled. Zoey giggled. "I know. I just wanted to discuss what happened yesterday. You… hurt him a lot." She was trying to keep the atmosphere lighthearted as she spoke. Maybe that would help him talk to her.
Mal smirked, taking the toast in his hand. "He shouldn't have messed with me."
Zoey leaned back on the sofa. "I know. I wanted to apologize you. He hurt you because of me. He's my ex boyfriend." Mal took a bite of his food and swallowed it before responding. "Listen babe," obvious sarcasm was in his tone for a moment. "I don't care what you did in your free time before me, I don't need your explanation. So, uh… Don't worry about it, haha."
"It seemed right to tell you," Zoey responded. "You were in trouble for a moment there. I know he hurt you because you hang out with me. I'm guessing you told him we're dating." Zoey's eyebrows narrowed a bit as she looked at Mal while he was eating. "You gave him a pretty solid fight. When did you get so good?"
Mal continued staring at his toast. "When did butter get so good? It tastes so different with it on." He munched on it more before looking at Zoey. "And who cares? He swung at me, so I swung at him." Mal added a layer of innocence to his voice. "I was defending myself." He smiled. It felt weird to see him smile so… normally. But even when he did it, it wasn't appropriate. Zoey thought back to the terrifying video they were both thinking of. How could he smile at that?
"Well," Zoey tried to be a bit more stern. "Swinging at him was fine because he was hurting you. But then you went out of your way to hurt him unnecessarily, don't you think? Doesn't it concern you how mentally scarring that is?"
Mal's expression changed after swallowing his last bite of toast. He chuckled a bit, before he busted out laughing. Zoey stared at him, concerned for his well being. Did she say something funny? Or… was he going crazy? Crazier? She couldn't tell.
"Mentally scarring? Oh, that's," Mal laughed between words. "That's too good" His tone suddenly changed at he glared a bit at Zoey. His voice went way deeper, which suited his normal range. "If he doesn't want me to tie his limbs together like a shoelace, maybe he shouldn't be using a fucking knife on me. He can be grateful I even spared his life."
Zoey's eyes widened. If Mal thought she didn't know it was him before, he definitely gave it away by now. But then why would he-
Both of their heads turned towards the doorway, which had fast-paced, repetitive knocking echoing through the hall. "Zoey!" A sweet voice called. "Are you home, sweetie?"
"Oh no. No no no." Zoey stood up frantically. "Why can't they ever call first? What if I wasn't even home?" Mal watched Mike's girlfriend mutter more, wondering what ticked her off so much. Zoey shot him her attempt at an intimidating glance before opening the door.
"Don't. Do anything. Mike. Wouldn't."
Mal looked unimpressed by the threat. He had so many things he could say to that. But instead, he chose to stay silent and observe the situation she was put in.
Zoey grinned widely, opening the door only a bit. Mal couldn't see who it was, but he had a good guess. "Oh, Zoey!" Her mother pushed the door open and jumped in, hugging her tightly. Zoey could barley speak from the squeeze. "M-Mom-" she blushed a bit. "What are you doing here?"
Her father piped up from behind her. "We came to drop this little girl off, she missed you." Mal sat up a bit. He already had to deal with living with this annoying girl, now there was going to be another one?
When the door opened wide enough, Mal realized Zoey's dad was holding a cage with a chunky brown hamster in it. She sat pressed against the edge, sniffing and looking around the room.
Oh. He meant the rat.
Zoey immediately fell into awe. "Miss Puffycheeks! Oh, I missed you!" She took the hamster cage from her dad's hands and hugged it. "You look as adorable as ever! Did you miss me?" Zoey was cooing at the hamster as it ran around in circles. Mal held back his eyeroll and made sure his hair was pushed up before Zoey's father looked at him.
Zoey and her mom were busy fawning over the stupid hamster, but her dad crossed his arms and looked at Mal. "So, how's everything going with you?" He definitely asked out of suspicion, and not because he gave a damn. Mal grinned and turned off the TV. "Why, everything's going great sir! Why wouldn't it be?"
Mal didn't like the look on this guys face. In fact, he hated it. He looked like an old fancy snob with his hair all pushed back and his attire all… expensive. Like one of those people who loved seeing him in juvie. Yeah, Fuck this guy. Mal declared in his head. Zoey's father eyed his shoulder down. The bandages were under his shirt, but a bit of white was peeking through the bottom every time Mal moved his arm.
"I heard there was an incident at your school," he was talking to Zoey, but his eyes didn't move off of who he thought was Mike. "And I wanted to make sure you were okay." Zoey set the cage on the table and rushed over in front of her dad, attempting to come in the way between his glare at Mal. "O-Of course! We weren't involved in anything like that, you don't have to worry!" She held her smile as she looked back at Mal. "Right, Mike?" Mal smiled and stood up, turning off the TV and holding eye contact with her father. "Yeah, of course we weren't."
The broad man moved passed Zoey and looked down at his daughter's roommate. They were much closer now, and Mal tilted his head up to look at him. Zoey's father had knitted eyebrows. Everything about the teen's smile and tone seemed fake. And he hated liars.
"You seem extra tired today. Get enough sleep?" He was obviously hinting at the darker layer of skin under Mike's eyes.
Mal's expression dropped a bit, as he nudged his head towards Zoey's mom. "You seem extra abrasive today. Get enough se-" Zoey slapped her palm on Mal's mouth, not letting him finish that sentence. "He's been feeling a bit sick, dad! Please, don't be hard on him. You came to drop off Miss Puffycheeks, and now that she's here, you guys can leave. We have tons of homework to do!"
At this point, sparks of rivalry were already shooting between Mal and Mr. Morris as they held their obtrusive looks at each other. Zoey's mom wasn't even paying attention, as she heading to her daughters room, along with the pet hamster's cage in her hands.
"That's right! Zoey missed you! And now you can stay with her and keep an eye on her for us. She's in college now!" Mrs. Morris was baby talking to the hamster before opening Zoey's door. "Welcome to your new home, Miss Pu-" She paused mid sentence, staring at the state of her room. It was completely flipped upside down, all her things scattered everywhere, and even some clothes were sprawled out on the floor. Usually Zoey was already pretty messy with all her sewing things, but she had never seen this before.
"Zoey!" Her mom scolded, turning back at her. "What is this mess? Your room is a catastrophe!"
Zoey's widened eyes looked over to Mal, who was 'innocently' looking off to the side.