Chapter 6: Buckle Up
Zack and Screech skipped their final class on Monday to lurk outside behind the school parking lot, preparing to complete Zack's blackmail scheme against Moose.
"As long as Moose didn't forget over the weekend that I'm blackmailing him" Zack said, "he should be out any minute to do what I told him. Egg the student's cars and slash their tires before school lets out. He'll scram before classes are dismissed, but we'll have everything on camera."
Screech frowned, but picked up where Zack left off. "Then after school we'll slide the tape under Principal Belding's door, with a note claiming we saw everything but we don't want to get involved, so the tape will be anonymous. Moose gets in big trouble and you make your move on Nanno."
"Exactly." Zack smiled.
"I don't know Zack, I mean, we've gotten people in a little trouble before when need be, but this seems pretty mean even for you, and we're going to be seriously damaging a lot of people's cars here."
"Relax" Zack said. "It's all covered by insurance. And don't worry about Moose. Moose won't be expelled because he's on the football team, and because he'll be able to reveal he was being blackmailed. And when he shows them the "steroids", they'll realize right away they're only multivitamins, so he won't even get in trouble for steroid use. Belding will realize he's not a troublemaker, just an idiot. He'll only be suspended for a little, nothing worse than that." Zack finished.
"You think of everything Zack." Screech said, shaking his head.
"Well, all's fair in true love and war." Zack smiled.
"That's not exactly how that expression is said." Screech muttered; and he was also sure that Zack knew nothing of either true love or war.
Then Moose came out, having managed to remember what he was supposed to be doing despite Zack's doubts. He had a carton of eggs and a metal spike. Glancing around fearfully, Moose took an egg, splattered it onto a car tire, and then jabbed the side of the vehicle with the spike, slightly scraping the paint. Zack and Screech stared in disbelief at the poor idiot.
Luckily, Moose seemed to realize his mistake, and from then on, he began egging the bodies of the cars and puncturing the tires. Meanwhile, Screech's surveillance system captured the incident from multiple angles. It was too risky for Zack to skulk around in the parking lot, filming Moose in broad daylight, and if he had only set up one camera, it might not capture anything depending on where in the large school parking lot Moose went. Therefore, he had needed Screech and his equipment. Whatever tape captured the incident best is what they would turn over to Belding.
Then Crazy Chris, the school's most notorious bad boy, stormed out of the building. Apparently, he had decided to skip last period as well, or maybe gave up part way through. Chris was a scary kid, mostly because he didn't look like a kid at all. Zack wondered if the upperclassman had failed multiple years, because he honestly looked like a full-blown adult.
And it didn't look like he was in a good mood, but what else was new? Zack would be pissed too if he got held back over and over again. As it happened, Moose saw Chris before Chris saw him, and ducked down beside one of the cars.
"MY CAR!" Chris screamed. More bad luck, Moose had gotten the psycho's car. "Who the hell did this!?" Chris continued screaming.
"Maybe we should get out of here." Zack whispered, nudging Screech, who nodded fearfully.
Suddenly, Nanno exited the building. Zack groaned in dismay. Was everyone going to leave school early? To make things even worse, unlike Chris, she had the right angle to instantly spot Moose where he was crouching.
"Moose?" she asked, horrified. "What have you done?"
"Moose!" Chris shouted, peering around and spotting Moose.
Moose instantly booked it, running down the street at a speed only a terrified jock could manage.
"I'LL KILL HIM!" Chris swore. Not being a total idiot, he must have realized he had no chance to catch Moose on foot, because he hopped into his car. Zack fervently hoped that Moose had gotten his tires. Zack groaned when Chris tore off, apparently Moose only had time to egg his car.
Nanno stared blankly at the scene, but Zack wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Instead, he raced after Moose and Chris, needing to know what would happen. Surely Moose would just leave the road and escape? Zack was in track and field himself, so he managed to keep pace with Moose as he ran down the road. Screech tried to follow, but quickly collapsed, panting for air.
Zack was hot on their heels, but Chris was gaining on Moose rapidly, and it almost looked like he was going to run Moose down. Zack was desperately hoping that Chris wasn't THAT crazy.
Whether he was or wasn't, Zack would never know. Moose turned a corner on the road, and Chris tried to follow him, but he was going too fast. The road leading up the school was not meant to be driven on at such a speed, and the turn was a sharp one. Chris slid off the road, losing control of his vehicle and smashing into a tree.
Zack ran over the car and peered inside, trying to check on Chris. He couldn't really see inside though, because the windshield was covered in a spray of blood.
Zack stared into the wreckage, stunned. One of the windows was falling apart, Zack pushed on it and it gave way, revealing the contents of the front of the car. Blood was dripping everywhere on the inside too, and, oh man, Chris was crushed up against the tree. Zack paled and stumbled back, falling to the ground and crawling away from the car. There was no doubt about it; Chris was dead.
Zack wandered off numbly, in the distance he heard school buses arriving. They would surely stop when they reached the wreck, and call the police. Not that anything could be done for Chris now.
Zack made his way over to Screech without really thinking about it; Screech was still wheezing on the ground, but seemed to be recovering.
"What was that Zack, I thought I heard a crash? Is Moose alright?"
"Moose is fine." Zack said emptily. "Help me collect the cameras Screech."
"Are we still going to turn in a tape?" Screech asked, shocked.
"No Screech, no we're not. Let's just get the cameras and go." Zack said blankly, operating entirely on auto-pilot now, unable to do anything else. Reality felt suddenly unreal to him.
The two collected the cameras. As they were almost done a recovered Screech finally glanced back, he could see buses stopped down the road. He could also make out a bit of the crash.
"Oh no, Zack, what happened to Chris?" he asked, terrified.
"He crashed his car. Let's go Screech." Zack said, pulling him away.
"But Zack…" Screech murmured.
"Screech, let's go!" Zack suddenly yelled, dragging him off by the arm. He felt totally out of control, watching his body move and his mouth scream at Screech, but it was as though he was totally detached from it all.
"Ow, Zack, let go!" Screech complained, but Zack didn't ease off until they were back inside the school.
Because the buses had been delayed and the police were busy down the road, students were held up in school, stuck waiting in their homerooms. The whole school was in shock, though nobody more so than Zack and Screech.
As for Zack, he had managed to make his way to one of the bathrooms before puking. He hadn't had time to do much else, except stash the cameras away in his locker, and then the students had been called to their homerooms.
He sat in seat in silence, torn. A part of him urgently wanted to confess everything. That was what he sometimes did when he took things too far, and people started getting hurt. Though normally it was only their feelings that got hurt. He had never gotten anyone killed before, he thought, feeling a flash of panic and guilt welling up inside of him, and an almost uncontrollable urge to go tell Belding everything.
Past experience made him feel like all he had to do was confess, and it would suck, sure, but things would be set right again. On a good day he wasn't even punished for his mistakes. But this wasn't a good day, and there's no setting things right this time.
Still, a part of him insisted he had to confess anything. This felt too serious to try and cover up. But Zack was torn. There was another part of him that didn't want to confess at all. That wanted to clam up in secrecy and never get caught for this. That was the part of him that always resisted making a confession, even when he knew it was the only thing that he could really do.
And that part of him that didn't want to confess was more powerful now than ever. If he confessed now, who knows what would happen to him? Icy fear crawled up his spine, paralyzing him.
His beautiful life here at Bayside High would be ruined. The good days would be over, plain and simple. And for what? What would anyone really get out of his confession at this point? He had already covered his tracks. Why should he out himself now?
Zack sat in turmoil, but eventually, he realized he wouldn't be admitting to anything. He couldn't do it. There was only one problem, Screech. Would he tell? Screech didn't have much backbone. Rather than risk being shoved into lockers by bullies, Screech would hide himself in lockers before that could happen. Zack needed to talk to him, but he couldn't right now. Hopefully Screech would be too scared to confess just yet, or too smart to do something so stupid.
There was also Nanno, Zack suddenly realized. She had seen Moose and Chris of course, but she hadn't seen Zack and Screech where they were hiding, out of the way. Only, Zack realized in horror, she would have spotted them when they bolted after Moose and Chris. And he had completely forgotten about her up until now.
He couldn't speak to Nanno now either, and she wasn't in his homeroom at all, so he didn't know if she was telling Principal Belding everything she saw right now. And why wouldn't she, Zack thought glumly. Although, she had plainly seen that Moose was involved as well. Maybe for his sake, she would keep quiet, at least for the moment. But it was torture not knowing. This whole situation was torture.
Finally, the students were dismissed. Everything passed in a blur, and Zack barely noticed what he said to anyone, even his friends, on his way out. He remained in a daze when he got home, and eventually broke down sobbing.
When he was done, he washed up. Staring himself in the mirror, he grimaced and looked away. Thoughts clearer, and left the house and walked over to Screech's house.
Zack picked up a rock, and tossed it at Screech's bedroom window. No response. He tossed another rock. When nothing happened, Zack picked another rock. As he threw it, the window opened, and an angry and upset looking Screech leaned out the window seemingly to yell at Zack, only he never got the chance. Screech took a rock to the face and toppled backwards.
"Shit" Zack cursed in dismay. He barged into the house and jogged up to Screech's room. Inside, he found Kevin disinfecting a cut on a dazed Screech's forehead. When he was done, he passed Screech a bandage to put on, and then Kevin turned and gave Zack a robotic glare. Zack thought it might have been intimidating, if Kevin didn't look like an oversized toy robot built for a children's show.
"I believe in the stories, David toppled Goliath with a rock. It's not as heroic when it's the other way around." Kevin said. "And I am sorely tempted to eject you from the premises, out of the nearest window."
Zack raised his hands in surrender. "It was an accident." He said weakly.
Screech finally had something to say at that. "An accident huh? You mean like that fatal car accident we caused earlier?"
"That wasn't our fault." Zack defended. "Sure, we set up the situation. But Chris was a time bomb waiting to go off. He's the one who tried to murder Moose, and who wrecked his car in the first place."
"So that's it? We had nothing to do with anything." Screech frowned bitterly.
"I wouldn't say that, but we don't deserve to be blamed for this. You might as well blame whoever designed that road with such a sharp turn in it." Zack argued.
"We went too far this time, Zack. You always go too far, and now look what's happened." Screech said as he began to cry, not for the first time tonight.
"You can't say anything Screech. We'll be ruined. You have such a bright future ahead of you…"
"Shut up Zack." Screech cut him off. "I won't say anything. Now get the fuck out of my house."
Zack tried to think of something to say, but slumped in defeat, and shuffled out of the house. Even if he wasn't blamed for what happened, there were still consequences already.
The sun had set once again on Bayside as Zack walked home. Screech would come around, Zack tried to convince himself. It would take longer this time, sure. Screech would give Zack that cold shoulder for a few weeks, maybe longer. But they could get past this. Zack just had to be on his best behavior, and show Screech he could change. No more schemes and tricks. The only problem was; Zack didn't really know any other way to live.
Turning the corner to his street, he suddenly found himself face to face with Nanno. She appeared to be screaming with laughter, yet Zack could hear no sound at all from her. In shock, Zack yelped and fell back on his ass.
He winced and glanced back up, but Nanno was suddenly gone, nowhere in sight. But that was impossible. She must have never been here in the first place, and Zack was hallucinating now he realized. Which also explained how she was laughing so hard yet in silence. The guilt and stress must be getting to him; he was losing it.
Zack picked himself up and resumed walking home, now hurrying to get back inside. When he was almost home, he paused by his neighbor's house, where his oldest friend, Jessie, lived. More than ever, he wanted to talk to her now. He needed her advice. He climbed up to her window, as was his habit. Before he walked inside through the window though, he paused, looking inside. Jessie sat on her bed with her hands in her head. It didn't look like she was crying. She didn't have any sort of relationship with Chris, that was for sure, and it's not like she had liked the guy either. But if she wasn't crying, she was still clearly upset.
Zack froze, remembering the fallout with Screech. Screech had been his best friend, and now that friendship was broken. Quietly, Zack climbed back down and trudged over to his own house. He collapsed on his bed and fell asleep instantly, more exhausted than he ever had been before.
The next few days passed in a muted blur. Still, Zack learned a few things. No one, not Screech, nor Nanno, nor even Moose had blabbed. Apparently after the crash, Moose had just kept running, because no one had seen him at the scene. Moose hadn't come into school the next day, but had returned the day after, walking around the school listlessly.
There was no way for Zack to approach Moose now. He would just have to trust that everyone would keep their mouths shut. As far as anyone else knew, Chris had gotten himself killed with his own reckless driving, nothing more. Sure, some cars had been egged and had their tires punctured. But everyone figured that an angry Chris had done that himself before racing off. It also wasn't known that Chris's own car had been egged, because that side of his car had been destroyed in the accident. Simply put, there was no evidence left as to what had really happened that day, except in the memories of a handful of people.
The gang may have been confused about why Zack and Screech weren't talking, except nobody really noticed since Screech wasn't saying much to anybody. Kelly had been hovering around him concerned, but didn't seem to know what to do. Even Lisa had seemed a little worried about him.
Zack walked down the hall in between classes, sure everyone would recover soon enough. And then he opened his locker, and saw a note in it. Zack smiled. Could this be a love letter? As a blond Adonis, he got these every so often. And he could definitely use a pick-me-up.
Zack opened the letter, which had been written in reddish-brown… ink? Yes, it must be ink, Zack decided, and the pen must have been a little runny. Some cheapskate needed to just toss it out and get a new pen.
Then the words on the letter sank in. Zack reread the note in disbelief "I found your camera. Should I take everything to Principal Belding? If you don't want me to do that, you'll do this instead: I've placed some weed for you in your locker. Bake it into some muffins and then leave it out for the basketball team during their practice tomorrow. Let's all have fun!"
Zack closed his locker before anyone could see the weed, and slumped against his locker in shock. He couldn't believe someone was blackmailing him! He and Screech must have forgotten to collect one of the cameras they had been filming with after the accident. With football season wrapping up, he hadn't known or cared that the basketball team had begun to meet for practice. After a moment, he decided he had no choice but to do what his blackmailer told him. There was only one potential problem: Zack didn't know how to bake.
Zack walked off, as Nanno watched him from down the hall. She twirled her hair as a large, lopsided smirk bloomed on her face.
