Thanks to all you people who have reviewed the story. I'm glad that something I started has changed into something bigger than I thought it could ever possibly become. But it did, and I have you all to thank, I suppose. Here is the sixth installment of the story. To recap, the five, Summer, Zack, Lawrence, Katie, and Freddy, have met up to try and get their project going. New animosity occurs and silence thrives as the main sound. Freddy sees Zack after their meeting and he meets his worried parents. Thanks to Mrs. Jones, Freddy is forced to stay at the Mooneyhams' for the night, because of the ever persistent downpour. I hope this story gets even better as it goes along.

As much as I enjoy writing this story, I'm afraid, afraid that it won't go anywhere. I can't see what is going to happen in the near future for the story, but I can always see what'll happen in the end. It's really annoying, never knowing what's going to happen in the next chapter, but having full knowledge of what will happen in the even further chapters. I'm running out of whatever creativity I have, and it's driving me completely insane. Well, not completely, but we're getting close enough... I can't stand this! I don't even know what I'm going to be writing in this chapter. What the hell is going to happen to Zack and Freddy anyway? You don't have a bloody clue and neither do I, frankly. I just want to get this done as soon as possible! Don't stop reviewing!

Chapter6

Similar Differences

I groaned inwardly inside the car, sitting as far away as possible from that lowlife malefactor. I wasn't seething, but I was mildly irate. How could my mom do this to me? How could his mom do it to him and me as well?

I felt cold eyes on my shoulder and I turned to face him. He gave me a stony glare which I graciously returned. He scowled at me and turned his head back to the window. I did the same and watched the rain droplets slide onto the window and fall even further. The sites outside of the car were blurred, but the flashing lights and road signs were no new sight to my eyes.

I just loved watching the rain.

I had just left Summer Hathaway's house for the meeting about our project. Unfortunately when I left, I had just enough bad luck to see him on my way home. It was raining hard, but I loved that feeling. The sight of him dampened my spirits.

So, the spiral of events lead us hear in this car. The only barrier that separated us, were our skateboards and school bags. They were rather large obstructions, so the distance between us was bearable.

I groaned again, thinking of what would happen once we reached the house. I would be forced to share a room with him. I would be forced to breathe in the same air as him. I would be forced to listen to him snore, if he did... but then he probably did snore of course...

I heard him give a loud moan. I raised my eyebrow skeptically, yet mockingly at him. Was he thinking on the same track that I was? It isn't possible. The two of us are worlds apart. He couldn't think the same way I did.

My anger was building up at a steady pace. I wanted to lash out at him, telling him how much I hated him and how much I hated the fact that we had to sleep in the same house. I wanted to tell him that I didn't want to speak to him at all during the duration of the night.

But my seatbelt and common sense kept me from doing so.

I just sat back as hard as I could and ran my right hand through my hair. I gritted my teeth as I thought. I smiled, as I thought of him being brutally murdered and maimed. I conjured up different scenarios in my head of him being tortured.

...I never knew that I was a sadist...

My anger returned as the bloody thoughts stopped coming. I couldn't believe my luck in this new school year. Not only was I stuck with my worst enemy, but the fact that I had to sleep under the same roof as him. The more I thought, the angrier I became. This didn't have to happen if he wasn't there.

I could be at home alone, without him and his disgustingly horrible self...

"Alright," Mrs. Mooneyham said as she unbuckled her seat belt, "We're here already, Zack, Freddy?" She called for the two boys. They were in the back seat of the car; both had similar expressions on their contrasted faces. Their faces held no emotion, yet the impassiveness on both their faces appeared to be forced and strong emotions were being restrained from escaping, "Get your things and get inside."

The two boys obeyed, yet neither saying a word. They grabbed their bags and skateboards and trudged into the Mooneyhams' residence, "You can drop your bags and skateboards in the foyer," Mrs. Mooneyham told them as she scurried on ahead. Mr. Mooneyham faced them, gave the two a curt nod, and went in ahead as well.

The boys went inside the house, dropping their wet belongings into the entrance hall, silence reigned supremely, "Zack, you can handle Freddy, he's your guest after all!" called his father, "Your mother and I will leave you to take care of the arrangements."

"But don't forget to offer Freddy some dry clothes," his mother called after his father, "Oh, and your sleeping bag is in your closet, and make him feel at home, give him the treatment his deserves!" His clearly concerned mother babbled.

Zack faced Freddy and glared, "I guess that means you're sleeping on the floor," muttered Zack. He made a motion for Freddy to come follow him. They trudged their way to the stairs. Once they reached the top, they passed a few doors and Zack swung open the door to his room.

"Nice room Mooneyham," scorned Freddy as they entered Zack's room. The entire place was organized and straight. The walls had boring wallpaper and were mostly bare, except for the educational and inspirational posters hung on the walls. The only things remotely interesting in the room were the television set, the video games, and the computer.

"Glad to see you have taste Jones," Zack mumbled cynically, "But we can't all live in pig sties like you, now can we?" He went to a row of drawers and pulled out some clothes and a towel. He threw them to Freddy, "Please don't leave your smell on them."

"Are you kidding?" snapped Freddy, "I doubt anything can remove the rankness you've infected these clothes with," he hid a grin behind his head, as he pivoted it, "Where is your bathroom, provided that you have one of course..."

"Just across my room," answered Zack, "Provided you know where across is!" opposed Zack.

Freddy gave him a wide smirk, "Oh, I think I can manage." He swung open the door behind him and left the room. Zack picked out his own clothes and went into another bathroom to change.

The two had similar thoughts roaming within their heads...

'Stupid Mooneyham,' Freddy cursed in his head as he dried of from the rain, 'Stupid cell phone reception, why couldn't you have been affected by the static! I can't believe I'm stuck here with Zack Mooneyham, of all the bloody people in the world! I hate him and all his stupid, little wisecracks! 'I guess that means you're sleeping on the floor then!' That loser,' Freddy mocked Zack in thought, 'Maybe if I can dig up some embarrassing secret from all his stuff, I can find something worthy of blackmail! Yes, that would put Mooneyham is his real place...'

'Idiotic Jones,' Zack yelled in his head as he slipped on a big shirt for sleeping, 'Idiotic bad timing, why did my parents and Jones have to be there at the same time? This bites; I have to spend the whole, freaking night with Freddy Jones, him of all the people I dislike! He thinks that he is so funny with all his little, snide comments! 'I doubt anything can remove the rankness you've infected these clothes with!' That jerk,' Zack mimicked Freddy in his mind while he was brushing his teeth, 'I heard somewhere that he sleep-talks! Maybe if I get him to cough something up, I can use it against him as blackmail! Yes, that would put Jones in his real place...'

Zack returned to the room after he had pulled on his sleeping clothes. He found Freddy Jones, his apathetic houseguest, brooding as he slouched in the center of the room. When Freddy noticed Zack's arrival, an exchange of glares occurred.

Zack brushed him off and deposited his clothes in the hamper. He turned to face Freddy, yet his face remained impassive, "Listen, you may want to go to sleep now, but I'm not going to," He walked over to his closet and pulled out a beaten-up sleeping bag, and threw it to him. "Here's your bed, put it anywhere you like, preferably out in the rain." muttered Zack in an undertone.

"You're wittiness is so endearing," snapped Freddy who caught the sleeping bag forcefully, "But I doubt that I will be sleeping before you do. I don't have any idea of what horrors you'll do to me while I sleep!" He took the bundle and pulled out the sleeping bag. He laid it as far as possible from the bed.

Zack gave him a shrug, "I'm going to be playing some video games," with that he pivoted his body and went for the gaming console, picking through the scores of games. He finally settled on one and popped it into the console. He got out a controller and waited as the game loaded.

"So what?" hissed Freddy, "You're just going to leave me standing here?"

"I did say that you could go to sleep," Zack answered promptly, concentrating on his game.

Freddy scowled widely, "You have two controllers, let me play." It did sound whiney, Freddy realized that, but whiney was all that he had. Freddy did not enjoy being excluded out of things, especially things that were as interesting as video games, "If I know people like you, and I do, your mother is going to come up and check on you later. If she sees you excluding me, she'll go berserk." Freddy sneered at his conclusion.

Zack groaned loudly as he heard and processes what Freddy had said. It was true. Whenever guests had stayed at their house, his mother had done all in her power to keep them happy, if not slightly creeped out. She would come and check on them later, and would chew her son out if she found that he was ostracizing Freddy.

For a dough-minded tough guy, he was smart...

"Fine," relented Zack, he tossed Freddy the second controller, "I'm switching to 'Two Players.'" Zack fiddled around with some buttons and the analog stick, "Just kill anything you see on the screen," said Zack, then he went into a more detailed explanation on what the commands were.

The same thought ran once more through their heads, 'This is going to be a long night...'

"You idiot, you fire at the mummies and zombies!" yelled an exasperated Zack, shooting a quick glance at Freddy, who was clearly struggling, "No, scratch that! You've got the firing down, what you need is s sense of direction!" Zack had successfully blown up three zombies in front of him.

Freddy's health bar was dangerously low, but his anger level was quickly rising, "I'll show you aim!" He jerked his analog stick to the right, aimed his gun at Zack's character, and fired, hitting Zack's character squarely in the back. Zack's perfect HP Bar was destroyed.

"You're supposed to shoot at the monsters!" hissed Zack as he faced Freddy, who smirked arrogantly, "You loser!" Zack expertly turned his analog stick around to face Freddy's character. He switched his Gun Blade with a small Machine Gun. He sent a barrage of bullets towards Freddy's character.

The computerized blood flew everywhere within the television screen. Blocks of Freddy's health bar were flying away, until finally it was empty. Zack smiled in triumph and mirth as the abashed look on Freddy's face.

But the strange expressions on their faces soon switched as the different monsters came roaring up towards Zack, who stood off his guard. As they slashed at him continuously, he fumbled to change his gun and reload a new cartridge, but the fiends had been attacking him mercilessly. His HP Bar was depleting fast.

The words Game Over were scrawled over the screen in large, dark red letters. Zack glowered at Freddy as he dropped his controller. Freddy gave his adversary a toothy grin, "Fine," muttered Zack, "Obviously there is a lot of repressed anger suffocating this room, perhaps we need to vent it out... on each other..." Zack got a malevolent grin and stood up, towering over Freddy.

An apprehensive look crossed Freddy's face, "Now Mooneyham," he chuckled weakly, "There's no need to resort to violence right now," as much confidence as Freddy had in his 'beating up' skills, he did not want to be there when Zack's parents discovered the bloody stains on his carpet.

Zack snorted at Freddy's obviously fear, but pivoted himself towards the stack of games. He picked out another game, took out the previous one, and jammed the new one in. He returned to his place on the floor and held his controller, "This is a fighting game, pick a character and you and I fight each other. The Ultimate Winner will be the one who gets the most victories in an hour and thirty minutes." His shot Freddy a contemptuous look, "Do you get it, or is it too complex?"

"Shut up and play!" growled Freddy. Zack smirked and hit the 'On' button. The screen flashed and the game's intro began playing. As soon as the intro had finished, Zack, being the First Player selected a Two-Player Game. A lot of faces popped up to the screen soon after. Zack, with full knowledge of what he was doing, selected his fighter carefully. Once he finished Freddy was left to figure out whom to pick on his own.

He would rather be lacerated into tiny pieces than ask help from Zack Mooneyham...

He settled on this gigantic looking guy. He had a strange haircut, and a brawny body. Zack shook his head and muttered something incoherent, yet clearly offensive. Freddy ignored him and waited as the game processed the information it was given. A new screen popped up and asked them to pick a place for the fight to ensue. Zack, being the First Player, selected a random site.

They ended up in some parking lot. There was a lot of stuff surrounding them. Zack mentioned something about being able to pick them up and use them as weapons. Freddy's and Zack's chosen characters appeared in the center of the parking lot facing each other. Both of them were in their different battle stances.

Words then flashed on the television screen, commencing the battle. Zack moved first, his fingers deftly controlling the buttons and arrow keys. His character swooped up above Zack's character and sent a barrage of kicks to the Freddy's.

A quarter of Freddy's Health bar was gone. Freddy growled as Zack, clearly the expert, jumped back after his first attack. Freddy, set on pure rage, charged towards Zack's character and dealt a huge punch followed by two kicks afterwards. A block of Zack's health bar went away.

Zack began pounding on a series of buttons, executing some complex moves, while Freddy was merely punching random buttons. Either way, the two effects were evenly matched. Yet in the end, Zack had won.

"Beginner's unluckiness," muttered Freddy, contemplating on the thought of throwing the controller at Zack.

"Really?" smirked Zack, "Do you think it will last throughout the whole game?" A new fight was soon commencing.

"Much to your chagrin," muttered Freddy, he had experimented with the buttons and accidentally dealt a lethal blow, leaving less than half Health Points on Zack's HP Bar, "Not a chance!"

The battle ensued and the hour and thirty minutes wore on. The statistics had not altered in the first thirty minutes, Zack was clearly in the lead, but soon after, Freddy was gaining fast, having gotten used to the different controls and moves.

As much as winning was the primary object, both boys couldn't deny that they were having fun.

After an hour passed, the thirty minutes had been gone as well. Zack pressed a few buttons that would take them to the statistics page. The screen darkened as the game was loading. Color flashed back onto the screen and the statistics were shown.

Freddy was down by seven victories.

"I beat you!" Zack smiled to himself, he didn't feel like bursting out, and doing victory dances. He preferred for Freddy to wallow in silent mockery, but then he glanced at Freddy, noticing his lethal expression, "Good round anyway." Zack held out his hand, wondering why he had done so.

Freddy shook it suspiciously and forcefully, one might add, "Yeah, good game..." He answered lethargically, "Seven games isn't that much!" He snapped out of the blue.

"A petty little child like you may have that satisfaction," responded Zack prudently.

"Yeah, and old cranks like you deserve to have pathetic victories every now and then!" snapped Freddy.

Zack glared at him intensely after shutting down the gaming console. Freddy gladly returned that glare to Zack. The glare on Zack's face was altered when a corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

The catalyst...

Zack began laughing hysterically. He rarely lost his composure, yet now he was cackling insanely in front of his worst enemy. Freddy's scowl turned into a tentative, cautious look. But seeing Mooneyham, giggling like a maniac, he too lost it.

The two were standing upright in the room, laughing their heads of maniacally. Freddy could feel his common sense slip through the grasp of his reality. He had no idea why he was laughing, but he forgot to care.

Zack, on the other hand, noticed Freddy guffawing, and stopped himself. "Why the hell are you laughing, Jones?" He found himself asking Freddy brusquely. The other boy stopped his insanity abruptly.

Freddy racked his now returning thoughts for an answer, "Err... I don't really know..." muttered Freddy. He immediately smacked himself mentally. You never admit weakness to anyone, much less your worst enemy...

"Really?" cried Zack incredulously, "The One and only Freddy Jones doesn't know why he was laughing like a maniac! For once, is he at a loss for words?!" Zack's mockery would have gone on if not for the ringing of a telephone in his room.

"I'll get it Mother!" yelled Zack as he made his way to the phone, "Hello, this is the Mooneyham residence, may I ask who is calling and to who this call is addressed to?" Zack recited from a placard stuck to his wall, given to him by his father. It was to make certain that he received calls properly, "Oh, hi Summer," greeted Zack.

"Ooh, Mooneyham got a call from Hathaway!" Freddy spoke in the most girly tone he could reach, "Should I plug my ears up before all the mushy crap comes spewing from your mouth?" He feigned innocence.

"Excuse me Summer," He told her curtly, completely blocking of the mouth piece so she wouldn't hear, "When you plug up your ears, do us all a favor and plug up your nose and put a sock in your mouth as well! Hopefully you'll run out of oxygen and die!" He gave Freddy a scathing grin and returned to his other conversation, "Sorry, Summer. Why did you call?"

Freddy rolled his eyes and dropped back on the carpeted floor, onto the sleeping bag. "You're calling about the project? I had just left your house! What else do you need to talk about?" Zack groaned into the telephone.

Freddy laughed, visualizing Summer yapping on and on and Zack grimacing throughout the whole thing. He barely contained a snicker as Zack answered in monotone to everything Summer said to him.

"Zack, I'm going to email whatever information I have right now and you should see what you can do with it," suggested Summer, on the other end of the line Zack was groaning inwardly, "But I'll try to keep updating you on the information Lawrence and I gather."

"Alright, Summer," Zack's voice was muffled by his gritted teeth, "Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh yeah," Zack could barely make out a sound of shuffling papers in the other end, "I've tried to call Freddy, but all I'm getting is their answering machine. Do you have any idea where he is?"

Zack cringed as Summer spoke those words, "Err... yeah... Freddy is staying over at my house..."

"What?!" Zack winced as she screamed into the phone, sending it straight to his right ear.

"Well... When I was heading home on my skateboard it was raining. I met up with Jones sometime when I was on my skateboard. My parents went looking for me and Jones's mom called him and then my mom got excited and wanted to talk to his mom on his cell phone. So, his mom, all concerned for her darling, little son, asked if Freddy could sleep over at my house, since she didn't want him out of the rain or something. My mom agreed and now the miserable malefactor is in my house!"

"You should have said no Zack!"

"You know my parents! I couldn't have said no!"

The phone call had ended and Zack put the phone down. He turned to face Freddy, "Summer says that you have to call Katie sometime tomorrow for your assignment," said Zack, a groan followed as he collapsed on his bed.

"What now Mooneyham?" smirked Freddy, "Have you finally realized that Summer Hathaway is the world's biggest curmudgeon!" He laughed at his own pathetic attempt at a joke, hoping it would get Zack angry.

"I've always known that she was a 'curmudgeon' Jones," contradicted Zack as he rubbed his face, "Just because I'm her friend, doesn't mean I'm blind! I know that she can get a little too carried away when it comes to school!"

"Carried away?" sputtered Freddy in disbelief, "That has to be the most gargantuan understatement of the millennia!"

Zack, much to his utter surprise, let out a genuine laugh, "Do you know what she did in the first grade? We had this group project too. Summer, Lawrence, and I had to make a small statue made completely out of macaroni!" Freddy found himself actually listening, "Well, Summer was so stoked about the project. She practically took the entire project off our hands and did the whole thing herself. When she came back on the next day of school, she had a life-size macaroni statue of our teacher!"

"I remember that!" Freddy joined in the laughing as well, "That was the day Frankie tried eating one of the statues and got his mouth clamped shut with macaroni and glue!" Freddy laughed at that milestone, "I'll have to admit that Frankie isn't the smartest guy in the world I guess..."

"I second that statement," responded Zack, "But in any universe, he isn't as horrible as you!"

"I'm flattered that you think so highly off me," retorted Freddy, his voice was sarcastic, "Hey, but don't tell Frankie about what I said. I mean, I don't care what he does to you, but I'm pretty sure that he can beat the both of us up!"

"I won't tell Frankie, if you don't tell Summer," replied Zack, "You may have seen Summer stressed, but you have never seen her downright pissed!" Strangely enough another laugh was shared among them.

"...You know; you aren't as bad as I had always thought you were..."

We continued talking after the iceberg had been dented slightly. Strangely enough it was easy to talk to him. I think it was because we shared more of the same interests. I enjoy the company of my friends, but apparently my I had more in common with my worst enemy.

I think that the video game was the thing that scraped a bit off the huge chunk of ice. Ragging off our friends seemed to help actually, even if we didn't mean it. Well, I didn't mean it, I don't know about him though.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate his bloody guts, but I suppose that he's okay enough to talk to. I'm actually glad that it's him who I met after the meeting at Summer's house. I wouldn't be able to talk as well with Lawrence. And Katie and I weren't on the best terms at the moment.

It was interesting to say in the least. I found out that he skateboarded like I did and that he knew some cool tricks. He could have been lying, but I doubted it very much. He like video games too. I wasn't extremely crazy about them, but at least it was something to talk about. He had some complaints about his parents like I did and he pretty much felt the same way about most of the people in our class.

It was actually reassuring, but a bit creepy, that I could actually have a civil conversation with my worst enemy. We were actually so alike that it freaked me out slightly. It was strange to know that someone I've been against all these years was actually an okay person in my eyes. I've heard a lot of bad things about him, but talking to him helped me form my own opinion, instead of solely basing it all on what all the other people around me said.

But I didn't feel completely forgiving. He was still the enemy and I didn't plan to treat him any differently. I would treat him the same way I treated him at school. Even if Summer knew, she would probably assume that we didn't speak the entire night.

I had an image to keep up.

Nearly every person in school has an image. Even some of the unpopular kids get images, unpopular images, but images nonetheless. I didn't really care for changing my image, it wasn't the best image, but it wasn't that bad either.

Either way, he's an okay guy...

Finally finished! I'm glad that I actually got through this chapter. I'm getting really lazy, and I've had some thoughts on halting the story, but I decided not to. I'm going to keep on writing...or typing in this case. I hope that you all liked this chapter and the overall story. It's been fun to write but a bit taxing. I have another story in the Lord of the Rings section, and I'm trying to get that one started first. Do you know how hard it is to get people to notice your story there? It's like, when you update, your story gets pushed back a few more pages because a lot more people are updating as well! Your story is probably at the fourth or fifth page, and I don't think people ever go there! I wonder if people are even reading my other story! Oh well...Please don't forget to review!