Heheh…I warned you about the hiatus. But I felt like writing, so I decided to add a chappie, even if it was short (well, compared to the last chapter). And no, this is not a blow off chapter that has nothing to do with the plot; something important happens here.

By the way, I want to clarify on the timeframe here; it's about early March right now in the school year. I really wasn't sure at first, but now I've pretty much got a good set up for what I'm going to be doing.

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4. She Came From Five

It was the middle of third period Algebra, and Zack stood at the vending machine by the Senior hall, his head wiping against the glass pane as he watched the metal spring inside drop a bag of Home Sweet Home chocolate chip cookies into the bin. He retrieved his snack and quickly unwrapped the two soft cookies, eager to suppress that damn rumbling in his stomach. He bit into both at once.

And at once, he spat both bites out into the nearest garbage bin. Holy crap, that was the shittiest thing he'd ever tasted.

"Hey, Zack!"

But before he could continue complaining to himself, Reeve had called to him from down the hall, giving him someone else to complain to about the cookies.

"Reeve!" Zack greeted as the boy approached. "Hey, where you goin'?"

"Taking something to the office for Mrs. Alton," he answered, waving a manila envelope he held in one hand. He came up to the machine, dropping some coins into the slot, pressed D-3, and retrieved the taco chips he had bought from the bin. "Plus, this chick asked me to buy her some food."

Oh, those were the magic words for Zack. His interest peaked, and he grinned, innocently inquiring who she was. "I don't know, she's new or something. She used to go to Sector 5 high, but I think she's transferred here. Overcrowding or something." Reeve paused, not failing to take notice of Zack's typical schoolboy curiosity. "And yes, she's kinda hot, but no, neither of us is crushing on the other. So quit with the simpering, dick."

Zack laughed. "You think that crushes and girls are the only two things on my mind?"

"No, but I do think that you possess an ungodly amount of raging hormones. I bet that's why you're ditching class right now, huh? So you can check out the chicks?"

Zack shook his head disappointedly. "You wish. If I had it my way, I'd be eating lunch in Gongaga right now. Have you tasted this shit?" He shook the bag of cookies in his hand. Reeve tilted his head sideways to read the label.

"'Home Sweet Home?' No, haven't eaten that stuff. Is it good?"

He got a look in return from Zack. "What the hell, Reeve, if I refer to a bag of cookies as shit, do you think that I'm telling you it's good?"

Reeve shrugged with fake naivete, hiding his amusement. "Well, you could've been using that silly slang of yours again. Like when Beth got that new jacket from her boyfriend for her birthday and you called it 'the shit.'" He even used air quotes, just to mock Zack. "You said that it meant the jacket was 'awesome.' If the word has two definitions, how am I supposed to know which one you're using?"

But Zack, slow as he was, caught on. "You always have to be such an ass to me, don't you?" Receiving an impertinent grin and nod in return, he shook his head. "God, I hate you, Reeve. …Anyway, like I was saying, this stuff sucks. There's no flavor at all, and no sugar, or even chocolate! It's just all crap and preservatives, man."

"Aww, but it says right here that they're baked with love, Zack," Reeve answered dryly. "You don't appreciate it?"

Zack smirked. "I appreciate my mom's cookies," he pointed out, "now those are made with love. Actually, now that I think of it, it was like that thing we read in English today, remember? 'In the end the love you make is equal to the love you take.'" He paused for a moment, sort of musing at the quote. "When my siblings and I came home to see our parents this weekend, my mom baked her special chocolate chip cookies just for us, you know? That's what 'made with love' really means."

While Zack started to ponder this connection he made between the cookies and the quote, Reeve started to wonder what his friend was on. Zack never was a reflective type of guy, but when he did philosophize, so to speak, Reeve could never really take him seriously. Oh, come on. When your friend somehow found a life lesson in how his mother made cookies, you couldn't help it.

"So in summary," Reeve started, "you say that to receive love, you give it."

"You could put it that way, I guess," Zack answered.

"Well then obviously in order to receive 'love', or in this case, good cookies, you must give it to whoever has the 'love', or cookies." He paused, grinning evilly. "Personally, I wouldn't advise you to give any 'love' to the vending machine, but then that's just me."

One of the cookies hit Reeve in the head, the other collided with his chest and exploded into a million little crumbs. "Man, fuck you, Reeve," Zack said angrily to a pleased Reeve, who was still laughing despite the fact that there were cookie crumbs all over his shirt.

"Pick it up!" Reeve laughed. "It's your mess!"

"Screw it," Zack fumed. "Let's just walk away before someone comes."

And so they strolled down the Senior hall on their way to the gym, Reeve's chuckles lessening as the walked along. Though Zack was still thoroughly pissed, he hadn't forgotten what he had sworn to ask him.

"So? How did it go Friday?"

"Heh heh…oh, Friday? You didn't hear? The concert ended with a huge riot."

"Seriously? With cops and everything?"

"Yup. But I'll tell you about it next period; I've gotta get this thing to the office."

Zack was still interested in what happened with Tifa, but he decided that it could wait. "You have to get it to the office, you say? Or do you have to get those taco chips to your new girlfriend?"

In reply, Reeve chuckled, not at all insulted. "You're not gonna give up on this, are you?"

"Oh, maybe I will. You don't seem like the kind of guy who really commits, anyway. Maybe she can be your sex slave, yeah? Or the other way around?"

"You are so going to hell for this, you know that? You and your sick mind."

"Or is it you and your girl who have the sick minds?" Zack laughed, taking up a valley girl voice. "'Oh, Reeve, you like, totally light my torch! You are like, so hot. Kiss me, Reeve! Marry me, Reeve! Make love to me, Reeve!'"

"Get out of the way, Reeve!" said a voice. Impulsively, Reeve complied.

Zack spun around to face the speaker, only to be met with a swift boot to the shin. A boot that lashed out from a pink skirt.

"HOLY SHIT!" Zack yelled, crumbling over and staggering back towards the wall. "Shhhhit! God DAMN, that hurts!"

"Serves you right for being obnoxious," said his assailant, as Reeve watched in bewildered shock behind her. In agony, Zack looked up at the bitch who had kicked him, vowing to return the attack with vulgar, unrestrained verbal abuse.

But something stopped Zack. It was a mysterious something that took a roll of duct tape and wound it around his mouth and head twenty times, ensuring that he would never dare to curse her name. He wasn't sure if it was in her beautiful green eyes, or her braided auburn hair, or that stylish yet sarcastic smirk on her face, but sure enough, something had stopped him. 'My God…' he thought in awe.

"Are you alright, Reeve?" the girl asked, dropping the tough girl attitude and showing some concern.

"Uh, this is my friend, actually," Reeve told her. "He was just fucking around, he-he didn't mean anything." Then he turned to Zack, a very apologetic look on his face. "Dude, Zack, I am so, so sorry. I didn't know that, I mean that, uh…er, well, I-I guess I should just introduce you two first: uh, Aeris Gainsborough, this is Zack Kurozaki; Zack, this is the new girl, Aeris."

Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel
My heart's in over drive and you're behind the steerin' wheel…

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Haha, yay for The Darkness! Anyway, hopefully next update'll be sooner, but I should warn you that my schedule's kinda full for the next two weeks.

And by the way, thanks to Ah-choo, BlueBubbles, Riyuji.Raicho (hey, your profile says you're a filipino! Dude. You are officially cool in my book.), gauntlet challenge, Katie, Inu Yasha Tashio, L'Alouette, and udonluver13 for the reviews. Support certainly never hurts (hint hint, lol).