A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! Glad you all are liking this.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody or The Catcher in the Rye.
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He was on page three hundred and sixty seven of The Catcher in the Rye when the pattering of the basketballs in the gymnasium startled him out of his revelry. He'd checked the wall again upon his entrance during the lunch period. It now read:
I, lone wolf, am no longer king.
Hello, long wolf. Are you not king?
Once I was king. Now I'm alone.
Beneath his last line someone else, Holden, had written:
The first king is alone upon his throne.
And now he'd written, with that same black Sharpie in messy handwriting that would forever annoy his teachers:
This is my throne, now. Are you king?
It was kind of poetic, this little written conversation. Deep. Reflective. Maybe if he saw it in a movie he would frown and scorn it, but right now it was the only thing keeping him hooked on this weak grip of sanity.
So, anyway, the basketballs were out but Zack had made the unconscious decision to just stay there. Until he finished this book, until Holden gave him a sign, until his old friends remembered to acknowledge his existence.
Or forever.
Today only two people had talked to him. Jaime Allvalda in his second period class to inform him that he found him to be a selfish asshole that not only deserved to spend time in Hell, but should also probably familiarize himself with the knuckle system that would be made very apparent should he decide to do anything stupid.
And then Cody had said something to him, too. That morning as Zack pretended to pack up for his first period class. Cody had asked him if he wanted to invite David over on Friday night because Cody was inviting Tapeworm and Bob and he was trying to work up the courage to ask Olivia Harmon; the girl he had a crush on. Zack had liked her, too, at one point.
He closed his locker and said that David had to go his grandparent's (who lived in Ohio) house on Friday. David didn't exist. But there was bound to be grandparents living in the state of Ohio.
And then he disappeared.
Now it was later and the day would end after this last period called it quits. He kind of wished he could be friends with Cody's friends, but that would mean lying about David. Cody would understand. Cody would pity him.
Pity.
Zack hated pity. Phony pity, especially. Pity never solved anything; it only made things worse. A lot worse.
Pity was a useless thing to feel, anyway. Holden felt no pity. Not for others, at least. Zack found that more than a little ironic because if he was so dead set on ridding the world of everything phony than he'd feel a bit bad for those who couldn't imagine a world where everything was real and genuine.
But that was beside the point.
The point was that he was currently in the back bathroom of his high school after spending the past three months of the year lying effortlessly about an imaginary friend and was currently corresponding with, well, with a fictional character.
How long, this fall from grace.
And how humiliating.
Humiliation. Like pity. Pitiful humility had pretty much sealed his fate and landed him in this atrocious excuse for a cafeteria. He was eating with a toilet, for Christ's sake! Damn he hated school.
He kicked at the sink angrily and thought very seriously about writing some choice four letter words to decorate the grim interior. Either that or scribbling out the phrases he'd used as a means of conversation and writing a big fat SCREW IT to the world in its place. That would be satisfying!
…And stupid, reminded a wise little voice in his head. Zack scowled and blew out his breath as he slowly brought his legs up to hug to his chest. Life sucked, man.
But he shouldn't say that, because if he was dead-set on hating pity he shouldn't be feeling sorry for himself. Talk about hypocritical.
Add humiliation and pity to that mental list where phony already resided defiantly in his head. As long as he was going to play the part of the loner he needed to get down all the things he hated and stood against straight. Holden did, and Holden would in his place.
The funny thing? Zack realized as he reopened his book and began reading three hundred and sixty eight of The Catcher in the Rye that this whole being alone thing? He was actually beginning to like it.
He hid in here a lot…
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To Be Continued
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