.:5:.

Hearing a car door slam, Zack shot awake. His eyes flew open, heart raced, and he rocketed forward against his seat belt, rubbing his eyes. It took him a second to realize the car was quiet, turned off. They'd arrived at school. One of his least favorite places to be. Reaching behind him, Zack pulled his backpack from the floor, using his other hand to simultaneously open his door. He unfolded himself from the car and glanced at Cody with suspicious, narrowed eyes.

"You could've woken me up," he muttered, voice thick with sleep

"And miss you snoring your head off?" Cody asked. He flipped the car keys in his hands before sticking them in the pocket of his messenger bag. The same one Zack eyed with disdain every time he saw it. Cody insisted it wasn't a purse but he sure did defend himself a lot when Zack commented on it. The color didn't help his case either.

"Anything to drown out that stupid NPR stuff you listen to," Zack said.

Cody rolled his eyes but didn't respond. It was a conversation they had nearly every time they drove to school. It wasn't that often as they borrowed their father's car, and they typically walked with their friends. But every now and then they drove and every now and then they argued over what station to listen to. They did share some of the same interests in music; equally enjoying Green Day, Rolling Stones, their dad's band, and Iron Weasel. Still, Cody also greatly enjoyed listening to the news. Of which bored Zack to sleep.

Okay, it was more likely that Zack hadn't slept at all the night before that had his face pressed ungracefully against the window, mouth hanging open to catch flies as he snored. Cody looked at him every now and then, shaking his head as he drove them to school. There was no point in saying anything. It'd just ignite Zack's horrible attitude in the morning and he didn't want to push him any further away then he already was.

"Whatever." With kind eyes, Cody held a cup of coffee out to his brother.

Zack looked at it in confusion. He took the coffee from Cody and looked it over. "When did you get this?"

"When I stopped for gas."

Zack took a sip then sputtered. "Ugh! It's cold!"

"It would've been warmer if you were awake when I bought it."

"Yeah, yeah…" Zack brought up his hand and rubbed at his eyes again. He looked around the front of the school where everyone was milling around before heading inside. Why did it seem like everyone but him could get up and get ready with no issues when he was practically dying to stay awake. And now he had a meeting to go to… "Can they make it illegal to have to get up so early?"

Cody smiled. "Well, often it's not the time you sleep, but how many hours your body gets. So much so that there are places in the world that have days filled with sunlight or days filled with darkness that—"

"—If I needed a lecture, I'd tell Miss. Tutweiller that I was going to release a stink bomb during exams."

Cody's smile widened. "Were you thinking about it?"

"Yeah. But if I'm going to do a good prank before we leave, to make my mark on this school, it's going to be better than a couple of stink bombs." With that, the two went into the school. Zack immediately went to Mr. Forgess's office as he were to do every week to determine how well his grades were. They hadn't been back in school after the holidays for long, but he knew it was time to know how his GPA was looking. They probably wanted to talk about college applications and stuff, too.

How boring.

He'd rather be talking about going to detention, honestly. Just to keep the anxiety at bay. Pitching his coffee into a nearby trashcan, Zack brought his hand up, starting to chew on the end of his sweatshirt sleeve. It was so weird. There were so many things in his life he was confident about; his looks, his life, his way with friends, talking to people…his smarts were one of his biggest insecurities in life, but all the same, failure was the worst thing he could ever face. What was the point of trying to apply himself to do these things when he knew he was going to fail anyway? It's why he never tried on his tests or his studies, no one thought he could do it and expected him to fail, why try to prove them wrong?

It'd just make a big deal of things and he didn't want the comments like, "Wow, Zack, you really are smart."

No, thank you.

Turning the corner to Mr. Forgess's office, Zack's shoulder collided with Drew's. The two recoiled with pain before turning to face each other. Zack shifted his gaze away for a moment before he looked Drew in the eye. As usual, Drew had nothing but a smug smile to send Zack's way. Somehow, he always managed to stay on top of the social food chain and worked to knock everyone else down a peg despite being a jerk. Of course, his wealth was a big part of it, intimidation and fear had to be it as well. Zack had seen Drew cast people out of his friend group with so little as being bored with them than any other actual reason.

"What are you doing here?" Drew asked. The air of confidence around him made Zack want to strangle him. He hated the smug look that continued to set on Drew's shrew-like face and equally hated how badly he had wanted to be the boy's friend and be part of the cool group when he first moved to Boston. Since then, Drew ignored him for the most part, but continued to make snide comments every now and then, mostly towards Cody's smarts.

Zack could make fun of his brother being a nerd, but no one else could. "The only reason I'm ever going to Mr. Forgess's office," Zack shot back. "You?"

"Same thing."

Zack wasn't quite sure what that meant. Drew rarely got sent to the principal's office. And when he did, it was only because of the disturbances that he'd created in school. Bringing food trucks during lunch because he wanted a taco—and not that crap the lunch ladies made, as Drew loudly proclaimed—bringing inflatable obstacles for the students to play on simply because he was bored, making a betting website for sports teams—no real money was ever exchanged, Drew wasn't that stupid—just because he could, as well as making his own kind of fun; mostly stringing along any girl that wanted to get with him before casting her off with a laugh to move onto the next person.

And girls still wanted to be with him all because he knew how to handle them. At least I'm not as bad as him, Zack thought. He could only ask for small favors. "What's that mean?"

"It means, what it means," Drew replied. Zack screwed up his face, realizing Drew's statement made no sense. Then again, Drew never really made any sense, usually sticking with his money to get him through things. "So, I've been hearing around that you seem to be in a good, happy relationship."

"The school's not so big, Drew, it's not something that'd be hard to figure out," Zack said slowly. Besides, relationship wasn't the word he'd use. Who knew dating could be that confusing? Well, other than how confused he was when he first started to become interested in Max.

He was 12. He liked girls, sure, flirted with them as much as he could, but it was fun and it was good practice. But Maddie was a woman, she was the only person he had ever had eyes for. Max was never on his radar as anything other than being one of the guys. But then she kissed him and he saw her at the restaurant and that had all gone flying out the window. Sure, he messed things up and they went back to being friends, though not for long until they were spotted kissing after a day of school ended.

And everything after that was a short story that Zack didn't want to rehash time and time again.

"But it must make you feel so good, right?" Drew insisted.

Now Zack crossed his arms. "Actually, being with someone instead of continuously dumping them? Yeah, I think that's a lot better." He shrugged. "Then again, the more people that understand how much of an ass you are, the better for me."

Drew's eyes narrowed. He sniffed and brought up a hand, rubbing at his nose. "I've heard much worse from better people."

Zack finally narrowed his eyes. "Okay, man, what is your problem with me? Ever since I've been here in Boston you've done nothing but try to tear my down every chance you get. Just because we stopped being friends? So what? You weren't really my friend anyway." Something suddenly struck him. "I don't think you even know what being a friend actually means."

Drew pushed away the notion. "It's because you're popular."

"So?" He shot back. On any other day that would've made him smile just as smugly as Drew could force. But now it sounded so stupid. So petty. Nothing he really cared about. Because high school wasn't everything and there were more than enough things that'd hold his attention. Wow, never thought about it like that before. Or else it was something that had subconsciously entered his head during this therapy sessions.

"I can't have anyone be more popular than me," Drew explained. He took in a deep breath. "Not to mention you're such a stuck-up snob with your head so far up your ass I'm surprised you're not fucking blind." Zack continued to stare. "You walk around acting like you can get anything and everything you want and as much of an ass you are, people still like you."

Zack continued to stare at him. He wanted to laugh, but was completely unsure of the conversation. As a matter of fact, Zack wasn't quite sure what Drew meant with the whole thing. It was the dumbest explanation he'd ever heard and he'd given a lot of dumb ones to get out of trouble before. Actually, it felt like Drew was grasping at straws to have a conversation with him. Especially since the last time they'd talked—that Zack could remember or even care about—was when Sadie had hooked up with him at his party.

"Whatever, dude." Zack waved his hand. "I've got more important things to deal with." He started to turn away, but Drew grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around. Zack blinked in surprise then annoyance when Drew put his face close to his.

"Deal with this then!"

And Drew punched Zack hard in the stomach. Zack bent over, coughing hard. Drew backed away from him and Zack fell to his knees, bringing a hand up to his stomach. He could practically feel his stomach suddenly slant to the side, walls closing in on each other. He resisted the urge to throw up, forcing himself to keep calm. But the pain he felt from getting punched sucked a lot of energy out of him. Zack sucked in a deep breath and leaned back on his heels. He squinted open his eyes and watched as Drew backed away from him and turned the corner.

Bringing his hand up to his stomach, sucking in a deep, cleansing breath to calm himself. Finally, the pain started to subside, giving him the chance to stand up once more. He glared after Drew and shook his head, watching him leave. There was no point in worrying about him now. Besides, he wasn't worth it. Snitching on others was an unwritten rule of their school—you don't do it or else you get ganged up on later.

Plus, Drew wasn't worth it. Finally, reaching Mr. Forgess's office, Zack reached up and knocked on the door. He waited for a confident call of 'come in' before going inside. Zack stepped inside and raised an eyebrow. Mr. Forgess paced the room, scratching his head and twisting back and forth.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Zack asked.

Mr. Forgess straightened himself. "I had your transcript here a minute ago, but now I can't seem to find it."

"Does that mean my record's clean?" Zack asked with a grin.

"No, absolutely not."

"I had to try, right?"

Zack sat down in the chair opposite Mr. Forgess's desk and dropped his backpack to the ground. He sat there for a few moments before bringing his hand up to start chewing on the sleeve of his shirt again. Mr. Forgess continued to search through stacks of folders and papers that filled his office. Zack knew the man could be a bit forgetful at times, often going off on tangents when he had the chance. But completely losing a transcript? He'd never heard that one before.

But if it was going to be anyone's, it'd be mine, Zack thought. Then he annoyed himself even further, knowing Dr. Morrison was going to point out Zack's own pessimistic thoughts derailing his mood even further than his own anxieties from his eating disorder would. Guess I really learned something.

"Getting an early snack in, Zack?" Miss. Tutweiller asked as she breezed through the door of the principal's office.

Zack looked up at her, pulling his hand from his mouth. "Oh yeah, I just love the taste of cotton this early in the morning."

"Most of us would just use coffee." Miss. Tutweiller laughed at her little joke, stopping abruptly when she caught site of the state Mr. Forgess was in. Zack leaned over and looked over as well. Mr. Forgess was on his knees, digging through the trash. "Mr. Forgess, what are you doing?"

"You like coffee, I like cotton, maybe Mr. Forgess wants to eat old banana peels," Zack joked. Both of his teachers glared back at him and he held up his hands, leaning back in his seat. Finally, Mr. Forgess stood up, brushing off the legs of his pants.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Emma, but I had Zack's transcripts out for us to look over but I seem to have misplaced it."

"So I can go, right?" Zack tried again.

And again, he was ignored. Instead, Miss. Tutweiller smiled and reached out, pressing her hand to the stack of papers she held against her chest. "That's alright, I've got a few papers from Zack's classes right here. We can just go over them this way." She pulled another chair over to the desk and Zack sat up straight, clasping his hands between his knees. "Now, these are papers that Zack has written recently, assignments he's needed to catch up on. He's completed each of these papers and with a steadying increase in skill with each one."

Zack smiled. Good to know all that stupid homework he had to catch up on was starting to help him out a little. Even when writing his papers and old pieces of homework he felt a bit of pride having finished each one. And great relief knowing he never had to do it ever again.

"But there's still a long way for him to go," Miss. Tutweiller continued. "He has to pass everything this semester with at least a B to graduate. Not only that, but there's also the applications he needs to put out. And we need to decide on those soon or else you won't be able to go to college next year."

Mr. Forgess sucked his lips into his mouth. "Have you ever considered a community college."

Zack snorted. "You mean the college for dumb kids?"

"Now, Zack, Community College isn't just for— "

"—Dumb kids?" Zack Interrupted. "It kind of is."

"No." Miss. Tutweiller turned in her seat to look at him, crossing her legs as she did so. Zack wasn't so much of a perv, but Miss. Tutweiller seriously didn't understand how attractive she was. If it weren't for all her cats, and her somewhat obsession with finding love, she would have a boyfriend. Especially with how much she cared for others. "Community College is there for those who need to get a few more credits before transferring to a four-year college. Sometimes it's more financially feasible. It offers a work-study balance for those who are older. There's nothing to be ashamed of, going to a community college."

"Some would even say it's a better option if you're trying to save money," Mr. Forgess added. "And, well, considering you and Cody want to go to school at the same time— "

"—Can't be too expensive," Zack remarked. "Schools would be throwing money at Cody for him to go. Hell, they'd even give him the school so that he could grace the school with his presence." He threw his hands in the air. "Besides, I don't know if I want to go to school anyway."

Mr. Forgess folded his hands. "What are you going to do if you don't go to school?"

"I'll be a janitor or something, it doesn't take too much to clean," Zack said. "Or I'll just keep working at the Tipton Daycare. At least there's job security." He grinned evilly. "if Mr. Moseby ever tried to fire me, I'd just torture him for the rest of his life."

"What if he decides to move?" Mr. Forgess pointed out.

Zack's evil smile widened. "I'll find him."

Mr. Forgess and Miss. Tutweiller exchanged a glance. Then Mr. Forgess took in a deep breath and leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. "Zack, we want you to have every opportunity that Cody or anyone else who graduates would have. You're very smart, but you don't give yourself a lot of credit. You're athletic and you're very good with things where you have to design or work with your hands." Zack stared at the principal, listening quietly. "There's many things you could do with those skills. You could go into sports management. You could go into graphic design, you could go into the fine arts, carpentry, architecture. Zack, there are a lot of things that you can do, but you'd need a degree to do it. Going to community college can do that."

"What about a regular college?" Zack's eyes widened. He hadn't meant to ask the question out loud. As it was, he kind of mumbled the question. Mr. Forgess and Miss. Tutweiller looked at each other in confusion. Zack sighed and repeated louder, "What about a regular college? Is that out?"

"W-well, if I had your transcript, we could see..." Mr. Forgess started to stutter, looking through the papers that filled his desk once more. "We could see what your GPA is. But at the moment— "

"—What colleges were you thinking of looking at?" Miss. Tutweiller interrupted.

Again, she was using that gentle voice that tended to drive Zack crazy. He knew it was reserved for those that royally screwed up. Not to mention when the people who were speaking were trying to be extra sensitive. It annoyed him how often he'd heard that tone since leaving the hospital, but with Miss. Tutweiller, it was genuine. No matter how much her students ragged on her, she was always there for them.

Zack shrugged. "Well, I haven't really thought about it," he admitted. "But, uh, I guess maybe UMass. Or Boston University. Nowhere too far from home, I'm not sure how much money mom could spend on it." He scratched the back of his neck. "And, uh, NYU, I guess." That he hadn't told anyone. But when they first got into high school and they were asked the kinds of colleges they'd like to go to, NYU had been the first one Zack thought of. Not because of any programs in particular—he didn't even know what they offered—but because it was far enough away from home he wouldn't have his mother follow him.

And she'd threatened to do it enough times that he and Cody were starting to take it seriously.

NYU was a school that consistently sat in his peripheral. It was his first thought when college was ever brought up. But he never spoke about it out loud. It'd be cool to go, but even though I know that's a crapshoot, Zack thought. And it seemed that his thoughts were being validated when Mr. Forgess and Miss. Tutweiller continued to sit quietly, alternatively staring at him and each other.

"NYU's a great school!" Miss. Tutweiller said, finally finding her voice.

Zack smirked. "But you don't think I can go." Then his smile faded, he couldn't keep his disappointment from his face. Saying it out loud, there was no way to keep it a secret to himself, something he was working toward. The idea of going to NYU was like a rose, pretty to look at, but as it continued to get buffeted it lost its appeal, turned black, and slowly started to die. He just ripped the last legs out of his proverbial rose. "I mean, I knew I can't, but— "

"It's not that you can't, Zack. It's just a matter of money, as I'm sure you were aware of," Mr. Forgess said, with Miss. Tutweiller nodding in agreement. "But there are so many scholarships you can get, grants…financial aid. There are a lot of things we can do to get you there."

"But your GPA is the only thing that might hold you back," Miss. Tutweiller added. "Which is why for the rest of the semester you really need to buckle down and make sure you work hard."

Like I haven't been already. Zack nodded. He rested his chin in his hands, bobbing his knees up and down. There was so much to think about now that he opened his big mouth. He should've shut up and listened to what it was everyone had to say and take it from there. Now he was going to have so many people on his back, trying to keep him up to date on everything, they'd probably tell his mom, too…damn.

He should've kept his mouth shut.

"So, I've gotten nothing but good report from your teachers so far," Mr. Forgess said. "But we're getting really close to when college applications and the SATs. You're running a fine line on this, Zack. All the other seniors have their applications out, they're starting to get responses. We may be able to get you in late due to your…" he paused. "condition. But we'd need to make the decisions fast."

"I know," Zack said.

And that was all he needed to say. There were more than enough things for him to think about. And now, he just didn't care.

Finally, the meeting ended and Zack could leave to go to his locker before being late for his first period class. As he went, he looked down at the papers in his hands; applications for scholarships, information on college programs, figuring out where he could take the SATs last minute…and growled, rolling them up in his hands. He smacked himself in the forehead as he went. This was going to be a lot more work than he thought.

But…a small part of him was excited. Maybe things could turn around for him.

Zack nearly skipped as he turned the corner and headed to his locker. He watched as Riley backed away from her locker, grabbing her backpack up off the floor as she did so. Zack bounced over to her and put his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who just spent a massive amount of time in the principal's office and would be willing to do anything else right now?" He dropped his hands to his sides when Riley reached up and pushed them away. She turned to face him and Zack motioned towards himself. "Frist two guesses don't count."

"It's not even February yet, and I reckon you've spent more time there this year than the last three combined, mate," she pointed out. "Was it bad?"

"Only if you consider a lost transcript bad," Zack said slowly. He really didn't want to talk about it. Thankfully, girls were just the thing to get his mind off what he was trying to avoid and this one had his attention. Without looking, he reached over and opened his locker, tossing the papers inside. "But that one's not on me."

"So, something wasn't your fault?" Riley teased.

"Nothing's ever my fault, I'm just the scapegoat," Zack shot back. He lifted his finger. "I learned that from all of the reading I've had to do recently. And of course, Cody had to give me a lesson on the history of the word." His face screwed up. "And you know I'm no good at history."

"That's a lie," Riley swiftly returned. "History is your best subject, you just don't like doing any of the work." She smiled warmly at him and for a minute Zack wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Or else life was playing a funny game with him considering how negative and positive things continued to happen to him in a cycle. One minute he was being told college may not happen for him—save a miracle—and the next he had his girl's attention.

"That's exactly what Principal Forgess and Miss. Tutweiller were saying," Zack said. He paused. "it's the truth but I've heard it enough times to let it go through one ear and out the other."

"I think that may be your problem, Z."

"Maybe it is."

Zack smiled down at her then suddenly felt...weird. He wasn't quite sure where they were at the moment. And if anything was going to go well that day, this was it. "Is everything okay?" He asked. Riley raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to clarify. "With us, I mean."

"Yeah." Riley ran a hand through her hair. "At least, I thought so." She suddenly looked nervous, shuffling her feet, running the toes of her shoes over the other. "Why? Is…there something wrong?"

"No! No, it's just…" Zack frowned. This wasn't him. He was usually so confident and knew exactly what to say. But this, he really wanted this, wanted something to go right. At least for today. "Since new year's it was like you haven't wanted to do anything…with me," he pointed out. There. He said it.

Relief watched over him when he saw Riley's face clear and she laughed a little. "Well, once you guys left New York we went up to the mountains for a couple of days and had no service there. But since getting back, I've been busy. It has nothing to do with you. But…" she sighed, and her voice lowered as she said, "I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

"Oh no, I was just making sure," Zack said quickly. He had to keep up appearances, had to make sure he wasn't going to break down. But knowing it wasn't him that was doing anything wrong really gave his ego a boost. So much so that he could feel himself straighten from the position of his curling into himself. "You know." He held up his hands and made finger guns. "Just…keeping it cool."

Riley laughed. "Did you just do finger guns?"

"Yes, and I'm already regretting it," Zack said. He dropped his hands, shoved them into his pockets. "So, what do you say?" He asked. "To going out tonight? Or maybe even a study date? That's basically the only dating I'm going to be doing for a while."

"We have practice."

"After that."

"That's fine." Riley looked over when the bell rang. "I've got Art class first today. So, I'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

"Yeah," Zack replied.

She smiled and stepped in, giving him a kiss on the cheek, making Zack grin, before she turned and walked away. Zack turned on his heel to go to his class and stopped, noticing Drew standing down the hallway, watching him. As their eyes met, Drew stared at him for a long moment then walked away without a word.

Zack did his best not to let Drew worry him too much.

As far as he was concerned, he just heard the best news he could ever hear. So much so that he felt like throwing up.

In a good way.

A/N: It took me much too long to update this story again. My apologies. Please let me know what you thought.

Cheers,

-Riles