Hello again everyone! I'm glad everyone liked the first chapter. I would personally like to thank daphrose, because you're too awesome for words, and OkieDokiLoki, for crowning me King of the Lab. Hodgins and Zack are so jealous. : 3
One might say that this chapter is a "filler," but I believe every chapter is important. With that, enjoy! By the way, I do not own To Kill a Mockingbird. I just needed a book, and there was one. I also don't own Bones.
Someone said something nice to me! Someone said something nice to me! Zack couldn't believe his luck, even though there was no such thing.
After recess, Abby and Zack had to go their separate classes (he had Mrs. Kim. She had Mr. Franken.), but they both promised they'd eat lunch together. (Abby choose to buy her lunch, whereas Zack choose to eat his homemade Macaroni and Cheese.) When it was time to go home, Abby said bye to Zack, saying, "I hope I can see you tomorrow". Then, she got into a dark green pick-up truck (supposedly her parents'), and waved bye as the truck drove away.
Zack walked home. He lived nearby, and he liked the exercise. He thought that they needed physical education more than once a week. Plus, none of his siblings could drive yet, and so they either got rides from their parents, friends, or straight up walked home.
Five of his siblings still went to elementary school, but they choose to wait for their parents at school. Zack wanted to get a head start on what little homework he had.
As he walked home, he began to wonder what his siblings would think of Abby. They might tease me, he thought, because she's a girl. Maybe they won't think she's real, but Zack immediately dismissed that thought. He wasn't really known to having a big imagination.
At last, he reached his house. It was a big house with lots of windows. "A big house for a big family," his mother had said, which was saying something. Family meant something to little Zack, and whenever he needed someone, no matter where he turned, there was someone there. Since elementary school, and the bullies, began, Zack had run home crying everyday. His siblings were happy to comfort him, but he could tell they were getting tired.
Today was different.
Today, he met someone who was nice to him. Today, he met a possibly new friend.
Today, he practically skipped home from school.
He was meet at the door by his older sister, Sarah, who was in the third grade. "Well, you seem happy today," she remarked. Even though Sarah was only nine years old, she was only a foot taller than him, with the same fluffy hair the whole Addy family obtained. "Did you finally get moved up a grade?"
"No, not today," Zack replied. "I meet a new friend."
Sarah's response to this was a wide smile. "Really?! That's cool, Zacky! What's his name? Is he nice? Here, let's go in and tell everyone!"
Well, he's not a girl, Zack started to say, but was cut off by his talkative sister. "Mikey, Johnny, and Heather are still at school, and Sammy and I were working on homework. Oh! I'll go get Elijah and Cadee! Guys! Guys, guess what?"
All of a sudden, three of Zack's siblings came racing through, from the living room, where they were (supposedly) doing their homework, to the dining room. "What's going on?" asked Sarah's twin sister, Sammy.
"Zack made a new friend!" Sarah shouted, hurting everyone else's ears. "Go ahead Zack," she said in a quieter voice. "Tell 'em."
Zack never had a problem with speaking with his siblings, but he didn't know what they would say when he told them about Abigail. "Um, my new friend is very nice," he started. "Her name is Abigail Zeckory, she has long, orange hair, and she is being picked on, like me."
Silence. I guess they didn't think my friend would be a girl.
Elijah, who was only a year older than Zack, was the first one to speak. "Why was she being picked on?"
Zack relaxed. Elijah always asked the best questions. "She said she was being picked on because of her hair, but I thought she was lying."
"Why do you think she was lying?" Sammy asked.
"Well, I kind of saw her around the past few days, and I never saw any of the big kids being mean to her."
Cadee, the fourth grader, was silent. Like Zack, Cadee was bullied when she was his age. She knew what it was like to have everyone pick on her. She was the first person Zack went to when the hectoring started. And she cried with him.
Zack turned to his older sister. "What do you think at the subject at hand, Cadee?" Zack asked, trying to get his sister to talk.
Cadee was silent for another moment, then said, "Are you sure you can trust her? You two just met." Ever since Cadee was bullied, she has had trust issues with people outside her family. According to her, she was being "cautious."
This caught Zack off guard. "Well, of course I can! I mean…it's not like she's part of some secret cult of something."
"That's not what I mean, Zack. What I mean is, are you sure she won't stab you in the back or something?"
Now Zack was getting angry. "I can assure you, Cadee, that Abby is not a traitor. That doesn't even sound like something a first-grader would do and plus,
"Zack, calm down," Sarah reassured. "Cadee's just trying to look out for you. She doesn't want you to make the same mistakes she made."
"Now, that's not what I said…"
"Here, Zack, here's Johnny' copy of To Kill a Mocking Bird," Elijah offered. "Don't ask how I got it, just enjoy. Ok?"
Elijah handed him the book, and Zack said he needed some time alone. The older kids understood. They always knew how to cheer him up.
This is the good part about having so many siblings, Zack thought, as he opened the front door the patio. With so many minds, one will bound to be on your side.
He had already read To Kill a Mockingbird twice, but the thought was nice. Plus, it could take his mind off of Abby.
Abby. Her could still picture her hair, face, clothes, everything. But that was natural. He had an eidetic memory which made him remember things for a few minutes.
What if Cadee was right? What if Abby was a fake? What if she didn't even like him at all? All these questions buzzed Zack's mind, making him unable to concentrate on To Kill a Mockingbird. He set it off to the side and sat in the silence for a few minutes. Then, he picked up the book again and set off to reading, but his mind kept wondering back to Abby.
After a few minutes, Zack had already gotten halfway through the book when his mother drove up. His older siblings would come home in his dad's car. "Hiya, Zacky-boo!" his mother greeted Zack; he didn't mind the nickname. "Did you have a good day at school?"
"Yes," Zack said, "I did. I made a new friend, and I'll tell you all about it at dinner."
How did you like it? Be sure to tell me in the reviews!
By the way, Zack never mentions what his siblings' names are, so, I improvised. But that's not important.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to hide my "King of the Lab" crown from Hodgins and Zack. See you soon!
