.:Chapter 16:.

The Beginning of the End

Zack let out a breath of air all at once, lifting a set of dumb bells over his head. He sucked it back in, his chest swelling, arms shaking with effort, lowering the dumb bells down to his shoulder span. Focusing on the ceiling, Zack continued to raise and lower his arms, surrounded by the sound of weights clanging together and grunts coming from the other guys around him. The coach had been diligent over making sure the boys were going to the championship that he scheduled some of their practices to work in the weight room. That had been an hour ago. Zack opted to stay in the weight room and continue working, wanting to make up time that he hadn't been in the gym. He had made up for it in practices, working harder, running faster, and listening to every suggestion that was thrown his way by the coach and his teammates, and was glad to find himself improving. But every time he watched Cody move into that position that had been in his before, every time he watched his brother make a basket while he was busy blocking an opponent, it made his blood boil. But that drove him harder and harder.

Zack finally lowered his dumb bells and swung himself up into a sitting position. Sweat dripped off his forehead and splashed to the floor, each drip darkening the already black floor. A drop of sweat ran down into Zack's eyes and he quickly slammed them shut, waiting for the sting to go away. He clenched his hands into fists, his knees starting to bounce up and down, the sting still attacking his eyes like little knives. It was so funny how many knives had been thrown his way lately, two of which had stabbed him in the back. Zack shook his head. That wasn't exactly true, he reminded himself.

Max had tried to explain it to him, that she was stuck between her feelings for two guys and she didn't know what to do. He had no idea how it managed to blow up so quickly until the two of them were fighting; shouting nearly at the tops of their lungs and trying to get their point across, trying to be heard over the other. That was one of their problems as it was, they had always, in a way, fought to see who was more dominant in their relationship, things that had attracted them to each other in the first place was something that inevitably tore them apart. Max let it known that she wasn't going to allow anyone to push her around, as it was seen in practically every sport and activity she was a part of—he easily remembered how annoyed he was joining that dance competition with her and how serious she took it, it was supposed to be fun and he ended up hurting himself, trying to prove she couldn't control him—and his laid-back attitude about most things helped her calm down at times, though it inevitably got on her nerves.

Stop it, Zack thought, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter. Only a few days and he couldn't stop thinking about it. He forced his baby blues open, ignoring the heat radiating from them and stood up, grabbing his towel and water bottle off the floor. Flinging his towel over his shoulder, he walked over to the scale and stood on it. Adjusting the weight, he moved the blocks over until the bar balanced perfectly. He studied the scale for a moment before stepping back off it and walking back over to his bag, which rested in the corner of the room. He pulled open the drawstrings and searched for his notebook and pen. He scribbled down his change in weight and closed the notebook, stuffing it back into his bag. Standing up, his knees cracked like popcorn and his arms were laden down like lead. Nevertheless, he was proud as it showed the work he put in that day.

Draping the towel over his head, Zack walked out of the weight room, heading towards the parking lot so he could take a shower, get changed, and go down to the Tipton day care so he could start his first day of working with the kids. He was actually hoping he would get the job, knowing that it would get his Mom off his back, have something good to put on his resume, and…hopefully impress people. Zack chuckled to himself as he thought of the last job he had, working at the supermarket around the corner from the Tipton hotel along with Cody and their boss, Wayne. He had enjoyed the job at the time—though he wasn't particularly fond of the fact his boss continuously flirted with his mother—it was cool to be able to be surrounded around food and to bring some of the stuff home. It wasn't a job that lasted long, however, and he soon found himself jobless and working hard on sports instead.

"Hey."

Zack looked up at the timid greeting and stopped in his tracks when he saw Tapeworm standing in front of him. Zack gently bit down on his bottom lip, before running a hand through his hair. He tilted his head up in a short nod. "Hey." He replied then glanced at his watch. "What are you still doing here? Practice ended hours ago."

Tapeworm's eyebrows rose in recognition before he lifted his hand, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "The girls' practice isn't over yet and I told Max…" he trailed off, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.

Zack nodded. He looked away from Tapeworm for a moment, wondering when the feeling of anger was going to come to him. Surprisingly, it didn't. He wasn't angry at Tapeworm at all; he felt no resentment, no inkling of anything other than still being his friend. Even in the couple of days since his and Max's breakup and he had opted to sit in the library or go to the gym to avoid them, he felt nothing. Those moments spent alone, he decided to work on his form for the game. The only thing that annoyed him was that everyone else had tried not to bring up what happened or they went out of their way to be extra nice to the three people that were stuck in the uncomfortable limbo.

"Hey, man, about what happened-"Tapeworm started.

Zack shook his head, turning to face his friend. Having first met to Boston, Zack didn't think he would ever become friends with someone like Tapeworm. He had been many schools, having traveled around the US so much to follow his mother, and never had a chance to settle down enough to have any really good friends apart from Cody. But he knew the friends he wanted to have, the guys who were like him. The jocks, the all around cool guys that knew what was important and wanted to date as many girls as possible was who he wanted to be friends with. He knew that from a young age, being popular was what would get you through school. Arriving at Buckner Middle school had changed his mindset pretty quickly, especially after the taunting and ridicule he gained from the Drew Crew, guys he had thought he wanted to be like.

Tapeworm and Max were the only ones that liked them before they had announced they lived at the Tipton hotel—he still cringed, remember how he had dropped them in a second for Drew's approval—and they liked him and Cody afterwards, when they apologized, being there for almost every failed plan the boys had. Tapeworm was more like Cody and Max was more like Zack, and while Zack managed to tolerate his brother's smarts, Tapeworm's didn't particularly bother him at all and he was glad to be able to call him one of his good friends. He couldn't help the way he felt, either, and Zack couldn't put that against either of him.

"Don't worry about it, dude," Zack interrupted Tapeworm, who's eyebrows rose even further. "It's…whatever. It's not like we were going to get married or anything." Zack twisted his mouth to the side. "I mean, we're only seventeen, right? We're supposed to go out with a lot of people."

Tapeworm looked confused. "You're not mad?"

Zack hesitated a moment, searching deep inside himself to see if he felt any resentment at all. Nothing. In fact, he felt a little numb, as if he was just going through the motions. "No," he said honestly. "I'm not mad." Zack pulled his bag up his shoulders. "I just hope you and Max are better for each other than we were."

"Thanks." Tapeworm gave a grateful smile. "I don't know if we're going to start going out or whatever, but…" He trailed off again. There was still a bit of awkward tension between the two of them, they could feel it. While they weren't angry, it was still going to take some time to get back to normal for everyone.

"It's alright." Zack held up a fist. "I'll see you later?"

"At the girls' game tomorrow?" Tapeworm pressed.

Zack had actually forgotten about that. He hadn't planned on going, just because he wasn't sure how weird things were going to be there, but figured it was probably better to get things back on track if he went. Zack finally nodded and bumped fists with Tapeworm before stepping around him and walking out into the lobby of the gym. He spotted Crystal standing by the front door, frowning down at her phone. "Hey Crys, what's up?" he asked her. "Isn't your guys' practice still going on?

Crystal let out a sigh, putting her phone in her pocket. "I have a doctor's appointment I have to get to," she explained. "Because my knee has been bothering me a bit lately. And my Dad was supposed to take me home so I can get changed, but he's not answering his phone." She shook her head, her ponytail bobbing behind her. "I mean, for a scientist that's supposed to be so smart he can be very forgetful sometimes."

Zack tried to picture it, Christian Manning, renowned scientist forgetting where he put his keys or to pick someone up, or that he had something in his hand that he was looking for. Yeah, he could see it. Zack shook his head for a moment and searched his drawstring bag for his keys. "I can give you a ride back to your place, it's on my way and Dad's letting me use his car today."

"Thanks, Zack, that'd be a big help." Crystal gave him a grateful smile, shoved her hands into her sweatshirt pockets, and followed Zack out of the gym and into the cold air.

Unlike her cousins, she loved the cold. It reminded her of the times that she and her mother and father had lived in Canada before her mother passed away in a car accident, and Christian had gotten a part-time job as a Chemistry professor at the University of Massachusetts. The times where she could play in the snow as much as she wanted, where the summers were just as nice, where she would sit at the window and watch the snowflakes come down, hoping to be able to see if the myth was true; that no two flakes looked like. It reminded her of the times where she would curl up by her parents' side, snuggled under a blanket, drinking hot chocolate, and listen to the stories they would tell her. Even in a thin t-shirt and a sweatshirt she still felt as warm as ever.

Crystal tilted her head back, looking at the sky that glowed orange, and the lights reflecting off the low hanging gray clouds. She took a deep, cold breath through her nose. "It smells like snow," she commented.

Zack gave her a funny look as he walked along beside her. "It smells like snow?" He repeated.

"Yeah." Crystal brushed her blue strand of hair behind her ears. "The air smells different when it's going to snow. It's hard to describe, but there's a feeling of…ice in the air." She reached out and shoved him on the arm, jostling him a little. "Not that you would care, as soon as it's a snow day you'd be hibernating and storing food as much as possible, eh?"

Zack smiled and shook his head. Through appearances she and her cousins looked to same—thanks to having mothers that were twins—but it was funny to hear Crystal's Canadian inflection as opposed to their Australian inflection, from their fathers. Zack lowered his gaze to the ground, his eyebrows knitting together. All of a sudden he thought about his own life, wondering what would have happened if their father was around more, if they had been living with him instead of their mother. What would be different? They still would have been traveling around the US, but on a tour bus and staying in hotels rather than a van and staying in houses. Their upbringing may have been a little more relaxed, but how would they have turned out? Honestly, Zack believed he would have a better shot of being in juvie if he had ended up living with Kurt while he was on the road. He tried it once, after staying with Kurt for a spring break and found himself s bored he was willing to do anything.

How much trouble would he have gotten into to keep from being bored? Now that he was older, he knew a lot about the dangers of being in the music industry, the manipulation, no knowing who was really your friend, drugs were passed around like candy and alcohol flowed like a river. Especially in the rock portion of the music industry. I wonder how the Jacksons were able to stay above all that. Zack wondered. Probably since Robert held such a tight reign over him.

"What are you thinking about?" Crystal pressed after a moment.

Though Zack was still frowning, he could feel his insides warm a little. Crystal always had that motherly tone to her voice, even when she was talking to you as a friend. She cared about everyone's well-being, even going as far as to snap at Cody the time he had, what he thought was, pink-eye and wouldn't stop rubbing his eye. While he didn't particularly want to feel babied, it was what Zack really needed at that moment.

"I was thinking about Mom and Dad," Zack said after a minute. "Especially about how they seem to be getting along really well now, when before they could barely stand to be around each other for extended periods of time." He flipped his hair out of his face, focusing on the sound of their feet crunching over the parking lot. "I know they're working on their act or Moseby and everything, but I can't help but wonder if it's always going to be this thing where they're only nice to each other during the holidays."

"Are you worried that they're going to be even nastier whenever they're not together or…" Crystal angled her face away as a gust of wind blew. "Is it something other than that?"

"It's…" Zack pursed his lips. "I was thinking what life would've been life if Cody and I loved with Dad instead of Mom when we were growing up." He rubbed his hands together. "In some ways, life would be the same, but it just makes me wonder if Dad would have really been a good father to us while he was working like Mom was a good mother when she was working those three jobs."

"I get it," Crystal said, clarity coming to her voice. And Zack could tell from the tone of her voice that she did, indeed, understand what he was saying. "You know, I do the same thing sometimes, think about what life would be like if Mom was still around." She shrugged. "We probably wouldn't have adopted Aaron, as far as I know, and who knows if we would have met you guys. There're a lot of factors that come into play when you think 'what if' but there's one thing that I know really helps moments like that."

"What?" They had reached the car at this point. Zack paused at the driver's side of the car, holding the keys in his outstretched hand. He could feel his fingers start to turn numb, and he pressed his fingers harder into the keys, wanting to feel something.

"It's good to talk about it," Crystal continued. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the top of the car. Zack briefly wondered if she had lived in Antarctica instead of Canada, because he knew a chill had to have gone through her clothes. "Talk to anyone you can. Even if you feel uncomfortable about it, getting it out in the open will help." She pointed at him. "Especially if you talk to those that your problem is about."

"Meaning?" Zack pressed.

"Have you ever really talked to Carey and Kurt about their divorce?"

Zack ignored the question. He pressed a button on the remote and unlocked the car doors. Zack grabbed onto the door handle and pulled open the door, dropping himself down into the driver's seat. Crystal opened the back door and tossed the bag into the backseat before climbing into the passenger seat, making sure she pulled her seatbelt over her chest, clicking it into place. Zack pulled his seatbelt on and started the car, pulling out of the space and rolling through the parking lot to get to the exit. Zack glanced back over at the school, watching as Tapeworm and Max walked out of the gym, laughing with each other. Zack watched them for a minute before turning away, gunning the engine, pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards Crystal's house.

Thankfully, if she had seen the two of them as well, she didn't bring it up.

She was a good friend.

Zack walked into the Tipton hotel, the heat immediately flushing the icicles that he was sure hung off his body. Zack pulled the scarf out from around his neck and, passing the front desk, flashed Mr. Moseby both of his hands, palms open, letting him know that he'd be down at the Day Care in ten minutes tops. Mr. Moseby merely glanced at Zack before looking back down at whatever packet of paper he was working on. Zack knew that he was dealing with Mr. Moseby's trust, if he didn't do a good job, if he didn't show that he could be professional, the job was going to go to someone else. And Zack really wanted that job. Moving quicker, Zack went over to the elevator and pressed the call button. When the doors dinged open, he was pleasantly surprised to see Arwin Hawkhouser standing in front of him.

"Hey Arwin," Zack greeted the hotel's handyman, moving into the elevator. "What's up?" As the doors closed behind him, Zack reached out to push the button to his floor and saw that it was already illuminated. "Uh-oh, did Mom find out about the hole Cody and I made in the cabinet under the bathroom sink?"

Arwin gave Zack a smile, his eyes lighting up behind his glasses. "No, and let's keep it that way. I don't want her knowing I helped you make that hole." He shook the toolbox that was in his hands, the tools rattled around, making clanging sounds. "Your mother asked if I would fix the plumbing for the kitchen sink. Apparently something is clogging it and she can't figure out what it is."

"It could either be the hair falling out of her head from all of the dye jobs that she does or it's her food creations that Cody and I are trying to get rid of," Zack said. He chuckled a little.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Arwin said, his voice lowering a bit. He shuffled his feet. "Ok, some of it is bad, but her deserts are usually pretty good." He reached out and ruffled Zack's hair. "If the sink does get clogged again, let me know ahead of time what's going to be in it, though. Remember last time where that hoard of spiders came crawling out onto my face?"

Zack laughed. "Yeah, I remember," he said. It was the only time he had actually been afraid of any bugs. The image was nightmare fuel for even the bravest man on the planet, hundreds of spiders and bugs coming out of the sink and the cabinet, only to run and hide around the suite. Even with massive rounds of exterminators coming in and spraying for them, he, Cody, and their mom refused to stay in the suite until they were absolutely sure there was no sign of any bug. Mr. Moseby had yelled at them for a while, afraid of what the news would mean for his five-stars, but when he saw the extent the exterminators were going through, he allowed them to stay in a different suite without saying another word about it.

Zack's smile widened as he thought about all the times he and Cody had so many of their plans and schemes run along with Arwin by their side. It was a bit sad, really, because he was one of their favorite people in the hotel but he always seemed so lonely. He had a crush on a woman that clearly didn't like him as anything other than a friend, he had lived with his mother for most of his life, he didn't have any kids, he had a boss that was always yelling at him, and he was the butt-monkey of almost every rich, entitled person that came to the hotel. They demanded that Arwin fix everything the minute it broke and that they had their problem pushed to the forefront of his ever growing list of maintenance things to do.

"Let's just hope that it's hair down there, then," Zack said. He then shuddered. "Actually, that might be scary, too." He and Arwin laughed and exited the elevator as the doors opened. Zack led Arwin to the suite and opened the door, stepping inside to see his mother pacing the front room, singing as she went. Cody was sitting at the table by the door, bent over his homework, bright pink earplugs sitting in his ears. "Hey Mom," he greeted her.

"Oh, hey!" Carey turned back around to face her son. Cody let out a sigh of relief and pulled out the ear plugs. Carey shot her youngest son a look of contempt before reaching over and picking up a plastic package that sat on top of a chair. "Mr. Moseby came by earlier and dropped this off for you." She handed it out to Zack. "He said something about a uniform?"

"Oh, yeah." Zack hesitantly glanced at his mother. "I'm working at the Tipton Day Care now."

"Zack, I'm so proud of you!" Carey reached out and wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders, hugging him tightly. Zack let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and felt a genuine smile stretch across his face. Finally, something he did right. "I'm glad you took initiative. It seems like the perfect job for you, too." She reached out and lovingly pushed some of Zack's hair off his forehead.

"Really?"

"Yeah, a bunch of kids playing with an even bigger kid," Cody said sarcastically. "What could go wrong there?"

Zack shot his brother a glare.

"Cody, don't belittle Zack," Carey warned him. She then paused and gave a funny look. "Never thought I'd say that," she joked. Zack rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Zack, I'm so proud of you." She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Normally Zack would have blushed and hemmed and hawed and told her not to do that anymore, but this time he accepted it. Carey thought for a moment. "What would you like to have for dinner tonight? As a celebration?"

"Umm." Zack was going to say his favorite, steak and potatoes, but knew if he did have his favorite dinner, he would indulge too much and it would throw off all of his work. He'd have to go to the gym extra early to work all of that starch off, and make sure that his caloric intake wasn't too high or too low, and—there was too much to think about. "Why don't you decide? Just…the only thing I want is that it's some sort of take out." He patted his Mom on the shoulder and moved to go to the bathroom.

"Oh, hey Arwin!" Zack turned around to see his mother walk over to the handyman, who was busy under the kitchen sink. "How are you doing today? Has Mr. Moseby been giving you a hard time?"

"Not anymore than usual," Arwin replied with that goofy smile he always got when he was around Carey. He pushed his glasses up his nose and went back to his work at hand. He even puffed up his chest a little. Zack locked eyes with Cody and the two smiled, shaking their heads. It was clear; Arwin was always going to have feeling for Carey, no matter what happened between them.

I wonder if Mom would ever return his feelings, Zack thought as he went into the bathroom. He pulled back the shower curtain, turned on the water, stripped out of his clothes, and climbed in. He lathered up as quickly as possible, trying not to let his mind focus on the muscle tone he was starting to get. Running his hands over his stomach, Zack would already feel the puffiness going down; it wasn't much longer until his stomach was completely flat. Then he could focus more on the game. Zack's thought were cut off by his stomach growling. The noise startled him at first, but he pushed it aside, reminding himself that he just needed to drink more water. Most of the time you're hungry is just because you're dehydrated, he reminded himself.

Tilting his head back, Zack allowed the hot water to run over his face for a few minutes, brushing his hands over and through his hair. He lowered his head and allowed the water to roll off his body, loosening up the muscles he didn't know was tight, and then turned off the water. He pulled back the curtain and quickly jumped out of the shower, drying as quickly as he could, and got dressed as fast as possible. He left the suite, calling a goodbye over his shoulder, and hurried down to the room that was serving as the Tipton Day Care. As he arrived, he could see the Day Care was still filled with kids. Some were watching a tape that was being played on a portable TV, others were sitting at a table, coloring, some were playing with blocks, some were playing with toy cars.

Zack's eyes scanned the room. It was as bright and cheerful as he remembered, with bright colors, kids' drawings, graded homework, and picture lining all of the walls. Zack smiled to himself as he walked further into the Day Care, thinking about the one day he had spent there before. Hopefully the kids wouldn't bother him as much and he'd have as much as he did before.

"Zack! Hey!" Zack immediately recognized the voice and turned to see Maddie walking over to him, holding a toddler up to her shoulder. Opening her free arm, she pulled Zack into a hug, enveloping him with the scent of flowers. Too bad she's dating Julius, Zack thought as he hugged her back. Now that he was a free man, he wouldn't mind trying to date her again. "It's so good to see you! I'm so glad we're going to be working together."

"You're working here again?" Zack asked. "What about your school schedule?"

"I'm taking a lighter load this semester so things won't be that bad," Maddie replied. She shifted up, moving the toddler back up her side. "And I can do my homework here when the kids are napping." She placed a hand on Zack's shoulder and turned him towards the kids. She pointed over to a table that held jugs of juice and jars of animal crackers. "I know it's your first day, so I'm not going to have you do a lot, just so you can try and get your footing back with this. The kids are about to have snack time, so if you get some animal crackers out and start putting them on napkins, you can start from there."

"Sure thing, Sweet Thang," Zack said, throwing her a wink for good measure. Maddie laughed and gave him another side hug before moving over two three year old boys who had started crying. Zack went over to the table and started to make the snacks for the kids, taking out handfuls of the crackers and gently laying them down on the table. Every now and then he would pop one into his mouth. He couldn't help it; the elephant was always his favorite.

"Excuse me?"

Zack turned towards the entrance of the Day Care and spotted a large, beefy man, holding onto the hand of a young boy. "Yes, how may we help you?"

"I'm here to drop off my son, Jake, while I go to the Tipton's gym to get a work out in," The man said.

"No problem." Zack looked around for a moment. His eyes landed on a sign-in sheet, resting on a clipboard. He snatched it up and turned it back to the man. "I just need your name and phone number to reach you while you're gone." He waited as the man used his free hand to sign in the information and Zack replaced the clipboard. His eyes lowered to Jake and he noticed the way that his cheeks were puffed up. He had been there before, he wasn't going to let go of his father's hand unless he was forced to do it.

The man tried to shake his hand away, but Jake held on tighter, making a whining sound, clinging on tighter. "Come on, Jakey, let go." The man gently shook his hand, trying to release the vice like grip.

"Noo," Jake whined. He now used both of his hands to hold onto his father, showing the desperation he felt to keep his father next to him.

"I'll be back in an hour," the man pressed.

"No!" Jake tugged on his father's arm and pressed his body into the side of his leg. The man let out a heavy sigh and as Zack watched, he could see the anguish that flashed across his face. Zack thought for a moment, what was it that made him get over it when his Mom had dropped him off at daycare?

"Hey, Jake." Zack kneeled down by the kid's side. "Do you like to play with cars?" Jake turned towards him, his cheeks wet and shining with tears. "My favorite was always the police car. What about you?"

Jake sniffed loudly, rubbing his hand over his nose. "The fire truck," he said quietly.

"Well, I'm sure we have a fire truck around here somewhere." Zack held out his hand. "Why don't you come see?" He glanced up at the father and he smiled and mouthed 'thank you' before backing away. He moved slowly, so his son wouldn't notice that he had slipped out of his grasp. Jake stared up at Zack for a moment before taking his hand, allowing himself to be taken away from the doorway to the Day Care. Zack, stooped over, turned around to see Maddie watching him, a warm smile on her face.

"Wow, Zack, I'm impressed," she said as he passed her. "I didn't know you were so good with kids."

"Neither did I," Zack admitted.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, Zack could still smell the Chinese food that had been ordered. He was going to have to eat soon; he knew that, there was no way around it. And it was a dinner for him; he wouldn't be able to not eat a lot without raising some sort of suspicion, without there being some sort of questions. But he was filled with the mountains of animal crackers that he had eaten at the Day Care. After seeing how much fun he was, the kids had swarmed to him, and they giggled and watched as they stuck up their little hands with a cracker inside and Zack would suck it into his mouth by his lips. But all of that starch, the flour, the bread, he knew it wasn't good for his diet.

Resting against the bathroom door, Zack eyed the toilet before feeling his body going on autopilot, moving over to it. I can't believe I'm about to do this.

Zack kneeled down by the toilet, stared at his reflection for a moment, and then leaned forward, sticking his finger into his mouth. Once his fingers reached the back of his throat, his stomach heaved and he quickly pulled them away, his stomach clenching. He frowned, tried again; this time pushing his fingers back even further. He felt his stomach and throat convulse and only managed to pull his fingers out of the way, seconds before he emptied his stomach into the toilet.

Once he was finished throwing up, Zack reached up and pulled the handle, sending his stomach bile down the drain.

Breathing heavily, he leaned back away from the toilet, the heels of his palms resting over his eyes.

What I ate today

Breakfast

-An Orange

-Small bowl of cereal

Lunch

-One piece of Lasagna

Snack

-Animal Crackers

*Threw up

Dinner

-Chinese Food (a lot)

Time spent at the gym today

-3 hours

Weight loss to date:

Twelve pounds

Gained Muscle to date:

Three pounds

A/N: I wanted to show Zack in a more mature light, which is what drove my decision about him not being particularly upset at Max or Tapeworm. Either that or I have another reason up my sleeve… ;) This was one of my favorite chapters to write because it brought back some more of the Tipton employees.

Also starting with this chapter, they're going to alternate back and forth between Zack's and Riley's POV so the story can move a bit faster and so you can see different things going on, though the story still mainly focuses on Zack. I just wanted to get a bit more done before I started with that plan (and because for a while, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do it that way or not) as well as some chapters focused on the adults.

I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles