Hey everyone! Hope you're all ready for yet more glee-ful work! Because here I am with a new chapter! Certainly took me long enough. But at least it got finished within the month right? That being said, hope very much that you enjoy it and find it worth the wait! In this new chapter, the boys are starting to get a feeling that something is wrong over the course of the time that the girls are supposedly 'hanging out'. And soon after reaching this conclusion, they soon get a very unnerving idea of just what might be happening to them and head head off to the rescue; but not without first giving Zack one final push to force him to fully realize just how far he's gone. Sound worth reading? I certainly hope so!
A/N: But first, I do not own Glee. All I own are my OCs. Got that? Good. Onward with the fic!
Chapter 20:
Something's Wrong
Daniel couldn't help but feel worried as he stood waiting nearby his locker. It had now been 30 minutes since the end of 8th period class. Under normal circumstances, he would be at the choir room attending glee club, and so would, presumably, his fellow gleeks. But today, due to the drama that had unfolded that very recess, Mr. Schuester had chosen to cancel today's after school glee club session. And as a result, Daniel was now hanging around his locker. He wasn't the only boy in the glee club hanging around in that area either. Also present in that same hallway were Calvin, Dunlap, Darren, Cody, and Raj. Hobbes, naturally, was also present alongside his master.
It hadn't entirely been necessary for the boys to hang out together in the hallway after school. In fact, the only reason they hadn't called their parents to inform them of any need to pick them up early was, ironically enough, the very reason they were now starting to get worried. As it turned out, from what the boys had read in some texts from their respective close female companions, the girls of the glee club, Charlotte included surprisingly enough, were all currently hanging out together somewhere. As surprising as it was that the rest of the girls were apparently hanging out with Charlotte, the boys had also been smart enough to consider how likely this very situation could qualify as the very same bonding that Mr. Schuester wanted them all to take part in over the course of the next few weeks. And as a result, for the sake of Mr. Schuester, they'd decided to give Charlotte the benefit of the doubt just this once. And to be fair, thanks to a steady stream of text messages from the girls following the initial ones, the boys had at first had plenty of reason to believe that everything would be fine and that the girls would return safe and sound and ready for them all to be picked up and return home.
Now, however, it had been a full 10 minutes since any of the boys had gotten any contact from the girls, and they were becoming very worried indeed about what was happening to them. To further hammer in how worried they were getting, Calvin had now thrice sent a text to Susan in an effort to see if she would respond, and had not received any reply either of those three times. In short, things were not looking good from their respective as far as the girls were concerned.
"I don't know about you," Cody abruptly said. He lifted his head, his dark eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "But I've waited long enough. At this rate, I'm almost certain that the girls are in trouble. And I for one, am not going to just stand here while Bailey is in potentially dire peril."
"Join the club," Raj stated in a fiercely determined tone. He lifted his right hand, now clenched into a determined fist. "Cody and I may be more like rivals to each other than friends right now, but any harm that comes toward Bailey makes an instant enemy out of both of us."
"Count me in," said Darren as he stood up from where he'd been sitting. "After all, Amber went through enough trouble last year, and that's without counting those tasteless bluff rape threats that she got treated with by that asshole on the basketball team two days ago. I'll be damned if she ends up in yet more trouble without me around to put a stop to it."
"You said it," said Dunlap as he to stood up from where he'd been sitting. "After everything she went through last year, Naomi certainly ain't gonna have any more trauma to deal with this year." He clenched his right fist and lifted it up to his face, red eyes blazing determinedly. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
As Daniel heard this, he couldn't help but agree with the rest of the boys. And with that in mind, he was very strongly considering joining with them for Diana's sake. This conviction was only further strengthened when he heard Calvin voice his own intention to join with them. "You'd best join the club guys," the autistic boy stated, his right fist ramming into his left palm. "Like I've made clear, there ain't no thing, or no one that's allowed to harm or similarly provide negative treatment towards Susan in any way, shape, or form. Not as long as I have anything to say about it." He nodded his head. "And after how narrowly she avoided getting raped two days ago, not to mention how I was nearly killed preventing that from happening, I sure as Hell ain't gonna let any trouble befall her today!" He turned his head to look at Hobbes. "Isn't that right buddy?"
Hobbes snarled, and then let out 7 cacophonic barks, clearly in agreement with his blonde, autistic master.
In that instant, Daniel made up his mind, and he stepped forward to join up with the rest of the boys. The other boys turned their heads at the sound of Daniel's footsteps, smiling at the sight of him coming over to join them. "Count me in," Daniel said confidently, a determined look on his face and his gray eyes agleam with willpower. "I may not know the other girls amongst this club anywhere near as well as I know Diana, but the other girls are your friends just as much as Diana is mine. And as far as I'd like to believe, any friend of yours is a friend of mine." He came to a stop. "And even if that weren't the case, Diana is still my friend. And by God, as long as I'm alive and breathing, there is no way I'm going to consciously allow anything or anyone to harm her in any way, shape, or form. And that includes whatever's going on with her and the other girls right now." He rammed his left fist into his right palm. "We've waited long enough. I say we intervene."
"Yeah!" the other boys shouted in agreement.
"That's what I'm talking about," Darren then said for added emphasis.
Daniel chuckled, and then briefly looked around the area. "But first, all we need to is try to figure out just where they are."
"Let's check the girls' texts," Dunlap suggested, already drawing his cellphone back out of his pants pocket. "Maybe they were able to leave hints for us in their messages before they stopped."
"Good idea," Darren agreed. "Come on guys, let's get to it."
The boys all promptly drew out their phones and started checking the series of messages that the girls had sent them in the 20 minutes that had unfolded before the abrupt radio silence, scanning intently with their eyes for any sign or hint of where the girls might have been heading. After about 2 minutes, four of the boys' eyes narrowed in clear disappointment and irritation.
"Nothing here," said Dunlap.
"Nothing on my end," Darren snarled.
"Same here," said Cody.
"What they said," said Raj.
"I think they're might be a couple hints in Diana's messages," said Daniel. His eyes narrowed in concentration. "Although, with her only providing basic descriptions, they hardly narrow anything down."
"I've got some from Susan," said Calvin. He smiled. "And I do think that these ones sound a heck of a lot clearer."
The other boys promptly gathered around Calvin to try to get a look at the texts.
"What did she say?" asked Dunlap.
"Where are they?" asked Darren.
"What did she say Calvin?" asked Daniel.
Calvin took another quick look at the texts in question. "Well the last one says they were getting close to . . ." He narrowed his eyes as if trying to get a closer look at the words. "Bacchus 24-7 Baseball House?" He raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Who named this place?"
Daniel, Darren, and Dunlap all appeared to share Calvin's confusion. Even Hobbes looked perplexed at the ridiculous sounding name. Cody and Raj however, had their eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Say that name again," said Cody.
Calvin looked at the bespectacled Korean American boy, his eyebrow still raised. "Bacchus 24-7 Baseball House."
At the sound of Calvin's 2nd time saying that name, Cody and Raj's eyes narrowed even further, the Indian American even seemingly snarling like an animal. Daniel noticed this. "Are you . . . familiar with this place or something?"
Cody held up his finger as if to signal for Daniel to wait, and he and Raj proceeded to quickly look up the name on the internet on their phones. At the sight of the exact building that ended up in their search results, and an irrefutable confirmation of their suspicions no less, it appeared to take all their willpower not to blow up in anger. Cody even seemingly had bolts of lightning flashing in his eyes. The 2 Asian Americans exited out of the internet, slipped their phones back into their pockets, and looked back at the other boys.
"It's a crack house," said Raj.
"Not just a crack house," Cody snarled. He clenched his fists. "The exact same crack house that Rachel Berry tricked Sunshine Corazon into visiting in the fall of 2010."
Daniel, Dunlap, and Darren's eyes widened in shock and horror upon hearing all this. Calvin, meanwhile, briefly seemed preoccupied on a different factor.
"Should I be wondering how it is you know that little tidbit?" the autistic boy asked.
Daniel and the 2 sophomores promptly directed incredulous glares at the autistic. "Is that seriously an important question right now?!" they all thought to themselves.
Cody and Raj, however, seemed to think that it wouldn't be any harm to answer this question. "You'd be surprised how many people amongst Lima's Asian American community still remember that incident," said Raj.
"Yeah," Cody agreed. He folded his arms across his chest. "Not to mention how many more people amongst that very community have ended up becoming in the know about it as a direct result of how many people remember it." He shook his head side to side. "The point is, Raj and I are well aware of that place, what it is, and how bad it is. It may not be officially active anymore. But all the people who still live in that area and pay attention can tell that there's still something going on in that place. And whatever it is, there's way it can possibly end well if that hag who's constantly hounding after our male lead has gone so low as to take the girls there."
That was all the other boys needed to hear. "Well then what are we waiting for?"
Daniel rammed his right fist into his left hand. "Let's get a move on."
"You heard him boys," said Calvin. "Let's move!"
"Bark! Bark! Bark!" Hobbes agreed.
"GUYS! GUYS! EMERGENCY!"
The boys all turned their heads, and promptly narrowed their eyes at the sight of none other than Zack rushing up towards them. The black boy came to a stop, bent over with hands on his knees, and panted heavily, clearly having run very quickly for a long distance to reach them. He lifted his head after getting his breath back. "The girls, they're in trouble.
Zack had just enough time to wince upon sight of the sight of the 7 glares being directed his way when Calvin coldly remarked, "We kind of already figured that out genius."
Zack winced again upon hearing this. "Ok, well, at least let me tell you just where they are . . ."
"Bacchus 24-7 Baseball House," Cody and Raj spoke in unison.
Zack's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know that?"
The other boys promptly narrowed their eyes in suspicion upon hearing this. Daniel even went so far as to raise his eyebrow. "Judging by how you just commented, I believe that's what we should be asking you."
Zack mentally facepalmed. "Well done Zack," he thought to himself. "Now you just made them more suspicious." He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then looked back at the 6 suspicious other boys and the equally suspicious German Shepherd. "I eavesdropped on Charlotte talking with some sophomore boy earlier, and I overheard them discuss their entire plan."
Darren snorted. "Sounds awfully convenient."
"Yeah," Dunlap snarled. He folded his arms across his chest. "You just happened to be around to eavesdrop on Charlotte and some random dude talking about just what the plan was regarding today's 'hangout session' with the rest of the girls in the glee club and subsequently learn every little detail about it? Yeah, I'm not buying it."
Zack mentally facepalmed once more. "I should have guessed that it wouldn't be that easy," he thought to himself.
Daniel made a 'tsk, tsk,' and shook his head side to side. "Hate to say this pal," said Daniel, his tone and eyes indicating that he was far from sorry, "but they do have a point."
"Yeah," said Calvin. "How are we supposed to know that you're truly innocent in all this? How do we know that you're telling the truth? Hell, how do we know that, assuming you are telling the truth, that you're not in on the whole business with Charlotte and this other guy and didn't help set up this whole mess yourself?"
Zach groaned, hung his head, and shook his head side to side in disbelief. Granted, he knew that Calvin had a fair point. But nonetheless, he couldn't help but feel baffled at just how much Calvin even now still mistrusted him and was willing to suspect him for just about all manner of despicable actions, regardless of their likelihood.
He lifted his head. "Look guys," he said. "I know that I'm far from being in any of your good graces right now . . ."
"No fucking shit Sherlock!" Cody growled.
Zack took another deep breath, and then exhaled. "Look guys, please, just trust me at least this once."
"Trust you?!" Calvin roared. "Why on Earth should we trust you?!"
Zack had just opened his mouth, trying desperately to think up something to say in the process, when Calvin promptly interrupted. "Because believe me, like you just made clear, we've all got zero reason to trust you. And for good damn reason to!" The autistic boy pointed his finger at Zack. "Need I remind you of how you harassed Susan, and were more than willing to try to rape her?!" He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. "Not to mention how you also tried to strangle me to death when I tried to defend her from you?!"
"Calvin," Zack began, his tone clearly indicating memory and regret of those incidents in question.
"Need I remind you of how you sabotaged my legs?"
Zack looked over at Dunlap, who had his nightmare making red eyes directing a glare of their own towards Zack. The albino boy snarled, pointed his finger at Zack, and continued, "Yeah, you'd better not have thought that I'd forgotten how you both stole my oil can and replaced it with an identical copy filled with superglue! And don't get me started on that heartless 'prank' you pulled on Naomi that day either! I saw you laughing your ass off and pointing at her while she was lying in pain on that hallway floor you slathered up with oil!" The albino boy leaned forward, red eyes narrowed ominously. "You are so lucky that oil was all over that floor that day. Because if it hadn't, I would have run up to you right then and there, and proceeded to permanently flatten your nose, kick out every single one of your teeth, and turn your face inside out to the point of you suffocating all in one go!"
"You said it Dunlap," Darren snarled. The ginger-haired boy directed his own gaze at Zack, his amber yellow contact lens-covered eyes similarly narrowed into an unnerving glare. "And for that matter, need I remind you of those insensitive bluff rape threats you sent Amber's way? Or how you sneered and scoffed at me for trying to defend her? Or how you dismissed Amber's terror and my rage, and your actions that caused them, by trying to pass it all off as some sick joke and telling us to grow a damn funny bone?" He pointed emphatically at his eyes with both of his pointer fingers. "Or, before I forget, how you slathered my backup contact lenses in lemon juice? Fresh lemon juice?" He pointed at Raj and Cody. "If they hadn't helped me get my eyes washed out when they did that day, I'd be eyeless right now! Eyeless! How'd you like having that on your conscience you sick bastard!?"
"He's right!" Cody shouted. He pointed one finger at Zack while pointing at his glasses with another. "For that matter, need I remind you how you stole my other pair of glasses and had them flushed down the toilet?"
"Or how you flooded my sneakers with soda while I was in gym glass and applied a very generous coating of fresh red, white, and blue paint on the seat of my assigned desk in the class that followed?" said Raj.
The two Asian American boys leaned closer towards Zack in unison. "Or how you wouldn't stop sending all those asinine texts and similar phone-based harassment to Bailey earlier this week?"
Cody then clenched his fists, his eyes seeming to narrow even further in his rage. "Why should any of us trust you when you can't even be trusted not to shamelessly bully your own kind?"
Zack couldn't help but wince and mentally freeze up as he felt the angry words and savage insults and recriminations stab into him like a harpoon. It took what felt to him like an hour to regain his voice under the harsh scrutiny of the other boys. But regain his voice he did. "Look," he began. "Let me make it up to you. Let me come with you to rescue the girls."
Calvin did a spit take, and then let an incredulous laugh burst out of him. "Come with us?! Seriously?! And risk you sabotaging our efforts and making sure that the girls actually do end up getting fucked up by whatever Charlotte's got planned for them in this latest screwed up scheme of hers?! You must be joking!" The autistic boy pointed his finger at Zack. "If you really think we're that stupid, then you're even dumber then we thought! And considering all the idiocy you've displayed this week up till now, that's saying something!"
Zack winced, opened his mouth, and promptly winced again when he realized that he clearly wasn't getting anywhere. He looked over at Daniel, now clearly realizing just how far he'd gone in that he now only had one person he was absolutely certain he could rely on. And even that person had high likelihood of not trusting him anymore. "Daniel," he said. "Tell them it's safe. You can trust me Daniel. You know me Daniel. You know I can be trusted this time. Honest, you do."
For what seemed like an eternity, Daniel simply stared blankly at Zack. The seconds seemed to be minutes, the minutes seemed to be hours. And the entire time, Zack got increasingly nervous, and the rest of the boys, plus Hobbes, all turned their heads towards Daniel to see just what his final reaction would be. Then Daniel's gray eyes narrowed. "Do I?"
Zack tensed up, his eyes widened. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean?"
Daniel snarled, his gray eyes smoldering with rage. "Let me rephrase that," he snarled. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "I thought I knew you. But now?" He sighed. "Now I'm not so sure."
Zack mentally sputtered and backpedaled, desperately trying to think of something to say.
Daniel pointed his finger at Zack, gray eyes cold and metallic. "But one thing I am sure about is that you are almost certainly not the Zack that I knew." Daniel took a step forward, finger still pointing at Zack, and Zack himself unconsciously cringing backwards in a mixture of fear and despair. "Because the Zack I knew would have never brought things to the point that I'd actually have to question how trustworthy he is the way you have. The Zack I knew would have never gone to the extremes you've gone. The Zack I knew would have never crossed the lines that you've crossed. The Zack I knew would never have committed any of the absolutely despicable things that you've done. And he sure as Hell would have never gone so far as to try to kill someone for . . . for sex rights!" At the moment he said those last two words, his voice seemed to momentarily transform into an animalistic snarl of disgust.
Zack couldn't help but wince when he heard the way Daniel's voice briefly devolved into an animalistic snarl. "Damn," he thought to himself. "I must have really struck a nerve."
But then Daniel lifted his head back up to face Zack once more, and Zack mentally gulped when he saw that Daniel's gray eyes had lost their earlier cold and metallic look and been replaced with a burning hatred. "And not only that," Daniel continued. "But the sex rights in question? Were never even your's to begin with. Susan had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to be your bedding partner. You know damn well she didn't want that. And you didn't care." He leaned forward, finger still pointing at Zack. "Instead, you tried to force yourself on her, giving zero shits about her wishes and feelings, how Calvin had specifically warned you against the whole business, or me and Diana's own feelings on the matter." He gestured at the other four boys standing to the left of him, Calvin, and Hobbes. "And that's without mentioning all the harassment and mean-spirited pranks you pulled against them and their own respective girls!" He lifted his finger, now seemingly even angrier then before. "And don't get me started on how you've essentially put all of our lives, dreams, and futures; not to mention Mr. Schue's; at risk of being nullified and prevented from ever coming true!" He pointed his finger right back at Zack. "And need I remind you of how, even after how brutally clear that had been made, and how much Mr. Schuester had made it clear you needed to get your act together, you still did everything in your power to drum up yet more chaos right behind his back without stopping before my intervention for no reason then for shits, giggles, and satisfaction of your own ego!"
Zack mentally winced, but extended his hands forward in an effort to placate Daniel, all while simultaneously finding himself regretting even more how hard he'd worked just two days ago to make Daniel and the other students at McKinley High actually believe that he'd been genuine in his behavior. If there were anything that the phrase 'gone horribly right' could have referred to at that moment, it was his actions from the previous three days. "Daniel, please," he said. "All that stuff I did and said? None of that was for real." His heart sank at the sight of the other boys alongside Daniel scoffing, rolling their eyes, sniggering, and even flashing smug disbelieving grins. Even Hobbes had the canine equivalent of a smug smirk on his furry face. "I mean it," he said in a clearly desperate tone. "Honest, I mean it! None of that stuff was for real! I didn't truly mean any of it! I swear!"
"Why should I believe that?"
Zack could only gape in terror and despair, mouth agape and eyes widened at Daniel as the gray-eyed boy walked up to him once more. Daniel's eyes remained narrowed, and he snarled, clearly just as in disbelief as his latest comment had indicated.
"Now that everything I thought I knew about you has turned out to be nothing but a big, fat, black lie?"
Zack gasped and mentally sputtered, trying desperately to think of an adequate response to what Daniel had just said.
Daniel growled, and clenched his fists. "I don't know what you're thinking," Daniel began. "But I am smarter than you seem to be willing to give me any credit for anymore. And I can tell you, with full confidence, that I know, for a fact, that you are not the Zack that I knew." He pointed his finger at Zack yet again. "You're a monster. A sick, twisted, heartless monster. Who mocks his memory by taking on his familiar shape, and who uses his familiar face as a mask to hide his dark, foul, villainous interior."
Daniel leaned his head towards Zack, gray eyes glowing with fury. "And he had me fooled for so many years now into thinking that he was my friend and that he was a good and noble-hearted person truly worthy of my friendship and trust." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled shakily in rage. "I never thought I'd be so horribly utterly wrong in my life." He took another deep breath, and then exhaled again. "But now, I'm too angry to even care how it's finally reached the point of realizing that I've indeed been exactly that wrong."
Daniel straightened himself back to full height and back away from Zack. He glared coldly at the stunned silent and devastated black boy. "You're not the Zack that I knew." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled in a way that sounded as if he were spitting out his breath. "You're not my friend."
He turned around to face the other 5 boys with him. The boys, plus the dog, who had now truly proven themselves the good and noble-hearted boys that he'd once been so certain that Zack had been, and were now all ready and raring to go with him to rescue the girls. "Let's go guys," he said. "We've got friends to save." He turned his head to direct one final glare at Zack. "Real friends."
"Yeah," said Cody.
"That's what I'm talking about," Raj agreed.
"You heard him lads," said Darren. "Let's get a move on!"
"Here! Here!" Dunlap yelled.
Calvin snarled, lifted his head, and emitted a series of velociraptor-like barking coughs. At the exact moment he did this, Calvin, Hobbes, Daniel, and the other boys apart from Zack turned around and started running down the hallway in the direction opposite Zack and towards the nearest exit. It was clear that they were firmly settled on their current goal to reach the location of Bacchus 24-7 Baseball House and rescue their respective close female friends from whatever horrific fate was potentially at risk of befalling them in whatever it was Charlotte now apparently had planned. And as they ran, Calvin even went so far as to unleash a shrill and raspy velociraptor-like shriek of challenge while Hobbes simultaneously let out a series of cacophonic challenging barks, snarls, and growls.
Five minutes later, the entire group had departed from the hall and straight out the nearest exit, leaving Zack all alone. For what seemed like an eternity, Zack remained where he was, frozen in shock and despair. Then the apparent eternity finally came to an end, and he hung his head, his facial expression changing to one of guilt and shame.
As guilty as he'd already been feeling about the whole mess, there had still been a small part of him that had continued to refuse to accept the full enormity of what he'd done, let alone of the resulting aftermath. But only now did he finally realize just how far he'd gone.
He turned around so that his back was pressing against the lockers, and he slid himself down so that he was at a seated position against the bottom row of lockers behind him. He placed his hands on his knees, hung his head, and sighed once more. "Daniel was right," he thought to himself. "I'm not the Zack that he knew." He sniffled. "Hell," he thought to himself. "I barely even recognize myself anymore when thinking about all that shit I pulled this week."
He turned his head to look dejectedly in the direction the rest of the boys had taken. "This is all my fault," he thought to himself. "This entire mess I'm in? The actions I committed that got me into this mess? It's all my fault." He hung his head once more. "I was even given fair warning and left with plenty of opportunity to stop. I should have listened to Daniel. I should have listened to Calvin. I should have listened to Susan. I should have listened to Diana. I should have listened to Mr. Schue. I should have listened to my dad. I should have listened to. . ."
His eyes widened. He had once again remembered his talk with Charlotte after school that very Monday. And of course, naturally, he'd remembered the details of the plan that she'd wanted him to help her with that he'd instead altered to serve his own ends. Letting out what sounded like a mix between a sob and a snarl, he clenched his right fist and slammed it against the locker directly next to him. "God!" he yelled. "How could I have been so stupid!?"
But he had indeed been that stupid. While he had thankfully not allowed Charlotte's plan to unfold the way she'd planned in even the slightest, he had instead allowed it to be fulfilled at the expense of a completely different target; himself. Rather than trick Daniel into behaving more like a bad boy and all-around scumbag under a misguided belief that it would make him seem more attractive to Diana, he himself had started behaving more in that fashion instead to hopefully make himself look more attractive to Charlotte. And in a similar vein, he had also chosen not to tell anyone about his plan and how his horrendous change in behavior and personality U-turn was all an act in order for everyone to put on a convincing performance in believing that those very elements were genuine, and thus hopefully convincing Charlotte.
But only now did he fully accept the fact that this very plan had managed to both go horribly wrong and horribly right at the same time. It had gone wrong in that he'd both been thoroughly defeated by Calvin and lost both all chances of even pretending to bed with Susan as well as his previously established record of always winning and being the most badass 'warrior' amongst the McKinley High male student population. Whereas on the flipside, it had also gone horribly right in that he'd done too good of a job at convincing everyone else at the school that his personality U-turn had been genuine. And because of this, everyone in the school, student and faculty alike, distrusted him. No one wanted anything to do with him. Even his fangirls, fellow basketball teammates, and Daniel and Diana had turned their backs on him and no longer trusted him. And to top it all off, even Charlotte, the very girl that he'd been trying to attract, was now disgusted and repulsed by him and his actions. All in all, he'd managed to both alienate several potential new friends and destroy the friendships he'd already had in a misguided and brainless effort at making himself look more attractive to his crush. The very same fate that Charlotte had wanted him to help her cause Daniel to experience.
Zack hung his head once more, his eyes now closed as he struggled to keep himself together. But this task was now becoming increasingly difficult, and for good reason. Because only now did he fully realize how the effort he'd put into his actions from earlier that week truly hadn't been worthwhile at all. Only now did he realize how unforgivably low he'd stooped to attempt to attain his goal. Only now did he realize how much more damage he'd been causing to both what he'd had as well as what he could have gained instead then he'd thought. But now, it seemed very likely that he was now too late. The damage had now been done, he had failed to achieve the goal he'd been hoping to achieve through the actions that had caused him to get into this mess, and had lost both that goal and everything else he'd had and could have gained instead all in one go. And now, here he was, sitting in the hall against some lockers, untrusted, friendless, and alone. And it was all his fault.
And just like that, another chapter done! Once again, I hope very much that you enjoyed it! And of course, I very much hope that you leave plenty of feedback. As usual, I require a minimum of 1 review for this new chapter by the time I finish the next chapter in order to update. Once again, hope you enjoyed!
Coming up Next: We finally find out just WHAT sort of situation the girls are going through. And as it turns out, not only is it indeed NOT pretty, but it also turns out even worse than what Charlotte's mysterious sympathizer had planned and subsequently duped Charlotte into expecting. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!