For You

It wasn't always like this.

Zacky often remembered times when he was happy and carefree. Sometimes it scared him that the memories were fading bit by bit everyday, but he knew he would never completely forget.

A flashback here, a picture there...

He never lost hope.. No matter how bad the beatings were, no matter how hurtful the taunting was, he always thought that maybe someday.. Maybe someday things would get better.

Maybe his mom would come back and fix things at home, like she always did.. Maybe his dad would change his ways.. And maybe Matt would be his friend again.. And Matt wouldn't be one of them anymore.. And it would be just like before.. Before everything went horribly wrong.

People change.. Mattie changed.. But he'll change again.. I know he will..

It would seem like a long stretch to anyone else, but not to Zacky. Matt would snap out of it soon. Maybe after high school things would go back to normal. There were only two years left anyway. He waited four years.. Another two won't make a difference. Not to him at least. He would bear through it, because he knew it would be worth it in the end, when Matt became his best friend again.

So for now he endured his father's relentless beatings, his classmates' mockery of 'the gay kid' and the horrible feeling he felt in his heart when he saw Matt among the jeering faces in school for the day when things would go back to normal.. And everything would be all right again.