For You

"Mom! There's too much work! I don't have time for any of this."

"Oh, shush, Matt. I missed that boy. I want him to come over after school today, okay?"

Giving up, exasperated, Matt just rolled his eyes and stormed out the door. That damn project was the reason why his mom wouldn't stop bothering him about Zacky. Zacky this, Zacky that. When's Zacky coming over? He should eat dinner with us again, he's such a sweet boy, BLAH BLAH BLAH. It was the most annoying thing ever having to listen to his parents banter on about the one kid who pissed him off by merely breathing.

Matt got into his car and drove off to school, passing by Zacky who was walking with a limp. He just scoffed, though, and continued on without another thought.

What was with Zacky anyway? What made him so special to Mrs. Sanders? Matt just saw Zacky as a pest, or maybe a punching bag to relieve some of his stress at. Hey, it wasn't easy being perfect.

That damn picture Zacky had also irritated the fuck out of him. He was so infuriated looking at it, and didn't feel any better ripping it apart, though he thought it would have. It brought back memories. Unwanted memories he wanted to forget forever. He had his new life; Zacky simply couldn't keep up with the change. Anyways, he started to become all weird sometime around 6th or 7th grade. Matt never found out why, but then never cared about it either.

"Woah, someone's on his man period." one of his friends said as Matt arrived in school and stormed up to his locker.

"Shut it, Davids or I'll have your fucking eye." Matt glowered back in response. The shorter boy immediately quited down and his other friends snickered.

Okay so maybe the people around him weren't the best of friends he could have. But whatever. He was the big boss in this school anyway. He got invited to parties, he got asked out, and everyone loved him. Plus, he had the athleticism, the grades, and not to mention, the good looks. Sure he was a bit complacent with himself, but he couldn't help it.

The bell rang and Matt grumbled, "English. Great." Without even much of a 'good bye' to his friends, he walked to class and sat down in his usual seat, at the back of the room. A couple minutes later, Zacky shuffled in and scanned the room, looking for a spot. Zacky hated having to go through this every class, trying to find a seat where it wouldn't be so obvious to him that his peers were making fun of him. The back would have been great, but that was Matt's designated spot anyway.

Another late comer took the last seat up front.. Which left Zacky with the one near Matt. Gulping, he slowly made his way to the desk, staring at the book he had in his arms. Amazingly, no one decided to trip him, and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding until he sat down.

The class was uneventful, as Matt was too busy thinking about how to 'preserve' Zacky for the rest of the day without seeming stupid to his peers. If Zacky had a bruise, Mrs. Sanders would make a big fuss over it and question Matt for days on end if a clear response wasn't given. Of course a single injury wouldn't be so hard to cover for. But they liked to go all out on Zacky. No mercy. Unless..

Hey, there's an idea.. A smirk slowly grew on Matt's face as a plan came to him. It was perfect and, most importantly, easy and saved his rep. Just what he needed.

After class, Matt dragged Zacky outside of the school. No one was there because the students were all going to their next classes. He only had five minutes, but that was all he needed.

To be safe, though, Matt went to the back of the school and pinned the smaller boy against the wall.

"You listen and listen well." Matt started. "My mom wants you at my house tonight, and don't ask me why, I don't fucking know. If she sees you hurt, she'll make a big deal out of it and that'll just bother me. Skip school and go home or something. Meet me at my house at around four, got it? And you better be there, too, or you'll have hell to pay tomorrow."

Like I don't go through hell everyday.. Zacky thought bitterly. He nodded nonetheless, and felt the tiniest bit of hope flicker inside him. As Matt walked away, Zacky thought that things would get better from here on. Maybe Mrs. Sanders would invite him more often? And then Matt would see that Zacky wasn't so bad. And Zacky would bring out his best for him. He still didn't quite figure out what he had done wrong, but maybe he'd be able to find out soon and make up for it.

Ignorance is bliss..

With a small smile, Zacky sneaked out of the school grounds and decided to walk around town or something until school ended. He went home only for a little while to change into something more presentable before quickly getting out to avoid his father, who was thankfully still at work.

When four o'clock finally rolled around, Zacky, excited, ran to Matt's house just to see him pull up in the driveway. He jogged up to the taller boy and beamed. "Hi, Mattie."

"I told you not to call me that, you little-"

"Boys, you're home!"

Matt swore violently in his head as he tried not to glare at Zacky. He forced a smile and made small conversation as they all went inside.

"Go and do your homework first, okay? We'll catch up over dinner in an hour or two. Oh, it's so nice seeing you, Zacky."

Zacky just smiled back and said, "It's nice seeing you, too."

"Go on now. Try to finish your homework before dinner. Then you'll have time to talk afterwards."

Matt had to stop himself from groaning and just nodded, leading Zacky up the stairs. Once his bedroom door was shut, his attitude changed completely and he ignored Zacky, choosing to turn his computer on instead. There wasn't much homework tonight and he had planned on going out, until he remembered he'd have 'company' over for dinner. How annoying. How irritating.

Just looking at the guy made Matt sick. Why the fuck did he look happy? Did Zacky think they were going to make up and be best friends or something? Stupid fag. What did Matt have to do to get it through Zack's head that they weren't friends and weren't ever going to be? A few more punches? Another kick in the gut?

Zacky, who was nervously a few feet away from Matt, tried to make small talk. "Mattie-"

"Don't fucking call me that." Matt interrupted bluntly.

"Oh, um, right.." Zacky mumbled. "Sorry.. Um.. Matt--"

"And don't try to talk to me. My mom invited you over, not me. Do your homework or something, but don't you dare sit on my bed."

Disheartened at the way things were turning out, Zacky only complied to what Matt had told him to do and started on his work, settling down on the floor. He didn't really get most of the material, but then again, he never did. Zacky attempted to try to talk to Matt again, but was always shot down with a 'shut up' or an 'I'm fucking busy right now.'

Zacky ran a hand through his hair and stared at his homework, completely frustrated. It would be useless in trying to do this and so he started to pack his things back in his bag.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Startled, Zacky jumped slightly before answering, "I can't.. I don't get my homework.."

Matt heaved a sigh and said, "Give me your goddamn homework."

When Matt saw Zacky's science homework, he was shocked at how far behind Zacky was. "Dude, you were supposed to have taken Chemistry last year. Did you fail?"

Cheeks burning in embarrassment, Zacky could only nod and bite his lip. He wasn't behind in just science. He was still in Algebra II and repeated American history. English had been the only class he was able to keep up in, and even in that, he was barely passing.

Zacky knew that Matt, on the other hand, was in advanced classes for science and math and chose to take regular classes for history and English. Matt didn't like writing much, and he didn't want to be consumed with homework from those two classes. Besides, it didn't matter if all his classes weren't honors. He had sports, excellent feedback from his teachers, and a little over enough volunteer hours. He was all set for college.

"Look, all you need to do is set up a unit converter. You should have it in your notes, if you took any."

"I-I did.." Zacky never bothered to look in his notes. Perhaps they'd be useful for once.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Then use them."

Letting out a nervous laugh, Zacky nodded. "R-Right.." He settled back down and tried to decipher is messy handwriting. He managed in the end, after focusing intently for several minutes and felt almost relieved when Mrs. Sanders called the boys downstairs for dinner.

"Mexican food tonight, boys." Mrs. Sanders said, setting the plates down as everyone took their seats. "I hope you like it."

Matt's father looked on eagerly at the food. "Looks great, sweetie."

Zacky, too, felt his mouth water. When they finally started eating, he had to control himself from eating too fast and tried not to seem so... starved. Conversation was made mostly between Zacky and Matt's parents. Matt contributed every once in a while, but only so that his parents wouldn't be suspicious about anything.

"How's your father? I haven't seen James in a while." Mr. Sanders said. Zacky, caught off guard, choked on his food for a while. He quickly gulped down some water, before nervously saying, "S-sorry about that.."

"Oh, no problem, it happens to all of us." Mrs. Sanders laughed. "So how is James?"

"He's, ah, alright." Zacky lied. "He's.. great actually."

Matt noticed Zacky's lack of enthusiasm and raised an eyebrow, but decided not to pry. What did it matter to Matt anyway? Zacky was probably not getting along with his father right now because of his shit grades or something.

The rest of dinner flowed smoothly and Zacky, seeing that he had definitely overstayed his welcome (with Matt at least) decided to leave. Upstairs back in Matt's room, as he packed his things, he tried to talk again.

"Um.. Thanks.. for, you know.. Having me over." Zacky said softly, with a small smile.

Matt sighed in annoyance. "My mom invited you, not me. I never wanted to have you over."

"I-I know.. But--"

"But nothing, Baker." Matt growled. "You think things are gonna change or something? Huh? Well they're not. Don't get your little hopes up, fag. Next time you get invited, make up some excuse, got it? You don't know how annoying it is having you in my house like this."

Zacky swallowed and bit his tongue, only nodding, seeing as he couldn't bring himself to speak. He mumbled a quick goodbye before going downstairs and bidding Matt's parents a thank you, while trying to keep himself together.

"Come back anytime you want, dear." Mrs. Sanders said.

"Thank you, ma'am." Zacky smiled. Too bad he wouldn't be coming back for a while.

"Tell James to give us a call, too boy." Matt's father said.

"I will, Mr. Sanders."

Zacky left Matt's house feeling dejected and defeated. Running a hand through his hair, he walked back home and tried not to let Matt's words get to him too much. Not that it worked, though. He was always sensitive and what Matt had said earlier had really hurt Zacky.

And to think Zacky thought things would get better..

It was all... false hope.