The Frayed Ends Of Sanity

The next morning I woke up in a terrible mood. My dreams had been plagued with images of Zacky and Kate murdering me; Zacky mentally and Kate physically.

Everything that had happened the night before kept coming back up as I got ready for work. This definitely didn't help the mood.

I thought about what Matt had told me about Kate and wished I could figure out a way to get her to stop totally hating me for no particular reason. The only thing that came to mind was staying away from Zacky. I had mixed feelings about this. I didn't want to stay away from the person who had helped me through some of the toughest times in my life. But, I was so fucking pissed at him that staying away seemed like paradise at the moment.

Then, of course, the part that really pissed me off was Zacky drunkenly trying to seduce me when he has an extremely jealous girlfriend. What if she were to find out? Then we'd both be in deep shit and honestly, I don't want to deal with her more than I have to.

I arrived at work, hopefully not showing signs of my anger, and greeted Darren.

"Have fun last night?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was...interesting," I replied. He didn't ask me anymore which was good. I didn't want to blow up at him.

I put Guns N' Roses’ 'Use Your Illusion I' album in to play over the loud speakers. Maybe this will help take my mind off last night.

Zacky's P.O.V.
I didn't sleep at all last night. I felt horrible. I knew getting drunk last night was a bad idea, especially if I was already having issues controlling myself around Raven. God, what the fuck was I thinking? That she'd let me have my way with her even though I did have a girlfriend? If I did, that was stupid. Raven was way too classy to even think about doing that.

I had to apologize to her or this would eat away at me until I went insane. I got out of bed with rejections from Kate. I told her I was going to talk to Matt about something and I'd be back in a few hours. She bought it and laid back down.

I got dressed and headed toward the music store. I walked in and found Raven behind the counter reading a magazine. She glanced up but immediately looked back at the magazine. Obviously, she was still pissed.

I went to the front of the desk and said, "I need help finding a CD." She groaned quietly but got up.

"What do you need help finding?" she asked very calmly. Damn, she was good at hiding her anger.

"Hmm...What would you suggest?"

She led me over to the rock section and asked impatiently, "What do you want Zacky?"

"Look Raven. I'm sorry about last night. I really fucked up. I got drunk and messed up."

She crossed her arms. I had forgotten how stubborn she could be. I continued. "I know being drunk is no excuse but...it's hard to explain."

Some customers walked in. "It was nice of you to come and apologize, but I have work to do so if you'll excuse me..." She started to walk away but I grabbed her arm.

"Is there anyway we can talk? I need to talk to you in private."

She glared at me and I added quickly, "Without being drunk this time."

"What about Kate? Won't she be jealous if she knows you're going to another girl's house?" Raven questioned angrily.

"She has a bachelorette party or something for one of her friends tonight so she won't know. If she asks, I'll just say I'm hanging out with the guys."

Raven was getting annoyed with me. "Fine, if it will get you to leave me alone until later."

This was a de ja vu moment. "Okay, your house at eight then?"

"Whatever." She turned away and returned to the counter. I hoped she cooled down by then. I knew that when she was pissed, she was near impossible to get through to.