Seize the Day

When I awoke the next morning, I felt fingers slowly dragging through my hair. I opened my eyes, and saw that I still had my head in Zack's lap from the night before, and he was still sitting up with his back against the headboard. I looked up to see that he was looking out the window, his head turned to the right.

I shifted slightly, and he turned his head and looked down at me. He smiled when he saw me looking at him.

"How're you feeling?" he asked quietly.

I blinked a few times and yawned, stretching a bit. "Okay I suppose. How long have you been awake?" I asked as he continued to run his fingers through my hair.

"A while... since the sun's been up," Zack replied.

"... And what time is it now?" I asked.

"Almost 9..." he said.

"Jeez! You could have gotten me up and told me to get off you or something..." I said, feeling kinda bad that he'd been sitting there with me on him all night, and then on through the morning.

"Nah... didn't wanna wake you up. I didn't really mind anyways," Zack said with a smile. I laid there looking up at the ceiling for a few minutes longer. Suddenly I remembered the night before, and sat up quickly, my eyes open wide.

"Shit!" I shouted.

"What? What's wrong?" Zack asked.

"Last night... Brian's mom... She's gonna call my mom! Oh fuck!" I said as I laid back down, practically throwing myself back down actually. So my head hit Zack's lap pretty hard, and as soon as I hit he yelped in pain and grimaced. I shot up again.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry Zacky!" I said, shocked at what I had done. He breathed in and out deeply and shakily, his head against the wall and his eyes closed.

"Oh Zacky... Are you okay?" I asked sympathetically. He didn't respond; just sat there holding himself. A couple minutes later, he breathed out loudly and opened his eyes, looking up.

"Oh my God, I feel so bad now Zacky... you can like, punch me in the face for that if you want..." I offered, being completely serious.

He smiled a little, looking over at me without moving his head. "Well, I wouldn't wanna do that, now would I?" he asked.

"Yes you would, I completely deserve it after what I just did," I said.

"No... cuz I wouldn't wanna ruin that pretty face of yours," he replied, turning his head towards me. I just blushed and looked away, probably with a stupid smile on my face.

"Besides, I can't hit girls. I don't think its right.... But I think I'm okay now though," he said, finally letting go of himself.

"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah... just don't do it again, okay?" he chuckled softly.

I nodded my head. "So... has Brian's mom yelled at him yet?" I asked.

"Not yet..." Zacky replied.

Then we could hear faint talking down the hall in Brian's room.

"...Never mind..." Zacky said with a smirk. He got up, and sat down with his ear against the door. He motioned me over with his hand, so I sat facing him, my ear against the door too. We could hear their conversation, that seemed pretty one-sided, quite clearly.

"Brian, I knew that having you hang out with those hoodlums was only going to bring trouble..."

"But --"

"No 'buts' Brian! This kind of behavior is inexcusable! I'd never imagined you would go and do something like this! Haners don't behave like this... I know I didn't do stuff like this in high school!" Mrs. Haner said.

"Yeah, well times change, and I'm not like you," Brian snapped at his mother. Zacky looked at me wide-eyed. No one ever talked back to Brian's mom. Ever...

"Is that an attitude I hear Brian? Are you giving me an attitude?" she asked hotly.

"Maybe I am... so what?" Brian said back in defiance.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, especially with that tone of voice Brian. You seem to be forgetting that I brought you into this world, and I can sure as hell take you out of it -- And stop mocking me before I slap that look right off your face!" she said, getting angrier.

My mouth dropped open as I looked at Zacky, who was still wide-eyed. Mrs. Haner was never the kind of woman to hit her children. And she had not only just threatened to hit Brian, she had bluntly threatened... to kill him. And I found that wrong of her. Even if she wouldn't even think of actually killing him, she shouldn't have told that to her son.

"Now, I've called all your friends' parents and they know the whole story..." she continued on.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath. Zacky looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

"... and you are to never hang out with them again," she finished.

"But mom, I don't have any other friends! You can't do that!" Brian retorted, raising his voice.

"I don't care! I can do what I want! They're a bad influence and do things that I don't approve of, so you're not hanging around them. Do you understand me?"

"I don't fucking care what you say, I'll hang out wi-" Brian started, before we heard a loud slapping noise. She hit him. She actually hit him. Zacky winced. I felt bad for Brian. My parents never hit me, they weren't around enough to do it.

"Don't you dare swear at me, young man. I am your mother and I demand respect, do you understand me?" Mrs. Haner said bitterly. There was silence. "I said, do you understand me?!" she said, raising her voice.

A barely audible 'yes' was heard from Brian.

"Good..." his mother growled before we heard her go downstairs.

Zacky got up off the floor slowly, and I followed suite. He opened the door, and we slowly walked over to Brian's room. He was sitting against the wall, his arms wrapped around his knees, pulling them up to his chest. He looked up as we walked over, and I could see the bright red mark on his face. And... he was crying. That was a side of Brian I had never seen before. He was no longer the cocky, confident, outgoing, boisterous Brian that I saw every day, but a timid, vulnerable child. He sniffled before wiping his tears away with the heels of his hands.

"...Where's the others?" Zacky asked.

"They left earlier, around eight," Brian mumbled, looking at the floor. It was as if he was too scared to look at us when he was in that fragile state.

"Are you okay, Brian?" I asked as I kneeled in front of him. He looked at me with soft eyes; full of pain.

"I dunno... She - she's never hit me before..." he trembled. I sat next to him and placed a hand on his back, slowly moving it back and forth. As much as I would never admit it, there still was a type of bond between the two of us, that had been forged during our romantic involvement.

He sniffled again. "You guys should go... I don't want you to get in more trouble if she comes back up here," Brian said. I nodded and stood up.

"Well, I'm gonna be in trouble either way when I get home, and I bet I won't get to see you or the other guys again for a long time... So come here and give me a hug," I said quietly. He looked up at me strangely. That was something he'd never expected to come out of my mouth; he thought I hated him, which I guess I used to, but I didn't really anymore.

He got up slowly and walked over to me. I pulled him into a tight hug, and he then said goodbye to Zacky.

Zacky and I walked outside, stopping near his car. "So... I guess I won't be seeing you again for a while, huh?" he asked quietly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Well, outside of school you won't see much of me. But I can still see you during school, and I suppose I could pretend to 'stay after' and hang out for an hour after school," I said with a small smile, knowing it wouldn't be the same. "And besides, since when are my parents ever home to reinforce punishments? I bet Louisa would still let you give me rides to school, cuz she's not there every day, and-" I rambled on before Zacky pressed a finger to my lips to quiet me. He smiled.

"Well, I'm glad there's a .1% chance I'll get to see you," he said. He hugged me tight, kissed me on the cheek, said goodbye, and got in his car.

I walked over to my house, trying to think up some good lines to use on my parents during the soon-to-be interrogation.

I walked into the house, and took off my shoes.

"Kimberly Anne Bailey! Get in here right now!" my mother screeched. Here we go...

I walked quietly into the living room, where my mother was sitting on the couch, and my father was pacing back and forth... That wasn't a good sign. He only paced when he was really angry.

"Sit," my mother said, pointing to the armchair. I did as she said. "I just got a phone call from Brian's mother. Apparently, you were in his room with your little friends, smoking pot," she said, getting right to the point. "Is this true?" she asked. I always thought it was a little peculiar that she would ask me if something I did was true, because it just gave me a chance to deny it.

I nodded and mumbled "Yes ma'am," That's right. My parents weren't 'mom and dad' to me, they were ' ma'am and sir'. They didn't deserve the title of 'mom and dad' anyways.

"What was that? Speak up," my mother mocked.

"Yes ma'am," I said clearly, gazing at the floor.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," she snapped fiercely.

"Yes ma'am," I said robotically, looking at her. It was then that I wished I had the courage to be like Brian, and just tell her what I wanted, but all I could do was sit there and take what they threw at me.

"And is that the way we raised you?" my mother asked. It was like a cruel game of '21 Questions'.

"No ma'am..." I said, my gaze drifting to the floor again out of habit.

"Look at your mother when she is talking to you! We did not raise you to be disrespectful, young lady!" my father yelled, getting up in my face.

"Yes sir," I whispered. I looked to my mother, and he continued back to his pacing.

"We've decided... that it would be best if you went back to DuBois Academy," my mother said.

"Oh my God... please! I'll do anything... Just don't make me go back there! Please!" I said, going low enough to beg and plead with them. If she made me go back there, I'd never get to see the four most important people in my life. Sure, I'd only known them for probably a little over a month... But Zacky, Matt, Casey, and Brian were the most important people to me. Especially Zacky. I needed to see him...

My mother looked at me oddly. "...Alright. You can stay. But you must promise us that you'll change," my mother said, caving in. She never did that...

"Okay, I'll do it. Whatever you want, I'll do it... Just don't make me go back there..." I said.

"Fine. Go to your room, you've given me a migraine," my mother said, dismissing me. I got up to leave the room.

"Oh, and another thing..." I heard my father say. "You're not allowed near those boys," he said, and I continued my way up to my room without a fight.