The Unofficial Zack Warren Fan Club

by J. C. Isabella

  “I know,” I said, and smiled. “I want to apologize to her. Honestly, I can’t find it in me to be mad. Creeped out, really creeped out, Lana. But I’m not mad at anyone.”

  “Chloe was in Kyle’s room, last I checked.”

  I bolted out of the bathroom and down the hall. I was too late. She wasn’t in the bedroom. I checked every room, every bathroom, but no Chloe. I went back into the hall, thinking she was downstairs. I’d find her. Tell her I was sorry. Before I could make it out of the hall though, I ran into Kyle.

  “Zack, you are the biggest mother fucking jerk!” he grabbed the front of my shirt and slammed me against the wall.

  “What are you talking about?” I pushed him off me. “Lana and I were just talking.”

  Kyle shook his head, voice cracking, “L-Lana? I’m talking about Chloe. She was crying.”

  Shit, strike three for me. “Where’d she go?”

  He didn’t answer and rubbed his jaw.

  “Kyle?”

  “Max has her.”

  My head spun. I went numb as if I’d suddenly been submerged in ice-cold water. “No.”

  “I tried to stop her, but she said you told her to find a ride with someone else.”

  “I’m going after her.”

  He shook his head. “Chloe said you don’t have to worry about her.”

  “What?” I wasn’t big on crying, never had been. But my throat tightened, and my eyes grew warm. Chloe was the only person I ever worried about outside of my family. Since the first day I met her she was always on my mind, even at eleven years old or thirteen, or on school field trips…like the one in the third grade. I remembered. We went to the aquarium. That place was huge. It was cool, and although I was caught up in seeing man-eating sharks, I kept my eye on Chloe. Worried she might get lost or talk to a stranger. I knew she was important, but it took me a while to realize she was important to me. That she was special to me. That she was mine. I was supposed to protect her. I knew that then, as a kid.

  And now, as a man, I’d let her down.

  “Chloe said that she never wanted to hurt you. That’s she’s sorry.” Kyle groaned, “I should have tried harder to stop her.”

  “Where?” I demanded. “Where did Max take her?”

  “Home, or the dorms. I don’t know. They left out the front door. They’re long gone by now.”

  I tore through the packed bodies in the hall, not bothering with the landing or stairs and vaulted over the banister, dropping onto the makeshift dance floor. People leapt out of my way. Nothing would slow me down. In the front yard I searched for the blue Honda Max drove. But Kyle was right. I was too late.

  I dialed Chloe’s cell and climbed into the truck. Her phone rang and rang. Then, finally, she answered.

  “Zack?”

  “Chloe, where are you?”

  “I don’t know.” She sounded out of breath. “We went the wrong way. Max said he knew a shortcut. But it was a dead-end, a ditch.”

  I knew exactly where they were, and backed the truck around, out of the driveway. Kyle and Lana regularly parked at the end of the road to hook up when their parents were home. Honestly, it didn’t sound all that hot. More like uncomfortable and awkward. “I’m coming.”

  “It’s really dark.” She whispered. “I can’t see anything.”

  “I’ll be there soon, just stay on the phone with me.”

  “Okay…and I’m really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.” The phone garbled, her voice wavering over the line like the connection was bad.

  “Forget about it. I don’t care about that, I care about you.” I asked to distract her, “I was thinking, you want to go out tomorrow night?”

  Silence.

  “Chloe?”

  Nothing.

  I tried her phone again. It went to voicemail.

  Cursing that son of a bitch Max, I floored the truck down the road. It narrowed, winding to a ditch and a dead-end. Parked beside the sign was the little blue Honda.

  I slammed on the breaks and left the truck lights running, knowing that the battery wouldn’t drain in the time it took me to find Chloe. Grabbing a flashlight I kept in the glove compartment, I made for the Honda. “Chloe?”

  The Honda was empty, I discovered, but I’d find her. I stood in the middle of the street, just listening, watching. Heard the sound of water trickling in the ditch, crickets, and a faraway car horn. I kept my temper in check, emotions level enough to concentrate. I put aside fear and anger and took a good look at my surroundings.

  The Honda was running, passenger side door open. The driver’s side was closed. The ditch sat at a steep angle, going up into a pipe. It would be too steep for Chloe to run left. And I would have seen her if she’d escaped back down the road. The rest of the area was fenced off. It wouldn’t be hard for me to scale, but Chloe couldn’t clear an eight-foot chain length in a dress and heels.

  I flicked on the flashlight and pointed it up. The rusted teeth on the top of that sucker looked ragged enough to slice my legs to ribbons. So I took the easiest route, the way Chloe would have gone, and jumped in the ditch. Sour smelling water soaked my jeans, up to my thighs. I went right, into the marsh off the side of the road. It was dark, very quiet. I didn’t get far when my flashlight illuminated Chloe’s purse floating in the shallow water. Knowing I was going in the right direction now, I tossed it onto the bank and made a mental note to come back for it.

  “Chloe?” I called.

  The ditch angled up again, gradually. When I lit up the ground I saw chunks of grass had been trampled, plus a bush that looked like it had been used to help something…our someone get enough leverage to yank themselves out of the ditch. I climbed out of the muck, grabbing onto a tree, heading into the woods. Chloe went this way, I was sure of it. The fence was off to my left, so I kept to the right, taking what seemed to be the clearest path, my flashlight keeping the area lit. Something white caught my eye ten feet ahead. Shiny. Small. I let the beam of the flashlight fall on a shoe. A sexy little heel. Then there was a sound. A rustling and a distinct sniffle. I zeroed in on a bush. More specifically, on the muddy foot sticking out of it.

  Bingo.

  I crouched, moving the branches aside. She was pressed back against the tree, arms holding her knees to her chest.

  “Baker?”

  “Zack!” she leapt at me, knocking me backwards onto the ground. The flashlight flew out of my hand, but I didn’t care. I wound my arms around her, drowning in relief. Everything was going to be fine now. Chloe was safe with me. “You found me.”

  “I’ll always find you Chloe. That’s a promise.”

  “I’m s-sorry. So, s-so sorry.” She cried the kind of tears that terrified and amazed me, and although I wanted to comfort her, I pulled her to her feet.

  “Shh.” I heard a twig snap.

  “What?”

  Shaking my head, I covered her mouth with my hand, knowing we’d probably been found. I toed the flashlight with my shoe, extinguishing it, hoping the darkness would cloak us.

  Another twig snapped. The footfalls pounded, louder, closer.

  Chloe froze, squealing behind my hand, clutching my shirt. I eyed the figure coming toward us, knowing this wouldn’t be pretty, and peeled my fingers from her mouth.

  “Hey, Chloe,” Max said, sounding relieved. He drew closer, and the moonlight allowed me to see the smile he flashed contradicted the black look in his eyes. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “I’ve got her. You can go home.” I said.

  Max laughed. “You ditched your girl, Zack. She wants me now, not you.”

  Chloe bristled beside me, “I don’t want you, trust me.”

  “There, you see?” I tried for an upbeat, carefree sound. “It’s her decision.”

  “No. She got in the car with me.” He insisted.

  “Well, I changed my mind. Let’s go Zack, please.” Chloe pulled at my arm. I didn’t move because I knew Max wasn’t going to let us walk away.

  �
�Funny, how things turn out.” Max eyed me, sizing me up. It was going to get physical whether I wanted it to or not. And I wouldn’t be bated into making the first move, this was all him. On my end it was purely self-defense. Defending myself, defending Chloe.

  “Let’s not do this, man.” I pushed Chloe behind me, and she barely cooperated. If I let her, she’d launch at him like a freaking hellcat. Which would be an interesting picture, but Max wouldn’t stand there and take it, possibly hurting her in the process.

  “I told her I’d take her home, and if you let her go, I’ll do it.” He circled us, drawing closer. He was breathing heavy, like a bull ready to charge. Chloe stayed behind me. I would do everything in my power to keep it that way.

  “Take her home, sure, but after what?” I turned with Max, keeping between him and Chloe, knowing that he’d lunge for her. She was a nice little package, not skinny, but easy to toss over your shoulder and make a run for it. Hell, I’d considered it.

  “Kiss my ass, Warren. You always were the pretty boy, and now you’re the goody goody too. Doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Max, just let me take Chloe home. We can settle this another time.”

  “No, I’d rather settle now.” He spit. “I’ll take your girlfriend home after I’m done teaching you a lesson.”

  “I don’t want you to take me home!” Chloe said, using the last of her bravado.

  “Shut up, Baker.” He snapped. The cords in his neck tightened, face going red. “You always were a big mouth. But big mouths are good for some activities.”

  I cracked my knuckles. “You can talk to me any way you like, be smart and leave her out of this.”

  “I’m going to kick your ass, Zack, for bossing me around.” He started toward me, fists raised. I gave Chloe a push, trying to keep her as far from the coming fight as possible. She screamed. Max’s meaty fist hooked for my head. I ducked, and instead of retreating, surged forward, grabbing Max around the waist. I knocked him back into the nearest tree and scrambled to once again place myself between him and Chloe. He cursed, lunging for her. This time I gripped his shoulders, sweeping my foot behind his legs. His feet went into the air and I used the momentum to shove him to the ground. I followed him down, planted my knee in his chest and twisted his left arm to the side at the most unnatural angle possible. His other hand tried to grab my face; fist knocked me in the nose. I held on, waiting for him to give in.

  “Apologize to Chloe.” I applied a little pressure. He struggled, kicking his legs. It only tired him out more. Which was exactly what I wanted.

  “You’re such a fuck—hey!”

  I flipped him to his stomach and wrenched his arm back. “Don’t make me break anything important. Now…apologize.”

  “I’m s-sorry.” Max choked, going limp, pressing his face into the dirt.

  “Good.” Sounded like he meant it, so I left him sprawled on the ground. I backed up, making sure he didn’t come at me for round two.

  Max rolled onto his side and moaned. He was going to be out of commission for a while. I wiped a trickle of blood coming out of my nose on the back of my hand. It wasn’t bad. I’d had worse. I glanced back to find Chloe ready to keel over.

  She leaned against a tree, eyes wide, clutching my flashlight. “You weren’t kidding about fighting.”

  I pulled her against my chest. My heart was thundering, hands shaking. I hugged her tight and rested my cheek on the top of her head. “I don’t joke about that kind of stuff.”

  “Will he be okay?” she asked. “Did you break his arm?”

  “Yeah, he’ll be fine. Might have dislocated his shoulder.” Max groaned again. I turned back to see he was still slumped over. “Lets get out of here.”

  She nodded, taking my hand and heading for the ditch. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

  “You know, I don’t know. But I’m going to try.” I said. We reached the ditch and she eyed the murky water with apprehension. “Come on, up you go.” I gave her a piggyback ride, wading through the water. Her shoes were gone, but we still had the flashlight and she lit the way as I trudged through the muck. I snagged her purse off the bank, and by the time we reached my truck, she was limp against my back, practically sliding off.

  I helped her into the truck. “I’d pay big money to see you kick ass, babe.”

  “Really?” she said when I was in the cab.

  “Yeah,” I kissed her. “Tell me you’re not hurt.”

  “I’m not hurt…bad.” She propped her left knee up and showed me a scrape, and I gladly kissed the bump on her elbow. “Mostly, I’m covered in mud.”

  I flipped on the overhead light, deciding to check her out for peace of mind. She was right, a few scrapes, and a lot of mud. Her dress was brown, caked with dirt and grass stains. It used to be a cheery yellow. There was a thin cut on her cheek that didn’t need stitches, and a splinter in her palm she couldn’t dig out.

  “That’s all?” I pushed. “Nothing else? If he forced you to do anything, I’ll go back there and break his arm.”

  She frowned, taking my face in her hands, looking at my nose. “No, I’m fine. How about you?”

  I winced. “Well, it’s hurts if you poke it. Though I could care less about me right now.”

  “Max didn’t hurt me, Zack. All of these scrapes happened after I got away from him.”

  “I’ll break his arms. Bastard.”

  “I think you’ve done enough. Wait here.”

  I protested, but she slipped out of the truck and over to the Honda, tiptoeing on her muddied feet. When she came back she handed me the keys to Max’s car. “Why don’t we toss these somewhere he’ll never find them?”

  “I like the way you think, Baker.” And once we reached the end of the road, I rolled down the window and lobbed the keys into a trashcan sitting outside of a house. Then I called my dad and told him what happened. He called me back five minutes later with good news.

  Max wouldn’t need to worry about finding a ride home.

  There was a cop on his way to pick him up.

  Chapter 31

  Chloe

  When we got home our parents stared at us in shock, well, mostly me. I looked pretty bad. Covered in mud, my knees and arms scraped up. Like something Kirk dragged through the doggy door.

  A couple police officers came to the house. Zack and I gave the whole story, not leaving anything out…except the party. One of the officers told us the cop who went to pick up Max found him trying to hotwire his car. Apparently he cussed out the officer and tried to run. Which was enough cause for the officer to arrest him.

  “I’m so glad you both are alright.” Mom hugged me after the policemen left, and then she went to Zack and kissed his cheeks, spreading the motherly love.

  Glenn hesitated, patting me on the shoulder. “Yes. You know, I don’t think I’ve been so worried, not in my entire life.”

  Without hesitation, I hugged him. It took him a couple seconds, but he hugged me back.

  “I feel weird calling you, Glenn.” I said, letting him go, since he wasn’t used to the warm fuzzy stuff. But he was getting better at it. “Would…would you mind if I called you, dad?”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I’ve never had a real dad before.” I smiled. “The position is open, if you’d like it.”

  “I would love it!”

  Glenn…I mean, dad, made a comment about pressing charges, and I told him I didn’t think it was necessary as long as Max learned his lesson. Then I changed my mind and told him to do his worst. I have to say, my new dad never looked so pleased with me.

  Mom hovered over me for a while, but it was late, and I wanted to immerse myself in soapsuds and scrub all the crap from my body and crawl into bed. At any moment I was sure my legs would melt out from under me.

  “I’m okay, I promise.” I only got halfway up the stairs before mom ran after me. I turned, took her by the shoulders, and met her eyes, “I. Am. Fine.”

  “If you’re sure…”
<
br />   Zack shouted down, “I’ll make sure Chloe’s alright. Goodnight Molly.”

  I nodded. “See, he’s like a mother hen. Only male and better looking.”

  “I heard that.” Zack said.

  Mom went to bed. Looking over her shoulder so many times she might as well have been walking backwards.

  I went to my room and shut the door. Debated locking it. Then into the bathroom and plugged the tub, pouring bubbles under the faucet. It was full and ready. I reached around to unzip my dress. It didn’t budge. I tried pulling it over my head, but the waist got caught under my boobs. Pushing it down didn’t work, because I had hips and a butt.

  I groaned, thinking about finding a pair of scissors and cutting myself out of it.

  My arms were tired, and my mom was now in bed. If I went to get her, I wouldn’t be able to get rid of her this time. Not that I didn’t love having her around. I was hoping Zack and I could talk. We couldn’t have a conversation with my mom in the room.

  Since I didn’t have any scissors—mom would hear me if I went to the kitchen to get them—that left only one person to ask for help.

  Before calling for help, I gave the zipper a final tug. It didn’t move.

  “Zack?” I knocked on his door and cracked it open. He was at the computer. “Am I interrupting anything?”

  “No, I was just telling Kyle what happened.” He eyed my dress, removing the icepack from his nose. It was looking pretty good, considering. Not broken, just swollen and a little pink. “I thought you were going to shower.”