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Chapter 21 | ❝ What a pity. ❞

Wednesday, December 19th, 2018 - 3:38 p.m.

ZACH SMILED AT the sight of Harper's vehicle in the driveway in front of his house. He quickly gathered his things, which included his phone, his wallet, and the front door key to his house and sauntered over to the front door. Before he left, however, he called over his shoulder.

"Mom! Harper's here!"

He could barely hear her voice from upstairs. "Alright, have fun!"

"Thanks, Mom!" he replied while opening the front door and locking it behind him.

Harper gave him a friendly wave as he approached and motioned towards the front seat. Zach blinked at the thought of obtaining the position of shotgun without it even being a competition, but when he entered the car after jogging down the driveway, he realized with a chuckle why it was exactly so. Mason and August were in the midst of some sort of playful argument, where Mason was doing the majority of the talking and August was listening quietly.

"August, are you sure that you won't play volleyball even though I'll get you a book or something to pay you back?" he asked exasperatedly.

August was too busy ignoring his friend and looking at his textbook in his lap. "I told you that I have Calculus homework."

"Yeah, but that's supposed to be done at home, hence the word "home" in the actual word," retorted Mason as he elbowed him jokingly. "And besides, Harper has Calculus homework as well, but he's not doing it right this second."

"I just need to get some done...fine. I'll get it done later tonight," August caved before Mason was about to retaliate once more.

Mason grinned in his direction. "Thought so. We're much more fun than math."

"...I guess," he teased however he sounded serious.

The boy next to him frowned suspiciously.

"I'm kidding."

The two did not notice Zach's presence until the teenage boy himself greeted them. "Hey, guys!" Zach exclaimed cheerfully as he shut the passenger side door behind him.

"Hi, Zach!" Harper replied with just as much enthusiasm.

Mason was second. "Hey!"

"Hello." Lastly, August piped up just enough to be heard.

"Ready?" Harper asked, and when Zach nodded and buckled his seatbelt, Harper put his vehicle into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

Before Zach knew it, he was on the road with three of his closest friends. He had no idea how he had come to get to know such wonderful people, but he refused to take it for granted. The three other people in the vehicle with Zach were genuine, authentic, but most of all, supportive and caring. Even though Harper was the only one out of the three who truly knew Zach's situation, Mason and August were not far behind.

Zach's mind drifted towards his actual surroundings. He was in something he hated, especially now since he was able to see it: a vehicle. Despite it being filled with supportive friends and people who cared without fail, Zach felt a bit of fear as his mind registered where he really was. He attempted to conceal his uncontrollable anxieties, but it was nearly in vain.

"Zach, are you okay?" Harper inquired after giving him a glance. "I know you've got some stuff going on, but you look pretty pale."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine, sorry," Zach covered up his worries with a smile.

"You're absolutely fine. Life happens, so the best thing you can do is make the most of it when you're able," he countered casually.

"Exactly," Mason chipped in from behind Zach. "And today, we're gonna make that happen by trying to persuade August to play volleyball with us for once."

"I already told you I'd play, and you don't have to get me a book, Mason," August noted while reading on his phone.

"Ah, well, it worked so well when we tried to persuade you to go through your sister's things and break into her locker," Mason nonchalantly expressed. "Have you read the two books I got you yet?"

"I have."

Zach sputtered in pure shock, "I'm sorry, what?"

"We didn't tell you?" Harper asked from beside him. When Zach shook his head, Harper began to chuckle warmly. "So, basically when we were all trying to get your notes back, we managed to persuade August into breaking into his sister's room to get the flash drive they were on. Then, when he couldn't find it in there, he cracked her locker combination and found it."

"Please stop," August muttered at the subject matter.

"Actually, keep going," Zach teased in order to rile his friends up. "When exactly did you do all of this?"

"A couple months ago when you were at your eye appointment," Harper explained. "We had this whole secret mission thing going on and were sneaking around during the sixth period."

"I love that," he laughed genuinely at the antics of his three closest friends.

"Yeah, you should've seen the look on Lyla's face when she realized Kelsey took the drive back and gave it to you. She complained to Jaylen for a while after that," Mason exclaimed between bouts of chuckling.

Zach frowned at the mention of Kelsey's name. "Yeah, I bet that was great."

Harper appeared to notice, but he decided not to start a conversation about it. Instead, he changed the subject. "Hey, we're almost there!"

Sure enough, the parking lot leading towards the familiar beach along with the sight of the pier was in view. Zach recollected the memories he had with Kelsey when she took him there for the first time. That was the place where he and Kelsey pinky swore on becoming friends, and witnessing the view in front of him brought an unwanted sadness. However, Harper and his friends did not know, so Zach decided not to bring it up.

Harper directed his vehicle into the parking spot closest to the entrance of the beach and switched the gear into "park." The four teenagers exited the car to the frigid weather nipping their noses and whisking against their cheeks. It was quite a cold day for the beach--nearly cold enough for the clouds to begin producing snow overhead. Luckily, the sun was shining down on the vacant lot and gave the area a miniscule bask of warm light.

Mason held the volleyball under his arm and August carried his textbook - just in case if he felt the need to get his work done - as the four of them walked towards the empty net which was set up for anyone to use. August looked less than enthusiastic to play volleyball since he was not a sports person, however if it was with his friends, he did not mind so much. It was a sport that bonded the three - now four - of them.

The two split into teams—one consisting of Mason and August and the other with Harper and Zach. The game of volleyball was about to begin, however Mason stopped Harper from serving the ball over the net.

"Wait, how come us three aren't just against you?" He questioned the boy with blond hair. "You're by far the best out of the three of us."

"Three against one isn't fair. Besides, you look like you need the practice," retorted Harper and before Mason could retaliate, he served the ball to him.

Mason stumbled forward and returned the ball with both of his hands locked together. Zach was in the line of fire, so he lunged towards the volleyball and surprisingly hit it over the net despite his inexperienced form. He muttered an "ow" as the weathered ball hit his hands, creating a temporary pinkness among them.

"You good?" Harper asked while in the midst of spiking the ball over the net. Mason narrowly missed the ball as it plopped down in the sand.

Zach nodded and adjusted his glasses. "Yeah. I'm just not used to playing, I guess."

"You get used to it," August advised. The ball was passed to him and to his own obscure astonishment, he returned it with his forearms locked together—luckily, the long sleeves of his puffy red jacket came in handy when it came to pain.

Harper hit the ball when it was passed in his direction. "I've been playing ever since I was in elementary school, so I can back that up. Your arms might be a little sore afterwards, but it isn't bad at all."

"Ah, I see." Zach barely was able to hit the ball over the net to Mason after the boy himself returned it to him and Harper's side of the makeshift volleyball court.

The four friends continued to play volleyball until one team had reached ten points, or when the ball landed on the ground of the opposite team's side. It was a close game, ending up to be ten points on Harper and Zach's team and eight on Mason and August's team. It was no surprise that Mason was a skilled player, but August was satisfactory as well. He carefully calculated where the volleyball would land and which direction it would go into at every time. Harper was simply quicker and had faster reflexes.

Neither of them noticed the black Mercedes pull into the parking lot a few spaces over from Harper's vehicle. Five other teenagers exited the car, one with platinum blond hair, one with strawberry blonde hair, one with brown hair, and two with black hair. Jaylen's eyes shifted to where Zach, Harper, Mason, and August were by the volleyball net and the gray irises narrowed in annoyance and a few other emotions.

Lyla eyed Jaylen with a confused expression. "You good?"

"No," Jaylen bluntly replied. He did not turn to look at her but stared at the four people playing volleyball. "Did you know these four would be here on a Wednesday afternoon?"

"I didn't," Kaiden, the black-haired boy answered. He looked at Miriam. "Did you?"

"No, I didn't either," Miriam, the tallest of the two females at five feet, seven inches, confirmed.

"Neither did I," Everett, the last teenage boy remaining with brown hair, said.

"Well," Lyla began, wanting to stir up yet another situation. "Did you all want to do anything about this little predicament?"

Jaylen removed his cigarette from his mouth and exhaled a minimal amount of smoke before he was able to talk. "And what exactly were you thinking? Nothing childish, please."

"Who says I'll suggest something childish?" she asked him, seeming to be offended.

"Because you did with that note-stealing thing that backfired," Jaylen bluntly responded. He was not interested in her antics until his eyes drifted over to the group of volleyball-playing friends.

He scowled at the sight of one person in particular with black hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and a pair of glasses. That face had become too familiar to him and Jaylen grew to despise it. Despite Zach being on the positive side of life with his condition and his friends, Jaylen hated his optimism, especially when it was to ruin his own. Jaylen discovered he truly did not have much happiness left in his system after he and Kelsey's breakup, which made him feel sour.

Lyla's eyes attempted to meet his, but he simply looked over the top of her head. "What's going on?" she sweetly inquired as if she was attempting to cause anger in him.

"Just something I need to take care of," he muttered and swiftly walked around her towards the beach.

Lyla watched as Jaylen took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the parking lot's ground before smashing it with his heel. She stayed put while he sauntered towards the volleyball net where the unexpecting teenagers were beginning to play another game. None of them had noticed his presence, and Jaylen wanted to keep it that way.

He desired revenge...again.

Jaylen's mindset was confusing, but it made sense to him.

Meanwhile, Zach, Harper, Mason, and August were playing their second game of the afternoon. They had the same teams and were in the midst of a rather extensive volley between the four of them. Each of them had nearly an equal amount of passes.

The volleyball was passed to August over the net, who was about to return it when he noticed a certain teenager in a leather jacket approaching him, four other people close behind. Rather than hitting the ball, he stopped completely and let the volleyball roll past his shoes, his eyes glued onto the group of unfriendly people who were a few yards away.

Mason looked at August with concern. "Everything okay?"

"Actually, no, I-" August began to explain what was going on, however it was too late.

"Hey, you!" Jaylen shouted to Zach, which made everyone turn to look at the angered boy with gray eyes.

"Jaylen, what the hell are you doing here, and with...friends?" Harper skeptically questioned him with a lifted eyebrow.

"None of your business," he strictly informed him and then his eyes laid on Zach. "You on the other hand-"

"Look, I didn't do anything. Just stop," Zach pleaded with him and slowly backed away.

Jaylen simply followed. Harper's arm jutted out between the two of them, but Jaylen shoved it away and continued to speak, "The hell you didn't do anything. Explain why Kelsey hasn't been at school since Monday. Hm?"

"Aren't you acting a bit more like her boyfriend than her ex? Your actual girlfriend's right there," deadpanned Zach who had enough of Jaylen's "logic."

"That doesn't mean I'm heartless," Jaylen told him. "What'd you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything and it's none of your business."

"You're only saying that because you're covering up what you did. Aren't you?" Jaylen stepped a bit too close.

Harper stood between Zach and Jaylen. "You need to back off."

"And you need to shut up for once," he corrected him easily, attempting to push past him to get to Zach, who was not quite fearful, but it was borderline. "What'd you do?"

"It's none of your business," Zach repeated from behind Harper's suspicious stance.

"It is too my business. I'll get an answer even if I need to force it out of you," Jaylen threatened between his gritted white teeth.

Harper was firm. "You need to leave him alone," he demanded, rooted to his spot in the sand underneath his shoes.

"I've had about enough of you."

Before Harper could retaliate, Jaylen powerfully placed his hands on his forearm and shoved him aside. The force resulted in Harper nearly falling on his bum into the sand if Mason had not caught him by the shoulders. The last remaining person on Zach's side, August, was at a standstill due to Jaylen's presence.

Jaylen stalked up to Zach while the boy with black hair backpedaled further and further down the slope nearing the ocean waves. "Listen—maybe we could talk this out?" Zach suggested even though he was completely out of options. Jaylen would not listen.

"No point. You need to learn your lesson in a way that'll affect you rather than just "talking it out." That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Jaylen mocked as he continued to step closer.

"Just please listen to me. I-"

Zach was caught off guard by the sound of the crack of a fist against his jaw, causing him to nearly slip from poor footing. Jaylen's hand nearly missed his glasses, and Zach was aware of that, so he took them off and held them firmly in his left hand. The rest of the group stood in shock, but it did not take long for all of hell to break loose.

"August, hold these-!" Zach shouted and tossed his glasses to him.

August said nothing, but stumbled forward and caught the fragile eye accessory in midair before putting it in his jacket pocket to protect them.

Harper attempted to prevent Jaylen from landing any more punches or hits on Zach, but Kaiden grabbed him by the arms and held him back. The sandy-haired boy attempted to wrench himself out of Kaiden's grasp, but it was to no avail. Instead, Harper whirled around when a smack landed on his cheek and the two began to go at it within five seconds.

Mason was second to attempt to pry Jaylen away from Zach, but Everett, who had been quiet for the entire conversation like Kaiden, whirled him around and began to physically attack him in order to leave them alone. Mason was caught by surprise and attempted to get the rather violent teenager off of him, however Everett was too quick with his assault. That left August to be the final male standing who was not involved in the sudden fight which broke out.

The boy with glasses and brown hair could not stand with his red sneakers rooted to the ground and do nothing. Despite the uncontrollable fear throttling throughout him, August decided he needed to do something to help the matter at hand. Even though August was not physically strong, he knew of what was.

So, August scurried back over towards the volleyball net and picked up his Calculus textbook which he had brought onto the beach with him. The book was nearly a thousand pages, a hardcover, and at least five pounds in weight, which worked perfectly for what he was about to execute. August held the book underneath his arm and raced back over to where Mason and Everett were a tossle of hands and arms flurrying to hit the other person.

Everett seemed to have the upper hand, his own two hands clamping onto Mason's wrists to give him leverage to continue kicking the boy who was on the ground in the stomach and chest areas. Fortunately, that was not for long since a hard, rock-like object drilled itself into the side of Everett's head. The antagonistic teenager collapsed to the side and held his hand against the impact sight with a pained groan.

Mason blinked up at August in near-shock, who was holding his Calculus book over his head of which he had whacked Everett with. "You can put the textbook down," he jokingly told him.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered, slowly lowering the book down to rest underneath his arm.

"No, you're fine," Mason let out a strained chuckle. "Thanks for doing...whatever that was."

August's expression twisted into one of relief. "You're welcome," he replied before a frown was adorned onto his face at the obvious sight before him. "You're hurt."

"I'll live." Mason attempted to get up, yet he collapsed back into the sand. "...Uh, could you maybe give me a hand?"

"Yeah, of course." August bent down and clasped onto Mason's hand with his free one, carefully hoisting his best friend up and back to his feet.

"Thanks." Mason eyed Harper and Kaiden who were still in a brawl. "Can I borrow your textbook?"

August nodded and handed it to him. Mason grabbed it easily and stormed over to where Harper and Kaiden still were in the midst of a dilemma. With a simple whack at Kaiden's head with the textbook, Mason was able to pull the boy away from Harper, who seemed to be dominating the whole fight.

"What the hell-?" Harper questioned before Mason wordlessly held up the textbook. "Oh, thanks. That's actually quite smart."

"It was common sense," August piped up.

Meanwhile, Zach and Jaylen were in the midst of a surprisingly non-physical war of words closer to the ocean itself. The cold temperature of the ocean seemed to make the air around them cooler, which was unsettling to Zach. He was already cold enough as it was, and without his glasses, it was difficult to look Jaylen in the eye.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Jaylen spat. "You ruin everything!"

"You've done that yourself with your toxicity," retorted Zach who was attempting to be reasonable.

"You seriously believe that?" he inquired in exasperation. "You're the one who manipulated her the entire time. You're the one who caused her sudden absence. You're the one who took her away from me!"

"You did that yourself!" he repeated in his face.

"Liar!"

"Jaylen, you're the one who's doing the manipulating here," Zach ranted, stepping closer with each accusation. "You've tricked Kelsey into being there for you when you've lied to her about you smoking, being around Lyla, leaving her out of everything, and she told me all of this, mind you. You can't possibly think I'm the bad guy here."

"Duh." Jaylen rolled his eyes in dismissal.

"So, you need to leave me, Kelsey, and my friends alone," Zach declared despite the small sliver of fear in his tone.

To his dismay, Jaylen noticed and gave him a sadistic smirk. "What a pity."

"...What is?"

"All your friends are so occupied with my own right now that they won't be able to hear you scream," he lowly replied in a voice with a suspicious undertone.

Zach's brows furrowed in confusion at Jaylen's words. "I don't understand what you mean by-...ah!" he began, but he was unable to finish.

By that time, Jaylen had used Zach's puzzled nature to his advantage and shoved the teenager towards the ocean, which so happened to be directly behind him. Zach could have sworn he felt a dreaded form of deja vu as his body hit the water, but this time, it was much colder, much more adrenaline-inducing, but most of all, more dangerous than before.

Zach attempted to let out a yell - a cry for help - but his mouth was quickly filled with the bitter taste of saltwater as a wave rolled over his frigid body. He felt a sharp pain to his ribs and his brain instantaneously registered he had been kicked by the boy standing over him. Zach was too overloaded with the shock of the freezing water drenching his clothes, skin, and hair, and that short period of disturbance for the boy in the water was enough for Jaylen to continue.

As soon as Zach attempted to push himself off the shallow ocean floor, he grimaced at the sharp seashells and slippery sand which met his clammy hands. It was to no avail, however, since Jaylen kicked him once again and that was enough to keep him under. Zach felt his lungs begin to burn from a lack of oxygen and the sickening feeling which had originally hit him at the pool party so long ago returned.

Zach was unaware of the three boys - his friends - attempting to pull Jaylen away or the two girls and remaining two boys shouting at Jaylen to stop, saying it was too much. Everything was a blur to him as his world began to fade around him, transforming into an environment of frigid ocean and numbness. It was too much for him to handle and he felt his eyes, filled and burning with sand and salty water, slam shut.

"Jaylen, what the hell?!" Harper shouted as he attempted to get Jaylen to leave Zach alone. "You didn't learn last time and you surely haven't this time. Let him go! You're killing him!"

"He needs to learn his lesson! He did this to himself and he needs to pay!" Jaylen shouted back in a fit of incoherent rage.

"Are you crazy?!" he screamed to keep Jaylen's attention away from Zach. "You're literally about to kill someone over something you did!"

"Leave me alone!"

"What would Kelsey think?"

It was a low blow, especially since she and Jaylen had broken up not too long prior, but it was completely necessary for such a dire situation. Jaylen immediately stepped away like the question had punched him in the gut. Frankly, he deserved it, especially for his actions towards the helpless boy in the ocean and possible emotional abuse towards Kelsey. So, Jaylen did the only thing he could think of doing.

He left, his friends following behind.

A sturdy force clamping onto his arm and pulling him out of the waves along with the sudden chill of the freezing weather around him brought Zach back to reality. Zach sputtered and coughed desperately to clear the saltwater and bits of sand out of his throat, his breathing becoming heavy and much more labored with the effort. His entire esophagus burned from the pressure it had suffered through in a few short minutes.

He found himself leaning with his entire body weight against a person, their warmth and unnaturally tight embrace soothing his nerves somewhat. It was no match for Zach's violent and powerful tremors rattling his body from his legs to his teeth, however. Saltwater dripped down Zach's numbing face and clothes as he trembled uncontrollably against the male who was attempting to calm him, who turned out to be a very concerned Harper.

August and Mason watched motionlessly until Harper fumbled in his pockets for his keys, throwing them in their general direction. "Someone, start the car and turn the heat on. Now!" he demanded rather harshly, but it was due to his worry.

Mason turned out to be the one to catch the keys and he wordlessly sprinted with a bit of a limp in his stride towards Harper's vehicle while August stayed put. The very reserved and frightened teenager was quick to think of something productive to help the situation. August unzipped the heavy coat of which he was wearing and Harper gave him an odd look until he held the coat in his direction.

"Take off his sweatshirt. He can wear my coat," August offered and Harper understood.

Tenderly, Harper slipped Zach's drenched and dripping hoodie over his head, which caused a rush of chills to throb through the trembling teenager. Harper took August's coat and put Zach's arms through the sleeves since he was too out of it to do it himself. He zipped up the jacket, which provided Zach with a bit more warmth, but his shirt underneath was still drenched with ocean water.

Before Zach could even bother attempting to say a word, Harper hoisted him up and kept a firm arm around him. August, who was currently shivering and wearing a short-sleeved shirt, nodded towards the now-running vehicle at the top of the hill. Harper cautiously aided Zach up the sandy hill while August trailed behind.

Harper frowned at the sight of Mason in the driver's seat, but he explained, "I'll drive. You sit back there with him."

No words were necessary as August, Harper, and Zach got into the vehicle, which was heating up quickly in an attempt to make the latter's comfort as suitable as possible. Zach limply leaned against the car door after he was situated and nearly seemed to pass out from the exhaustion and excruciation his entire body went through. Harper worriedly held the back of his hand to Zach's forehead, his skin being icy cold to the touch.

The last thing Zach was aware of were the blurry moving colors of the outside world while Mason steered Harper's car out of the parking lot and into a new direction. The rest was unknown due to Zach's consciousness slipping out of his fingers and down the drain.

Zach's eyes begrudgingly blinked themselves open an undetermined amount of time later to a familiar room. It was the living room of his house and he was on the couch, which confused him immensely. He began to question himself almost frantically. Why was he there? What happened? Did he faint? What happened to the beach? The argument?

His unasked questions were answered when he saw a troubled, distorted version of Harper sitting across from him in a chair. "Oh, thank God you're okay," he exhaled at the sight of Zach's blue eyes locking onto him.

"...What happened?" Zach lethargically inquired, his throat burning with every word.

"It's a really long story. Basically, you and Jaylen were arguing while those two guys we didn't know were fighting with Mason and I. Then, Jaylen pushed you into the ocean and kept kicking you and keeping you under, but we got him away. You were absolutely freezing and shaking and my God, it was not a sight to behold. Then, we took you home and on the way, you passed out," Harper explained with as much thoroughness as he could. He then tensed at the realization of something. "Please don't kill us because we kinda told your mom everything."

Before Zach was able to consider a reply, his mother entered the room at the sound of Harper's explanation. "Zach-! My goodness, you look freezing," she fretted and dashed over to her son. "Do you need anything? Another blanket? I made hot chocolate."

It was only then that Zach realized he was comfortably wrapped in a thick blanket and still wearing the heavy coat of which August lent to him. A pillow was underneath his head and his clothes had dried for the most part. Zach felt yet another shiver force itself down his spine and his whole body trembled for a couple of seconds before becoming still once more.

"Yeah, and that's been happening a lot too," Mason noted. Wait, Mason was there too?

Zach turned his head slightly to see Mason and August sitting on the living room floor side by side. Both of them appeared to be quite concerned, but relaxed at the state of Zach's regained consciousness. Mason greeted Zach with an awkward "hello" and August gave him a silent, shy, yet sincere wave and a brief nod.

The teenage boy then looked at his mother. "Hot chocolate sounds great, thanks," he finally responded with a wince. "...My throat really hurts."

"You probably have a fever," Mrs. West informed him as she approached. "Let me feel your forehead."

"Mom-" Zach protested, but it was too late.

His mother's hand against his forehead was warm, but unlike his expectations, his own skin - which was formerly freezing - had begun to flare up into a sudden surge of heat of which he had not noticed before. Zach felt a small bead of sweat roll agonizingly down his forehead, which put him at quite a bit of unease.

Mrs. West prodded him to sit up, so he did. She gently took the blanket off of him and unzipped the coat of which he was wearing. Another bout of shivers rattled throughout Zach from the time his arms were exposed to when he was covered once again by the blanket. His mother then handed the coat back to August, who had been silent.

"Thank you for letting him borrow your coat," she expressed her gratitude. "I can wash it for you if you'd like."

"Thanks, but I got it." August took his jacket from her and placed it next to him on the floor.

"Alright then," Mrs. West confirmed and stepped away. "Everyone's hot chocolate is in the kitchen. I'll go give Zach his."

"I want some, please!" a small, high-pitched voice exclaimed from the stairway.

Zach tilted his head to look at an excited, yet nervous Hayleigh in the middle of the stairs. Her green eyes locked onto him and without any hesitation, she ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last one as she hurried into the living room. She plopped her bum down onto the couch next to her older brother and stared up at him with a worried gaze.

"Zach, are you okay?" she earnestly asked him.

The teenage boy forced himself to smile despite his quivering stance. "I'm alright, Hayleigh. Thanks for asking."

"Your sister's been worried about you," August spoke up quietly to get Zach's attention.

"Hey, there's my favorite month again!" Hayleigh cheered when she noticed August in the room for a second time. "Hi!"

August timidly broke eye contact for a second before half of a grin morphed onto his face. "Thank you, Hayleigh. Hello."

"That's actually so precious," Mason teased, but he promptly shut up when August elbowed him in the forearm. "Ow-!"

The room burst into quiet laughter which settled down by the time Mrs West reentered the room. She decided on bringing everyone their hot chocolates with marshmallows, therefore carrying a tray with five mugs on it and passing them out to each person in the living room. Each teenager - or small eight-year-old child - replied with some sort of "thank you" and soon enough, everyone had their mugs of the chocolatey sweet drink.

Before long, normal conversation began and Zach's mother restrained herself from lecturing her son about safety and cold weather so he could simply speak to his friends without any interruptions whatsoever. Despite Zach's abnormally frigid body temperature, the wounds on his face and body, and the anxieties flooding his brain, his day had already improved immensely from when it began. Zach was with his best friends and his family, which was all that mattered to him at that very moment.

However, there was still at least one problem left to fix.

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