Boseman High School Shenanigans: Episode 1

Freddie is tired from his tough swim and isn't eager to repeat it right away. He checks out the Jeep, looking through the driver side window for signs of what might have happened.

The encounter in the other side of the river echoes in his mind. The sexy shotgun with Emily that nearly turned into a full-on make out session. Something was there, and his loyalty to Priya nearly gave way to the dual he sensed.

Then Rose. The sexy young girl seemed into him, which was nothing new. Her obviousness was endearing, honest, and the story from Marco about her cocksucking skills definitely hovered (hoovered?) in the back of his mind. So young though.

Lastly Marco. An ass kicking was coming his way, no doubt. They were even, as far As Freddie could tell, but that math rarely satisfied a bully.

"Man, Jeeps are sweet. I should have bought one of these instead," he tells the quiet woods around him. He tries the door.

"I don't want any dinner," Zach replies, his arms crossed and his voice still whiny. He never actually got the burger he went out for, so he would love some of his mom's feta cheese and spinach lasagna, but he's too mad at his parents to show it. "This is really important. But I guess you don't actually care. All you care about is keeping me locked up and making sure I never leave the house." He stomps towards his own bedroom and before slamming the door behind himself, he tells her, "You're just ashamed of me!"

He then drops down on his bed, hard enough to make him wince in pain from his injuries before pulling out his phone again. He eyes it for a long moment, considering whether he should call Emily. In the end, he doesn't. This is a conversation that he needs to have in person, where she couldn't as easily deflect if she doesn't want to tell him. Instead, he just texts her,
Zach: Got locked up like fucking Rapunzel
Zach: No way I'm getting to your place
Zach: Stay inside, stay safe. We'll talk at school tomorrow
Feeling like he's trapped and has nothing else he can do, he decides to just wait for the day to end, until he'll be able to leave the house for school the next day.

Lily feels quesy at the mention of a mop.

"It was Mr. Polensky and Ms. Romanov… They were…" she stops, wondering how much she’d have to actually say for the man to take up the task himself (and hopefully usher them out of the building right quick to boot). Her face flushed red. This was a teacher, a grown man. And she was… well, she was her. And Wendy was Wendy. They weren’t supposed to be talking about this kind of stuff together.

"… you know. Busy in there! We… Wendy and I… we just happened to see it and… blegh…"

"Oh yummy...NOT. I had some Vietnamese something or other earlier. I'm not hungry and quit drooling at Rose."

In answer to her brother's question about Zach, she replies, "That's a good question and that's why I am baffled. Something was definitely wrong." Glaring at Steve when he mentions the van she simply says, "Fuck off, Steve."

"Yes, Mr Levitt. Thank you, Mr Levitt." Lily says, still looking at the floor. She spins on her heel, and while she doesn’t run, she certainly moved as if someone had lit a fire beneath her.

She tracks down Wendy with heatseeking precision and takes her by the arm.

"He saw. He saw. He saw. Let’s go. Now!" she mutters without looking at the girl.

"I’ll message dad!" she says, one hand fishing through her pockets for her phone, the other hooked on to Wendy.

"Feeling okay?"

Freddie searches the briefcase first, then the glovebox second. I'm just looking for the owner's name, so I can let them know where their jeep is. It's probably stolen and ditched here after a joy ride. Are these lies he's telling himself? Maybe. Maybe not, that's for the future to judge.

The atmosphere in the Tidwell household during their brief breakfast together and the drive to school is frosty and uncomfortable. Zach is mad at his parents for how they use his misfortune to feel justified in their overprotectiveness of him. Their parents are upset with Rose for lying to them in order to meet with some dubious people. And Rose is probably planning Zach's murder for ratting her out to their parents.
Not a single word is spoken on the entire ride to school and the second they got there, Rose gets out and leaves. Zach doesn't say anything either as he climbs out of the car.
He limps to his first class of the day, trying to avoid the curious looks of the student body who all wonder what happened to him.

Getting to lunch slightly late - limping takes a bit longer than walking - Zach is stuck with the macaroni special when he sits down. "What's up with the teachers here?" he asks, trying not to bring the topic to his injuries. Though Emily notices him stare at her. And not for the first time today. All day, every time their paths crossed, his eyes were following her every move. "First Edge doesn't show up to class and now Levitt."

Emily sits at the lunch table frowning and somewhat lost in thought while she wonders why Zach was so weird on the phone yesterday. She has bags under her eyes from a fitful sleep and the intuitive knowledge that something was seriously amiss but she couldn't put her finger on what. Yes, she wondered about Mr. Edge's crazy behavior despite liking it and now she finds out that Mr. Levitt is also missing. Pushing the macaroni around on her plate she blurts out what's on her mind.

"What happened yesterday Zack? You scared the living shit out of me. Why did you want me to go home so badly? And what the hell happened to you? You sounded ... I dunno ...strange. Scared or something."

"I was lying in a ditch and bleeding," Zach replies grimly, indicating his bruises. He really had fallen in the worst possible way. "Is that not enough reason to sound a bit scared? Plus I knew my parents would ground me for a year as soon as they found out what happened. They're already so fucking overprotective of me."

He then hesitates, his eyes briefly darting to Lily before returning to Emily. "As for why I called you... I don't know if you want to talk about that here or in private."