Reflect

Zack sighed as he slowly made his way towards his locker. After eight grueling hours of learning about finding the area of a curved figure and the effect that World War II had on the United States, it was finally the end of the day.

He opened his locker with slight struggle, grabbing his backpack and slamming it shut afterwards. He took another deep breath and started making his way out of the old building that was regarded as an equivalent of a torture chamber to him and the rest of the student body.

"Oi fag!" An all-too familiar sounding voice and footsteps gradually becoming louder stopped Zack in his tracks. The black haired teen turned around, only to find himself now face-to-face with an all-too familiar face.

"What do you want now, Hoffman?" Zack sighed in annoyance. The tall, burly senior had been nothing but a pain in his ass ever since he came out as gay at the beginning of the year. Everytime Zack tried having a relatively normal day, Hoffman and his group of football buddies always found some way to make it worse, like stealing his lunch money, spewing insults at him whenever he walked down the hallway, and shoving him into lockers.

The football captain had a shit-eating smirk on his face, "What? Am I not allowed to catch up with my best friend after not seeing him at all today?"

Zack rolled his eyes and proceeded to walk away from Hoffman, only to be stopped by a hand roughly shoving him.

"Aww c'mon, don't be like that. I just thought it would be nice to talk to you after you avoided me today," Hoffman's voice was eerily calm, a slight venomous tone was used in the word "avoided."

Zack's eyes widened. His plan had failed. Earlier that day, Zack decided to just ignore Hoffman and his lackeys. He figured that if he didn't acknowledge them, they'd leave him alone. But now he knew that he was wrong.

"What's the matter, cocksucker? Cat got your tongue?" Hoffman sneered, shoving Zack again. This time, it was hard enough for him to fall to the ground.

"Listen, I don't wanna fight you-" Zack tried speaking, but was cut off by the senior.

"And I don't care about what you want," Hoffman sneered again. Almost on cue, some of the football team members walked over to the scene. Their shadows towered over Zack, who tried standing up only to get pushed down again. Fear clouded the sophomore's mind. Yeah, Hoffman and his crew did mess with him all the time, but they had never taken things this far. He was surrounded, with no way out.

Or so he thought.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" A voice called out. All eyes turned to the sound of the voice.

At the end of the hallway stood a boy who looked closer to Zack's age. His lanky frame was leaning against a locker, his brown with blonde-streaked hair showing from underneath his hoodie, and he was holding something rectangle-shaped in his hand. Zack immediately recognized him as the new kid from his AP History class. He didn't remember his name though.

"Aww look, your little boyfriend came to save you. How sweet," one of Hoffman's lackeys said in a faux sugary voice.

"There's no way they can't be dating. With their stupid-ass haircuts, they're practically made for each other," Hoffman taunted, prompting the other football team members to start laughing hysterically.

As the laughter continued, Zack's eyes landed on the new kid, who was already staring at him. They made a split second of eye contact, before the new kid gestured his head to the other direction. Zack immediately caught the hint. Trying to move stealthily in order to avoid being caught, he inched away from the circle.

But to no avail.

One of the jocks caught him and shoved him into Hoffman, who then grabbed him by the shirt.

"Don't think you can just escape, fag. We're nowhere near finished with you," he snarled, raising his fist up. Zack shut his eyes closed tightly, thinking of excuses he could make to his parents about how he received a black eye.

But the impact never came. Well, not the expected impact.

He expected to feel a throbbing pain on one of his eyes. He didn't expect to feel a pain in his back. Or to be on the floor again, but this time next to an unopened Rice Krispy Treat.

And before he could even blink, the new kid was speed-walking away (presumably to avoid getting caught by a staff member), Hoffman and his team chasing after him.

Zack slowly stood up, face in shock. He couldn't believe what had just happened. For the last two years this has happened, no one had ever stuck up for him like this. Sure, there was the occasional person sticking up for him every once in a while, but no one had ever dared to do something other than verbal defense. Especially not towards Hoffman. He snapped out of his thoughts, starting to walk in the same direction that the football team had taken.

He had almost made it to the front door when an arm grabbed him and pulled him behind one of the lockers. Zack panicked, calming down immensely when he saw that his captor was just the new kid.

"Didn't want you to get in trouble too," the lanky kid whispered. Before Zack could ask why he would get in trouble, the new kid gestured to the front, where Hoffman and his lackeys were getting told off by one of the staff members.

"You should've come a little earlier. I almost bumped into that teacher, and before she could start yelling at me, Tyrone and those over dudes were running over to where I was. Next thing you know, the teacher was yelling 'Tyrone! What is the meaning of this!' and Tyrone was getting his ear pulled and now the teacher's probably lecturing them to death," the new kid chuckled.

"Tyrone?" Zack asked, still trying to take in the fact that someone physically defended him and their plan worked.

"Yeah, that guy who almost gave you a black eye."

It then hit Zack: Tyrone was Hoffman's first name.

Tyrone Hoffman.

If it weren't for the fact that they had to be quiet otherwise the teacher would hear them, Zack would've burst out laughing.

"So uh yeah, do you know any other way we could leave the building? My mom's coming to pick me up and I don't wanna leave her waiting out in the front when she could just pick me up from, like, the side or something," the new kid rambled, slightly out of breath.

"Oh, uh y-yeah, there's a side entrance that's pretty close to around where we are. I'll show you," Zack said while walking to where the side exit was, the new kid right behind him.

"Oh yeah," the new kid spoke again, breaking the five seconds of awkward silence. "I'm Jack, in case you forgot. I'm in your AP History class."

"Yeah, I-I knew you were there, I just didnt remember your name. I'm Zack. And t-thank you, by the way. For defending me. N-No one's really ever done that for me," Zack stuttered slightly, his cheeks turning a light pink.

"Ah, no problem. I know what it feels like to be bullied, trust me. With this haircut, I was practically asking for it," Jack chuckled, this time a little more sadly.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think your hair looks nice," Zack said, noticing the slight sad tone in his voice.

This time, Jack's cheeks were the ones that turned a light pink, "Thanks, man."

The two continued talking until they were outside. Jack was now on the phone with his mom, telling her where to park, and Zack was texting both of his parents an apology for coming home late. About a few minutes later, a car pulled up in front of them. The front window rolled down, revealing a middle-aged woman who looked a little like Jack.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" Jack asked for about the fourth time.

"Yeah, my house is just walking distance from here. I'll be fine Jack, don't worry," Zack assured him, again, for about the fourth time.

Jack nodded and got in the backseat, "Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow then, Zack."

And with that, the car drove off. Zack let out a sigh, this time out of content, and began walking home.

-------

December 2015
*
Zack smiled, reminiscing about that day back in February as he sorted through his emails. He could hardly believe it's been so long since he met Jack, the lanky kid that became his best friend. The lanky kid he eventually fell in love with. The lanky kid that entered his life and completely changed it for the better.
Speaking of which...

Zack felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind. His smile got a tad bit bigger, looking up into the soft brown eyes that he had grown to love over the past ten years. After a few seconds of eye contact, he pulled Jack's head down a bit, slowly connecting their lips.

"I like this surprise a lot more than the one with you almost burning the house down," Zack murmured softly as they pulled away.

Jack pouted, "That was one time, babe!" Zack laughed, thinking about the incident with the fire alarm. Let's just say that after that, Jack was only allowed to use the microwave.

Jack rolled his eyes playfully, sitting on the arm of the lounge chair Zack was currently sitting on and resting his head on said man's shoulder.

"So, did the reception people reply to your email yet?" Jack questioned, the silver engagement band on his left ring finger glistening in the semi-exposed sunlight.

Zack shook his head, "It's only been two days. They said they should get back to us soon though. Speaking of reception, we should probably start on making the guest list."

Jack nodded in agreement, "So we're definitely inviting both our families. And yes Zack, we also have to invite Steven."

Jack giggled when Zack groaned at the mention of Jack's older cousin.

"Aww, do we have to?" Zack whined in annoyance.

"I know you guys aren't exactly the friendliest with each other-"

"Jack, the first time we met, he called me a male stripper!"

Jack burst into a fit of laughter at that sentence, stopping out of sympathy when he saw his fiancée pout.

"But regardless of what he calls you, he's still family," Jack ended with a semi-stern undertone.

Zack sighed, "Fine."

Jack smiled, kissing the annoyed man on the cheek, "Plus, you're my male stripper, so he isn't that far off."

"Oh please, I think we both know who the much more willing stripper is," Zack finished with a smirk, his voice going lower and his eyes slightly darkening.

Jack's pupils dilated slightly, and then he grabbed Zack's arm and dragged him into their bedroom, muttering something about how "making a guest list could wait."

And as the two of them crashed their lips together, Jack being pressed against the door, Zack decided that Jack was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Notes

just to clarify, i have nothing against the name tyrone. it's a perfectly fine name, my unfunny ass just thought "tyrone hoffman" was hilarious for about five minutes.

also, i don't really like the ending of this. or the middle. or the beginning. or anything about this tbh.

roast me pl0x