Chapter 23: Mediocre Evening

As soon as Zac and Sam finished waving their goodbyes to Hadasa and others, they sat in their seats away from each other. They finished their punishing chores, even after Hadasa and her friends performed their ministry work without them. Zac saw Sam gazes the numerous books standing there on the black bookself.

Then he turned to Mrs. A supervising him and Sam from her desk, while she typed something on her computer, probably surfing through the web. He moved his eyes sideways with a frown for a while as he and Sam waited for their parents to come pick them up from Mrs. A's office. He sighed with his mouth closed.

-Oh, man. Get ready for mom and dad's backlash, Zac buddy, 'cause it's gonna get brutal. Ugh!

Silence echoed across the room. While Zac gazed at the pictures hanging on the left hall, Sam immediately turned to him as well as Sam quietly growled and glared at him. He heard that growl right next to him, but not Mrs. A.

-Huh?!

Although he also immediately turned towards Sam, he noticed Sam restared back at those books on the bookself. He gave Sam his suspicious look for a brief moment before he returned his attention to those pictures.

-Huh, freakin' bitch.

Not wanting to cause trouble with Mrs. A and be grounded more from his own parents, Zac didn't even bother to growl back at Sam nor confronted him about it. It was better for him this way, until Sam quietly regrowled at him. He heard Sam's growl and immediately turned to Sam. Sam quickly turned his head towards the wall instead of the books just in time to prevent Zac from spotting him.

Mrs. A took notice of Zac examining Sam and nearly closed her eyes when she suspiciously stares at Zac. "Why are you looking at Sam like that, Zac?"

Zac turned to Mrs. A and Sam back and forth, while Sam ignored him, making himself appearing as innocent as he possibly could.

"Well, you see, Mrs. A," Zac responded, trying to come up with a lie. "I heard a growl right next to me and I thought it was Sam, but then I realized it was just my hallucinations that caused this."

Sam smiled and couldn't help but laugh it off, yet he held it in, leaning forward, closing his eyes, covering his mouth with his hand. Mrs. A just raised her eyebrow at Zac. "Is that so?"

Zac slightly turned to Sam and glared at him a bit, not saying a single word to Mrs. A. Mrs. A impatiently said, "Well, Zac. I'm waaaaiting. I don't got all day, y'know."

Zac immediately returned his attention to Mrs. A, closing his eyes, forcing a smile. "Oh, right! Sorry 'bout that. I jus' got distracted there for a bit." Then he opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling with his finger on his chin. "Now where was I?"

He thought about it for a while and Sam curiously turned to him, until something popped in his head. "Oh, yea!" He turned to Mrs. A. "Why, of course, Mrs. A. I'm pretty sure it was my hallucinations that made me go a bit crazy."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Mrs. A. Honest."

Her eyebrow was no longer raised and she leaned back against her chair. "Okay, then. If you say so."

As soon as Mrs. A returned her face to her computer screen and continued typing on her keyboard, Sam crossed his arms and turned back to the wall, whispering with his eyes closed, "Hmph!"

Zac quietly growled at Sam and bared his teeth at him, clenching his fist, raising it near his head without Mrs. A noticing him.

-Oh, I can't wait to get this bitch one way or another someday.

As Sam and Zac's parents arrived at Mrs. A's office, they chatted a bit with her and waved their good byes at her, taking their sons with them. They confronted their sons over their behaviors earlier and grounded them for good. Zac hated being in punishment for more than he can take, yet he knew he would have to deal with that for the time being.

****

As soon as Zac's mother dropped him off at a certain street near Hadasa and her friends, she said and waved her good-bye at Zac and the others. They did the same while she drove away from them.

-Great…more of this freakin' nightmare. Seriously, man. Why can't I jus' be at home instead of here?! Huh?!

Hadasa and her friends turned to Zac, no longer glaring at him. Hadasa said to him while entering the alleyway, "Follow us to our secret hideout, Zac. And don't get lost."

"Got it…" Zac said with a sigh and an annoyed face. He followed Hadasa and her friends at their hideout. He was surprised to see Hadasa and her friends no longer angry with him about Kayleb. He raised his eyebrow at them.

-Hey, what's the deal with Hadasa and her friends no longer mad at me about Kayleb? I expect them to get mad at me 'bout, yet they're not. I wonder why…

Zac and the others see lots of small mom and pop stores opening and selling stuff, housewives chatting with one another and children playing with each other.

"Yo!" Zac shouted while they continuously walked through the alleyway.

"What's up, Zac?" Hadasa turned her head right and aimed one of her eyes at Zac.

"How come you aren't mad at me about Kayleb anymore?" He asked.

Hadasa and her friends sighed as her friends also turned to Zac, displaying their frowns on their faces.

"And why are ya askin' that, Zac?" Hadasa questioned.

"'Cause I thought y'all wouldn't let this shit go," Zac answered. "That's why I asked."

"Bruh…" Uriah said. "Even though we were mad at you 'bout it earlier, we would never get mad at you 'bout it forever."

"Yea, and besides…" Lia said. "The Bible says we should always forgive, even when it's difficult to do so."

"Otherwise," Shifra added, "Elohim wouldn't forgive us for our sins."

"Yea, y'all tell 'em!" Eliezer exclaimed.

"Mhn!" The rest of the gang agreed, shaking their heads.

"Oh…" Zac widened his eyes out of realization. "I see…"

"Yea, so you can jus' chillax 'bout it, okay?" Hadasa said.

"Yea, I guess so," Zac said as he then sighed out of relief. "Phew!"

-What a relief! I thought they were goin' to stay mad at me for the day, yet I guess not. So…at least I can give them that.

Zac continued to walk with Hadasa and her friends over the hideout until they made it.

"We're here!" Hadasa announced to Zac, raising her arms up and down a bit with a smile.

Entering the hideout, Zac widened his eyes when he studied the place.

-Whoa!

There he saw lots of light bulbs shining in the room, all on the straight line. Several wallpapers stood on the walls, with some torn up.

The couch, sofas, a certain number of brown, wooden chairs and a brown, wooden table just stood there and gazed at Zac. Hadasa and Uriah sat on the couch, Eliezer sat on the sofa and rocked it back and forth, and the rest of the gang sat in the chairs.

-This place is amazing. I didn't expect a place like this to be this goddamn clean and good lookin'. I gotta hand it to them. They sure know how to fix up a place. I'll give them that.

"So what do ya think of the place?" Shifra asked. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

"Yea, I'll say…" Zac replied, smiling when his eyes moved sideways out of amazement. "This is a pretty neat place you got there. I expected it to be messy, but no. You guys managed to get this place fixed up real good."

"Well, thanks, Zac! I'm glad ya liked it!" Hadasa exclaimed with her eyes closed and a grin. She then patted on the empty spot on the spot near Zac. "Come sit here."

Zac went to sit near Hadasa. He grinned out of relaxation when he sat on that couch. He even closed his eyes when he felt that couch's softness.

-Oh, man! This couch feels so good. I wish I could sit on it forever.

"So, Zac…" Atara said, chewing on her bubble gun.

Zac opened his eyes and turned to Atara. "Yea? What's up?"

"Have ya ever gone to the beach before?" Atara asked. "'Cause we're thinkin' 'bout goin' there."

"Oh, uh, no," Zac answered. "Is that why you guys invited me here? Jus' to go to the beach?"

"Well, kinda…" Hadasa said. "But we also go to places where we get to do fun things as a reward for doin' more community service?"

"Oh…great…" Zac frowned when he heard that. "More community service…"

"What, there's nothin' wrong with that," Lia said. "And besides…if we go to the beach tomorrow after ministry work and do environmental clean up, we get to swim at the beach!"

"Oh…" Zac's cheeks blushed whenever he fantasized girls in bikinis.

-Oh, yea! That'll be great!

"Sure! I'm in!" Zac replied.

"And now, who wants to play a board game!" Eliezer exclaimed as well as everyone agreed.

After they played the board game, Zac had a great time there, chatting with people. He red the Bible as soon as he got home from Hadasa's hideout.