Whatever You Want

Chapter 5

After an uneventful Math lesson, Raven told Zach it was break time and that she would find him before Science.

“He can come with us,” Matty offered.

“He sure can,” an attractive dark-haired girl looked Zach up and down.

“Adrienne!” Raven poked the girl in her ribs, making her spill the strawberry milkshake in her hand.

“Whatever,” a tall blonde girl uttered and barged past. The others immediately followed her, leaving Zach to follow them over a brick wall that separated the field from the bike shed. Zach felt eyes on his back as they passed a gang of lads sat loitering on the wall. They were the sort of kids whose parents didn’t have a lot. Faded clothing, cheap bags, scuffed shoes and bad attitudes. They all had cigarettes lit and were smoking in plain sight.

‘Such rebels.’

Ravens group of friends were a little less conspicuous. They wedged themselves between the bike shed and the canteen outer wall before clumsily lighting up. Only Adrienne had the characteristics of a legitimate smoker; the others fumbled with lighters and held their cigarettes awkwardly. They looked like kids playing adults. Adrienne tapped the bottom of her pack, popping up a cig which she offered to Zach.

“I don’t smoke,” Zach told them.

“Why not?” The other girl inquired as though the concept of not smoking was a foreign one. Zach thought her name was Livy or Libby. A nice enough girl, but evidentially not the sharpest tool in the shed.

“It’s bad for you,” Zach stated, much to the obvious amusement of the bitchy blonde and the poor-looking kids on the wall.

“Yeah,” Matty sided with Zach. “It’s super gross. I want to quit.” Zach registered Adrienne’s looked hurt as she stubbed her cig out and flicked it into the bin, but Matty had not seen because he was too busy watching Zach. Zach had been aware of Matty’s attention since they’d met in P.E. It was discreet and easy to miss, but the boy was definitely mirroring him.

Zach felt his phone vibrate and took it out of his pocket to check it. Zach smiled at the message: Good luck at your new school! xXx A picture attachment revealed an attractive blonde blowing a kiss.

“Is that your girlfriend?” Kenny asked as he peeked over at Zach’s phone.

“Yeah,” Zach passed the phone to Kenny, but Matty snatched it away and began scrolling through the pictures.

“Oh my god, who is that?” Matty gasped, holding the phone up to Zach.

“Hah, Amber? She’s my biggest fan. She’s nuts... lovely though.”

Matty continued to scroll through pictures, but Zach noticed he flicked back to the one of Amber and enlarged it with a swipe of his thumb and index finger. He caught Alissa narrowing her eyes as she turned away into the wind. She did her best to blink discreetly as smoke from her cigarette hit her eyes.

‘Serves you right.’

One of the kids on the wall offered his leather jacket wearing friend his pack of smokes. “No, they are bad for me!” Leather jacket theatrically refused, bursting into laughter.

Zach’s own group shift nervously as the mood became tense. He guessed there had been hostility between the two friendship circles in the past but didn’t care enough to confirm it.

“Who’s that guy?” Zach asked his stepsister.

“Rick Johnson. He’s the hardest kid in school.” Raven rolled her eyes. “And a sad little prick if you ask me,” she added more quietly.

“Not anymore,” Zach muttered to himself as he walked over to the wall, smiling broadly. He usually tried to be kind to people, to keep his real self in check. He knew how easily he could crush these tiny humans beneath his true, enormous form. He thought about giving them a chance to apologise but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the effort. As he neared the wall, Zach raised his foot and kicked Rick from the wall as fast and far as he could into the mud. A lack of rain in the past few weeks meant the floor was almost as hard as concrete.

“What the f**k!” Ricks gang stood, staring in confused horror as Zach picked up Rick by the scruff of his jacket, lifted him into the air and slammed him into the floor again. A swift punch to the face put an end to lackey number one when he tried to grab Zach’s wrist. He dealt with lackey two via a throat slam when he tried to tackle Zach to the ground. Three other gang members scarpered without putting up any fight.

As Zach loomed over Rick, watching the hard man curl up like a small child into the foetal position, a thought occurred to him. He knelt beside the boy who squirmed, panicking as Zach lifted his clothing to examine the flesh beneath. He found exactly what he had been expecting to see.

“Dad? Uncle? Stepdad?” Zach listed until he saw the telling double blink. The lad looked down and kept his eyes down until Zach had gotten up and walked away. The faces of Raven and her friends were so funny Zach almost broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Oh my god,” Adrienne whispered. “That was freakin’ awesome.” A statement that earned her a dirty look from the blonde.

“What did you say to him?” Raven asked. The others leaned in, eager for answers.

“Told him he shouldn’t be such a piss taking little turd,” Zach lied.

The rest of the day seemed to pass quickly. There was so much to learn and take in as well as doing the schoolwork. Zach had figured out that Alissa—the annoying blonde—was the unofficial leader of the group and Matty was basically in love with her. Rhys and Kenny were vying for the title of Matty’s best friend, though they secretly liked each other more than either of them liked Matty and Adrienne was hopelessly infatuated with Matty. Libby and Rhys appeared to be an item and Raven was in love with some guy called ‘Connor’ if the notebooks under her bed were anything to go by.

‘It won’t be long before you’re all dancing to my tune,’ Zach thought to himself with a smile.

“What’s so funny?” Raven asked Zach, glancing up at him as they shared the walk home.

“Your mum knows you smoke?”

“No, of course not so don’t tell her.” Raven halted suddenly, then ran after Zach when he did not join her. “If she finds out I’m smoking again, she’s going to cancel the limo she booked for prom and I’ll be grounded.”

“So? Prom is lame,” Zach said.

“Is not, besides, Mum is spending a lot of money to get a limo company from London to come down. All the local ones are fully booked up. If I lose that limo Alissa will kill me.”

Zach took his turn to stop walking. “Seriously? I don’t get what is so special about her that you all run about doing her bidding.”

“I dunno,” Raven said and shrugged. “She’s the most popular girl in school.”

“Not for long. She might think she is the queen but I’m gonna knock her off her throne.”

Raven laughed. “You want to be king of the school?”

“Oh no, I am going to the god of the school,” Zach announced with a grin. “The golden god!”

Raven stopped walking; mouth agape. “Oh my god, was that an ‘It’s always sunny’ reference?”

“You’re a fan?” Zach asked.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is only my favourite show ever,” Raven said.

The pair discussed the TV series for the duration of the walk home, then for the rest of the night as they decided on the top ten episodes, flicking thought Netflix and raiding the kitchen for snacks. They were discussing favourite side characters when a noise outside startled them both. Zach felt Raven jump and stiffen as the click of the front door clicked open.

Alissa appeared in the doorway. “What?” she asked, taking in the shock on Raven’s face.

“Sorry,” Raven said with a laugh. “Thought you was Mum.”

Raven turned to Zach, “Please don’t tell about the smoking. Prom is lame, but I really want to go.”

“May I have a coffee please, Raven darling?” Alissa rudely interrupted the conversation, a false smile plastered on her face. Raven returned the smile and bounced off in the direction of the kitchen.

The second Raven was out of hearing range Alissa turned to Zach, no longer smiling.

“Look, Zach, I am not walking to prom, or going in my brothers shitty Astra.” Alissa leaned in so close to Zach that he could smell her apple flavoured gum and the scent of tea tree oil on her skin. “I don’t care what your problem is, but it will not impede on my life. If you tell Raven’s mum about her smoking and I promise I will ruin you.”

Staring into Alissa’s eyes, Zach guessed she would turn away after five seconds, but she stubbornly held his gaze. He leaned back and let out a giant sigh. “Alissa, I am going to extremely kind now and give you a chance,” Zach told her. “One chance to apologise.”

Alissa burst into a fit of tinny sounding laughter, “Oh, really? Are you serious?”

“Deadly,” Zach insisted. “You have 5 seconds to tell me how sorry you are, so I suggest you use them because I won’t accept an apology after that time is up.”

“Whatever,” Alissa screwed up her face in disgust.

Raven returned, coffee in hand, and placed it on the coaster after warning Alissa it was scolding hot. Alissa went to grab the handle, winced and frowned.

“Deja vu,” Alissa claimed, eyes misty. She pulled the sleeve of her jumper down to cover her hand and grabbed the hot mug, as she curled up on the sofa, making herself at home.

“So, I forgot to give you my DoD account details. I changed the log-in. Andy says to update your password every few months.” Alissa began to talk at Raven, who nodded and feigned interest while watching the Television from the corner of her eye.

“I’m much better than Raven at Day of Dragons. I’d be able to do your dailies in a matter of minutes,” Zach offered.

“Just assume you’re better because you’re a guy?” Alissa asked.

“No. Because I’m 2600 rated.” Zach said.

“Bollocks. The only person on the EU server with that rating is Softy. My boyfriend plays on his 5v5 team.” Alissa told Zach with smug, puckered lips and raised eyebrows.

‘Little miss know-it-all,’ Zach smiled to himself.

“Don’t say I didn’t offer,” Zach shrugged.

After Alissa had finished barking orders at Raven she took off and Raven dropped onto the sofa like a sack of potatoes. “Oh my god, she goes on and on.”

The door clicked again. “Don’t tell,” Raven pleaded.

“Okay,” Zach agreed. “But I need you to do something for me.”

“What?”

Zach smiled, “I just want my pets back.”