Page 86 of Zero Confusion

SubLily: And no relationship for me. I’ve been told I can be a bit high maintenance.

SubSequins: No! You? Never.

SubLily: Your sarcasm is noted.

SubZero: I’m here! Sorry I’ve been slacking on my class clown duties. I’ll dock my own pay.

SubScribble: Phew. Crisis averted.

DomPetty: What have you been up to? I’ve got five to one odds on summer classes.

SubZero: Oh, nothing much. Studying. Visiting family. Casually discovering that my childhood best friend is the most perfect Dom in the world. Tricking him into falling in love with me. The usual.

SubLime: Aww! Congratulations!

DomPetty: I think we can forgive your absence since it sounds like you’ve been busy…

SubAir: Love is in the air! Welcome to the club, Zero!

DomAndDommer: Happy for you, my dude! I’m glad to see everybody finding their happily ever after. Hopefully I’ll be next.

DomicronPersei8: Congrats, Zero! We’re all really looking forward to watching you dodge follow-up questions with jokes for the foreseeable future.

Chapter 32

ZACH

The ding of the seatbelt sign jolted Zach back to reality.

He was groggy, not having slept much the night before, wired from a long day of working on his final paper.

And it had been an impossibly long day. He’d realized his mistake only an hour into meeting Joel at the library. Being able to concentrate while surrounded by college students—most of whom had the attention span of a goldfish—was something that only worked in sitcoms. In real life, Zach had been seconds away from strangling Joel to stop him from saying I don’t even know why I took this class for the hundredth time.

Between the constant talking, the candy runs, and the dramatic complaints about everything from the uncomfortable chairs to the harsh lighting, Zach could barely concentrate. He wasn’t alone in his predicament, as other patrons kept shushing Joel every time he laughed or crinkled his Skittles bag too loudly. When Joel stuck his tongue out at two girls at a nearby table who’d whisper-yelled at him to shut up, Zach wondered why he was friends with the most immature man on campus.

Except he knew why. Despite all his faults, Joel was a sweet, loyal friend, and Zach loved him to bits.

Also, sometimes he had brilliant ideas, like hitting up a pub to pig out on fries and drink too much beer in celebration of summer classes being officially over. As Zach stumbled home afterward, pleasantly tipsy, everything seemed easy in a way it hadn’t in weeks. He was optimistic about the weekend. The wedding was on Saturday, and his plane touched down on Friday morning, giving him plenty of time to work everything out with his parents, try on the only suit he owned, and choke on Miles’s dick.

He had his priorities straight.

The cabin lights were dim now, the soft hum of the engines filling the space with a steady, almost soothing rhythm. Zach let his head rest back against the seat, eyes half-closed. He must have looked asleep because the drink cart passed him by without stopping, and he didn’t have the energy or desire to do anything about it.

He was seeing Miles soon.

That thought settled something in his chest, cutting through the lingering exhaustion, almost making up for the sharp bursts of panic that accompanied the thoughts of seeing his parents. He hadn’t let himself think too hard about it over the past week, but now, stuck on a plane with nothing to do but think, there was no avoiding it.

His mind cycled through every possible version of what might be waiting for him back home—every potential reaction, every terrifying outcome. The worst, where the door closed on him before he could step inside. The best, where his entire family would be waiting to hug him while wearing matching rainbow pins.

Sitting there, suspended thirty thousand feet in the air, Zach realized something that surprised him.

He was at peace either way.

He couldn’t control how his family acted, couldn’t force them to change their minds or love him as he was. But he could control himself—how he reacted, what he said, how much power he gave their words.

And he wasn’t going to let hate affect him.

As soon as the plane landed, Zach reached for his phone, anticipation drumming under his skin as he checked for messages.