Page 36 of Lost
Lysander stared up at him. Defiant.
“Some guys were being dicks,” he said eventually, adding a shrug for good measure. “One of them tripped Jack, so I shoved him. And things kind of...escalated.”
“It’s my fault, sir,” the friend spoke up. Jack, he assumed. “It’s me those idiots have an issue with. Lysander only got dragged into this because he was defending me.”
“Jack. It’s not your fault.”
“It is. None of this would be happening if not for me.”
“I’m sure I would have hit Hallon eventually for one reason or another.”
Jack snorted, the doubt written all over his face.
“Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on?” Zack asked, looking between the pair of them. His eyes settled on Lysander. “Hallon?”
“He’s a guy in our class,” Lysander said. Then, after a moment of silence, he added, “I punched him in the face a while back.”
Zack took his time processing that.I punched him in the face. He’d gone from thinking of his son as a peaceful entity who didn’t get into fights to discovering that he did after all. And more than that, had even perhaps been the start of one.
“You just went up and punched him in the face. For no reason?”
“No!” Lysander looked righteously angry at this. “He called Jack a faggot. And he and his idiot friends have been bullying him since high school started. I’d say that’s a damn good reason!”
The pieces in Zack’s mind slid into place. At the word “faggot”, Jack looked down at his shoes. Lysander stared at Zack defiantly, daring him to disagree. His hands balled into fists where they sat.
“You’re right,” Zack said instead. “Itisa good reason.”
Both boys looked surprised. Lysander stared at him, still tense, as if he was waiting for Zack to say “Just kidding!” and ground him for the rest of his life. Jack, on the other hand, visibly relaxed, a small smile creeping onto his face. Poor kid. How often was he made to feel ashamed of himself over this? Zack smiled at him reassuringly.
“Are your parents coming to pick you up?”
“No, sir. My mom’s at work. She won’t be home until after six.”
“You wanna come with us for a while? I can drop you home later.” Zack nodded at his son before adding, “Lysander’s gonna need somebody to keep him company while I finish up some work.”
“Sure,” Jack agreed after a nod from Lysander. “Sounds like fun.”
“And,” he added, “you can call me Zack. ‘Sir’ makes me feel old.”
Ten minutes later he was parking his car a few houses down from Pat’s place. Even from this distance, with the windows closed and his own stereo filling the car with background noise, he could hear the rest of his band hard at work. Lysander and Jack shared a look.
“And adults think teenagers are bad,” Lysander mused.
Chuckling, Zack beckoned for the two boys to follow him. All three climbed out of the car and, after double-checking that the doors were locked, Zack led them down to Pat’s garage. He didn’t bother knocking before he pulled the roller door up, knowing that his friends wouldn’t hear him no matter how much he banged on the metal. The sudden invasion of sunlight was enough to make them stop, though.
“Christ, Zee!” Chris cried, hands flying up to shield his eyes from the light. “How ‘bout a little warning next time?!”
Beside Zack, Lysander chuckled. Jack stood with his mouth agape.
“Well, well.” Brendan smirked when he caught sight of them, his eyes lingering on Lysander. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school, kid?”
“Yeah.” Lysander absently rubbed at the back of his neck. He looked embarrassed when he added, “I kinda got suspended.”
“Suspended?” Brendan repeated, eyebrows raising. “For what?”
“Fighting.”
“Well, you’re definitely Zack’s kid. Who’s your friend?”
