Zach Dempsey x OC Reader

10

Mae wandered the school hallways, heading to lunch. She entered the crowded cafeteria, looking for her friends. They were sat around their usual table, an empty chair next to Zach for herself. She made her way over, walking past Clay Jensen who sat with his headphones on, a usual occurrence recently. Mae politely smiled as she passed he boy which he returned with a timid nod.

"Good afternoon" Mae greeted as she took her seat at the table. Zach smiled brightly as he saw her, "How was French?" He asked, fiddling his fingers together. The girl nodded in reply, "Alright considering Bryce was in the room"
Bryce Walker was absent from the table for an unknown reason, allowing Mae to speak about him freely. Justin sat beside Zach, worry etched onto his face. "What's got your knickers in a twist?" Mae asked the boy who snapped his head to face her. His eyes wandered to Clay, anger brooding inside him, "That guy" he said bluntly. Mae stifled a laugh as she remembered the photo of Tyler, "What about him?" She inquired, her hands finding their way to Zach's on the table. Justin shook his head, "I never thought he had the nerve to pull a stunt like that. He could put us all in danger" he warned, referring to the picture. Perplexed, Mae inquired further, "What's a stupid picture got to do with people finding the tapes? It's high school. Things like this happen" Justin raised his eyebrows at the statement and continued to glare at Clay, "Not just that, he took Courtney to the cemetery. Hannah's grave" Mae gasped, her grip on Zach's hand tightening slightly. Justin nodded,

"We need to solve this ourselves. Tonight"

---

Pressure, anxiety, nerve. The tight car cadged in each emotion as the four students sat together, thoughts protruding from their minds. Mae sat beside Zach in the back of the car with Justin in the passenger seat while Alex sat in the drivers seat. "Now we look for him" Justin nodded, instructing Alex to survey the area looking for Clay. He had been persistent all day for this to play out, scaring Clay into keeping quiet about the tapes, keeping him from getting his revenge on anyone else. Mae sat quietly in the car, her fingers intertwined with Zach's as her breath left her body hastily.

"There!" Justin exclaimed to the bleach blond, pointing his arm towards a boy on a bike, cycling quickly. Alex steadily sped up, gaining on Clay whose bike was no match for the speed of the car. He honked the horn multiple times, drawing the attention to them. The car parked quickly, Justin and Zach practically throwing themselves out of the car to approach Clay. Mae shuffled onto Zach's chair, poking her head through the open window to listen to the commotion. Alex popped out of the car, leaning his arms onto the roof.

"What the hell?" Clay stammered, clambering off his bike. "Wanna go for a ride real quick?" Justin asked, moving closer to the panicked boy. "No" Clay refused. "We think you do" Zach spoke and as he did, a shocked expression overtook Mae's face. She never expected such words to leave her boyfriends mouth. Intently, she kept watching. The expression stayed unfaltering on her face as Zach viciously grabbed the bike from Clay's grasp. "What the hell, man?" Clay spoke, as shocked as Mae was, "What are you doing?" Justin stood strongly, "Get in the car" he demanded, causing Alex to speak up. "Come on, I'll take you home" he soothed, trying to relax the situation. "Why are you doing this?" Clay asked Alex, who rested his head on his arms. "What else am I gonna do?" Alex replied simply.

Zach shut the bike in the boot as Justin took hold of Clay's hoodie. "I don't understand" he stammered while Justin forced his figure towards the car. "You will, just get in" Alex finished as everyone joined Mae in the car again. She moved into the middle seat, Zach to her left and Justin to her right. Her eyes fought back tears as she reflected on the madness: Zach just fell to a whole new level. He took her hand lovingly which made her shake her head and hide her hand in the pocket of her jacket. She was too shocked to speak, too upset to have him touch her. He had changed her opinion of him in a matter of minutes. Zach was taken a back by her action, releasing a sigh of defeat as her leant against the door. 'Fuck' he thought to himself. He had royally fucked things up.

The car drove through streets that Mae had never been to before until the sky's gentle blue haze had transformed to a black abyss. Street lights glowed in the darkness as the silver car drove beneath the bulbs.

Alex halted the car in the road, sighing lightly as he did so. Mae hadn't uttered a word for the whole journey, her mind still processing Zach's behaviour. 'Why did I tag along?' She asked herself. Regret formed a puddle of thought in her mind.

"What are you guys doing?" Clay asked, a common question. Zach and Justin both smirked happily as Alex changed the gear and slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The rubber tires screeched against the tarmac as every passenger was launched backward into their chair. "Yo, Alex" Zach spoke worriedly due to the speed of the car. "We know what you did to Courtney" Justin said to Clay, clearly not phased by the situation. The car's speed reached 80m/ph causing Clay to become worried like Mae and Zach. "Jesus, Alex, slow down" he rose his voice in panic.

Mae's breathing rapidly sped up, her breaths exiting in short gasps. She felt the whole car was shrinking. "You know, you've really got to stop fucking with people Clay" Justin spoke once again, his confidence still evident. "Just slow down" Clay pleaded. Alex still kept his eyes firmly on the road as his foot slipped down further onto the accelerator. Other cars blared their horns at their car, "Okay, I will, I'll stop. Just slow down. Alex, slow down!" He continued, "I'll stop!" Justin chuckled lightly, "Okay, okay. Ease up, we're good" Justin said to Alex who was still keeping the speed high. "Alex, I think he gets it, slow down" Zach panicked, sitting up right in his seat. Mae was practically panting at this point but her attempts to signal the boys were muffled by the revs of the engine. "What the hell, dude, slow down" Zach spoke again, clearly becoming scared. Alex kept his foot on the pedal, the car reaching 100m/ph. Blue and red light filtered through the cars windows as a loud siren sounded from behind the car. "Oh shit, Alex. Alex, seriously, slow the fuck down" Justin was now slightly panicked also. "Seriously, Alex"
The car pulled over, Mae's breathing slowing down profusely. Her eyes clouded and her head throbbed as she began to feel dizzy.

---

Justin began to laugh as the police car backed away. "No. shit" Zach laughed, "Your dad's a cop?" Alex sighed, "Yep" Justin continued to laugh, "That's fucking brilliant!" He moved forward in his seat so that his head was inches away from the back of Clay's seat. "You can't touch us, Clay. We're fucking bulletproof". The laughs of Justin and Zach were the last things Mae heard before here eyes closed and she fell into an unconscious state.

Her head fell onto Zach's arm which took him by surprise as she had moved away from his touch earlier. "Shit, Mae. Mae can you hear me?" He asked, holding her head up with his hand. All attention turned to the girl who was clearly not answering. "Quick get her out of the car, she might be claustrophobic" Alex demanded, getting out and opening the door for Zach. He stepped out before carrying Mae from the inside. Justin guided him to a patch of grass on the side of the road. Zach lay her down and removed his jacket which he lay on the floor. Clay watched as Alex hoisted her body off the cold grass and onto her boyfriend's jacket. "Is she okay?" Clay asked, approaching the boys at the road side. Justin lifted his head to look at the boy, "Hopefully"

They tended to her for a while until her body began to shake from the cold. No one knew exactly what happened, or what to do. Carefully, Zach wrapped his arms strongly around her and lifted her onto his lap, hugging her frail form in his arms. She was like glass, fragile and easy to break. He had to take extreme care with her. She meant everything to him. Alex stroked her hair from her face, sitting on his knees beside her. "She might wake up soon" he sighed, affected by seeing his closest friend in a state like she was. "Keep doing that, she likes it" Zach instructed Alex. The blond continued to caress her cheeks with his slender fingers, causing her eyes to flutter open. Her lungs expanded as her body filled with more oxygen. "Alex" she whispered lightly, squirming in Zach's arms. Justin smiled, happy knowing that Mae was awake. He had been silently blaming himself since she had been transferred to the grass, worried that his attitude may have startled her. "It's okay baby. You're safe" Zach soothed, holding her hand softly. She smiled happily and cuddled into him, "Thank you" she breathed, forgetting about everything she had witnessed.