xxxi can feel it in my chest
xxxthis isn’t over yet
xxxlock the doors, shut the windows down,
xxxthis monster’s back in town.
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“You guys got your homework done?”Zach called as he combed his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame it. The silence from the other room was deafening, so he rolled his eyes and folded his arms as he went out to look at Chris and Bella. “Well?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I do!” Chris declared, but Bella just gave him the cheekiest grin she could muster. Once upon a time, he might have fell for that, but he’d been looking after her too long for it to work on him now. “Bella. Homework. Now.” Usually he might have sat down and done it with her, but he was working tonight, and just couldn’t. He glanced up at his watch. His mom was supposed to be home any minute now, and he didn’t have massive amounts of time to spare before he needed to be at work. But almost on cue, the door opened and shut, and he could hear his mother’s footsteps approaching the kitchen. “They’ve had dinner, Chris claims he’s done his homework but Bella hasn’t. Tonight could be a late one, don’t wait up for me,” Zach instructed as he grabbed his laptop bag. On his way out, he stopped only briefly to kiss his mom on the cheek and to hug his siblings.
It felt good to get out of the house. Sure, he’d had it to himself most of the day, but that was just it. He adored Chris and Bella but he just needed to be around different people now, people who were older than nine. He needed to be around people his own age. The gala was a somewhat straightforward event to set up, but given that it was an Ainsley event, he was expected to stay on site to make sure nothing went catastrophically wrong at any point. This job mostly required sticking to the shadows and staying out of the way of the important guests. He wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol or eat any of the supplied food, but beyond that, nobody really cared what he did, as long as he was out of the way. So Zach had stationed himself in a corner with his laptop, doing some reading on the newest security encryptions, and keeping an eye on all the technical equipment that could possibly break or malfunction or do something else.
His corner wasn’t exactly the coolest spot in the room. Making sure that his name badge declaring him to be staff was clearly visible, reducing the risk of somebody mistaking him for a guest and getting him in trouble, he went up to the bar. “Could I get ice water?” He asked. The presence of another body at the bar hadn’t escaped him. Especially not when he recognized him as the Ainsley son. If there was one person he really shouldn’t interact with, it was one of the Ainsleys.