When Thursday morning arrived and Zac's parents dropped Zac off at community service, Zac got out of the car and waved his parents good-bye. "Bye, mom. I'll see y'all when I get done with community service!"

"Bye, Zackie! Take care and stay out of trouble!" Zac's mom said, closing their eyes, smiling, waving their good-byes back at her son.

Zac gave his mom his annoyed look on his face while he still waved his good-bye at her.

-Ugh! I wish my mom would stop callin' me that and call me Zac for once!

Before Zac's mom left the area, Zac's eyes widened when he saw something far away from him.

-Ah! What the hell?!

He saw Hadasa running towards him with Kayleb. Hadasa and Kayleb waved at Zac. "Hi, Zac!"

Zac just stood there and didn't even bother waving at them. When Zac gazed at Kayleb, his memories of Kayleb capturing him with his sister at the bus station resurfaced in his heart.

-Oh, my God! It's her bratty ass brother! What's he doin' here anyway?! I haven't seen him in the past four days. I wonder why the hell wasn't he here in the first place.

Zac's mom noticed him not greeting Hadasa and Kayleb. "Uh, Zackie? Aren't you gonna say hi to them back? Because standing there and not greeting people is considered rude, y'know."

Zac crossed his arms and turned his head to the right.

-Okay, why the hell do I have to greet those brats, especially if my parents refuse to call me Zac?!

His mother glared at her son. "Now Zac…if you don't greet them back, I'll extend your punishment by nine more days."

Then Zac sadly turned to his mom.

"I really mean it. Now!" Zac's mom reassured Zac in her serious tone.

-Alright, fine…here goes nothin'...I'm doin' this for you, video games.

By the time Zac reluctantly waved back at Hadasa and Kayleb, they made it near his parents' car. Hadasa placed her hand on it while she and her brother panted there for a moment, leaning themselves forward.

"Hi there, you two. How are y'all doin' this morning?" Zac's mother waved at Hadasa and Kayleb.

Hadasa and Kayleb looked up at Zac's mother, waving at her back. "We're doin' fine. How about you?"

"I'm doin' fine ourselves," Zac's mom answered.

"You must be Zac's colleagues, yes?" Zac's mom questioned, holding onto the wheel.

Then Hadasa and Kayleb fully stood up.

"Actually, I'm one of Zac's colleagues," Hadasa answered. She looked down at Kayleb. "And Kayleb jus' got here and didn't even work with Zac until today. But he did meet Zac last weekend though."

"Oh, I see…" Zac's mom said. "And if I'm not mistaken, were you with Zac in the park yesterday?"

Zac expanded his eyes out of shock when looking at his own mother. His shadow covered his forehead but not his eyes.

-Ugh! This woman did not jus' bring that up, did she?! I swear, this freakin' bitch…

"Uh, mom. Can you not bring that up?!" Zac asked.

"Well, why not, Zaccai?" His mom asked. "I'm jus' curious, that's all."

"Can you not call me Zaccai nor Zackie for once?! I want to be called Zac already!" Zac snapped.

"That's enough, Zaccai!" Zac's mom roared, glaring at him. "I can call you whatever I want to call ya and that's final, do you understand me?"

"Yes…" Zac answered.

"Yes, what?" Zac's mom asked.

"Yes…ma'am…" Zac responded.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Now that's my boy," Zac's mom said while she returned her attention to Hadasa.

"Why, yes. I was at the park with Zac yesterday," Hadasa replied. "It was so much fun. All we did was walk around the park and chat with one another. That's all."

"Oh, that was good to hear, Hadasa," Zac's mom said, closing her eyes, shaking her head a little. "I'm you had a good time with him."

-This girl…! I can't wait to pummel this bitch the ground today! I'll show her!

Zac's mother then turned to Zac. "Looks like Zac's got a girlfriend, yes?"

Kayleb smiled when he looked at Zac and Hadasa back and forth.

"I jus' told ya yesterday, ma. She's not my girlfriend!" Zac roared, clenching his fists, stomping on the ground.

"Oh, stop that now," Zac's mother said, grinning at Zac. Kayleb watched Hadasa chuckled at bit, turning her head to her left

"Mom!" Zac cried.

"Anyway, I better get movin'," his mother said, getting ready to drive away from her son, Hadasa and Kayleb.

"W-W-Wait, ma'am!" Hadasa yelled.

"Well, what is it, Hadasa?" Zac's mom questioned.

"I want to invite Zac over for a get-together with my friends tomorrow, if that's alright with you, that is," Hadasa replied.

"Oh? Is that so?" Zac's mother questioned, turning to Zac.

Zac widened his eyes and opened his mouth out of fear.

-Did this bitch seriously jus' request my mom to have her force me to go to her stupid ass hideout?! Really, Hadasa?! Really?!

"I figured he's lonely and he spends more time with money in his room than people," Hadasa added, "I want to help him get over his loneliness and make friends."

"Zac, is that true?" Zac's mom said, returning her attention to Zac after she looked at Hadasa.

"Absolutely not! Hadasa's lyin' here!" Zac roared, angrily turning to Hadasa.

"Oh, I'm a liar?! You're the one's lyin' here, not me. You literally told me yesterday that you don't have any friends, and you would rather spend time with money than even your parents, remember?" Hadasa snapped, glaring back at Zac.

-Oooo, I'm gonna get this bitch if mom forces me to go tomorrow!

"Oh, no-no-no! I will not go hang out with Hadasa and her crappy friends!" Zac cried.

"Hey!" Hadasa snapped at Zac. "My friends aren't crappy, thank you very much!"

"Zaccai!" Zac's mom roared, "You stop that right now and apologize to Hadasa, or your punishment will be extended. Do you understand me?!"

-Look, I don't wanna apologize to this lil bitch after what she's done. But at the same time, I don't wanna remain separated from my video games.

"Well? This isn't a rhetorical question, y'know," Zac's mom impatiently said.

"Yes…ma'am…" Zac reluctantly answered when his forehead and eyes were covered by his shadow.

"Good…" Zac's mom said out of relief, repeating her demand to her son.

Once Zac reluctantly apologized and Hadasa forgave him for his misdeed, Zac fearfully turned to his mother. "So please don't force me to go, ma!"

"I would be very happy if you have him hang out with me and my friends tomorrow," Hadasa said.

"Well, it's true that you don't have any friends. So if your social skills are bad, I think you should go tomorrow," Zac's mom said.

"What?!" Zac asked out of shock.

"Oh, thank you so much, Mrs.-" Hadasa said out of relief.

"It's Mrs. Miyauchi," Zac mom responded. "And you're welcome, Hadasa."

-No-no-no! First, I'm forced to perform this shitty community service. Now I'm forced to hang out with Hadasa and her shitty ass friends. Really, ma?! Really?!

"But, ma. Please rethink this. Please," Zac desperately cried.

"Oh, You're goin' and that's final, Zaccai! Do you understand?!" Zac's mom reassured, giving her son a serious face.

"Yes, ma'am…" Zac sadly responded, giving up on persuading his mother on not making him go to Hadasa's hideout.

"Good," Zac's mom said, turning to Hadasa. "When?"

"Right after community service, ma'am," Hadasa responded.

"And where do you and your friends typically hang out?"

"In the Red Alley neighborhood at the shopping area."

"Alright, good to know. I know that place very well," Zac's mom said. "Now if you excuse me, I have to head home to do my household chores."

"Alright, good-bye, Mrs. Miyauchi! I'll see you tomorrow!" Hadasa exclaimed, waving at Zac's mother.

"Bye…" Zac said without waving at his own mother.

"Alright, now let's go inside and get to work, right you guys?" Hadasa questioned, looking down at her brother, then looking up at Zac.

"Yea!" Kayleb exclaimed.

"Yay…" Zac annoyedly said as he, Hadasa and Kayleb walked their way towards the community service.

Then Kayleb turned to Zac. "It's nice to meet ya again, Zac. I haven't met ya in four days now."

"Yea…it's nice to meet ya too, kid..." Zac annoyedly said.

"So how are ya feelin' this morning, Zac? Did you get a good night's sleep last night?" Hadasa asked, also turning to Zac.

Zac glared at Hadasa. "No, I didn't get a good night's sleep and I don't feel fine at all this morning, thanks to you."

Hadasa and Kayleb growled and glared back at Zac.

"Oh, yeah? And what did I do? Force ya to hang out with me and my friends tomorrow after community service?" Hadasa questioned.

"Ya think?!" Zac snapped.

"Look, Zac. I wanna help you get rid of loneliness, 'cause money is a terrible friend for ya. It's probably why you did what you did before you came here in the first place. Elohim's tryin' to save you from your love affair with money."

"Look, I don't need you freakin' help and I never have been in the first place, got it?!" Zac roared as he entered the building.

Hadasa stopped moving and sighed out of frustration for a while.

"Man, Zac sure does act like a total jerk, does he?" Kayleb asked.

"He sure does," Hadasa answered. "Let's go head inside and get back to work."

"Mhn," Kayleb agreed as he and his sister entered the building themselves.