I stepped out of Sophie’s car still not feeling a hundred percent there. The car started and she drove off so I took my phone out and texted Zack that I was here. I turned once more to watch Sophie’s car take off…what was it that I was missing…

Thinking nothing more of it, I entered the building, moved into the elevator, and belled the floor that Zack’s apartment was on.

On the way up, I felt a buzz and I pulled out my phone to see that Zack had responded with the word ‘Nice’.

Putting my phone away once the elevator doors opened up, I walked down the hallway until I reached the front of Zack’s door.

I gave a few sharp knocks and in a second, the door swung open to reveal an absolute unit of a guy.

He was over six feet tall and built like he played college football. His hair was shaved at the sides and back with short black curls remaining on the top; a neat goatee completed his rugged look.

Dark eyes stared down at me and compared to the mesmerising gaze of Sophie, his gaze would cause a guy to melt in fear.

“So you’re here?” he all but grumbled as he looked down at me.

I cocked my head to the side and then my expression flipped to one of understanding.

“Oh, you must be the guy expecting the BBW. Yeah, I ran into her downstairs in the lobby asking for a Zack, sweet girl. Why don’t I swing downstairs on my way out and send her up so you guys can get some alone time.”

My best friend who had been with me the longest, snatched me into his embrace before I had a chance to escape. He got me into a headlock and ruffled my hair until I was able to somehow fight him off. Zack let me go obviously and we both laughed at our shared fuckery. God, I missed hanging out with this guy.

“Come on in bro.”

I followed in after Zack and I couldn’t help but marvel at his apartment’s interior. The lighting was dim which helped give the space a really subtle atmosphere. His place was split into two halves with what was essentially his bedroom and bathroom at the top and his kitchen, dining room, and living room at the bottom.

The soft hum of trap music was playing in the background while football was on the TV screen.

“Beer?” Zack asked from an open bridge.

“Sure.”

I waited for the bottle to be handed to me before sitting down with Zack on the couch and admiring his apartment.

“You got my stuff-”

“Yeah,” Zack cut in, “your bag’s in my bedroom.”

I nodded and put my bottle on the ground before heading up the stairs to where his bed was. My bag was next to it and I dug in to fish out my casual clothes. After I put on my shirt and a pair of grey jeans, I put my work clothes in the bag and returned to join Zack on the couch.

Picking up and opening the beer, I drank deep and sighed in satisfaction at the sensation and taste of the cold drink.

“You ready to get this ass-whoopin'?” I asked as I reached for one of the controllers on the coffee table.

Zack grinned and picked up the other Xbox controller and switched the input of the TV to the console.

As the game loaded up, a knock at the door drew our attention away from the screen. Zack got up off the couch and went to answer it, when the door opened I guessed it was just for the delivery.

When the guy started to speak, I thought that I could hear Zack tell him to keep it down but I couldn’t be sure. The other guy hissed something to the effect of this is important and make sure it gets there. Rather than try to eavesdrop on something that was none of my business, I focused on getting the game ready. It was Mortal Kombat X and one of the only things that I could beat Zack in.

After he was done speaking to whoever, Zack returned to his spot but not before placing the package on the counter in the kitchen.

“Aight,” Zack said clicking his neck. “Let’s do this.”

We started playing and I was already in the lead with two wins in my favour and a draw.

“You know if this museum thing doesn’t work out,” I said to get a convo going, “you could always hook me up with shotting drugs for you.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Zack snorted.

“Who said I dealt drugs?” he questioned.

“I mean I’ll be completely honest I have no idea what it is that you actually do to earn money.”

I could see the corner of his mouth crook up from the corner of my eye but he didn’t say anything.

“So how are your sessions at the gym going?” Zack asked, changing the subject.

“I’m able to do more reps now,” I said, taking a quick glance at Zack’s biceps.

“Keep it up man.”

“Thanks, the extra two reps I can get out after a month of training surprised me too," I self-deprecated. "How about some more one-to-one training since we haven’t done that in a while. We can go tomorrow.”

Zack scrunched his face up as he tilted his head just a bit like he had smelled something foul.

“I might be preoccupied tomorrow,” he confessed.

When he caught sight of my gaping expression, he let a short laugh.

“I won’t leave you hanging, we’ll definitely have enough time to go and fit in a gym sesh,” my big bro assured with a smirk.

With a resolute nod, I accepted his words.

“Let me guess…at my gym,” Zack picked up.

“We can always go to SP Friendly Fitness,” I countered.

Ah, my own gym was more likely to do more harm to your body than actually improve it. Zack hit pause to give me an incredulous look to which I just smiled back.

“I’ll get you a pass to my gym.”

“Ay, if you’re offering,” I told him as we resumed our match.

I was glad to have someone like Zack around, he was the big brother I never had but always wanted. Whether it was questions on women or working out or even just having another guy to talk to, Zack was always there. Man, I just couldn’t wait to be on his level someday.

“Anyways, back to our original point that you tried to brush off,” I brought up again. “Like genuinely, I live on campus and there are loads of people looking for dealers.”

I completed my shitty pitch with a raise of my eyebrows.

“Son of a…you willing to risk your future just to sell dope?” he asked incredulously.

“Nope, but you didn’t deny my statement so I’ll take that a yes.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I don’t deal drugs Niko, goddammit,” Zack stated with finality.

The way he said it though, made it sound like the type of work he was involved in still wasn’t on the up and up. When Zack caught my expression that was just a little skeptical, he smirked and nudged.

“Forget whatever it is that I’m doing and focus on what’s important for you, my guy. You worked too damn hard to get into that fancy-ass university of yours, plus your new job. Don’t even entertain shit like that man.”

My focus from the game was disrupted by Zack’s words, especially because of the way he said them. I only stared at him for a couple of seconds so I was caught off guard when he yelled in excitement. I quickly spun my head back toward the TV to see my character had been split into several pieces.

The tone in the last words still lingered in the back of my mind.

“We are always in the shit, only the depth varies…”

Zack looked at me quizzically but then stuck out his bottom lip and slowly nodded at my vulgar yet astute wisdom.

“I cannot get a single W today can I?” I groan-sighed as I laid my head back on the couch.

“Trouble in class?”

“Nah, I just came from work, "I reminded him. "You remember that shitstain Colin I told you about?”

Zack nodded.

“Why don’t you knock his ass the fuck out?”

“Because…I don’t want to get fired from the job I just recently started.”

“Huh, fair point,” Zack said with a shrug.

“Can’t you beat him up for me?”

Zack shook his head defiantly.

“Why? He isn’t blackmailing me.”

I shook my head at him disapprovingly and was surprised when he looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought after his comment.

“Honestly bro, there are just some things that you can’t fight, not directly anyway.”

We were both staring up at the ceiling now with nothing but the game in the background. Bruh, this weekend was supposed to be lit, not sitting on a couch contemplating the shittyness that was my day-to-day. Hell, I was even feeling some type of way cos of Zack and I didn’t even know what he did for a job.

“Bruh,” Zack uttered from beside me.

“Yup.”

“I just made shit deep didn’t I?”

“Yup.”

“Well, good thing I got this.”

I parted my gaze from the ceiling to see what Zack was talking about and to my excitement he held a masterfully rolled blunt between his index and thumb fingers.

“Did you come around to mope or kick back with your boy?”

“I think we both know that the answer to that,” I responded with a grin.

Zack and I headed over to his balcony and smoked the ever-living fuck out of his blunt.

Pause.

It was some really strong stuff and I was surprised that I didn’t pass out as soon as we were done smoking. To make things even better, we ordered pizza and along with the beer from the fridge, the evening was going super sweet.

Yeah sure, most people’s idea of a good night out would be at a club, or even a house party but I didn’t really operate like that. With what little money I made, I put it towards the recent ongoing improvement with my fitness and also my severely lacking presentation. Needless to say, I keep it frugal.

Zack had been busy for a while and the last couple of weeks had been a serious drain on me at work. The joy I pictured at first was quickly being swept away by unfortunate reality. I had Sophie to hang with from time to time sure, but I needed as much of both of my best friends to keep me sane.

“Yooo what?” Zack gasped as he laughed. "Are you serious? He actually told her that he has a small dick?”

“For real man,” I replied doing my best to fight down the laughter. "I mean I always knew but now that it was confirmed, I actually feel a lot better about my job now that I think about it.”

We both continued to screw around, watching weird stuff on Zack’s smart TV till I guess I eventually passed out as I blinked my eyes open. I found I was lying across Zack’s couch half-naked and covered in a blanket.

I saw the ambient light that was coming from Zack’s bedroom up above. It was difficult to make out his features but something seemed off about him. Zack was holding something in his hands and then brought his fingers to his nose, I thought I saw him inhale something. It was a super deep grunt like he had a bad cold or something. No way it sounded human, I must have still been suffering from the effects of the alcohol/marijuana fusion.

“Zack…” I groaned out lethargically.

I noticed Zack’s head snap towards me but because of the way the lighting was, I still couldn’t see his face properly. Yeah, I could definitely tell there was something off about him.

"My bad bro…” he said before moving over to turn off the light near his bed.

I wanted to say more but the need to shut my eyes was too strong and I went back to sleep.