Chapter 4: Revealed
The past few days were sure very hard for both Zach and Melissa. Of course, they still hung out with Milo but they didn't even care about looking or talking to each other. This made Milo very sad. Although ouside, Milo always shown optimism and happiness but deep down inside, he felt sad, not for him, but for his friend. Milo sometimes tried to make excuses so that Zach and Melissa could have their "alone time" but it still didn't work out. Milo knew that he had to do something to salvage Zach's and Melissa's friendship so one afternoon, after the school, he decided to open his words with Zach
-"You need to talk and tell her the secret, Zach. Melissa is a very stubborn girl. She will do everything to discover our secret so I think you better tell her than let her find out by herself" Milo said.
-"What's the point? How can I talk to her? She even didn't look at me so what made you thing she would let me talk to her?" Zach sighed.
-"Well, I can distract her long enough for you to sneak up into her room" Milo said "She will have to talk to you then"
-"Fine. Good enough for me. But you better be hurry because she is coming" Zach said and he ran away before Melissa could see him.
A few moments later...
Melissa was walking along the street. Her conversation with Milo back then did ease her mind a little, but not enough. She still felt so empty and sad. She has cried a lot since that day in the hospital. Melissa then soon approached her house. She slammed the door behind her and walked toward her room. The moment she opened her room's door, she just wanted to jump on her bed and burst into tears. That is what she has done everytime she got home since the day she ditched Zach, but it wasn't this time. Melissa's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Zach was sitting on her bed. For a split second, Melissa felt so happy and just wanted to give Zach a hug and a kiss but the anger started to take over.
-"You have no reason to be here. Leave, now" Melissa said nonchalantly, tried to keep her mean voice. Zach then let out a heavy sigh and said
-" You wanted to know the secret so I'm here to tell you. Since you don't consider me as your friend anymore so I guess I can tell you now."
Melissa hesitated for a moment but she decided to sit down next to Zach
-"Speak" Melissa ordered. Zach closed his eyes to consider his words so that he couldn't hurt Melissa any further.
-"Bradley was right. I used to be like him."Zach said with a sad tone. At this part, Melissa supposed to feel surprise but somehow she didn't as she has saw this coming.
-"So?" Melissa asked, pushed Zach to keep saying.
-" I tried to kill Milo once" Zach said while covering his face with his hands. Melissa was shocked upon Zach's words. Anger started to fill her mind but she decided not to do anything, YET. Zach continued as he took out a picture from his pocket. In the picture, we could see a young boy standing and smiling next to Zach. That boy looked a lot younger than Zach and he was wearing a blue short and a red T-shirt.
-"This is my little brother, Shawn. That day, we were having a "Father and Sons roadtrip". My dad was driving while me and Shawn were playing games and teasing each other at the backseats. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a giant boulder ran right into us and crashed the car into a piece of junk. My dad and I were very lucky, but Shawn..." Zach's lips started to tremble and a drop of tear rolled down to his chin as he continued "... he died 3 days later in the hospital. It was a very hard time for me. I was so sad and depress to a level that I even tried to kill myself multiple times but always failed since my mom was a good doctor. I've tried to find the reason behind the accident so I asked the police and they shown me a footage of the accident. At first, I found nothing but when I watched it over and over again, I found this."
Zach then took out another picture from his backpack. It was copied from a camera which has recorded the accident that day and in the corner of the picture, there was a boy wearing a sweater vest, carrying a big backpack and had a cowlick on his hairs. Melissa then realized that it was Milo. Zach then continued his story.
-" At first, I thought that was just a random kid on the street, but I was wrong. A few months later, my parents decided to move to Danville so I could restart my life again and the first day I met Milo, I knew that he was the kid in the picture. I thought it could be a coincidence but after I saw his Murphy's Law and what it capable of, I knew that he was the reason behind the accident, because it would be impossible for a boulder to suddenly came out from thin air and rolled around unless Milo were there. So after being friend with Milo for 3 to 4 months and studied him, I decided to execute my plan to get rid of him once and for all. One night, I broke into his house through a big hole on the window caused by a fallen tree. I was holding my knife and looking at the one who killed my brother. I was angry. I closed my eyes and raised the knife, intended to cut his heart out of his chest but something in my mind stopped me, made me hesitate. I then opened my eyes to see Milo was looking at me. His eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and most of all, dissapointment because he has been betrayed by the one he called friend. When I looked into his eyes, I saw no killer, just an innocent boy. I only had 2 options left then: kill Milo or kill myself. I wasn't brave enough to pick the first choice.". Zach then lifted his head up to reveal a scar on his neck. " I cut my throat with the knife and fainted. When I woke up, I realized that I was in the hospital. Milo, the one I tried to kill, saved me. After that, we had a few conversations together and we decided to keep it as a secret between the two of us. I've cried everynight since that day, wished that I could take back what I have done. Everytime I spent time with Milo, it's wasn't just because we are friend, it was also my redemption for my action back in the past."
At this point, Melissa couldn't take it anymore. Her mind was filled with anger and rage.
-" Redemption? So you hung out with Milo just to pay your life-dept?" Melissa snapped.
-"What? No, you got it wrong, I..." Zach tried to explain but he couldn't finish his sentence. A slap echoed around the room and Zach was lying on the floor with a red cheek.
-" I want you to get out of my house and get out of my life" Melissa said and dragged Zach all the way to the front door before she shutted it right infront of Zach's face. Melissa then leaned her back at the door, she sat down, her hands wrapped around her knees as she started to cry. She just couldn't get it
-"Why would everyone tried to harm Milo?" Melissa thought to herself and that thought just kept running around her mind.
Zach was walking along the sideboard, hands in the pockets, he stopped next to the tree where Milo was waiting.
-"Well ?" Milo asked curiously.
-" She slapped me and told me to get out of her life" Zach answered with sadness. Milo then let out a heavy sigh.
-"As predicted" Milo stated " Okay, Zach you need to go home and prepare before it's too late. I will talk to her"
-" Okay Milo. And she didn't let me explained the whole story so could you do that for me?" Zach asked
-"Of course I will" Milo assured " Now go, Zach". As soon as Zach walked away , Milo approached Melissa's house and knocked on the wooden door.
-"Go away" Melissa responsed with a broken voice.
-" It's me, Milo" Milo said. A few moments of silence later, Melissa opened the door. Her eyes were red and full of tears. Milo could clearly imagine her talk with Zach. The two then sat down on the sofa in the living room and Milo started to open his words.
-" So, did Zach tell you everything, right?" Milo asked. Melissa didn't say anything, she just gave Milo a nod in response. Milo was about to talk but Melissa interupted him
-"I just don't get it Milo. Why would everyone tried to harm you? Couldn't they live with their lost?" Melissa sighed
-"Well, could you?". Milo's question made Melissa's widen her eyes. She definitely didn't see that coming. Milo then continued.
-" What if Murphy's Law harmed or even killed your father? What would you think? Would you feel sad or angry? Or you could just brushed it off like you said?"
Milo's questions made Melissa frozed. She tried to say something but Milo snapped her.
-" Bradley and Zach were right. Murphy's Law has killed the one they love so they have the right to be mad at me. You cannot just expect them to brush it off like that. They are human, not a robot. They have feelings too." Milo's words shocked Melissa
-" How could you sympathize with the people who tried to murder you ?" Melissa asked bittery. Milo let out a sigh as he answered Melissa's question
-" Because they were in pain, Melissa and I am the one who caused them that pain. Besides, you thought Zach and Bradley felt happy when they tried to harm me? When Bradley was torturing me that night I could see tears dripped down to his chin everytime he hit me. And Zach, he didn't hang out with me just because of a weird life-dept. After the night Zach tried to kill me and I saved him, we had had a lot of conversations together and Zach had known a lot about me to a level that I could say that he knows me as much as you do. Zach didn't hung out with me to pay his life-dept, he did it because we are friend. And he told me to keep that night as a secret from you because he didn't want to hurt you. Zach cared about you, Melissa"
After Milo finished his explaination, Melissa stayed silent. Her mind was filled with confusion and regret.
-"Gosh, Milo, I-I never thought that... I'm sorry" Melissa said with a sad and regretful tone.
-"You don't have to sorry Melissa" Milo comforted " Anger blinded everyone. I would be angry too if someone tried to harm you". Milo then gave Melissa a hug.
-" I have to fix this" Melissa said with a determined voice
-" Yeah, then you better do it fast before Zach leaves" Milo said.
-"Wait, what?" Melissa asked in confusion.
-"Oh, I forgot that you guys haven't spoken anything to each other since that day in the hospital. Zach is going to Australia and he is probably gonna stay there for years" Milo said but his eyes then widened as he realized the problem "Oh my God, I forgot to tell you sooner" Milo nearly jumped out of the sofa but Melissa was able to calm him down with a question
-"When will he leave?" She asked.
-"His flight takes off at 7:00 p.m. It's 6:00 p.m now. If we hurry, we can made it to his house before he leaves" Milo answered. The two then rushed outside and biked as fast as they could to Zach's house. Just a few moments later, they had already stood outside The Underwoods' resident.
-"Oh, hi kids. How can I help you?" Dr. Zach's mom greeted them.
-"Dr. Zach's mom, can I meet Zach?" Melissa asked.
-"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm afraid that Zach is on his way to the airport right now." Dr. Zach's mom said. Melissa's heart nearly stopped but Milo was there to help.
-"Then what are we waiting for? C'mon Melissa , we can take the shortcut through the woods." Milo said.
The two then biked all the way to the airport. The distance between the airport and Zach's house was long but Milo's shortcut made it a lot shorter. But life wasn't a dream since Murphy's Law was there to interupt but Milo and Melissa were able to get over it, although it took them a pretty long time. Finally, the two made it to the airport.
-" Let's go and find Zach" Melissa said while dragging Milo around the airport. She then looked at the electronic board and she saw something she really didn't want to see
-"7:00 p.m- Flight 908 to Sydney, Australia- taken off"
Melissa couldn't believe it. She looked at the board over and over , desperately to find another flight to Australia which hasn't taken off but she couldn't find any. Melissa collapsed on her knees, tears welled up in her eyes.
-"I'm so sorry, Zach. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I'm such an idiot bitch" Melissa said with a broken voice as she started to cry. Milo couldn't do anything but to look at his friend with sympathy and sadness.
-"Well, apology accepted".
A sudden voice startled Melissa. She looked up and saw Zach was standing there with his luggages. Without any further question, Melissa embraced Zach, made him nearly fall to the ground.
-"Wait, I thought your flight had already taken off?" Milo asked curiously.
-"Well, look again" Zach said. Milo then followed Zach's advice and looked at the electronic board again, this time it said
-" Flight 908 to Sydney Australia – delayed"
Zach then started to explain
-" My flight was about to take off then suddenly, some llamas appeared from outta nowhere a blocked the runway so our flight has been delayed until they figured out how to get rid of those llamas. The moment I realized it was llamas, I knew that you guys must be somewhere around so as soon as I got off the plane, I started to look for you two."
-"Wow, Murphy's Law does useful sometimes, doesn't it?" Milo stated. The attention then turned to Melissa, who was still sobbing and hugging Zach.
-"Okay. You can release me now Melissa" Zach said softly. Melissa released Zach, tears were still rolling on her cheeks but this time, it was the tears of happiness.
-"There, there. Don't cry. I'm here" Zach comforted his friend and used his thumb to wipe out Melissa's tears
-" I'm so sorry Zach." Melissa said.
-"Hey, it's in the past now. We don't need to talk about it anymore.". Zach's words eased Melissa's mind.
-" But then why are you leaving? Milo said that you would probably never come back." Melissa said, her voice was trembling at the thought that Zach could leave her forever.
-" Oh, did he? I swear that I told him not to over dramatic the story" Zach then rolled his eyes to Milo, made him chuckled arkwardly. " No, actually, a music school in Australia invited the Lumberzachs to come and give their students some inspirational speech and motivate them and things like that. Since I was the lead singer of the band once so I got invited too. I"ll be back this weekend"
-"Really?" Melissa asked
-" Of course" Zach assured Melissa " I will be back, WITH YOU". Zach last two words made Melissa felt so happy. She then pulled Zach toward her and gave him a kiss on the lips. Zach's eyes widened in shock and surprise but he then closed them and enjoy the kiss while Milo was standing behind and smirking. The kiss lasted for a minute.
-"Wow, what was that for?" Zach asked with a silly grin on his face
-"That was something for you to remember me during your trip" Melissa said seductively.
-"Wow, I think it worked because I am missing it right now" Zach teased
-"Oh, stop it you" Melissa blushed
The trio then heard an announcement.
-" The llamas has been taken care of and Flight 908 will take of in 15 minutes. Every passengers please have their luggages checked up before the flight. Thank you".
-"Well, gotta go now. See you guys this weekend" Zach said while running away.
-" Okay, stay safe Zach" Milo and Melissa said in unison.
A few minutes later, Milo and Melissa was standing outside the airport.
-" Well, it's getting late now. I think we should go home and have dinner." Milo suggested.
-"Okay. The second to come to my house is a rotten egg" Melissa said and biked away.
-"Oh, don't you dare" Milo said an followed Melissa.