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“Here’s to you,” the blond guy said, raising his mug at Zack, as Zack contemplated in silent horror. “For I hope your life doesn’t suck as much as mine.”
And with that, he downed his drink in a single go.
A drink that Zack had watched him prepare.
Listen. Let’s be real for a second. Zack Fair was no one to judge people's food or drinks. His friends were witnesses of the culinary atrocities Zack Fair had committed. From drinking marinara sauce as one would drink a smoothie, to eating spoonfuls of sauce in between different hamburger types to cleanse the palate, it was evident that Zack wasn’t exactly… a connoisseur of high-end cuisine, or anything like it. In Genesis’s words, Zack’s eating habits “were like watching someone swallow dirt worms, alongside the dirt, with swamp water as a drink, and then puking it out, rinse and repeat.”
But this? This, what Zack was looking at, at that moment? Horrific. Truly terrifying.
A blonde guy in a black hoodie had entered the building's cafeteria, bought a cup of coffee, picked a seat at the table next to Zack's, taken a can of Monster energy drink from his backpack, and this guy had just mixed the two of them in a mug, and chugged it whole.
He had even toasted to Zack, as if this was in any way, shape or form, something that normal human beings ever did.
Zack kept staring at the guy, quietly whispering a “Well… thank you…” as the blond dude started shuffling through his bag, picking a gigantic stack of papers with colorful posts-its, and a Totoro pencil case.
Cute, Zack thought to himself.
“Hey, um…” Zack started. “Good luck on your test today! I'm sure you can do it!”
The blond guy looked back at Zack, with eyes akin to a dead fish, and gave him a thumbs-up, before he went back to his notes.
Zack looked away himself too, as he started re-reading the page he had just started. He had been having a hard time focusing before, and what he had just witnessed wasn’t going to make it any easier for him.
Okay, so, quick recap: Zack had spent two days without sleeping, studying endlessly for this test where he needed a 90% to pass, nagging Seph and Gen endlessly with questions and asking for explanations, he had downed 10 mugs of coffee, his test was in two hours, he still had 50 pages to review, and by this point, Zack was fairly sure he could hear smells.
Yeah, he was screwed.
He rested his head on top of the pile of books and notes he had stacked on the cafeteria table, considering the pros and cons of banging his head against the wall until his skull cracked or something, when someone touched his shoulder.
“Excuse me, can I seat here?”
Zack groaned, but raised his head nonetheless. A blond dude with a cute blue plaid. Definitely the type of guy he would try to hit on, were Zack not on the brink of death and absolute despair.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, trying his hardest to sound friendly.
“Thanks.”
The blond guy sat in front of Zack, picking stuff from his backpack, while Zack started reading the next page. It had to do with how some nerves had free ends that were sensitive to chemicals released with tissue damage so every time that happened the nerve would send an electrochemical signal to the spinal cord and oh god his brain hurt.
“Hey, um…” the blond guy started saying. “It… doesn’t concern me, but… I hope you do well on your test. And that you get some rest later.”
Zack raised his head as he started connecting the dots. Blond, blue eyes, a Totoro pencil case, what he had just said…
“Wait, you’re the Monster coffee guy?” Zack asked, suddenly feeling like laughing his ass off.
The blond guy did laugh, a bit. “Cloud. And, yeah. I don’t recommend it, by the way, hurts like hell after the effect is gone.”
Zack laughed back, some of the tiredness lifting from his shoulders. “Zack. And, did it work? I need all the help I can right now.”
At that, Cloud started looking inside his bag again, shuffling for a little bit, until he took a Monster can, just like the other day, and disregarding any common sense, word of god, or warning from Cloud, Zack bought himself a nice cup of coffee with a decent amount of sugar in it, and mixed them both.
Zack sighed before whispering, “I’m going to die, right?”
Cloud patted him on the back. “Yeah.”
And with that, Zack downed the drink in one go.
Zack had just bought a teriyaki foot-long Subway, with extra meat, lots of veggies and lots of good stuff in it, and dammit he was going to enjoy the hell out of it.
Exams had been hell. Straight up, Zack had died, on multiple occasions, his body would not reach thirty years old before he started losing weight and having intestinal problems, but fuck it, at least he had gotten past that, and he hadn’t completely flunked.
Probably. Maybe. He wasn’t completely sure, but he wanted to stay optimistic, and he wanted to celebrate his revival with a good ass sandwich.
He was about to take his first bite, though, when he felt a touch on his shoulder, and was greeted with a small smile from a blond guy. This time, wearing a leather jacket, and damn he looked fine in it.
“Hey,” Cloud greeted him. “Can I seat here?”
“Sure!” Zack said, almost pushing the seat back with his foot so Cloud could seat. “You were… Cloud, right?”
“Yeah. And you are Zack, right?”
“Yep!”
“Seems like we had the same idea,” Cloud mentioned, as he put his own foot-long Subway on the table.
Zack giggled. “Nice, though. It’s good to take a break every now and then.”
Cloud nodded, as he started eating. Zack did the same, and they both stayed silent as they devoured their sandwiches. Zack was amazed the moment he saw Cloud finish before him. And Zack was the fastest eater out of his entire group of friends!
“Hey, um…” Zack started, as he cleaned his hands on a napkin. “Are you… free today? I don’t have any classes left today and, my friends are busy with some papers they have to turn in.”
Cloud seemed surprise at the invitation. “Uh, well… Yeah, I’m free, I think.”
“Cool! Would you like to… have some ice cream with me? I have to thank you somehow.”
“Thank me, why?”
“Because your suicidal brew of coffee actually helped me out a bit.”
Cloud snorted, laughing a bit under his breath. “Oh god, please no, I actually felt guilty after giving you that Monster can, you looked like you were about to short circuit.”
Zack laughed back. “Well, well, then, how about this? I’ll buy you an ice cream, and in exchange, we can call it a date.”
“You would date the guy that almost killed you with a caffeine overdose?” Cloud quipped back, even though he was starting to blush.
“I didn’t hear a no!” Zack answered, smiling.
Cloud looked away for a second, smiling, as he fidgeted with his fingers under the table. And there he was, trying to be the one to ask Zack out. His whole plan had just gone to waste.
“Alright, alright, I like ice cream.”
“Nice!”