Zac
Zac was at Mutant High. Hanson had a concert the next day, but today he was going to do something that surprisingly, he was not the least bit nervous about.
He was going to break up with Rachel.
He knocked on her door at the school.
Rachel
Rachel was curled up in bed, the morning sickness still being all-the- time sickness.
"Come in," she said weakly.
Zac
Zac opened the door and stepped inside.
"Hey Rach," he said. "We... we have to talk..."
Rachel
"Yeah, we really do," Rachel agreed. "I was going to call you, but you're here now, so, what's up?"
Zac
"Oh... not much," Zac replied. "Last concert on tommorrow. Should be a blast."
He paused.
"Okay, umm... here's the thing..." he trailed off uncertainly.
Rachel
"I think we should break up," Rach blurted out before running off to the toilet to puke again. She rinsed out her mouth and came back into her room.
"It's well. I'm not myself lately. And, well, I know you haven't been completely fathful since we started dating, so, maybe we shouldn't. I don't think our hearts are in it." She looked up from her feet and looked at Zac's face. He didn't seem upset.
"What did you want to say?"
Zac
A wry smile crossed Zac's face.
"Funnily enough, I was going to break up with you!" He told her. "See... the thing is... I'm... I'm kinda in love with someone else."
Rachel
Rachel grinned. "Is it Julie?"
Zac
"Julie?" Zac repeated. "No way! She's a good friend and everything, but I don't feel that way about her."
Rachel
"Oh," Rachel said. "Cause, I thought, with the group sex and all. . ." she trailed off."
Zac
Zac grinned.
"Julie doesn't care who or how she gets it. As long as she does," Zac replied. "No I... it's... it's Faith."
Rachel
Rachel sighed. "Why amI not surprised? How many times have you guys broken up and then gotten back together now? I've lost count." Rachel shuddered as the nausea hut her again. "I. . .just, could you hold me? Please? It just hurts."
Zac
Zac shrugged and put his arms around her.
"Yeah, sorry about that," he said. "And you know what? I don't care how on/off our relationship has been. I can't help it, Rach. I love her."
Rachel
"I know you do, Zac, I think I always have." She started crying. "ANd I'm not upset about that, I just, think, I'm really hormonal. ANd I guess, a part of me was hoping we'd get married, and have this baby, and be a normal family with 2.8 kids and a dog and a white picket fence."
"We're never going to be normal, are we?" Rachel asked, whimpering
Zac
Zac smiled.
"Well, y'know, if it's any consolation to you, if I hadn't met Faith, I would have asked you out eventually. Maybe, if that had been the case we would have had that. Although, how you have .8 of a kid I don't know..."
Rachel
Rachel shrugged. "It's normal. The average white American family has 2.8 eight kids and a dog. I'm more of a cat person, though," she said, grinning, and cuddling close to Zac as the pain got worse.
Zac
"Don't get statisical on me," Zac grinned. "Besides, the average Dathrian family has more than 2.8 kids. Sem's on the other hand are underbreed. That's why there's so many more Daths then Sems on the planet. And as for the average Animorph, well, thie birth rate is like, 0. Of course, in a few months time we can expect that number to increase to... 0.2."
He gave her a wink.
Rachel
Rachel giggled. Zac was being so charming, he was scaring away the pain.
"Zac," she began hesitantly. "Is this normal for Dathrian pregnancies? All the pain? I'm sick all the time. When I'm not throwing up, I'm hurting. There's always these sharp pains in my abdomen. It feels like Hork-bajir blades. It hurts so bad," The tears were creeping out of Rachel's eyes.
Zac
Zac frowned.
"I don't think so... but I'm not exactly an authority on the subject. I should be by now, but I'm not. My guess would be either there's something wrong, or it's the effect of the baby's power. Assuming it has any."
He shrugged.
"Either way, you should probably see a doctor about it."
Rachel
"Dr. McCoy's been looking after me, but he's not exactly an authority on aliens. I'm scared Zac. I've wanted a baby for so long, and, well, I think I'm being punished." Rachel said, crying freely now.
Zac
"Punished for what?" Zac asked. "You haven't done anything wrong. Look, I'll see if I can find a name of an alien doctor 'round these parts for you. How about that?"
Rachel
"No. . .I killed people. Tom. My own flesh and blood. And so many other innocent people, just because they had Yeerks in their heads." Rachel despaired. "I don't deserve to be happy."
Zac
Zac sighed.
"Don't be a matyr, Rach. You did what you had to do to save the whole planet from infestation. Despite everyone's best efforts, the innocent always die in wars. It's sad but true."
Rachel
Rachel looked up at Zac. "You don't think I'm being punished?"
Zac
"Of course not," Zac replied.
He gave her a final hug.
"Anyway," he said, "I had better be going. I'll talk to you again later, okay?"
Rachel
"Okay," Rachel said groggily. Soon after Zac left, she was fast asleep.