REDEEMING THE BAD BOY

We are told to let our light shine and if it does, we won't need to tell anyone it does. Lighthouse don't go firing cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine

-The legend of the lighthouse

I was shattered to hell seeing her innocent face covered with the oxygen mask. Her legs were aided and hung on the stench. In the gist of time, my one mistake had completely turned down the life of the girl who loved me and the worst part was that I had never given her a chance to propose her love. Without a second thought of herself, she had dared to sacrifice herself for me.

Had I ever deserved such a pure and selfless love?

Life had never been such a disaster for me than the moments I had been living through the past months. For everyone in the town and high school, I was the cold-hearted newcomer prince charm and their biggest competitor. But for her, I was the most special being. I had no Idea why I was so special to her. But I did know that the way she understood every single pain of mine was not even understood by my mother. Now that she was Inside the ICU because of me, I had no other reason to stay alive.

It was midnight and the hospital was in pin-drop silence except for the beeping of the machines and doors sliding open and shut. There was no one other than us in the corridor. Mr.Harry was sitting on the seat blank and stupefied thinking about what the doctor had told us and Mrs.Karen had wrapped her hand around her husband, crying profoundly.

My heart was aching witnessing their state and wished to sit next to and console them. But I my body and mind didn't let me do so only because I did not have a bit of courage to even look into their eyes.

I didn't even dare to because I was the sole reason why they were on the verge of losing their everything. Not being able to control the guilty anymore I walked away from them and saw Mike who was busy impatiently calling some people and was constantly checking his phone.

Well, he was the only person I could talk to for the time being so I went to him and held his shoulders.

"Any hope?" I asked him in a low tone.

He nodded a 'no' and his facial expression clearly showed his hopelessness.

Chills of being terrified swept throughout my body and my legs became numb.

Did it mean we had no way to save her?

No, no, nooo...there's no way that's going to happen. She hasn't got a chance to live her fantasy where her prince charm will come to claim her. She hadn't got to experience her one sided love being a two sided one. She hasn't even seen my love. There was no way I was going to give up on her before fulfilling each of her crazy, stupid fantasies.

I wanted her back. I wanted to give her back the chance she had given me. It was time for me to be there for her and show her my worthiness, to own her as mine.

"What are you planning to do"? Mike was puzzled my reaction and saw a light of determination in me.

I had no answer for him. Looking at his face all I noticed was that it had swollen up due to the crying and stress he had in the situation. Gosh, what all have I caused unknowingly???

I couldn't utter a single word in answer to him. The truth was that I wanted to tell him many things but everything just came to me and got stuck on the tip of my tongue itself.

Honesty speaking, I wanted to yell and tell him that I too loved her as much as she loved me and I will do anything and everything I could, just to give her back the love and happiness she deserved from me and the world.

"Mike, please trust me as you had always done" after a lot of struggle it was all I could utter and promised him.

There was no time for me to waste anymore and I had to act fast. So, I hugged him tightly to gain the strength I wanted to do what I wanted to and got out of the hospital. And hurrying down my out, I accidently bumped into someone.

"Oh Zack, thank god I found you. How's she?" I was startled when the girl leaped on me and hugged me asking me the question.

Being blank already, I pushed her away to see who it was and when I saw her face, some kind of adrenaline of hatred spread across me wanting to squeeze her throat.

"Stay away from her Caroline" I gritted my teeth in disgust of seeing her there trying to act so caring of her.

How did she even think I'll forgive her so easily???

If the situation was not the present one, then I would have clearly shown her the real audacity of her. Girl you're lucky for the day but don't take it as a chance to do what you had been doing all these while with us!!!

"Zack, all I wanted..." just like I thought, she started to do it again and my patience was already done for the day.

I held her more tightly making her feel the pain and looked into her eyes with my blood red eyes.

"One more time Caroline. Act you fucking innocent face one more time and you'll see a Zack who'll make you wish you hadn't seen" the rage I had altogether inside me burst out and I told her in the most vicious tone I had ever used in in my life.

She was horrified to see me in that avatar and her frozen shivering body made it evident that she understood what I warned her. I let go of her and she wobblingly stood there taking heavy breaths as I stormed out of the hospital to my home.

Mom was still waiting for me awake all these time and when I reached home, she jumped up from the sofa and threw herself on me and we both hugged each other washing away all the misunderstanding we had between us. Her warm motherly hug filled with all the love she had for me was so powerful that I began to wish I had done this much earlier!!!

"What happened?" seeing my terrible condition, she got worried and asked me in her broken voice. If she had to hear out what happened all day, she had to have a lot of courage and I had none to give her. I made her sit down of the couch and sat with her.

She looked at me with the tiny little eyes of her and after taking a deep breath, I confessed to her what all happened that night with me.

Tears ran down her eyes like a broken dam and I knew how she would react and things happened as I expected it would. Without wasting another second, she landed a tight slap on my face and a smile appeared on my lips. I deserved it; hence I didn't give out any reaction to it.

"How on earth did you fall so weak Zack? Your dad hadn't grown you to be like this. Promise me that you won repeat that hideous act again" the mom that I knew was now back and the fire I saw in her eye was the one that dad might have seen in her which had made him fall for her.

Wow, this conversation was going nice and our differences were already covered up!!!

"Zack, I have already lost my love now I am neither ready nor willing to lose my life which is you" she cupped my face in her hands and kissed my forehead. If this love between us had blossomed earlier, I wouldn't have to face this day in my life.

Guess everything has its own time!!!

She was in tears saying this. What I could do? All I could do was to apologise for my entire mistakes till now.

We had a very emotional confrontation and then I held her to tell her about Zoe's needs. Without holding back anymore, I broke down before her and asked her about any way to save my Zoe. Mom was always the problem solver of dad and I believed that she would have solutions for me also.

To my astonishment, mom, from what all I told her, understood Zoe's love and sacrifices that had kept me alive. She also wanted her back as much as me.

Well, the ones who had fallen in true love were the ones who could truly understand its power and Mom was one of them. She was reminded of her and dad's life after hearing about Zoe and that was the only thing that brought a smile on her face finally.

She let out a deep sigh and the smile she had widened up. I was confused for sure but the support that she gave me was Indescribable. We began to work our brains to figure out some way to help Zoe and then suddenly mom was struck with an idea.

"Have you forgotten about the GYT?" she blurted out in the excitement of the idea and I jumped in terror.

I was left petrified by her sudden change of topic. From where the hell did GYT pop in??

Mom moved my face to her and caressed it with her hands. She looked at me with a strange confidence and the smile she had was worrying me because I didn't feel it to be a good one. If she was talking about the GYT, she would probably be hinting about the reward it offered for the winner and when it crossed my mind, I was appalled.

"No way..., I'm not going to take up any risk in this situation" I denied her idea sternly without a second thought.

Even though the prize money was most suitable for Zoe, I couldn't even imagine about taking that step. After what all had happened when I was adamant to come back, I had no courage to take a risk in the matter and bear the consequences of it again.

But then, something weird strange struck me on that one Idea. To save my Zoe, I had to do something and it was one of the ways, actually the only way possible in the meantime.

Still, choosing to participate in the GYT was the biggest challenge of my life. My body trembled with anxiety by the thought of it even though my mind was filled with Zoe.

I was in a fix whether to do it or not. The Idea was a great deal of peril. I couldn't just simply sit anywhere and keep on thinking. I had to take an action and thus decided to take part In the GYT still not being sure about whether I was doing the right thing or not.

The path I chose for saving my girl was not a simple one. I had to prepare myself, mostly mentally. The notion of running on the same tracks which had made my dad a champion was discouraging me to death.

What If I failed to live up to my dad?

What if the decision I took in my broken state became another of my biggest mistakes that I would end up regretting my entire life?

Will I be able to overcome my fears and save my Zoe or would I be losing her forever???

*No matter how hard the past Is, you can always begin again*

ZACK'S POV

The sunlight fell directly on my face and I blinked thrive to clear my blurred vision. Why on earth had the morning came up so early??

yet, I snuggled up in the bed for a minute longer. Today I had a race to win and my body deserved a great rest after yesterday's party at the boys' house and looked at my phone to see the time and the number of missed calls I had alarmed me of the time and shit, I was late!!

I got up in a startle and raved to the bathroom to brush my teeth and without caring to change my night outfit, I rushed to the academy. Thanks to mom who had already kept my protein shake in the bag and as I reached the academy, I walked up to the locker room drinking the shake on the way.

Without wasting another second, I threw my bag on the bench and changed into the towel and then my nightmare began. Where the hell did coach keep my jersey and spikes??

Anxiety was already filling up inside me as I threw a terrific tantrum on not being able to find my things. Suddenly, I heard the doors of the room squeak open but as I had my own problems to deal with, I didn't care and, in the agitation, I banged the locker door.

Now what??

Biting my lips, I turned around only to find that my things were neatly arranged on the bench itself and I had thrown my bag over it.

See that's why I didn't notice it earlier!!

I hit my own head for being so clumsy and moved the bag only to find a note beside it.

Dear zack,

As usual you are late and as usual, we have kept your things ready. Now that you have arrived, rush you ass to the ground. We don't want to be roasted by the coach with you.

I scoffed reading it and remembered the last nights mishaps. I had sneaked out to challenge myself by breaking dad's late-night rules before a race day. Well, it was an arrogance from my side, by I wish I to do it once, ready to face its consequences and yes now I have to face it.

I kept the note and was about to remove my towel when my nose was hit with a scent and I swung the hands those were about to hold me from the back to the front and slammed her onto the locker.

Girl, how are you going to escape me now??

"Come on Zack, this time I had planned everything well and even removed my shoes not to make any sound" her face sulked into a gloomy one being caught.

Damn, she's too cute!!

"Caroline, maybe next time don't us the perfume which I'm used to" mentioning the point she missed, I poked her face and when she realised her dumbness, he grinning with an embarrassed look.

In the morning itself she had shown me her cute little angelic face and fired me up. I leaned more closer to her and her heart beats rose to a level where I could feel it so hard. She gulped down with nervousness and I caressed her cheeks making chills ran down her body.

What am I waiting for??

I pulled her to me and when our bodies touched, I kissed her plump red lips passionately and she surprised me by responding to the kiss with the same passion.

Whoa, it's getting too hot!!!

Again, I slammed her onto the locker and raised her hands up , kissing her more deeply and she began to play with our tongues.

Was she a professional kisser that she had to make the kiss so bloody good??

Then she slowly brought our hand down and placed mine onto her breasts. She didn't let me part from the kiss, so I delicately squeezed her melons with love and she gave out a soft moan. Now that's what I was talking about.

I smirked at her and continued to kiss her, exploring every curve of her body and she ran her hands down to my towel, ready to take it off and move to the next step and the reality struck me.

Dude, you have a race and this is not the time for this!!!

I pushed her away and she was puzzled. I felt sorry for her and reminded her about the race and the disappointment she had disappeared and an apologetic look popped up on her face.

I turned and wore the jersey while she entertained herself with those naughty eyes of her which were fixed on me changing my towels.

Naughty girl!!!

Very fast, I put on the spikes too and giving her a peck on the lips, I rushed to the ground and joined my buddies Dash and Will.

"So early as usual" both together teased me and I winked at them for their big help. It's a true fact that without their help, I was nothing on the ground!!!

"Get ready boys" a harsh manly voice scared us from a distance and it was coach. Specifically telling, the coach= my dad!!

"Warmed up?" He came near to us and looked at all of us. When his eyes fell on me, it turned into a narrow deathly stare and that meant I was dead when I reached home. Everyone nodded to him and he loved his stare from me.

Oh, what a relief I felt!!

As per his instructions, we got ready and stood on our marks. Caroline was peeking our race from the gallery sneaking from everyone's sight and I caught her from the distance. She wished me a best of luck with her thumbs up and I her a smile.

Being on tracks, I immediately changed into my serious athlete mode and concentrated on the race. It was not an ordinary race. It was the qualifying race for the zonal championship and it was my dream championship. So basically, this was the first step to my dreams and I was confident on myself.

The gun shot and all the athletes began the race. In a matter of minutes, I finished the race backing the first place followed my Dash and Will. It was always us from the academy and replacing our position was a herculean task for the other competitors. We jumped and hoorayed in excitement and dad came to me and again gave me his death stare.

We 3 stopped and got silent weighing our heads down and then, after a minute, he came forward and gave us a tight hug, celebrating with us.

Stealing my eyes from them, I looked at Caroline and she had happy eyes for me blowing me a flying kiss for my win......

that was the day....

that was the last day I had seen extreme happiness in my life.....

********

I heard the sound of horns and woke up from the nap and knew what it meant. The last beautiful memory of mine played every time on my mind when I closed my eyes.

The transportation truck had arrived and the agency people started packing up our things and belongings from our home. I was in my room, seated on my window, when Dash and Will came storming inside hearing the news of me and my mom shifting from the city.

I, after so long since the accident, smiled at them genuinely as I knew what was going to happen.

At that moment I knew very well how I had to handle them!!!

"Why the heck would you even let mom think about it? Why is it necessary for you to leave the city? You can stay and live with us" both of them shot their concern on me without taking a breath.

From the bitterness of their voice, I understood that they felt like. I was betraying them and our friendship by taking such a drastic step without even talking to them. We were the best of buddies from childhood and they had a right on me, to know about such an important decision of my life. I knew they were not going to easily forgive for this such an act.

"At least you can stay for the zonal championships. You can't back out at the last moment. Please stay..." They begged me to their maximum and I sat numb as there was nothing, I could do about It.

I had no other option. In my situation all I had in mind was my mother, Stella. And for her I had to sacrifice my dream as it was Impossible for her to support me for my training during such a crisis in our lives.

At least that was what she told me!!

It was now my time to look after her. I wanted to give her more time and support rather than be a burden on her. My dad was the breadwinner of my home. In his absence It was up to me to maintain my family's base and not to let It shatter. I held their hands tightly. I was in pain. I was weak.

"We have been together since childhood and would always be together. In all stages of life come what may" Dash and Will together hugged me and assured me.

"What about Caroline?" Dash asked me in a concerned tone and my smile vanished away.

"she doesn't want to go leave the city and maybe she's right, In my present situation, our long-distance relation won't last long so last day we met and I broke up with her" I let out a deep sigh and informed them in a dull tone.

"So what? If you don't have a girl by your side, you have 2 boys right" Will patted me on my shoulders trying to cheers me up and a tiny smile curved back to my face.

Now that was not It. To wish me a memorable farewell, Dash and Will handed me a chain with a locket. The locket was the mini version of the zonal championship medal.

"We know you very well and know that you wouldn't change your decision. but we had to try" Will told me in low disappointed tone.

"And we were damn sure of one thing. If you had participated in the zonal, you would have definitely been the champion. We had made this to give it to you during that time. but I think now Is the right time you need it" Dash brought up a sadness-stricken smile on his face saying so.

My heart felt heavier with every passing second. These boys were not going to let me leave. They had a belief that If I had participated in the championship, I would have won because they believed that I was the best athlete.

The chain was given to me to remind me that I was called a champion!!

" This is our farewell gift to you" both Dash and Will patted my back saying It.

" And do try to come and participate in the zonal. In your state please don't forget who and what you are" Will now seemed okay with the fact of me leaving and tried to encourage me.

I simply nodded to them as I had no Idea what my fate was ahead. But I was Indeed lucky to have such buddies because if it wasn't for them then I would have been numb forever!!

The agency people had finished the packing and mom was waiting for us. Lee jumped upon Dash and Will crazily as he was going to miss them. Mom too felt sad to leave them and shift to a place where they had no one.

We had to have courage.

Dash and Will waved a bye to us with a heavy heart as we got in the car. Mom started the drive and we left the place in search of a new beginning........

*its not about having enough strength to hold on. Its about having enough strength to let go*

ZACK'S POV

We reached the place which was our hometown called Beverly hills...

A town which had not a lot of population but had lots of forests in it and it had the biggest beach of the whole area. I have never visited nor heard about my hometown. But yeah, I had once heard mom saying that we had some relatives in the town next to our hometown but I had never seen them nor talked to them in my life.

I was a total stranger to the place!!!

Mom and I were both equally tense to start afresh in such an alienated place. I didn't have any friends here. The only thing I had was my mother and she herself was going through a real tough time.

She had to find a job then bring everything back to normal. She was not ready to give up and wanted to take up the responsibility of me, my training, education and all.

at this point of time, I didn't want to Indulge in an argument with her so I silently planned to help her in all ways I could. finally, we arrived at our house in which we were going to live In.

On the first look, it looked as if it was a haunted mansion with creepy plants all over it walls and all the rusty fence and exteriors. It clearly showed that no one had lived there in a decade.

The place needed a high-end cleaning and maintenance to make It worth living!!!

Seeing the house made my mom bring out a tiny smile on her delicate lips.

What was there to smile seeing this haunted mansion??

Even though her face was looking tired and dull, that tiny curve made It brighter. Thought it was weird, I still felt ease seeing her mood light up and it made me more curious to know what had made her smile after so long?

what had fired up Inside her seeing such a place??

I didn't want to be an ant in her heaven, so I let her enjoy her moment and didn't ask any thing to her. The house was way too old, still It had a unique touch to It.

We were to adjust to every kind of situation we were to face in the new town and living in the house was the very first challenge!!!

We entered the house and the furniture inside the house were covered with white dusty sheets. Lee was the first to show his disapproval to live in such a place by not getting out of the car so I had to take him in my arms. I let him down once we got In but he was not Interested in running around and exploring the dirty place, so he stuck himself to mom and she took him in her arms.

"Oh my god! Why is this place in such a condition? I had Informed the caretaker about our arrival and he has still not cleaned the house?" She stood expressionless and looked around the house examining It. The tiny curve on her face had already faded seeing the inside and interiors of our so-called new house.

She had asked the caretaker to clean the house before our arrival. Guess he hadn't had enough time to finish It. It wasn't his fault though. The house was such a mess for him to handle alone. We heard the sound of someone and turned to see who It was. It was our caretaker. He came to us and introduced himself.

"Hello Mrs. Grover, I'm Dalton. Sorry, I couldn't finish the cleaning. There was a lot to do and I alone couldn't do It In such a short span. Please give me some more time. I will finish it off quickly" he told us.

Dalton was a man in his late 50's. But he was a true country man with a strong body for that age. He told us the same things that I had guessed in my mind.

"Leaving this hall, I have cleaned and made up the other parts of the house Including your bedrooms. you can move to your rooms and I will bring you luggage soon" he Informed us.

Mom and I went to our rooms to freshen up. My room had a different vintage vibe and a window similar to that of my old house. It had a view of the nearby beach. I then saw a lighthouse on the beach.

It was a rare sight I had seen for a long time. All I could remember of my good old days were the time with my friend on track, my cute girlfriend's clumsiness, my dad coaching me, the delicious food made by mom after our training and the walks I took with Lee In the streets.

It was my life which was no more....

When you lose the pillar on which you used to balance upon, it makes you balance on your own and this Independence Is what makes you strong.

Even if life gives us lemons, we need to stand by ourselves and make lemonade out of it!!!

But It's not that simple as it is to say it. It takes courage, inward strength, confidence and a trust to bring our life in which we have lost everything, back on track. It takes time.

Maybe a lot of time, in fact, a lot of It but at the end of everything that lemonade can freshen us and help us start a new beginning.

we had to be on our own and take up responsibilities of each other. we had to adjust with the all sorts of awkward situations. our world had changed in just a snap and to rebuilding it was a tough job.

I set up my room and then went to mom to see her and her room. She was there hanging up a frame of dad. He looked handsome. I really miss that man. His words, motivation and training were what I was made up of.

Every boy has someone he admires the most in the world and to me it was my dad.

"How's the house?" mom saw me standing at the door and asked me.

"It's not so bad" though I didn't feel anything about the house, I didn't want to disappoint her.

Mr. Dalton Interrupted us unknowingly and informed us about the lunch. Well, I was not at all hungry because I had been trying to digest the whole situation which I never ever wanted to go through.

"I'm going to take a walk in the neighbourhood" I looked at mom and told her in a lost tone.

"have food and then go Zack" mom asked me In a lonely tone but I couldn't stop myself.

I let go of her hands and came outside but felt bad about something. I quickly went back to the house and saw that she was having lunch. Lee had laid himself on a sheet of cloth next to her. I went straight up to her and hugged her tightly. I couldn't say anything because she was too soft and weak.

It had been so long that I had touched her and now she seemed so fragile!!!

I was numb to see her in that condition and I looked into her eyes.

"I love you forever mom" I whispered into her ears and her lips trembled with mixed emotions of happiness and sadness. She really needed those comforting words.

My words gave somewhat strength to mom and her face brightened up a bit. I was happy about that. It relieved me of the heaviness I had when I stepped out. I started to take a walk through the town and noticed that it was a calm place.

There were not many people living in the town. I noticed that the people over here were actually kind and whoever saw me smiled as If they knew who I was. It was not a new thing to be noticed as a newcomer in such a small town.

The news would flash upon the town even before we shifted. There was not a chance for people of my age and it really astonished me. I even wondered whether I was the only teenager here.

On my way, I saw an old woman trying to pick up the veggies that had fallen off her bag which was torn. I quickly rushed to her and helped her pick it up.

"thank you so much son. you are a really kind soul" she thanked me. I gave her an expressionless nod and noticed that she was examining me head to bottom.

"Are you the newcomer who had shifted to the old mansion" she questioned me. It became obvious for me that she knew most of the people in the town.

But her, referring to our house as the old house made me feel awkward. Still, I nodded yes to her.

"Son, what are you doing in the streets at this time? "She continued her questions.

I felt weird as why would someone ask such a question on taking a walk on the street during afternoon and to my horror, she saw my confused face and laughed.

"don't be stunned son. children of the town during this time would either be in the beach or In the high school. They are only found in these two places and It was a rare scene to notice them on the streets" she smiled at me saying this.

Now that was a very good explanation which made me understand why everyone noticed me and why I couldn't notice anyone of my age in the town. I thanked her for the information and headed my path to the beach.

When I reached the beach, I was strangely struck with a good feeling. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place to hang out. And to be honest, the place looked as if it was the high school of the town. It was filled with the teens of the place. As it was the weekend, it seemed like there was a party going on.

I was not in a circumstance to further explore the beach due to the crowd and so was turning back my path when suddenly someone jumped in front of me and startled me too much. He was of the same age as me.

"HI, I'm Michael aka Mike as everyone calls me that" Mike Introduced himself.

I was dumbfounded by his open-ended attitude and gave him an unnerving nod because I had no mood to make new friends.

"Are you Zack, the newcomer?" Mike asked me eagerly and I nodded the same nod I gave the old women I met in the streets.

"hey guys Zack Is here". the next moment of hearing my conformation Mike shouted to everyone.

"You have arrived at the right time. The party was waiting for you" he turned to me and had a wicked smirk.

Mike swung his arms around my shoulder and took me to a shack where everyone was staring at me. I was already blank as everything was happening unexpectedly without me having any idea about it and I began to feel awkward and insecure in such a new environment.

I was the star and a bad boy of my old high school as I was known as the champion athlete with a cold charisma. But now in this situation I felt apprehensive to be the star of the crowd. But not to make their efforts waste as the party was thrown only for me, I took a glass of drink and said cheers with a faded smile.

Everyone was happy to have me with them but seriously, I was not!!!

Just then a gang of boys approached me and introduced themselves. Every high school had a gang of boys who consider themselves the heroes while the others, mere waste.

They always made themselves shown as the only worthy youth of the place with a high ending attitude and these boys were exactly of those kinds.

But now, things were going to be different because the bad boy has arrived!!!