When Zach and Livy move away, the start in a new town and a slightly nicer house. Carlota still beats them and is still a drunk, but she’s more… subtly about it. It’s not well known, the abuse that still happens at the Ross house in this new town (Carlota did not have enough money to change her name back to Nussy). Zach and Livy were still not enrolled in school, but they had bigger problems to worry about. Since the divorce, Carlota had become a devoured racist. Being Race #3, and Lucus being Race #1, she decided to passionately hate and wish ill upon all Race #1. As you can imagine, this was not good news for Zach and Livy. There is this certain physical characteristic about Race #1 that Race #3 does not have. Race #2 has something similar to Race #1, but not exactly the same. And unlike Race #2, Race #1 can chose to physically hide this characteristic. However, this is something learned. While Zach knew how to do this, Livy did not. If they were in the house with these characteristics showing, Carlota would beat them. Zach had to get a beanie for Livy to always wear and tied a jacket around her waist to hide these things from sight.
Abuse at home became more and more unbearable. Zach knew he had to familiarize Livy and himself with the new area and so he would often take long walks with Livy and always make sure they could find their way back to the house. Once they understood the lay out and the way around, the perimeter continued to get bigger on where they could walk to (this also helped them to get away from Carlota). Eventually the found a large high school building. Zach and Livy had never been to school.
Then Carlota started poisoning their food. Using a type of food that was non-toxic to Race #3, in fact, it was a common treat, but it was a well known fact that all of Race #1 was highly allergic to the food. Carlota began coating every single meal she cooked for them with the food, and it became extremely dangerous to eat at home. Carlota would serve them food and not let them leave the table until their plates were licked clean. This scarred Livy and Zach half to death. But there was a saving grace… for Livy. Every single dinner time (the only time Carlota made food), Carlota would fill their plates, make sure they were seated, and then leave to the kitchen for her bottle of wine to drink for the meal. While she was gone, Zach grabbed Livy’s plate and dumped everything onto his own. When Carlota came back, Livy (under Zach’s instruction) claimed to have eaten it all and asked to be excused. Carlota allowed it. And Zach was left to eat twice as much poison as originally planned. And he did so. Often he could not finish and began violently throwing up, in which cases Carlota would beat him with her newly purchased whip. Because of this, in later years such as adult hood, Zach developed high sensitivity to the food. And because it was so common, he had to avoid certain places. If he so much as breathed it in, he would start to break out in hives, it would give him an a asthma attack (he only had asthma when around this food, but had to carry and inhaler anyway), his throat would close up, along with many other violent symptoms. If he breathed it in it was more mild, if he touched it then it would put hives just in that spot, if he ate it it was incredibly bad. Dinner time was not a good time. When older, Zach would have to avoid certain cafes bc of the extreme food allergy.
One day things are just too much. ALL the food is poisoned, so Livy can’t eat anything. They have to steal again, but it’s getting harder without their three person system. Zach has nightmares about Maria and Livy. Finally Zach takes a big risk. He goes to the high school and begs for him and Livy to be enrolled. Livy is too young (it’s a high school) but Zach insists she’s smart enough to do it. When asked about previous formal education, Zach admitted they had none. When the principal said they needed parent signatures, Zach said he could bring home any paperwork to his mother. The principal insists to meet his mother in person, Livy jumps in and says their mother is bed ridden. Despite protocols, the principal senses something was off and let the siblings go with the paperwork. The principal’s husband happened to be a police officer, and she asked him to do some digging without drawing attention. Meeting the children under the guise of a staff member, the principal’s husband said he suspected that there may be some abuse in the home, and school was the children’s way of escaping. He encouraged his wife to let them in. Livy had to take a series of tests so she could skip a grade and be a freshman. Zach was put in as a sophomore (as was appropriate for his age). Both Zach and Livy struggled in the classroom, not because they were dumb, but because they didn’t have the basics.
Oh! And let me clarify. Zach is old enough to be a highschool somphmore, and Livy should be in 8th grade (she’s a freshman though). Zach also forged his mother’s signature on every piece of paperwork.
Ok. They both struggled in the classroom, and so the principal gave Livy a private tutor to fill in the gaps. Zach got a student tutor, and all a star student named Derek Lycan.
Derek had an older brother named Daren, and they lived with their parents Mr. and Mrs. Lycan. They were a well off family, but they had a secret. All members of the family were Race #1, but via hiding their characteristics, they lived their lives pretending to be Race #3.
Also, when going to school, Zach and Livy did NOT hide their characteristics. They did at first, just because the racism at home got them scared. But because no hats were allowed inside the building, Livy had to take off her beanie and she still didn’t know how to hide so Zach showed his too to make her feel more safe. It was a mixed school, and there were plenty of Race #1s, #2s, and #3s.
No no no. NO ONE knows that the Lycan family are actually Race #1. EVERYONE thinks that they’re Race #3
Nobody hides their race like the Lycans do. They are one in the whole entire world, nobody does that. Let’s move on.
Ok, so Derek is tutoring Zach and quickly learns Zach has no idea what he’s doing. His mother buys him a kindergarten book to teach Zach from, and Zach flies through it. In no time they’re caught up to where they’re supposed to be, and Derek is impressed with how fast Zach can learn. However, out of no where, Zach seems to be struggling again and Derek doesn’t understand it. He explains it to Zach in every way he knows how and Zach continues to get the wrong answer. Mrs. Lycan is a school teacher for an elementary school, and Derek asks her advice. Zach is caught up to what they’re learning in class now, but for some reason he still doesn’t get it. Derek makes a packet for Zach do (Zach and Livy’s tutoring is afterschool in school for an hour) and lets Zach work on that while Derek does other homework. When it’s time to go, Zach hands the completed packet to Derek and leaves for home with Livy. Derek looks through it only to discover that Zach got every single question wrong. Handing the packet over to Mrs. Lycan, Derek asks her advice. Mrs. Lycan’s eyebrows furrow as she sees something Derek overlooked. Zach had solved the problem correctly, erased it, and then solve it incorrectly with the wrong answer on EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. This was discovered bc of the poor eraser that was being used. Derek took it as Zach was second guessing himself, but Mrs. Lycan corrected him. It seemed like Zach knew what he was doing, but was getting them wrong on purpose. Derek asked why Zach would do that and Mrs. Lycan thought for a moment.
“When are your tutoring sessions?”
“How long are they supposed to be?”
“How long are the usually?”
“About two, but that’s only because Zach gets them all wro—“
“Well there’s your answer.”
Mrs. Lycan suspects that Zach was trying to draw out the tutoring, maybe he didn’t want to go home. When she learned that his little sister did tutoring as well, Mrs. Lycan grew a little worried. She told Derek to invite them both over for dinner. The next day at tutoring, Derek said that if they finished in their actual time slot, Zach and Livy could come over for dinner. Z ach seemed hesitant at first, but ultimately agreed (after Livy overheard and begged). That day, Zach got all the questions right. When Livy and Zach walked home with Derek, Daren greeted the Ross’s at the door. When they saw the set table, Zach’s jaw dropped and Livy gasped, saying it was the most food she had ever seen in her entire life.
The Lycan family prayed before the food, a practice the Ross’s were not accustomed to. Back in the town they grew up in, Zach was religious so he prayed before meals. Because he and Maria could not agree on what to teach Livy (they acted more like her parents than their actual parents), Zach would close his eyes and twirl his fork in his fingers while he said a prayer in his head. Maria and Livy would wait patiently. Then Zach would open his eyes and push his food on his plate around, signaling he was done with his prayer (Livy didn’t know he was praying) and that his sisters could eat. Since it was just Zach and Livy, because of the food that Race #1 was allergic to and Race #3 was not, Livy pushed her plate towards Zach and he took her fork and inspected her food to make sure it was safe. Then he gave her plate back to her and said “clear.” Then Zach would eat his own food. Livy knew the system as “Zach eats first.”
The Lycans prayed to bless the food, and Zach pushed his food around on his plate to signal to Livy that it was ok to pass her food to him. He inspected her food, drawing the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Lycan (on the way to the Lycan’s house, Zach had told Livy to tie her jacket round her waist and put on her beanie while Zach hid his characteristics. They didn’t know how Derek’s family felt about Race #1). Mrs. Lycan asked if there was something wrong, and Livy answered before Zach could say anything. “He’s seeing if it’s safe.”
Mrs. Lycan asks if there’s anything that they’re allergic too. No one in this new town knows of the Ross’s predicament, and Zach had told Livy not to mention it (they don’t want police involvement), but Livy answers anyway, “chocolate.” (Chocolate is the allergy in Race #1 but not Races #2&3)
Zach doesn’t want Livy to mention anything, as this is a known allergen to Race #1, but Daren speaks up, asking why there would be any chocolate in Lasagna and salad and mashed potatoes. Livy starts to answer but Zach clears his throat. He doesn’t trust these people, he just needs food and anywhere but home. The mood is uncomfortable. Mr. and Mrs. Lycan try to make small talk, but Zach isn’t inclined to say much. Mr. Lycan asks what their parents do for work, Livy says she doesn’t know if they do work. Zach swiftly lies, saying they do, but has to admit the jobs are part time and inconsistent. In reality their mother gambles and sells drugs. Livy perkes up, saying Zach is right and their mom does have a job, “that’s why there’s always so much money to buy wine.” Zach stuff food into Livy’s mouth immediately.
Though the meal is slightly awkward, Zach and Livy both meaningfully thank the Lycans for dinner. Livy adds that it’s the most she’s eaten in years, despite Zach’s pinching. They leave and Mrs. Lycan calls out that they were welcome whenever they wanted. As soon as they’re gone, Daren double checks with Derek that they’re both Race #1, to which Derek confirms. Mr. Lycan asks Derek if he’s ever seen either of them in short sleeves, to which Derek, upon reflection, says no. Mr. and Mrs. Lycan understand that there may be potential abuse and they talk to their children about abuse families and how abused children often act. Mrs. Lycan disclaims that they don’t know for sure, but that she’d like Derek to put more of an effort into being Zach’s friend rather than just his tutor. After a few months, Derek invites Zach to sit with him at the school cafeteria. Derek introduces Zach to his friends: Terri and Garté, and Elizabeth and Tessa. Zach sits with them and they all make sure he’s included. Terri is the class clown, Garté is the popular guy all the girls are crazy about, Elizabeth is a “bad girl” and Tessa is sweet and innocent. Over the school year, the all get really close, especially Garté Terri Zach and Derek, and they have fun together. They hang out with each other after school (Livy tags along), and Derek even calls Zach his best friend. Derek and Zach are now top of the class and can do crazy math equations. Even still, it seems EVERYONE is copying off of Derek’s homework 🤣. They four even start a band called the misfits. Derek plays base, Garté plays drums, Terri plays electric paino and Zach plays guitar. Lucus used to play the guitar and Zach would always play and sing for Livy and Maria. All three Ross kids were incredibly musically talented. Stuff at home continues to escalate, but Zach and Livy are barely ever home any more. Zach arranges sleep overs almost every night for Livy, and gives his own phone number to her friends moms pretending to be Carlota. They have a system now and it works.
Garté has this girlfriend named Ziana, has since Zach met him, and Zach starts developing a crush on Ziana’s best friend Sylvanna. His friends notice and tease him about it relentlessly, in turn Zach turns it around on Derek and calls him out for his crush Rachel. But before this, before girls and romance… something changed towards the end of sophomore year in math class.
Something was wrong with Derek. Nobody knew what. Terri was out of town on a trip with his old man, the Garté, Derek, and Zach all sat next to each other (Derek in the middle). When Zach and Garté walked in, Derek already had his head down on his desk. He would respond when they asked what was wrong. The teacher called on Derek to answer a question and Derek didn’t say anything. Zach tried to make an excuse for him, but the Race #3 teacher was racist and wouldn’t listen to him. Garté (Race #3) then tried to defend Derek but didn’t know what to say. Bc the teacher was facing Garté and had her back turned to Zach, Zach was able to use sign language to tell Garté what to say (Zach knew sign language from his days with Livy and Maria bc they needed a silent form of communication, and he taught it to his new friends). The teacher then let it slide. Further into class, without warning, derek shot up and bolted out the door. Zach and Garté started at what just happened, then at each other. As typical for people in Race #1 (they all feel the unexplainable urge to jump out windows [don’t ask, I’m race #3, I have no idea[), Zach asked to be excused, and when the teacher said “YOY MAY NOT WALK OUT THIS DOOR” he jumped out the window. Garté asked to go to the bathroom and was allowed. After a moment of silence a boy in the class (Eric) raised his hand. The teacher asked if he wanted to leave as well. Eric simply told her that all three boys were close friends. The teacher quit on the spot. Zach landed safely and shook off the broken glass. Garté ran outside to meet him and they both looked for Derek. Zach spotted him on the far side of the field and they both ran to catch up. The gym coach spotted them and chased them. “You go,” Garté told him, “you’re a faster runner, I’ll cover for you two.” Zach told him thanks and ran off after Derek.
When Zach finally catches up to Derek, he grabs Derek by the wrist and Derek whips around and screams at Zach to leave. In shock, Zach lets go and watches Derek run. Now, there was something off about Derek’s eyes, and Zach recognizes it bc he’s superstitious. Secretly, Derek and Mr. Lycan have this secret thing about their eyes. They can turn there eyes red, and when done it turns anyone from Race #3 into Race #1. Because Zach is already Race #1, he is unaffected, but is familiar with the condition bc of his superstition. It was thought unreal and fake, but the condition exists. That’s why the Lycans pretend to be Race #3. After collecting his thoughts, Zach is silently grateful that Garté chose to stay behind bc Garté was Race #3. Zach chases after Derek and they end up at the top of the roof. In horror, Zach watches Derek leap off. Instinctively, Zach lunges and catches Derek by the wrist in both hands. They dangle there for a moment, and Zach shouts at Derek “it’s either we BOTH die RIGHT NOW or we BORT live RIGHT NOW! You understand?! You try to wiggle out, and I slide off this roof, so you let me help you back up here RIGHT NOW because I have a sister to take care of and you have a family to go back to so make up your mind NOW!” Derek stares in shock and numbly nods, letting Zach pull him up.
And let’s be clear on Derek’s condition. He is the ONLY ONE IS THE WORLD with it. It’s a condition that the bad guys have in fairy tales, it isn’t supposed to be real. But in Derek’s family, it’s passed down from father to son. So Mr. Lycan has it and Derek has it but NOT Daren and obviously not Mrs. Lycan.
Another thing I wanted to clear up is that Eric was calling them OUT, not praising them.
Zach pulls up Derek and the two talk. Derek tells Zach about his condition, and Zach responds “Cool.” This was beyond the best outcome Derek could’ve realistically hoped for. Derek confessed that his eyes had been red all morning and nothing he did would “tame” them. Zach wasn’t familiar with actually interacting with the magically red eyes from legend, but his experience with Maria and Livy did teach him how to make normal red eyes bright again. He distracted Derek by telling him how he jumped out the window. Filled him with a bunch of stories and how excited he was that his superstition was correct. Derek’s eyes tamed and the two hugged. Derek made Zach promise not to tell ANYONE. Derek wouldn’t even tell him own parents that Zach knew, and Zach promised. After about a week, Garté noticed something was off. Eventually, conceding to Garté’s jealousy, Derek told him everything. Garté replied “cool,” and Derek lit up. After Derek left, Zach leaned over and whispered to Garté, “you have no idea what that means, so you?” Garté whispered back, “no, but I assumed you’d tell me after he left.”
After a while they all agreed to tell Terri when he got back from his trip. When the told Terri the name of Derek’s condition, it was clear he had never heard of it before. “Congratulations!” “I’m sorry for you loss?” Zach signed for Terri to say “cool,” but by then Derek caught on and explained to Terri what exactly it was that he had. In the end, Terri said “cool.” (Garté and Terri are both Race #3)
It’s the beginning of Junior year now, and Zach’s feelings for Sylvanna grow. Just one problem: she has a boyfriend. And that boyfriend is Eric. But Zach’s crush isn’t the only thing that gets stronger, his allergic reactions to chocolate do as well. Soon he can’t even eat in the cafeteria because he’ll get asthma. He eats in the music room instead, and when his friends find out, they join him. They start practicing in their band more and more and preform often at school events. When Livy cant find anyone to have a sleepover with, Zach would often ask one of his friends to take her in. After Elizabeth and Tessa joined the band, Livy often stayed with Tessa. Even though Zach trusted his friends, he was always more comfortable having a girl watch over Livy instead of a guy. Derek’s family rules didn’t allow anyone to stay over night (bc of their condition the family was very private), Garté had sisters so Livy usually stayed with him. Tessa and Terri and Elizabeth all didn’t have any siblings, and Livy liked Tessa the best. Further developments: Zach realized that Derek hide to hide his Race #1 charactistics to pass off as Race #3, so even at school Zach decided to also hide his characteristics. Most ppl already knew he was Race #1 and it wasn’t a big deal to hide your characteristics, so no one said anything. But in Zach’s own words, “if you have to do it, I have to do it. What are best friends for?” While it wasn’t UNcomfortable to keep your characteristics hidden, it was much MORE comfortable to have them out, so this was a change, considering Zach wasn’t allowed to have them out at home.
One day, while on the way to the music room for lunch, Eric shouts at the group to stop. Derek, Garté, Terri, Tessa, Elizabeth, and Zach are all confused, but watch as Eric stomps over to them. A few people from Eric’s table shout at him to stop and come back, a few others from around the cafeteria quietly start chanting “fight, fight, fight.” Ziana (who sits at the table with Eric) yells and Garté and his friends to run. Confused and cautious, Zach steps up asking what the matter seems to be. Eric tells him that he knows Zach likes “his girl.” Someone spilled the tea and started a rumor that Zach had a crush on Sylvanna and Eric heard it. Eric says if Zach likes her so much, then he’d fight for her. Zach shifts his feet, hyper aware that he can’t step into the cafeteria. Zach also realizes that Eric (who is Race #3) probably doesn’t know that Zach is Race #1 (Zach hides his characteristics), otherwise Eric probably wouldn’t have tried to start a fight with him. Race #1 is typically naturally stronger than Race #3, ofc not always, a Race #1 who’s never tried to work out would probably loose a fight to a Race #3 body builder, but still. Eric throws a punch and Zach easily dodges. Not only does he have Race #1 genetics, but he used to being hit. Surprised, Eric continued to try and fight him but misses every time. People are openly cheering now. “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” Derek warns the rest of his friends not to interfere, recognizing that Zach has the situation under control, but then Livy comes over and tells Eric to leave her big brother alone. Sensing a possible danger, Zach jumps INTO THE CAFETERIA and gets in front of her. His friends pale as Zach immediately starts coughing, but he seems otherwise fine. Then the food fight starts. Eric throws food and some of the bigger stuff Zach can’t dodge all the way. Eric gets closer and Zach trying to dodge some poor kids spaghetti, and when Zach turns back around, his getting a giant. CHOCOLATE. Cupcake shoved in his mouth.
Livy screams and Zach immediately tries clawing it out of his mouth. It’s a huge cupcake, one that’s meant to be eaten with a spoon. It’s chocolate with chocolate chips in it, chocolate frosting with chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips. It has chocolate filling in the middle and is too big to get out without chewing. Zach starts coughing and starts getting hives. Confused and scarred, Eric slowly backs away. Derek, Garté, and Terri all rush to help while Tessa picks up and screaming and crying Livy and Elizabeth runs to get the school nurse.
He starts breaking out in hives and hacks up chocolate, still unable to get the cupcake out. Terri gets behind him and starts doing the procedure you do when someone is choking. Chocolate cupcake goes everywhere and Zach is having an asthma attack. Sylvanna and Ziana rush over. Sylvanna shoves Eric hard, yelling at him that she told him not to and telling him that they’re done. Ziana asks what happened and just then, because of the loss of control, Zach’s Race #1 characteristics show. People gasp and some of the Race #1 students get mad and claim Eric tried to kill him. Zach can’t breathe and the nurse comes and calls an ambulance. Zach goes in a coma for 2 weeks.
When Zach wakes up from his coma, things turn around a little bit, but not all in a good way. Carlota discovers they’ve been going to school, and even though Mrs. Lycan pays the medical bill, Carlota is furious. When Zach fully recovers and is back in school, Sylvanna says she’s sorry for her EX-boyfriend’s behavior and wants to make it up to Zach. Shyly, after school. She kisses Zach on the cheek, leaving Zach stunned. Derek encourages him to go after Sylvanna and when Zach asks her why she kissed him she shrugs. She tries to playfully kiss him again, this time on the mouth, but Zach melts into it. His sudden muscle relax is contagious and suddenly it’s a wholesome make out session. After that, they start dating.
By the end of junior year, Derek tells Tessa and Elizabeth about his condition. Derek and Rachel have just started dating, and The Misfits are doing pretty well for themselves. Sylvanna and Zach are dating seriously, and Terri asked out Tessa. Garté and Ziana are still together and Livy won an award for highest grades in her classes! Yes, things are looking up… until… 2nd quarter of Zach’s senior year (Livy’s Junior year). Livy can’t find anyone to have a sleep over with, so she has to go with one of Zach’s friends. Livy has been staying at Sylvanna’s house more and more, but Sylvanna’s parents said no that night. Tessa’s said no, Elizabeth wouldn’t be home, Garté’s parents were out of town, and it was always a no for Derek. Terri even tried, but it was still a no from his parents too. So Garté asked his girlfriend. Ziana was more than happy to, but Zach wasn’t too sure, especially since he lost his phone and wouldn’t be able to text her. Livy said she was more grown up now, and Ziana and Garté both assured that everything would be fine. So Zach let Livy go home with Sylvanna… but something wasn’t right. Zach stayed at the school all night to help with something, and come morning at school (before first period) Zach couldn’t find Livy. He was mildly worried at first, but that worry soon turned into panic. He ran around campus and couldn’t find her. Eventually he found Ziana and frantically asked her where Livy was. She looked confused and told him she dropped Livy off at Zach and Livy’s house at 10 o’clock last night like Zach asked her too. Zach paled and reminded her it was supposed to be overnight! Ziana was confused and pulled out her phone, saying that Zach had texted her to drop Livy off. Zach told her that he had lost his phone— and then he knew what had happened. Carlota must have found his phone and tricked Ziana into sending Livy home.
Zach runs over to his house as fast as he can. His friends piece together the situation and the follow him in Garté’s truck. The go to Zach’s house to find the place surrounded by police cars. It’s Zach’s greatest fear. The racist officers don’t let Zach in and so Sylvanna (being Race #3) has to go and vouch for him. Zach runs around the house to try and find Livy. She locked herself in the closet and the police hadn’t even tried to brake down the door. Zach took matters into his own hands and did it himself to find his littlest sister passed out from blood-loss. Carlota had gotten drunk and tried to kill Livy. When Livy locked herself in the closet and Carlota couldn’t stab her anymore, Carlota killed herself. Zach was overstimulated and didn’t know what to do. Sylvanna, the love of his life, grabbed him by the face and told him to lock in. Said it anyone could do it it was him. The racist officers wouldn’t call an ambulance, so Zach had to fix Livy himself. Sylvanna went to answer questions for the police, and Zach did what he could to help Livy. One officer came over and told Zach that he was also Race #1. Told Zach that he was a witch doctor and used magic to heal injuries. The witch doctor officer showed and helped Zach with Livy and she woke up. Since then, Zach and Livy moved into a trailer in the Lycan’s driveway, and Zach swore on his life that he would be a witch doctor.
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