DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF ALLY CARTER'S ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.

Taking The Fall

Chapter One: This Is The World Coming Down On My Head

Now there's no place like home
To make me feel alone
I see you everywhere I am
And I remember how you ran out to hide
You kept me close behind

-Yellow Card

(Afraid)

"This is stupid."

Zach looked up at Vince as he dangled off the bridge with another boy, both of them gripping the edge of the platform. Pale white fingertips were visible from their blood draining away.

"You're going to get hurt."

Most people wouldn't expect words like that coming from Zach Goode. Zach himself was irresponsible and reckless, hardly the kind of person to put a stop to anyone having fun. But his mind was clear and sober; he knew that both boys on the platform weren't of sound mind and one of them in particular had malicious thoughts running through his head. He was playing what he thought was a harmless joke, but Zach knew better. They all should have known better.

Vince Morris was hanging from the edge of a factory platform by his ghostly white fingers. His head was thrown back in laughter, patiently waiting for the boy next to him to drop like a fly.

He would win, he knew. He always did.

Vince's laugh morphed into a devilish grin as he watched the face of the boy adjacent to him ripple in fear. Vince was well aware they shouldn't be up there; he knew it was dangerous, that they could get hurt. However, the difference between him and the other boy wasn't just an expression of absolute terror; it was that that Vince knew he wasn't going to fall. He was going to make this new kid think he would fall as a concession. But, at the last second, he would pull himself hack onto the ledge. His plan involved more laughter, targeted at the other boy as he emerged, cold and soaking wet, angry that he'd been tricked. That was the sort of thing Vince lived for—having a laugh at someone else's expense. He didn't think the kid would get hurt; it was just boys being boys after all.

It was a stupid challenge Vince had taunted the new kid with.

Vince's hands were starting to hurt and he knew the other boy was feeling it too. They could only hang on for so long. He began swinging his feet back and forth, acting fearless. Though, Vince felt an unfamiliar prickle of anxiousness in his spine. He fruitfully ignored it.

"Hey Grant," he called to the boy a few feet from him, completely ignoring Zach's protests. Grant looked over at the swinging boy, and tried to give him a grin that said he wasn't scared either.

Vince knew better.

"We've been hanging for what? Five minutes?" Shakily, Grant nodded.

Grant was the new kid in town. School had already been in for weeks and then he'd shown up out of the blue. Vince thought he remembered a younger (hotter) girlish version of him running around but didn't have the attention span to actually recall. He knew Grant was a good looking guy, one that Zach and Vince assumed would sit well with their clique: A football meat head who was funny and they got along with. But Vince, wanting to prove that he was superior, and that Grant was still a newbie, got this stupid archaic, masochistic idea into his head.

Vince laughed again, deep and throaty, and Zach could practically hear the sarcasm rolling of the lip of his tongue, though he could barely hear the words being exchanged. "My hands are starting to cramp, I say we call it a tie. Drop on three?"

Grant suspected Vince was lying, but his fingers were crying out in pain. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold on longer anyway. Being the new kid, he had tried proving himself but he now knew that Vince probably had more experience dangling of ledges then he did. Hence the swinging.

Whatever. If this was the way to get accepted he might as well do it, it was easier than trying to convince Vince of his dignity.

"Fine," Grant said. "On three."

Zach gritted his teeth. This wasn't the first time Vince had goaded a new kid to do something stupid like have a competition over who could hang onto the ledge of the factory wall for the longest. A factory ledge that just happened to be over a lake, if you could call it that, polluted with copious amounts of chemicals and garbage; essentially toxic waste. They'd been doing it since junior high. In fact he'd done this exact challenge before, and he'd even jumped in to prove it was deep enough.

It had been fine. Why should Zach be worried this time?

Well there was an easy enough explanation: The factory had closed down because of financial disparity last year and the line of the disgusting polluted water had fallen immensely since. There was no telling how shallow it was now. Vince hadn't stepped up to volunteer to see how deep the water was this time. That meant he had no intention of falling into the dark and disturbing water.

"Vince!" Zach yelled up at him.

"Oh fuck off Zach," Vince called back. "We'll be fine."

"One," Vince started.

Zach looked at Macey who was watching, her face impassive. She obviously wasn't amused or worried, a typical McHenry expression. The others around them, their friends, were watching. Though they were also laughing, drinking and smoking, ready to see Grant humiliated. Sadistic bastards.

"Macey say something." Zach snapped.

"Vince," she said dryly, nowhere near loud enough for him to hear. Her eyes weren't even focused: She was looking at her phone. "Don't do it."

Zach sent her a glare. "Bitch," he muttered under his breath.

"Two."

Zach shook his head in disappointment. There wasn't anything he could do.

"This is stupid!" He yelled, in one last feeble attempt, knowing his words were lost on Vince's thick skull. This was the new kid's initiation. It was going to happen regardless, he didn't even know why he was wasting his breath. This was only one of their so called initiations. The others consisted of streaking and obsessive drinking, among other things, kind of like pledging a fraternity.

As expected, Vince ignored him again.

"Three!"

Vince pulled himself back onto the ledge and Grant did the same, obviously not having been fooled by the veteran prankster. He grinned at him, thinking he'd outsmarted Vince. Thinking intelligence was more admirable than being the butt of a predictable joke.

But Vince wasn't having that. He didn't like being outshined or outsmarted.

"What the—?" Grant started as Vince reached out. He shoved Grant off the platform, sending him hurdling towards the unreadable water.

Zach stared, only for a moment before anger seeped in: "Vince! You fucking asshole!"

Grant plunged into the water head first, hitting the surface with an audible smack. Vince laughed, starting to lazily descend the ladder, happy to have won, even if it hadn't been fairly.

Zach, the only one watching the water, held his breath as he waited for Grant to surface.

All the others had rushed to the bottom of the ladder, laughing and congratulating Vince. It was still just a joke to them.

Zach checked the time on his phone. Forty seconds had past; too much time for someone to just "hang out" underwater. He felt trepidation crawl up his spine. His eyes never left water, already still after Grant's unceremonious entrance.

Zach finally saw a rippled, and after a dark blonde head emerged. It wasn't moving. And Zach was too far away to tell, but it didn't look like Grant was breathing either.

"Vince!" he shouted again. It sounded more like a scream.

"Jesus," Vince replied, his booming voice rising above everyone else's. "Zach, what now?"

"He's not fucking moving Vince!" Zach yelled as he ran to the edge of the water. "Look."

Vince's face suddnely paled, turning the same ghostly white that his fingers had been minutes before. His expression froze in raw panic as he looked at Grant, and then jumped the rest of the way to the ground and sprinted over, launching himself into the water. Zach was already swimming impossibley fast toward the floating body.

"Call an ambulance!" Zach turned to scream at the others waiting on the ground, staring and unmoving. He tasted salt and dirt in his mouth, mixed with the unmistakble taste of chemicals; he wanted to vomit.

Onshore, someone pulled out a phone and clumsily punched in numbers.

"Fuck," Vince muttered as he drove his body through the water. "FUCK." He tasted the same vile water as Zach, wondering why he'd done something so stupid. Nausea rocked through his body like a firework.

"You are such a fucking idiot Vince," Zach said through gritted teeth as he reached Grant. "I told you he would get hurt."

"Shut up Zach!" He almost swallowed a mouthful of the water and gagged. He was in no mood to hear Zach's 'I told you so's.

Zach grabbed ahold of Grant's arms and began dragging him back towards the shore. Vince caught up and began pulling too. Together the two of them heaved the unconcious boy through the polluted liquid.

"He must have hit his head or something," Zach muttered, seeing blood spill from the boy's head into the dark water. He felt his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat and the "water" they were swimming in.

The sirens became audible just as they heaved Grant onto the muddy shore. The hospital wasn't far away. The ambulances would be here in minutes.
Another sudden cold wave of reality rocked through Zach and it wasn't because of the water. They were on private property, trespassing was illegal. Not to mention half of them were high or drunk— or both.

Apparently everyone else seemed to realize this as they dropped their cups and blunts and started sprinting to the patch of grass where all the cars were parked.

"Zach," Vince said. "We can't be caught here."

"We can't leave him here, he's not breathing!"

Zach had been a lifeguard last summer. He knew CPR. Thank god, he might have had a heart attack if he didn't know what to do. Not being in control was not one of his strong suits. He placed his palms togethe ron Grant's chest.

Vince grabbed his arm. "The ambulance will be here soon. He'll be fine."

"That's what you said when you wanted to jump off! Look at him now! He's. Not. Breathing." Zach couldn't deal with Vince's denial at the moment, the only thing he cared about in that moment was getting Grant to breathe in air again.

Vince either didn't hear him or was ignoring him, most likely the latter, because that was one of Vince's favorite activities. "I've been drinking, Zach you know I can't get another offense."

Zach did know that. In the past year Vince had been suspected of having illegal drugs (which he did) but his parent's had managed to swing it to get him off with a warning and a bit of community service. The trespassing and the drinking, along with pushing a guy into a toxic waste pool was certain to put him behind bars. At least for a little while.

"You can't expect me to take the fall for this."

"Of course I don't," Vince snapped. "So let's go before the cops get here."

Zach continued CPR, desperately wishing the guy would just start breathing. He was scared out of his mind and Vince was not helping to put his mind at rest.

"Zach," Vince pleaded and Zach could hear the desperation. Panic was written all over his face, stressed in the syllabus of his voice as it broke. "I can't—"

The sound of sirens was coming closer, the sound ringing in both of their ears; the sound of pure panic.

"I have to go," Vince said and then released his grip on Grant scattered backwards. Zach took a moment to look away from Grant's unmoving chest to stare at his friend in disbelief.

"No, Vince—"

But he was already sprinting towads the cars, refusing to stay and deal with his mistakes. "I'm sorry Zach!" he called over his shoulder. His gaze fixed on Grant's body and Zach saw raw regret and tragedy vulerable on his face; quickly wiped clean as he turned to run away.

"VINCE!"

Vince didn't turn. His figure got smaller until it was lost among the black. Zach let out a grunt of disappointment and anger. Frustration and panic were demons weighing heavy on his shoulder, dragging him down. His hands were moving faster on their own accord, desperately trying to get Grant to breathe again. He could feel a faint pulse under his fingertips, giving him hope to continue pumping despite his impending exhaustion.

And then, miraculously, Grant started to cough and sputter, the black water shooting uncerimoniously from his mouth. Zach could still smell the cold metal chemical smell in the air; it was making him nauseaus and faint.

"Oh, thank god," Zach breathed in relief. "Grant. Are you okay?"

The boy kept coughing, his eyes locking on Zach's with a terrible amount of fear. Zach looked away, seeing blood stain the dirt below Grant's head.

"Jesus," Zach swore, it was an image he knew he'd never forget. He let go of Grant, pushing himself to his feet. "I gotta go man. The ambulance will be here soon. I'm sorry."

He felt guilt boil hot in his veins as he turned to leave. But it was too late. The ambulance had come, along with the cops.

A bright beam of light illuminated the dark and he heard an officer yell. Competing bouts of relief and terror washed down on him.

He saw men in uniforms rush towards them and he fell back to his knees, finally vomitting the unholy water into the grass about a foot away from Grant's head. He felt the shadows of officers and EMT's fall upon him and he staggered back to his feet. He couldn't hear anymore; everything was moving to fast.

The officer belted his wrists together with handcuffs but Zach couldn't hear what he said, he only noticed that the world had started to blur Then next thing he knew he was in the back of the car, people trying to question him. He could smell his vomit still on the sleeve of his shirt, and taste the toxicity of the chemicals in his mouth. He looked out the window, watching as Grant shuddered on the stretcher, being wheeled to the back of the ambulance. He felt anger and dispair. Relief and panic. His brain was drowing trying to process everything that was happening.

And the next thing he knew— the world was dark.

"Son," an officer came to his door, pulling it open. "Are you okay now?"

Zach looked up at him, momentarily confused. "Excuse me?"

The officer almost looked relieved. "You were screaming and fighting the officers, we figured it was shock."

He was? He thought he'd just been arrested. He hadn't said a word. . . had he?

"I don't. . . remember. . ."

"Shock," the officer repeated, with more certainty. "You alright?"

No.

Zach realized his hands were shaking, he willed them to stop. "Yes."

The officer removed the handcuffs, "sorry," he said. "We had to restrain you."

"Is Grant okay?" he asked.

The officer seemed to be uncomfortable by the question. "What's your name?"

"Zach Goode," he answered without hesitation. The officer wrote it down. "Is Grant okay?" he repeated.

"He's at the hospital. You performed CPR?"

Zach hastily nodded.

"The doctors say if you hadn't he wouldn't have made it."

"But he's okay?" Zach stomach was knotted with merciless guilt and remorse.

"He's alive."

Zach knew that sounded bad but he was relieved. His heart was starting to slow down.

"But he's in a coma, with head trauma and a broken collar bone."

A sharp breath hissed through his teeth.

"Yeah," the officer said, reading his expression. "Not so good after all."

Zach didn't say anything.

"Well now that you seem in a normal state you wouldn't mind answering some questions, would you?"

Anxiety stirred in his veins, it had been dormant for all of ten seconds. "Can I call my parents?"

The officer looked a little surprised. "After a few questions."

"Thanks."

"Have you been drinking?" The officer asked as Zach dug his phone out of his pocket. He felt paranoid. He hadn't been drinking but he still could barely concentrate, he felt guilt and fear coarsing through him.

"No sir."

"Smoking?"

"No sir."

"We're going to have to test you anyway."

"Why?" Zach asked, mainly curious, even though he was clean.

"There's empty beer can all over the place, it stinks of marijuana too."

"A test is fine," Zach said, looking down at his hands. They were dirty with cracked dried mud and Zach was sure, blood. "I'm not lying."

"So who else was here?"

Zach looked up from his hands and bit his lip. He didn't answer. The officer sensed his stress. He didn't ask the question again.

The officer cleared his throat.

"How did Mr. Morgan end up with a broken collar bone and head trauma?" Zach felt like the officer already knew the answer to that. But he knew that probably wasn't worth pointing out.

Kids had been jumping off the platform for years, everyone in this town knew about it.

"He jumped of the platform," Zach said deliberately, his voice sounding even.

"He jumped?"

Zach swallowed. "Yes sir."

"And why did he jump? Did he have a death wish?"

At the word "death" Zach internally flinched and clenched his hands.

"It was a dare."

"You dared him to jump?"

Zach hesitated, he was about to implicate himself, he was sure. He zone out as he felt himself nod. "Yes sir. Stupid boy stuff. I didn't think it would be dangerous."

The officer seemed to understand.

"I take it he dove?"

Zach's eyes refocused on the officer. "What?"

"Dove? As in he went head first?"

"Oh?" Zach said. Grant had, after all, intitally hit the water with his skull. "Uh, yeah."

Zach looked around. There were more officers scattered on the scene, one of them rolling yellow tape around the lake and ladder up to the platform. At least no one could do it again.

"So it was dare and he dove in, it was too shallow, and then—?"

"I waited for him to come up and then he did but he wasn't moving. It didn't look like he was breathing. So I jumped in and dragged him out and started CPR. It's all kind of a blur really. I think he started coughing and then the ambulance came and I really don't remember anything after that. I guess you do."

The officer nodded and scribbled on a legal pad.

"That's it for now," he said. "But this is an on-going investigation, you're going to have to be called into the station for more questions." Zach nodded slowly. "And you're being charged with trespassing."

"How much is that?"

The officer shrugged. "Not much kid, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't have a record already?"

Zach breathed a sigh of relief. He shook his head. "No sir." He suddenly thought about what his parents were going to say after tonight. Even if he wasn't in that much legal trouble; his father would be furious.

"Good," the officer nodded approvingly. "Then with a good lawyer and some money you could get it cleared and wiped off so you have no record."

This wasn't bad at all. His parent's had money, they were practically swimming in it. They wouldn't be happy be any means, but he would be ok. He rationalized it till he could speak again.

"Ok."

"But like I said: it's an ongoing investigation, and until Mr. Morgan wakes up the case will be put on hold."

"Case?" Zach echoed.

The officer looked uncomfortable again. "Yes, case. If he doesn't wake up you might be charged with assault, involuntary manslaughter or even attempted murder."

Zach felt his jaw go slack. Involuntary manslaughter? "Attempted murder?"

The officer nodded, avoiding Zach's eyes.

"I wasn't trying to kill him!"

The officer seemed to understand. "I know kid, but some people won't see it like that. There were no witnesses, for now."

"But—"

"Don't worry about it for now. Just call your parents and get home and get some rest."

"When will I be called in?"

He shrugged. He handed Zach a piece of paper. "No idea. I'm not a detective kid, just a beat cop. You'll need to fill this out and have it back to me before you leave."

Zach took the form and nodded.

"Don't worry kid," the officer said, obviously trying to be reassuring. "I'm sure it'll be fine." Zach knew he didn't really think that. Which meant Grant's condition was worse than he had implied.

"Thanks," he muttered. The officer offered him another vaguely apathetic smile before walking away, leaving Zach alone with his thoughts and the guilt manifested in his stomach. He blamed Vince, not unjustly either. It was Vince's stupid idea to hang from the ledge. Zach felt rage boil in him as stared at the form, words blurring in and out as he thought about the amount of damage Vince had caused just to feed his own ego. The anger almost overpowered the guilt he felt. Even though there was no reason to feel guilty— he hadn't caused it, he'd even saved Grant's life. He shouldn't feel guilty but goddammit he did.

Fucking conscience.

God he was going to kill Vince.

His mother seemed to buy the fact that it was just the two of them and that it was a stupid dare. His father, however, looked at him with hard eyes, and Zach knew that he was going to get an earful once his mother was out of the room.

His father had gone to Riverside. He knew what went on there. Pranks like jumping into the lake were from his father's time and had yet to be outdated. That's why Vince had been so convinced that it was safe. Generations had jumped into that toxic water. Zach, however, had never jumped off the factory ledge in fear that he might die of exposer to nuclear waste or never coming to the surface. Vince had called him a pussy, Zach would love to know what Vince thought now. The thought of Vince, as it had since the accident, made his fist clench, and he focused on his father's eyes, knowing what he would say.

"I'm so glad you're alright," his mother said, wrapping him in a hug and kissing his cheek. "But I've got to get back to bed." She smiled. "Night baby."

"Goodnight mom."

Once she was gone his father got up and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Zach sat quietly at the table knowing he was about to get it.

"You didn't do it."

Zach was taken aback by his father's words. ". . . What?"

"You're like me," he explained. "I wouldn't have dared someone to jump."

"I am not like you—" Zach protested.

"Who did it Zach?" his father interrupted, his voice tired and Zach knew his father wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. There was no use lying. His father would just get angry.

"Vince," Zach answered quietly.

"I figured. I always knew that kid was trouble. You shouldn't be paying for his mistakes."

"He was just being stupid." Zach didn't know why he was defending Vince. He was so angry but. . . If he didn't defend Vince, who would?

"I know how the story goes Zach."

Zach nodded and kept quiet.

"You better hope that kid wakes up."

He nodded again.

"I'll talk to Zimmerman tomorrow." He said, referring to their lawyer.

"Thanks dad."

"I know you were just trying to help, hell you saved the kid's life. You should be rewarded, not punished. But the damn law doesn't work like that."

"I know."

His dad sighed. "Please Zach, don't ever let it be you ending up in the hospital."

"It won't," he said, he would make sure of that.

"Alright," he said. "Get to bed. You've got school."

Zach nodded again. "Thanks dad."

"If your mother asks it was only a dare, harmless, right?"

He nodded.

"Good, now get upstairs. We'll talk about it more tomorrow."

Zach went up to his room, closing the door behind him and glancing at the clock on his nightstand. It was nearly two in the morning. He wondered how Grant was doing, if his family knew anything about what happened. If he'd told them what had really happened— if he'd even woken up.

As Zach slipped into bed he thought about Vince and his anger bubbled back into his body. He would do a lot for his best friend but he wouldn't go to jail for attempted murder.

Zach had known Vince his whole life and they were thick as thieves, always poking fun at each other but both of them knew that if something went wrong the other would have their back. They had done it their whole lives growing up and that was how they managed to slip around the trouble they always got into. And if this weren't so serious it would probably be no different, but this was someone's life that was at stake.

Zach knew that if Grant didn't wake up Vince would feel regret every day of his life. He had a good heart, but he made mistakes, more than most. But Zach's anger was blinding him to only seeing the worst of Vince— the fact that he'd run away and left Zach to take the blame for his mistake. And even though he was livid Zach would never rat Vince out, not unless he came forward on his own. Because that's what they did, when the going gets tough right?

Vince had caused all this, Zach had tried to be the voice of reason for once and it hadn't done any good. He hoped Vince would listen to him now— know that when Zach opened his mouth to speak, he only said things he meant.

Zach hoped wherever Vince was the guilt that plagued Zach was keeping him awake, reminding him of what a rotten thing he'd done. And that thought made Zach feel a little better.

AN: So this is my new multi-chapter story. A few things. I changed the rating back to T because I've decided it won't be as dark and I wanted a wider audience. It is T for explicit language and mentions of sex and drugs. The only reason it was put under 'M' is because my three-shot story "Just Another Broken Heart" was removed from FanFic because the rating wasn't appropriate. I was really upset because I didn't have that story saved on my laptop so I can't re-post, and I really liked writing it. I don't want to take any chances on this story because I think it might be my best yet. So I hope you all still continue to read. All of my readers know how I write and this story will be in the same style.

And now: Notes on the story.

Background: This story takes place in modern day Virginia, in a town by a river. No spies, all normal kiddos. Zach is a highschool student (Junior) who is blamed for Grant's "accident". Vince Morris is his best friend, as well as a few more guys who will be introduced in the following chapters.

Also. This IS a ZAMMIE story. But for once, it's going to be more from Zach's point of view then Cammie's. Or that's how the first few chapters were. I don't think Cammie will come into until the third or fourth chapter to bare with me. There will be A LOT of OCs in this story. I love OCs, and for all my readers who read "Fish Tale" I've been told you guys adored Will, Jace, and Viney. There will also be more of Ally Carter's characters: Bex, Liz, and some others.
The updating for this story will probably be in the two week margin, I'm not making promises because that would just be upsetting for my readers. However, this is just the first chapter and I may not update for a month or so, so I can get the rest of the story in order.

And aside from that I hope you guys like the new story line. I would love for you to tell me your thoughts and questions. So leave a review and I'll try to get back to you :)
Thanks,

Becca.