Title: Imbroglio Rating: This chapter – G, overall - R Fandom: Saved by the Bell: The College Years Pairing: Zack/Slater, implied Zack/Screech Summary: College brings about a lot of changes, not all of them good. Disclaimer: Although I’m not affiliated with any of the creators/producers/writers/big boss people responsible for SbtB, and although I don’t own any of these characters, I would like to claim the following things, if no one else objects; Screech’s bike, the most fantastic mode of transport ever invented, Mike’s mullet, a very impressive specimen, and Alex’s ‘Freddy the Falcon’ costume. Author’s note: ‘Imbroglio’ – a complicated or confused situation ***** Prologue ~Zack~ It wasn’t common knowledge, but Zack liked to be organised. He had tended to give the impression that his was a lazy mind, always happy to take the easiest way out. At best, he might have been called a schemer, since when he did appear to set his mind to something, it was usually something that would bring him money, girls, or a free ride. In truth, although he didn’t let it show, Zack always planning, and not just how to get rich. He could plan his way through the foreseeable future and beyond, to make sure his life ran exactly the way he wanted. His plan for college was basically an extension of his plan for high school: so as little academic work as possible, thus freeing up his time to allow him to charm, schmooze and, if necessary, bullshit his way to the top of the social pile. Now, that might have worked at some party school where charm and a nice smile were appreciated as necessary life skills, but suddenly Zack had found himself faced with the prospect of several years at Yale, where a nice smile wouldn’t help at all. Maybe someone like Jessie or Screech could have made it at Yale, someone intelligent enough to know what all those bookish types were talking about and stupid enough to put in all that hard work and extra hours studying, but Zack knew that for all his charm and likeability, Yale would bury him. What he needed was a sense of security, and a populace gullible enough to put him at the top of the heap. He needed people he could manipulate. Hence his hasty change of mind and his admission to Cal U. His father had called it the easy way out, and Zack knew he was right, but it would still fit into his plan. After all, business skills were business skills, whether he learned them at Yale, Cal or stocking shelves at K-Mart, and if he could fit his studies around a great social life, then that was even better. Naturally, Screech had been the first to find out, and he’d been straight on the phone to the housing department to ensure they could dorm together, proving that even the easy way out had its downside. Going to college with Screech, however, meant that at least he would have one reliable lackey, whatever happened. He was a little ashamed to admit it, but at least Yale had offered the promise of a Screech-free existence. While at Bayside everyone had understood that he put up with Screech because they’d been friends since Kindergarten, explaining their friendship to a bunch of strangers would not be easy at all, especially when he needed to impress these strangers if he wanted to have fun at college. Somewhere along the line, though, he found out that Slater had turned down Iowa in favour of Cal U, and knowing Slater would be there too kind of made up for having to deal with Screech for a few more years. So despite his father’s criticisms, Zack was sure that choosing Cal U instead of Yale would be the best decision he’d ever made. ***** ~Screech~ Few people envied Samuel Powers. Maybe some people wanted to be as smart as he was, just to make school a little easier, but never more than that. He was well aware of what people thought of him, and if you asked him, he’d agree that it kind of sucked, but that didn’t necessarily mean he honestly thought that. In truth, he kind of liked his life. He was, after all, the first and only person to share a bed with Zack Morris. Okay, so it was just the odd sleepover when they were younger, both boys in sweats and socks, sharing a bed because Mrs Morris wouldn’t have him sleeping on the floor, but it was close enough for Screech. People didn’t envy him because they didn’t know what he had. He could hardly believe his luck when Slater was added to the group. No one else could say they got to spend so much time with Bayside’s most eligible bachelors. Screech was the one who got to hang out in their rooms, linger in the locker rooms with them after gym, and hear all their most private secrets. He tried not to think about the impossibility of getting any closer to either one of them. Screech was a fairly optimistic guy, after all. He had to be, given the amount of crap he had to put up with. It was worth it though, he’d decided. No one ever suspected the dorky ones. If no one envied him, then no one would try to usurp his position as Zack Morris’s closest friend. All in all, he felt, he was pretty damn lucky. ***** ~Slater~ Moving to new places didn’t faze Slater anymore. It was one of the few perks of being an army brat. Never spending more than six months in any one city meant he never got attached to places or people, so starting over somewhere else was never a big deal. Then his father had taken a desk job in California, and he’d been stuck in the same school for four whole years. He’d expected to get bored. He’d expected to get restless. He had not expected to miss it. Turning down Iowa wasn’t easy, especially after he’d tried so hard to convince his father to let him go there in the first place. His scholarship would have been e huge help too, and switching to another college would mean having to work to pay his tuition, but Slater hoped it would be worth it if he got to stay in California. Major Slater, of course, was not convinced, and for a short while was certain that his son should go to WestPoint after all. It had taken several days of arguing, and several more days of grovelling, to persuade him otherwise. But it had worked, and no Slater was bound for California University, with two guys who had tried to make his life miserable when they’d first met, but who had slowly wormed their way under his skin until he couldn’t bear to leave them. Well, maybe not so much with Screech. Screech could get under anyone’s skin, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Zack, though. Zack was different. A complete asshole most of the time, with a habit for getting one or all of them in trouble. But charming. That was the real trouble. He’d charmed Slater without even trying. Probably without even realising it. Zack could do that. It wasn’t hard to see why. The girls at Bayside were queuing up to take a chance with him. Slater had never caught any of the other guys checking him out, but he’d certainly had his suspicions about Mr Belding. And of course, there was Slater. They’d shared a tense rivalry at first, mostly over Kelly, and partly over Zack’s desire to maintain his status as Big Man On Campus, but somewhere along the line, the girls and the status had ceased to matter, and they’d fallen into an amiable, easy friendship, something which Slater had never truly experienced before. He’d used that as an excuse for the odd sensations he’d started to have whenever he was around the other boy for some months, until the newness of the friendship had worn off, and Slater had begun to realise exactly what denial was. It had been awkward, to say the least. He’d thought he had a handle on it, and Iowa had at least offered the chance to put that behind him. Until Screech had cheerily told him of the dorm room arrangements at Cal U. Suddenly, moving on to a new life had turned him into a nervous wreck. ***** <---Home