My Levelling Up System

The workday ended with Zachary finally losing his job at the coffee shop he worked at for the past two weeks. Getting that job was a pain and losing it because he got into a fight with one of the customers for accidentally spilling a cup of hot coffee on his shirt, was a bigger pain. He had tried to apologize but the customer was not having it. Instead, he got a slap from the young man which caused Zachary to lose his cool and react by giving the customer a strong jab. After that, it didn't take long for the manager of the coffee bistro to fire him for insubordination. He looked at his hands and frowned as he walked through the noisy streets of Washington DC. It wasn't like he punched the guy knowingly. It was an unconscious action. “What a way to start the week.” He muttered to himself. As Zachary walked down the street, lost in thought of how he was going to get another job to pay off his debts, ever growing student loans and cover his rent for the month without having to ask his

Zachary had gone back to his highly owed and barely livable apartment to spend the rest of his night after he had managed to put the quiet and possibly traumatized woman in a cab back to her home. It didn’t take long for the next day to come, and the sun rays to filter in through his flimsy curtain, but he had thought on what the woman had said through the remainder of the night so much that he barely had any time to sleep. Zachary got up from his bed and rushed to the door. He didn't bother to shower or eat. He had already prepared hours ago for the former and had nothing to eat for the latter, so he was ready to leave. Zachary rushed through the streets of California opting to have a light jog towards the mansion where the job interview was to take place. After all, who didn't know where the elusive and extravagant Moore's lived. It took a bit more time than he expected before he could see the gold and pearly gates come into view. Once he got closer, his jaws dropped at the sight.

Zachary and Malachi walked through the halls with several men trailing behind them after the other applicants had been sent off. "Why and how did I win Mr. Moore, sir?" Malachi turned back and gave his men the go ahead to leave. The men walked away without any hesitation before Malachi spoke. "Let's tone it down on the formality shall we. Call me sir if you ever need to address me and for the sake of you winning today, it didn't just boil down to one thing. You won that fight fair and square. I saw a man being beaten down and scorned upon by everyone in the room even before the interview began. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you don’t look like a threat." Zachary gave his almost recent employer a look. "You can't expect me to have so much money and not be able to afford cameras in a room where strangers would occupy for the first time." Zachary turned away feeling a bit dumb. "They all made fun of you and still you made them see that you were not one to be trifled with. You broke

"You bastard." Damien said as he moved closer to Zachary who took several steps back. "Stay away from me." Zachary warned. At that point everyone had basically forgotten about their classes and had stuck around to see what would happen between the men. Damien disregarded the warning and still tried to close the gap between them causing Zachary to raise his fights ready for a fight. He was ready to throw the first punch, if possible, when Damien leaped forward and hugged him. Zachary struggled to get free, thinking of it as an attack when his assailant spoke. "You bastard. You finally show up after all these years. You're lucky you're okay." Zachary paused as Damien peeled himself away with a concerned look. He eyed Damien. "It doesn't seem like he remembers us yet, Damien. He freaked out when I touched him." "You don't know who I am?" Damien asked in a low voice. Zachary shook his head, too rattled by their interaction to speak to any of them. Damien frowned and looked around

"Izaiah. You're here?" Zachary faced the short girl in front of him and frowned when he saw bright red hair. He didn't bother to speak, wanting to get away from her as quickly as possible as he turned. He was finally invited to one of the most exclusive parties on campus and if he was seen with the likes of her then his status would likely fall. Not that he had a status yet, but still. How did she even get invited to this? A hand rested on Zachary's shoulder and pushed him back a bit. Damien, Red's second in command stared him down. "Hey, hold on. You should at least say hello to the lady." Zachary swatted Damien's hand away from him and sneered. "Why are you following me?" Zachary could hear Red scoff as she came into view, in front of Damien. "What makes you think that we are?" She said with a stoic face. "I don't know what exactly you want from me, but I am not interested in it. Leave me the fuck alone." "We aren't here for you Izaiah. We came for the party." Zachary eye