10 Fizbo

"There you are", Matt said as he saw Zephyr walk down the stairs into the kitchen, "I need your help".

"With what?", Zephyr questioned.

"What's the name of the Dunhy's kid again?", Matt asked.

"Luke", Zephyr answered.

"Yes. Him", Matt responded, clapping his hand, "His birthday's today and I don't know what to get him".

"Did you only find out today?", Zephyr questioned curiously.

"Yeah", Matt replied, "They sent us an invitation for his party this afternoon and I thought it'd be rude if we didn't go".

Zephyr thought about it briefly before saying, "He plays soccer so get his a soccer ball or something".

Matt looked at Zephyr for a few seconds before rushing to him and hugging him, "You're a genius Zephyr. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Maybe because you're atrocious at giving gifts?", questioned Zephyr.

"Hey!", Matt shouted, indignantly, "I'm not bad at giving gifts. You just don't know how to appreciate my brilliance".

"No. You're just horrendous at gifts", Zephyr deadpanned, "Who gives their son a book for a birthday present?"

"What's wrong with that?", Matt questioned, not seeing where he went wrong.

Zephyr just shook his head as he opened the fridge to get some eggs out while turning on the stove and placing a pan on top, "I was 10 at the time".

"Okay", Matt placated, "In hindsight, I thought it'd be a pretty good gift back then. You were reading loads of books at the time."

"That doesn't excuse giving your son a 1000-page book", Zephyr retorted.

"What doesn't excuse what?", Desiree asked as she entered the living room.

"I'm talking about how bad Dad is at giving gifts", Zephyr replied.

"Hm", Desire hummed while nodding, "Matt doesn't know how to give good gifts"

"Hey", Matt exclaimed, feeling offended.

[Time Skip]

"Sweetie. That's a rock wall. Is that even safe?", Claire asked, screaming when she heard the thump produced by the rock wall, "Oh My God!"

"Honey, relax", Phil said, waving off her concerns, "Has anyone gotten hurt on one of these things?", Phil asked the man.

The man shrugged and said, "I don't know man. This is my first day working here".

"See?", Phil said while pointing at the guy, "They wouldn't let the new guy do it if it weren't safe".

"That did not make me feel better", Claire answered.

"Don't worry", Phil replied, trying to calm her down, "I signed, like, 100 releases".

"When did we decide all this?", Claire questioned as she looked around, "I think it's too much".

"I knew you'd say that. That's why I didn't tell you", Phill said, "Now, come on! Relax! Have a snow cone"

"There's a snow cone?", Claire asked, shocked.

"Mom", Haley said as she walked over to them, "Just so you know, Dylan can't have mayonnaise".

"That's random. Why are you telling me that?", Claire probed.

"Because he's coming over to the party", Haley answered while running her hand through her hair.

"Is that absolutely necessary?", Claire interrogated.

"Yes, because she can't go 10 minutes without her boyfriend's tongue in her mouth", Alex said as she walked in, "It's like he's feeding a baby bird".

"Don't be so jealous", Haley retorted, "I'm sure Zephyr will eventually kiss you if he doesn't find a girl that's better than you".

"Yeah!", Alex exclaimed, "At least my boyfriend isn't stupid enough to accidentally confuse me for another girl".

"Gr!", Haley screamed as she stormed off, Alex following after her.

"So, what you got there?", Phil asked, seeing the boxes in Claire's arms.

"There are supplies for the crafts table", Claire answered in excitement, "I finally figured out what we're going to be making".

"Kids bored?", Phil sarcastically asked, "I'm teasing. I'm teasing. It looks good. What is it?"

"Comb sheaths", Claire answered, "We made them when I was 11 at Donna Rigby's birthday party. At first, we thought it'd be really stupid, but then we ended up having a blast. So I thought, might as well make them again".

"How could you not?", Phil asked, "You combined the two things kids love the most: combs and sheaths".

As Claire walked off, he heard a voice from behind him, "Hey Phil".

Turning around, Phil found himself face to face with Matt and Zephyr. "Yo. What's up my man?", he asked excitedly, holding out his fist.

Matt bumped Phil's fist with his own, "Nothing bro. Just here for the party".

"I know bruv. It's fire ain't it?", Phil said, trying to keep up his chill dad persona.

"Yeah man. It's lit", Matt answered, "So where's the little birthday boy? He'll never guess what we got him".

Hearing his words, Phil looked at Zephyr who was carrying a large orb enveloped in wrapping paper, "No way. You got him a massive marble?!"

"Come on Phil. Try again", Matt said.

"A round fishbowl with a fish inside?", Phil asked.

"Nope", Matt answered, popping the 'p'.

"A massive bouncy ball?", he questioned.

"Not even close", Matt responded.

"For god's sake. We're going nowhere with this!", Zephyr screamed in frustration, "It's a soccer ball. Now here, take it", he said, handing the gift to Phil and walking away.

"What's wrong with him?", Phil asked, seeing Zephyr's actions.

"He's going through puberty", Matt answered, sighing as he watched Zephyr storm off.

[With Zephyr]

As he walked past the bouncy castle, Zephyr took notice of Manny, who was bouncing dejectedly. Sighing, he popped his head in and asked, "Mind if I come in?".

"Sure", Manny answered, sadness evident in his tone.

Crawling through the entrance, he sat down next to Manny who had stopped bouncing. "Why are you bouncing so sadly?"

"There's this girl I like, Bianca, and Jay said that to win her love, I need to be the funny guy", Manny began, "I tried what Jay said and told her all my jokes. Turns out I'm not the funny guy".

Zephyr released a deep breath as he looked outside the bouncy castle with Manny, "Tell me Manny, how old are you?"

"I'm 11", Manny answered.

"Exactly", Zephyr said, "You've got the rest of your life to find the person meant for you".

"Yeah, but Mom's got Jay. Claire's got Phil. Mitchell has Cam. Haley has Dylan. Alex has you. I'm the only one without someone", Manny answered.

"So you feel left out?", Zephyr questioned.

"Yeah. I guess", Manny replied.

"Tell me, Manny, what is the point of being in a relationship with someone?", Zephyr asked.

"To see if the person you like is the one?", Manny answered.

"In a way, yes", Zephyr said, nodding his head, "When you're in a relationship, you're essentially trying to understand the compatibility between you and the person you like and assessing whether you have a future with them. But you're also asking yourself, is this the type of person I want to be with? Is this the person who will love me for who I am? Is this 'the one'? What you're trying to do is be someone that you're clearly not. A relationship built on a foundation of lies is one doomed to fail. Remember that".

Hearing his words, Manny went into deep thought for a moment, before jumping up in happiness, "You're right Zephyr".

Zephyr chuckled hearing his words, standing up and heading towards the exit, "I always am".

"I can see why Alex likes you", Manny said, "You're cool, sporty, funny and understanding".

Zephyr laughed hearing his words and walked off. As he walked away, Gloria, who had witnessed the interaction, smiled and crawled inside the bouncy castle.

[With Haley and Alex]

"Wow", Alex muttered, "You totally don't deserve this".

"What?", Haley asked.

"Hot reptile chick, you know, probably has her own apartment", Alex said, "Obviously okay touching gross stuff".

"They're just walking", Haley answered.

"You're right", Alex said, looking at Dylan, "Dylan's far too sophisticated to get sucked in by a single lady with tons of cool tattoos".

At first, Haley waved off Alex's claims, but then looked at Dylan who was clearly laughing and smiling, even as Jungle Tanya occasionally touched him, and the smile dropped from her face.

"I was just messing with you before, but seriously, have you seen how they're talking", Alex said as she looked at Dylan.

"On it", Haley said as she walked away from Alex and towards where the rest of the animals were boxed.

"Hey", a voice said from behind Alex.

Turning around, Alex found herself face to face with Zephyr, who was surprisingly wearing glasses. "What's with the glasses?"

Zephyr shushed her, "I'm incognito".

Alex looked at him, confused, "Why?".

"Apparently some people uploaded videos of me during the soccer team tryouts and it has over 3 million views", he answered.

"Okay", Alex said, nodding her head, "But how do glasses conceal your identity".

Zephyr shrugged, "I don't know. But I was like 'if they work for Superman, why won't they work for me'?"

"And did they work?", Alex questioned.

"Yeah. No one noticed it was me", he replied, feeling proud of himself.

Alex sighed upon seeing the smug look on his face, "Honestly, you're an idiot"

"Hey!", Zephyr exclaimed, "I'm not an idiot. I've been tested, I have an IQ of over 150, that mean's I'm gifted".

Alex snorted when she heard his words, "As if. You're clearly lying".

"Sure", Zephyr sarcastically answered.

Just as Alex was about to reply, Jungle Tanay spoke up, "Okay kids. Let's all tuck our pants into our socks, avoid shady, moist places and let's make a game of looking where we stop to avoid antagonising a slightly venomous scorpion".

Hearing her words, all the kids began screaming and running out, pushing Zephyr and Alex out of the way. Due to the pushing, Alex, who was just about to fall over, felt someone grab her arms and pull. Slightly dizzy from the inertia, she didn't realise that Zephyr had his hand in hers. Shaking her head, she looked up at Zephyr, who asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am", Alex answered, "Thanks for that".

"No worry", he replied.

"We should get going, don't want to get stung by a scorpion", Alex muttered.

As they began making their way out, Zephyr suddenly shouted, "Stop!".

Halting in her tracks, she looked questioningly at Zephyr. Putting his finger on his lips, he pointed at the floor near the door. Turning her attention to the door, she found a moderately-sized crawling along the floor. Waiting for a few minutes, they watched patiently as the scorpion finally crawled out of the room.

Releasing a sigh of relief, Alex mumbled, "Thanks".

Zephyr grinned in response and whispered something in her ear, causing her to blush in response.

[Outside]

Screams cut through the air as children swarmed from the house, terrified. "Scorpion! Scorpion! Scorpion!", Cam shouted as he pushed the children out of the way, knocking over the crafts table set up, an immense number of beads dropping onto the floor.

Seeing the clown, Phil's eyes dilated as he stumbled backwards, muttering, "To close".

Unknowingly, he passed out on Jay, who screamed, "What the hell!". Dropping the crossbow, a bolt was released and penetrated the bouncy castle, causing it to deflate with some children inside.

Amidst the chaos, Claire heard familiar groans of pain. Her eyes widened as she hurriedly walked through the groups of children and was met with the sight of Luke grabbing his arm. "Luke, what happened?"

"I slipped on these stupid beads", Luke answered while Phil, who recovered, wrapped his arms around Luke and raised him up.