Lean On Me.

Going back to school after such a good weekend with Jack was hard. Now it was time to go back to reality and it sucked. The only positive thing about the whole situation was the fact that I only had a few weeks of this left before I was done for good. At least I got to see Jack in school every day. That always brightened my day. The week was flying and it was already Wednesday. Zack had been over for dinner last night and he was going back to California tomorrow. It had been good to have him over as he’d taken my Dad’s mind off the fact that he was starting treatment today. Dad was being particularly stubborn about this round of treatment and he had said that he didn’t want me to come and visit him when he was in hospital. He said that I had enough to be concentrating on and I couldn’t have disagreed more. I’d always gone to visit him whenever he’d been in hospital and I knew I was going to worry about him until he came home. At least I’d be able to talk to him.

I spent most of homeroom catching up with my friend Rian. He was one of my closest friends in this school and he was easy to be around. He was in all of my classes except Music. He didn’t know about Jack and I – no one did but other than that, we were close.

“So, my parents are going away on vacation in two weeks’ time and I was thinking of having a class party. It’d be cool to have one last party before those dreaded exams. So, what do you say, Lex? You have to come. You’ve missed the last few parties.”

“Yeah, that sounds great Ri,” I replied. “It’s a good idea. Let me know the details once you know and I’ll be there.”

Rian was right. I hadn’t been to the last few parties. Partly because Dad had ended up in hospital and the other reason was usually because I’d already made plans with Jack. Once I had agreed to go, Rian started to finish his calculus homework that I had missed because I was in Chicago. Thankfully I hadn’t had to catch up on it. It wasn’t long before homeroom had finished and I was on my way to English with Rian by my side. Our old English teacher had enforced a seating plan and when Jack took over it, we had all become so used to our seats that we hadn’t bothered changing it. This meant Rian and I couldn’t sit together. Mr Evans thought we would be too distracting for each other, and in a way he was right at the time. However, now I had someone more distracting in the room and he just so happened to be standing at the top of the room teaching us.

I had to admit there were days when it was just so hard to concentrate on what was going on in class when Jack was standing in front of me, looking his usual hot self. He made it hard to concentrate on the days where my mind was clear and worry free. It was days like today, where I had a lot on my mind, that could be considered a total write-off. Jack had decided to wear his glasses today. He had not shaved, so his face looked stubbly and his tight skinny jeans and shirt fitted him perfectly.

“Alex, can you tell me three features that Keats uses in his poetry?” Jack asked, snapping me back to reality and away from my thoughts.

“Umm…” I stalled, not quite sure what to say. “He uses alliteration, metaphors and different styles of poetry writing like sonnets.”

My response was rushed and stuttered, and I noticed Jack frowning slightly at my answer.

“You don’t seem so sure of them. I’d suggest you go back over them,” Jack replied. “Actually, since most of the time one person’s mistake is a mistake most of you will make, I want you all to spend the remainder of this period revising the different techniques that he uses and in the next period, I want you to move onto his themes. I’ll be going around helping you if any of you need it.”

Everyone in the class seemed happy to have been given something relatively easy to do for the double period. I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair and flipped to the poetry section of my English book and opening a blank sheet in my notebook. Jack and I had covered all this stuff in our last tutoring session and had made a table of his themes and techniques. I knew them all but Jack’s question had caught me off guard.

A few minutes later, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out to see that I had one new message from Jack.

What’s on your mind, Babe? You seem out of it today. Xxx

I smiled as I simply typed ‘you’ in response and sent the message. I wasn’t lying; he was part of the reason why my mind had been preoccupied. From the top of the room, I saw Jack smile to himself as he read my message and it wasn’t long before I got his response.

Yup, I’m just that sexy aren’t I, Lex? No one can pay attention when I’m around :D But seriously, is everything okay? Is there anything you want to talk about? Xxx

Jack knew me too well. He could always tell when something was up with me.

I’m not too bad, J. Dad’s gone into hospital for treatment and you know how I get about that. We can talk about it later. Oh, and for the record, you are just that sexy. I can’t take my eyes off of you when you look like you do. ;) xoxo

I spent most of the double period passing the time by texting Jack and the time went too quickly and before I knew it, I was on my way to Chemistry. I had just turned the corner when I saw him approaching me. I kept my head down, not daring to look up as I walked down the corridor, hoping he’d be too caught up with talking to his friends to not notice me. I wasn’t that lucky though and in a matter of seconds, I felt a sharp jab to my shoulder as he shouldered me and pushed me into the lockers.

“Fag,” he hissed with a look of disgust dominating his face before he continued down the corridor laughing with his friends about what he’d just done. I felt myself blush with embarrassment as people stared as they passed. I straightened myself up and continued walking to Chemistry. I’d like to say that I was used to the bullying but it never got any easier as much as I’d hoped it would.

It had all started a few months ago when Mark Jenkins got it into his head that I was gay just because I was different. He thought that just because I liked a certain type of music and I wore skinny jeans, that I had to be gay. I had never ‘come out’ and admitted it to anyone in this school. He just automatically presumed I was and he’d made it his mission to make sure that I knew just how disgusting he thought gay people were. He’d never done anything big like beat me up but, it was the little things that got to me, like the name calling, pushing me against the lockers and bumping into me in the hallways in an attempt to knock me over.

I hadn’t told anyone about it, not even Jack. What was the point? It wasn’t like they’d be able to do anything to help. I just suffered in silence and counted down the days until I was out of here for good. Jack would only worry if I told him and he would make a big deal out of everything. I knew that would only make things worse.

Thankfully, my day passed quickly enough and I was finally going to be able to spend some time with Jack this evening. We hadn’t seen each other outside of school since we came back from Chicago and although that was only a few days ago, it had felt like an eternity after the week I was having. I was going to Jack’s straight from school and we’d have an hour or two alone before we needed to pick Bella up from day care.

“Alex, I don’t know if you are going to like this or not,” Jack started as we drove in the direction of his house. “But my Mom called earlier and she wants to meet you. She’s invited us over for dinner this evening. I know its short notice but she’s insisting that she meets you.”

This thought scared me a little. I’d never met Jack’s Mom and I didn’t know whether she’d like me or not. Would she think I was a silly kid who was distracting Jack? Would she think Jack was foolish for getting with me and that he should try and find someone a little closer to his age? My mind was running a million miles an hour with a tonne of possible outcomes from the evening.

“I guess that’s okay,” I replied, unsure. “I mean, my Dad put you on the spot when he demanded to meet you. It’s only fair that she do the same. I just don’t know whether she’ll like me or not. Can I stay at yours tonight, J? I don’t like the idea of being on my own tonight. I had a crappy day.”

Jack smiled warmly at me as he reached across to squeeze my hand with his.

“Of course you can, Lex; you don’t have to ask. You are always welcome. You know that. We can talk about your day later if you want and you have nothing to worry about. My Mom will love you. She knows you make me happy and that’s all she wants. I think she just finally wants to put a face to the name that she’s heard so many times. Do you want to go and stop by the hospital to see your Dad after we pick your stuff up from your house?”

“Nah,” I replied glumly. “Dad’s banned me from visiting him this time. He said that I have more important things to be worrying about, like my exams. He doesn’t understand that I’m only going to worrying about him when I can’t see him.”

Jack smiled sympathetically at me as we pulled into my garage.

“Lex, I’m sure that he means well and I can be your distraction, if you need it.” He grinned, leaning across to place a kiss on my cheek. “You have nothing to worry about. Your Dad will be fine.”

“Thanks, J,” I replied. “I’ll be back in a few. I’ll just go and grab my stuff.”

* * * *

Dinner with Mrs Barakat was definitely not what I expected. Her response to me had taken me by surprise. When Jack and I had arrived, I was nervous as hell. I think it was a given response when you are about to meet your boyfriend’s parents. Jack had spent the whole journey reminding me that everything would be okay and that she’ll like me. It was something that I was going to have to see to believe. As soon as we’d stepped inside the house, I found myself being pulled into a warm hug, as she told me how great it was to finally meet me. She couldn’t understand why it had been such a delayed meeting. From that moment on, I was immediately put at ease. She made me feel as if she’d known me forever and like I was part of the family. It was definitely a very nice feeling.

She had taken a genuine interest in my life and asked about how I was feeling about my exams. She never brought up the fact that Jack was my teacher except for jokingly asking if he was a horrible teacher. The evening flew by and before I knew it, Jack was announcing that it was time for us to leave so that Bella could go to bed.

“Goodbye Alex, it was lovely meeting you,” Mrs Barakat said, wrapping me in a hug. “Don’t be a stranger here. See you soon.”

She then pulled her son into a hug before Jack took my hand in his as he led me to the car.

“I told you she’d love you,” Jack started as we drove back to his place. “See, you had nothing to worry about whatsoever.”

We found Matt and Cass curled up together on the couch when we got back to the house. They looked so cosy as Cass lifted her head from Matt’s chest to say hi and to ask whether I’d had fun in Chicago. She thanked me again for getting her and Matt tickets to Fall Out Boy’s Baltimore show next week.

“Do you want to go and pick out a DVD?” Jack asked as he balanced a sleeping Bella in his arms. “I’m just going to put her down for the night.”

I walked over to the pair of them, leaning in to place a kiss goodnight on Bella’s forehead.

“Sounds good, J,” I smiled up at Jack. “Night Matt, night Cass. See you soon.”

Jack joined me a few minutes later in his room, stripping down to his boxers as he crawled in beside me.

“Are you okay now, Alex?” He asked, nuzzling his nose in my neck as his stubble tickled my chin. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

I’m okay, Babe,” I replied. “I just had a crappy day but it’s better now that you’re here with me. You always make things better.”

I wasn’t lying when I said this, while I was here with Jack, I forgot about everything. The hassle at school, and my Dad. I guess I’ll just have to take every day as it comes and that’s all I can do.

Notes