Sit Back, Gotta Catch My Breath

Thank God for Rian. That's all I have to say.
Okay, so, here's what happened...
When Rian drove me home, my parents were waiting for me. Immediately, they asked where the hell I was. And Rian had a lie ready. He told them how Cassadee wanted to introduce me to her friend, Lisa. So, since I wasn't allowed to leave the house, I had to sneak out to meet her. And we hit it off and ended up spending the whole day together. My parents were tickled pink, especially Mum, to know that I wasn't 'confused' anymore. And they allowed me to return to school. And that's where I am now. Eating lunch with my 'girlfriend', who now sits with Cassadee, instead of her other friends, who sits with Rian, who sits with Jack. So, everything works out perfectly.
Jack and I had just about everybody convinced that he and I had just been curious, and then decided that we didn't like it. So, now I have a 'girlfriend' and Jack has gone back to flirting with every girl within a ten-foot radius of him.
No one suspected a thing.
Well, except for Broc and his buddies. They still called us 'Barafag' and 'Gaskbarf'. They kept telling people that it was all a cover-up. So, Jack and I decided to play it safe and not talk to each other much and make absolutely no physical contact at all.
The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over, and it was time to go to fifth hour.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, what do we have so far?" Juliet asked.
I read over the lyrics that we had written so far. She, Jack, and I were currently using class time to work on out next group project: write a song with instrumentals and perform it in front of the class next Monday. Meaning we had a week to write and memorize and perfect our song. So far, we had one and a half verses. After reading them to Juliet, I read them back over again to myself.

'He woke up from dreaming
And put on his shoes
Started making his way
Past two in the morning
He hasn't been sober for days

Leaning now into the breeze
Remembering Sunday
He falls to his knees'

It sounded pretty good so far.
As Juliet and I continued to work on the lyrics, Jack fooled around on one of the acoustics that the teacher brought in for us students to play., trying to figure out which chords would sound good where. The teacher told us that it wasn't a good idea to split up like we were, but I trusted Jack. And he and I work well together, so we'll be able to work something out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jagk Barakat: Okay so you know where to meet me?

Alexander W. Gaskarth: Yes Jack. I'll see you there. You're bringing Juliet right?

Jagk Barakat: Yup. And you're bringing Lisa?

Alexander W. Gaskarth: Yeah. And Rian's bringing Cassadee.

Jagk Barakat: Cool. I'll see you later.

Alexander W. Gaskarth: See you later. :)

I shut my laptop and set it down on my bed before pulling on my Chucks and heading downstairs. "Hey, Mum?" I yelled out as I reached the bottom stair. I turned the corner into the living room to find her sitting on the couch, watching the news.
She tore her gaze from the television and looked at me. "Are you going somewhere?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Uh... yeah. I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking Lisa out for a movie and pizza."
She nodded and returned her eyes to the screen. "Okay, then. Just don't stay out too late."
"I won't. Thanks, Mum!"
I grabbed my jacket and slid it on as I headed out the front door. I pulled my hood up over my head and braved against the cold February air as I walked to Lisa's house.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That movie was awesome!" Jack exclaimed again, starting on his fourth piece of pizza. Honestly, I have no idea how he managed to stay skinny.
"It was alright," Rian responded, "I wasn't very impressed."
"Dude! The guy's head exploded! How do you not find that cool?"
The girls and I have been listening to these two argue about the movie since it ended. I rolled my eyes. This has definitely gone on for too long. I was starting to get irritated.
"Alright," I finally spoke up. They all looked at me with surprised looks. "Can't you guys just accept that you have two different opinions about the damn movie?
I slid out of the booth and went straight to the bathroom. When I got in the bathroom, I was relieved to find that no one else was in there. I sighed and leaned against the wall, and ran my hand through my hair.
I wasn't alone for long, though.
I heard the door open, and looked over to see a worried Jack.
"Alex, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," I said bluntly, looking down at my shoes. I sighed. "I'm just nervous about performing tomorrow, so I'm a little on-edge."
He joined he on the wall and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He kissed me on the top of the head before speaking. "You're gonna do just fine, Lex. You're an amazing song-writer and an amazing vocalist. And you and I..." He pulled me into a hug. "... make an amazing team."
I hugged him back before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "Thanks, Jack. You always know how to make me feel better. I love you."
"I love you, too, Lex." He gave me one more quick hug before exiting the bathroom.
I took a deep breath, feeling a lot better, now, before following him out. We both returned to the booth to find Rian and Cassadee getting up to leave.
Rian turned to look at me. "Hey, Cass and I are heading out. You need a ride home?"
I nodded. "That would be great."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How was the date?" my mum asked the second I walked in the door.
"It was good. We ran into Rian and Cassadee, so they ended up joining us for pizza," I replied, slipping my jacket off and hanging it up.
"What movie did you see?"
I shrugged. "Just some action movie. We basically just picked the movie with the coolest poster."
She nodded. "I see. Well, I'm glad you had fun."
"I did." I manuvered around her and headed upstairs to my bedroom. It was only about 7:30, but I was exhausted.

Notes

Alex is back at school! Yay!
And Alex and Jack perform together for the first time in the next chapter! Whoop!
Comment and tell me what you guys think of the story. I'm having fun writing it, but I want your opinions!
I love you all so much! Thank you for reading this! You have no idea how much this means to me!

-Ryan