Drama By Name

By Monday morning, 2 more hickies had fully bloomed on Alex's neck, and he had a neat trail of love-bites trailing down his chest again. Unlike the last time this had happened, Alex felt good. He felt loved, because he knew he was.

Jack had stayed until late afternoon on Sunday before having to borrow some of Alex's clothes to go home in as he thought he’d get strange looks from anyone who spotted him on his way home. So Jack had left Alex's house wearing the skinny jeans, an old Green Day t-shirt from the depths of Alex's wardrobe and the ratty old ballet flats he’d been wearing the night before. They’d kissed goodbye in the privacy of Alex's hallway, before Jack bundled himself into his car and drove away.

So, Monday had finally come back around, and Alex honestly couldn’t see how anything could bring him down. He was up and ready for school a little early and had time to strum a few songs on his guitar and have a proper breakfast. Luckily, his mom didn’t say anything to him about the hickies, though he couldn't shake the feeling that she was staring whenever he wasn’t looking. When Rian pulled up outside, Alex was ready and waiting, deciding to take his guitar to school, hoping for an afterschool ‘session’ with Jack.

“What up, skyscraper!” Rian called out as Alex made his way down the garden path.

“Heya Ri, hi Zee, you guys alright?” Alex smiled as he climbed into the back seat next to Zack.

“Yeah, I’m good thanks.”

“Yeah, I’m fine... Where did you go on Saturday night? We couldn’t find you anywhere yesterday morning?” Rian asked from the driver’s seat, pulling away from the curb.

“Oh, yeah... I went home early. Sorry...” Alex couldn’t think of a better explanation right now.

“How? Rian drove us all there; you didn’t walk home did you?” Zack piped up, squinting sceptically at Alex.

Alex squirmed a little under his gaze, not making eye contact.

“Also, who was that under you in the guest room?” Rian called out, laughing slightly.

Alex was really struggling to keep his cool now, and he could feel himself blushing.

Zack was sat upright now, grinning slyly. “What? Oh Alex, would you care to share?” He laughed, Alex shifted to look out the window now, practically able to feel the judgement in the air.

“Hey Alex, was it a girl or a guy? I couldn’t tell through all that make-up!” Rian laughed loudly, making Zack almost choke on his own breath.

“What! Alex did you make out with a drag queen?” He practically yelled, before going strangely quiet. “Holy...”

“What Zack?” Rian asked, suddenly intrigued.

“Matt said his brother used to go to Art College in drag... Did you make out with Matt's brother?”

“Fuck off, Zee.” Alex huffed and turned away, his back now facing Zack.

“Alex, Matt's brother is, like, twenty-five or something!”

The car suddenly swerved and a car horn blared from somewhere outside as Rian turned in his seat to look at Alex. “Ho. Ly. Fuck. Alex you sly dog!” He laughed, eyes now thankfully back on the road.

“Fuck off you guys!”

“Well, that sure is one way to celebrate your eighteenth!” Rian laughed.

Zack joined in but Alex just scowled. It was none of their business, and if they dug any deeper, the whole thing would be blown wide open. And that could not happen. Not yet.

When they finally got to school, they hurried inside the building and out of the bitter December wind and straight to their lockers. They reorganised their books, and Alex carefully put his guitar inside the metal box. As he craned his neck to check the top shelf for any stray books, Rian grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Holy fuck! Alex, are those hickies?” Rian tugged at Alex's t-shirt collar.

Alex pulled sideways out of his grip and readjusted his t-shirt, reaching up and grabbing his Geography book and shoving it in his bag. “Dawson, don’t you say a fucking word. Got it?” Alex did his best death-glare, making Rian back up a few steps.

“Whoa, okay dude. Sorry.” He shook his head and reached into his bag, “Anyway, I never got the chance to give you your birthday present. It’s gonna seem a bit shit compared to Zee's present, the fucker.” He directed his words over his shoulder at a smug looking Zack, “But anyway... happy birthday.”

Alex took the small box from Rian's hand and tore off the plain black wrappings. Beneath was a small wooden box with “Guitar Repair Kit” embellished across the lid. Inside were 2 sets of spare strings, wax, a chrome capo, and a neat little set of tuning forks. “Aw thanks Ri! This is great.” Alex gave Rian a one armed hug as the smaller boy patted him on the back. Alex carefully tucked the box onto the top shelf.

“If you like, I can have a word with Reeves and see if we can use one of the practice rooms at morning break.” Rian suggested as Alex closed the locker.

“Sure, sounds good.” He smiled.

Just then, the bell rang, so the three boys filed into room 15 where Mr Barakat was sat, ready and waiting. “Good morning boys! Good weekend?” He smiled, almost knowingly. Of course, he did know. Especially in Alex's case.

“Yes sir. It was Alex's birthday so we had a party.” Zack replied.

Mr Barakat smirked as Alex looked over at him. “Oh really?” he said, exaggerating his surprise and making Alex snigger, “Well happy birthday Alex! Did you have a nice time?” He asked, his face and voice the perfect caricature or innocence.

Alex had to stifle a laugh. “Yes, sir. It was great, thanks.”

“Yeah, he got off with our friends brother!” Rian laughed.

This earned him a sharp dig in the ribs from Alex. Mr Barakat just smiled at the group of boys. “Now boys, that’s not really anything I need to hear about, is it?” Mr Barakat asked sternly, a smile still playing on his lips.

Of course he didn’t need to hear about it, Alex thought, he was there. Rian and Zack just laughed and made their way to the back of the room, as Mr Barakat looked at Alex and winked, then went back to marking the papers strewn across the desk. Alex slumped to his seat at the back of the room where Rian and Zack were sat and took his seat. Rian and Zack quickly stopped their whispering and sat up straight, just as the first few students started filing in. Zack cleared his throat loudly and got the attention of Mr Barakat.

“Yes Zack?”

“Sir, why are you wearing a scarf?”

Now that he paid attention to something other that Mr Barakat's eyes and lips, Alex noticed that Mr Barakat was indeed wearing a scarf. Nothing too big, more like one of those fashion scarfs, like a cravat.

“Oh, this?” Mr Barakat reached up to touch the scarf, as if there were some other scarf somewhere on his body, “Oh, I wasn’t feeling too good at the weekend and I’ve got a sore throat. Don’t want to catch anything.” Mr Barakat must have thought of a cover story before coming to school, because Alex knew exactly what the scarf was hiding, because he knew exactly what had been on Mr Barakat's neck on Saturday night.

“Oh, alright sir. Hope you feel better soon.” Zack and Rian started sniggering again, exchanging sideways glances.

Alex just rolled his eyes as the rest of the class took their seats. Soon, the seats were full and the chatter was dying down, so Mr Barakat took to the stand. “Good morning everyone, I trust you all had a pleasant weekend.” He smiled, speaking slightly quieter than usual. “Now, I’ve already explained to the boys at the back, I have a sore throat. So today could you perhaps be a little quieter so I can get your attention without having to strain my voice? Thank you. Away you go, you know what to do.” He clapped his hands and the class dispersed.

Alex leaned over his desk and pulled his book from the bag and got to work on his monologue again. He was sure that, as long as he got the wording right, tears would flow. A few minutes later, his writing was interrupted by a black and white figure appearing at his side.

“Hey Tay, you alright?”

Tay was clearly not alright. She was pale and tired looking, and slightly jittery. “No Alex. I have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” Alex said, setting his pen down and turning in his seat.

Tay swallowed and looked around. “I... Something happened. On Saturday.” She whispered, before glancing over her shoulder in a pointed manner.

Alex followed her gaze and found ‘the problem’. There, sat with her knee-high sock clad legs up on the table, her skirt slowly sliding up her legs, was Lisa. Alex caught her gaze and she raised a hand, waggling her fingers at the two of them, a flirtatious smirk playing on her red lips. Alex looked away and back to Tay, who looked somewhat horrified and scared.

“What did you do?” Alex said quietly.

Tay's mouth dropped open. “Don’t assume it’s my fault! It’s all...” Tay looked over her shoulder again to a still smirking Lisa, “...all her fault!”

“Well, what happened then?”

“I think someone put something in my drink.”

“What the fuck! Tee, that’s illegal!” Alex whisper-shouted, somewhat scaring the girl in front of him.

“I know! Nothing, like, serious happened... I just got twice as drunk twice as fast.”

“Are you sure you just can’t handle your drink?”

“I’m sure. Last year I drank Jimmy under the table at Kitty’s birthday party.”

“What, the one who’s always piss-drunk? Jimmy Urine?”

“Yes, Jimmy Urine. It was some pretty nasty home-brew, he threw up and I won. I can handle my fucking drink, Alex.” She spoke pretty fast, and Alex could tell she was annoyed.

“Whoa, okay then... Well, what happened?”

“We got chatting, you know, like you would at a party. She was, like, complimenting my costume and everything. Then she was, like, ‘Oh you’d look way sexier in a short dress’ and she fucking ripped off most of my skirt!”

Suddenly, a memory in Alex's mind flickered into view, like an old film reel. “Holy sh-“

“I know! Then she used, like, the cheesiest vampire pick up line and was like ‘Want to try some necking of our own?’ and I was way too out of it to say no. Next thing I know she got me back into a corner, pinned up against the wall!”

“Fuck! I saw that! I didn’t know it was you though! Shit... Tee, what are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know! I don’t... you know... swing that way. I was just fucking drunk!”

“Look, I don’t think you need to worry. She was all over anyone she could get her hands on, as far as I could see. Don’t sweat it.”

“You sure Alex? I mean, I don’t want t-“

“Yes. It’s fine. Shit happens when you’re drunk, that’s why I wasn’t drinking.”

Tay sat back on her heels and stood up, looking a lot calmer than she had done. She bent down to Alex's level and said, cool and calmly, “Well, if you weren’t drunk, I’d sure love to hear the story of where those hickies came from.” She stood up and winked at Alex before walking away, completely ignoring his shouts.

“Shut up Tay! Do not go there, I swear to god!”

She turned around and stuck her tongue out at Alex, before taking her seat next to Zack and immediately engrossing herself with the work. Alex just shook his head, rolled his eyes and returned to his writing.

Towards the end of the lesson, Mr Barakat sauntered over and leaned over Alex's work trying to get a look. Alex saw who it was and covered the writing with his hands.

“Hey, I was reading that!” Mr Barakat laughed, nodding at the papers.

“And I was writing it!” Alex retorted, smiling a little at the man, whose eyes today were coffee coloured.

“Keeping it a secret, eh?”

“Yes, sir.” Alex said with a small smirk. “You’ll see it when everyone else does, and no sooner.”

“Ah, well I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. Carry on!” Mr Barakat waved a hand to Alex and turned to walk away. He quickly spun back on his heels however and leaned over to Alex's ear. “You know,” he said in a low whisper, “you might like to invest in a scarf, too.”

They briefly looked at each other, before Mr Barakat walked off to another huddle of students, leaving Alex suddenly aware of the very slight throbbing of the love bites on his neck. A few minutes later, and the bell was ringing out for the end of first lesson, and the beginning of second. Everyone packed up their stuff and left the room. Alex saw the small group of cheerleaders, plus Lisa, huddled around the front of Mr Barakat's desk, arguing about something.

“Look, if you want to sort this out properly, you’ll have to come and see me at lunchtime girls! Get to your next lesson now, please.” He waved them away to the classroom door, and they shuffled out, grumbling and hissing to each other.

Alex caught Mr Barakat's eye and smiled, getting a sly wink in return. With that, Alex slowly made his way to Algebra, and was once again surprised to find that old Mr Murphy was still alive. How, he doubted anyone would ever know.

-

Alex's phone buzzed in his pocket as he left the musty classroom and headed for morning break. It was a text from Rian.

From; Rian Dawson
- ‘meet me in M3'

Music room 3 was the only room with cushioned seats instead of the painfully rigid plastic ones like in most of the classrooms, and was usually reserved for the most promising music students and instrumental exams. How Rian had managed to book it, he had no idea.

Alex made his way down the main corridor to his locker, not paying any attention to the footsteps behind him. He had just turned the combination and pulled open the door when, all too suddenly, Alex was seized by the shoulders and thrown sideways, pinned to the wall.

“Hi there, Alex. How ya’ doin’?” Jordan Marcus. The new captain of the football team, built like a tank. His broad shoulders and toned physique gave him that cartoon body builder triangle shaped torso, his grade 1 hair cut, sunken eyes and sharp angled face gave him the look of a well-built zombie.

Alex had no time to come up with any kind of reply before a short, sharp blow was delivered to his stomach, winding him instantly. Jordan continued to watch him, wheezing and coughing as four others crowded around behind him, watching Alex's torture.

“Now, Alex...” Jordan said, quiet and calm, “You caused us quite an inconvenience. When you ran and told on my good friend Jason, we lost a lot of good players from the team. You can imagine how that affected our game play, can’t you?” He spoke as though to a business associate, and it reminded Alex all too grimly of the scene from ‘The Untouchables’ where Al Capone circles the table of men, right before he bashes one of their heads in. “Plus, with all the wasted time where we could have been training and, instead, we were doing try outs. Such an inconvenience.” He shook his head, almost as though deeply saddened by what had happened. “Now, we’ve decided to inconvenience you. You thought you had a break time? Going somewhere to relax a bit, like a store cupboard to fuck your boyfriend?” The group laughed, before Jordan’s face when deadly serious again. “Yeah, well, forget about it.”

Alex was wrenched away from the wall and shoved roughly into his own locker, the door knocking his head as he fell. As the door shut, and he heard the boys laughing on the other side, he could have sworn he heard a loud crunch. He couldn’t feel any pain, so it wasn’t a bone. Then he remembered. His guitar. He had crushed his guitar. Although he was small enough to fit in the locker, he was not small enough to move. He was jammed in at a very awkward angle, his shoulders hunched forward, forcing his arms to hang limply, crossed over in front of him. Where the door had hit him, he could feel a dull throb and a warm wetness sliding down his face. Fuck. Where there would normally be the slits of lights from the locker door, it was dark, leaving Alex stuck in total darkness. He quickly realised that someone was leaning against the door, making sure he couldn’t bust out. Judging from the height of the ventilation slits, it was Jordan, again. Alex didn’t even bother to try to get out. No shouting, banging, begging. Nothing. There was no point. Resistance was futile.

It felt like an age (but it was more like 15 minutes, 2 texts and a missed call) before the bell rang, signalling the beginning of third lesson. He heard the people pass, laughing and chatting like usual, before Jordan banged on the door of the locker and left. The corridors were still. Nothing made a sound. He couldn’t even hear Mr Barakat's voice in the classroom that was just on the other side of the wall. He didn’t bother wasting any energy, and decided to wait until he heard someone passing.

No one did.

He shifted a little, and heard the splintered remains of his guitar knock together in its case. Why didn’t he get a solid case instead of one that was barely waterproof? No one passed for the whole hour. Not a soul. Soon the bell rang, but even shouting at the top of his lungs, Alex remained unheard over the noise of the travelling students.

-

Two hours. Two fucking hours. Thankfully Alex had not needed to go to the toilet, but his back was aching and he’d lost count of the number of times various limbs had cramped up. He had come to terms with the act that his guitar was no more, and also that he had hit his head pretty hard, judging from the dry crustiness he could feel down the side of his face. The locker smelt damp and grimy, which was probably left over stink from his old hoodie.

He’d decided to try and make up a song in his head, but had had to restart about seven times because he kept forgetting the tunes and the lyrics. It was good so far, and he knew that he’d have to write it down as soon as he got out of the damn locker.

The bell for lunch rang out, and as the halls filled with voices again, Alex tried once more to get someone’s attention, but to no avail. He took a moment to catch his breath from all the shouting and attempts to bang on the door. A few minutes after the halls had gone silent again, Alex heard a noise. He froze, slowing his breathing so as to hear it as clear as possible. There it was again, louder now. It was a set of keys. Soon, another noise joined it: Soft, high whistling. Alex recognised it instantly as ‘Basket Case’ and knew at once that it was Mr Barakat.

“Help! Help me! Get me out!” Alex shouted as loud as he could, and heard the set of keys drop to the floor.

Mr Barakat had obviously heard him. “Hello?” Mr Barakat called out, sounding a little unsure, “Is someone there?”

“In the locker!” Alex called out. He heard footsteps in front of the lockers, and realise Mr Barakat obviously had no idea which one he was in. “It’s Alex!”

“Alex! What are you doing in the locker?”

“Door first, questions later!”

“What’s the combination?” Mr Barakat asked, Alex hearing the rattle of the padlock on the door.

“4, 2, 14.”

The door flew open, and Alex had forgotten how bright normal sunlight was. He squinted against the light as he felt Mr Barakat pulling him out by his arms. Alex stumbled into the hallway and immediately stretched out his arms, rolling his neck and stretching his back, producing a satisfying click. He groaned slightly as the sudden freedom and clicking limbs and looked at Mr Barakat. “Thanks.”

“Alex, how long were you in there?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Alex did not want to get anyone in trouble again. That’s how he got in this whole situation in the first place.

“Jesus, Alex your head!” Mr Barakat reached forwards and gently brushed a thumb over the cut. It throbbed a little but nothing too serious.

He swatted Mr Barakat's hand away and spoke again. “It’s fine, just needs a clean-up. Can you grab my guitar case?”

Mr Barakat reached into the locker and picked up the guitar case. The sudden movement caused the case to rattle and thud, the sound of splintered wood and twanging loose strings echoing down the hallway.

“No...” Mr Barakat whispered in shock.

He raced back into his classroom and put the case down on the table. Alex closed his locker and followed him into the room, just as he opened the case. There lay the remains of his precious acoustic. The neck was broken clean off, the strings limply connecting the pegs to the bridge. The body was cracked, the front practically torn away from the rest of it. It was a pitiful sight, and it made Alex's chest ache. This was his first and only guitar. There was no way this could ever be fixed to work again.

“Oh, Lex... I’m so sorry...” Mr Barakat said, pulling Alex into a gentle hug.

“It’s alright... Really.”

“No it’s not. Whichever assholes did this are gonna buy you a new fucking guitar.”

“Jack, it’s fine. Really. It was getting old anyway.”

“Alex, who did this?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does... How long were you in there anyway?”

“Well, I got shoved in at morning break, so-“

“What! Morning break! You were in there for two fucking hours!”

“Yeah, I guess, but-“

“No, Alex. No ‘but’s. This is fucking serious, and they broke your guitar, they can’t get away-“

“No, Jack, you listen to me.” Alex was using as much force as he dared now, “they did this because I got Jason Tate expelled. Just leave it. So long as I leave them alone, they’ll leave me alone. It’s fine, I promise.” Alex reached up and gently cupped Mr Barakat's cheek, standing on tip-toes and bringing their lips together.

Alex broke away the barrier between Mr Barakat and his Jack, smiling into the kiss while Jack made a small happy noise in the back of his throat, wrapping his arms around Alex's middle. Their little moment was interrupted by a knock at the door. They sprang apart and looked at each other in shock. Although they could have played it off as something perfectly innocent, Jack's mind was racing and had gone into panic mode.

“Quick, under the desk.” Jack steered Alex towards his desk and Alex just went with it, crawling under the desk and tucking his knees up to his chest, trying to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible.

Although you couldn’t see under the front of Jack's desk, Alex didn’t want to take any chances. He heard his guitar case being zipped up as Jack cleared his throat and called out “Come in!” Alex heard the classroom door open and small footsteps enter the room. “Ah, Lisa! What can I do for you?”

“Hi sir.” Lisa said, her voice strangely high and airy, “I came you see you about my work?”

“Oh yeah! Of course, of course!” Alex heard Jack sit down on the desk above his head, “Er, where are the other girls, I thought you wanted to sort this out as a group matter?”

“Oh yeah,” Lisa giggled, sickly sweet, “they couldn’t be bothered, so they left it all up to me.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway... What was the matter earlier, I didn’t quite understand?”

“Oh well,” Alex heard the familiar squeak of someone leaning on one of the old student desks, “They don’t seem to think I’m pulling my weight, you know? Like, contribution ideas, putting in the effort.” Her voice was still high and airy, and nothing like normal, dusty, tough Lisa.

“And are you?” Jack questioned.

“Oh, yes sir, I promise I am!”

“Well, what do you want to do about it? Do you want to leave the group or...?”

“Well, I was wondering,” Alex heard the desk squeak again as Lisa took her weight off it, “if I am doing badly,” she stressed the word, her tone sounding off, “if there was some other way to help my grade?” Alex heard her light footsteps stop just in front of the desk, right where Jack was.

“Lisa, what are you-“

“I saw you at the party on Saturday, Mr B.” Lisa's tone had completely changed. It had gone past it’s normal dustiness and was now soft and husky.

“Y-you did?” Jack sounded nervous, which made Alex nervous. He couldn’t see what was going on, and he didn’t know how much Lisa had seen.

“Yeah, in your tight pink corset... You looked... very nice, sir.” Alex heard the weight on the desk shift, almost as though Lisa were leaning on it. Alex was scared, nervous and angry, all at once. But he couldn’t make a move without things looking weird, having to explain why he was hiding under the teacher’s desk.

“Lisa, I think-“

“Sir, I’ll do anything to pass this class. Anything.” Alex smacked his hand over his mouth as he heard the sound of a rough, wet kiss from above him. Not even a second later, noises of surprise, then protest, echoed around the room, as Jack shoved Lisa backwards.

“Miss Ruocco, what do you think you’re doing!” Jack yelled, in a very un-teacher like fashion.

“Getting some extra credit.” Alex could hear the lust dripping from her words, and it made his stomach churn. What did she think she was doing!

“Miss Ruocco, please leave.”

“Oh come on, sir, I know you-“

“Now.”

Alex heard Lisa huff and exit the classroom, slamming the door shut behind her. He slowly and quietly crawled out from under the desk and peered over the top, over the top of the papers and unmarked books, up at Jack's back. He sat, hunched over, his head in his hands. Alex was nervous. What had just happened? What did Lisa know?

“J-Jack?” Alex squeaked, clutching the edge of the desk.

Jack spun around to face him, eyes wide with panic. He jumped down off the desk and knelt down in front of Alex, joining him on the floor. “Lex, I swear, that was not me! I don’t know what she thought she was doing... I-I just... Shit. I’m sorry Lex.” He wrapped his arms tightly around Alex, who buried his head in Jack's neck, gripping tightly at his shirt as though he’d never let go.

“Please, don’t ever let her do that again?” Alex muttered into Jack's shoulder.

Jack gave him a gentle squeeze. “I promise. Never again Lex. I’m yours... no one else’s.”

They sat on the floor, holding each other tight, until a few minutes later, Jack shifted and loosened his grip. He pulled out of the hug and held Alex's face in his hands. “Alex, I need to go do something, okay?”

“What?”

Jack smiled, a genuine smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. “It’s a surprise. Trust me on this Lex.”

“Okay..” Alex felt a little uncertain, but when had Jack ever been wrong? Their eye’s bore into each other for a moment, searching for reassurance and trust.

“I love you Lex.” Jack leaned forwards and kissed Alex, hard and fast, almost as though in celebration, “I love you so much.”

Alex laughed a little at Jack's sudden giddiness. “I love you too, Jack.”

Jack sprung to his feet and raced out of the room and down the corridor, leaving a mildly confused but over all happy Alex kneeling on the classroom floor. Even though he didn’t know what it was, Alex knew that whatever Jack was doing, it was going to be good.

Notes

What do you think the surprise is? o:
And cool fact of the week, I saw one of my teachers kissing a student on Wednesday. In real life it's a lot more creepy...