The next few days went more or less without incident. There was a small mishap with a stray basketball and Alex's nose in PhysEd, but other than that, lessons ran as smoothly as possible for the first week back. Alex and Zack still needed to chat, and by Friday morning Alex had caught Rian and Zack mid-conversation 3 times, each time the conversation was immediately stopped and the two boys acted as though nothing had happened. Alex knew they were hiding something but it was their business.

It was third lesson on Friday, and Alex was bored out of his mind. Mr Murphy was dozing in his chair again, so Alex got up and went for a walk. If he got caught he could say that he was heading to the toilets near his lockers, when in reality he intended to check his cigarette supply hidden behind the broken lockers. He reached the corridor that his locker was in without bumping into any staff or students.
Half way down the corridor though, he heard loud laughter echoing off the walls. As he got closer, he found that the noise was coming from the very end classroom, room 15. Mr Barakat's classroom. As he reached the end of the corridor, he found that the door to room 15 was wide open, letting the happy sound of students flood the hall outside. Alex peered around the door frame, trying to not be noticed, but thankfully the class’s attention was focused elsewhere. Following the students gazes, Alex found himself dumbstruck: The desks had been moved to the side of the room, and Mr Barakat was walking across them, singing ‘Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee’ from ‘Grease’, complete with pink feather boa.
Today he was wearing a fitted black shirt, black skinny jeans again and a red tie. He strutted along the desks, swinging his hips in time with the tune. Alex watched as his teacher leaned against the wall, hips forward, and trailed the boa across his shoulders.

“As for you, Troy Donahugh, I know what you wanna do!” He threw the feather boa in the air, the class laughing at Mr Barakat's slightly suggestive hip wiggle, before Mr Barakat looked over at the door, saw Alex, gasped and slipped, landing ass first in the table top with a rattling thud.

The class jumped up in surprise to check that Mr Barakat was alright, as Alex dashed into the toilets opposite his locker. He ran into a cubicle and slammed the door shut, leaning against it and sliding onto the floor. It was wet, but with water or piss, he neither knew nor cared. What he did know was that Mr Barakat was hot. Really hot, and getting to the point of Alex having to cross his legs in class. And what he did care about was the fact Mr Barakat has seen him and lost all limb control and balance.
Now that he thought about it, Mr Barakat messed up around him a lot: In the corridor on the first day, and with the comic, and the second day in the corridor, and with the watch in Rian's hair. And now, in a class that Alex isn’t even in.
Alex put his head in his hands, trying to figure out all the thoughts whizzing around inside his head. Rian had said Alex had a crush on Mr Barskat even before Alex realised it. Maybe Rian was right about Mr Barakat liking him back? No, Mr Barakat's older, cleverer; he wouldn’t have feelings for a student. Would he? No, but even if he did, he wouldn’t act on them, or be so obvious about it.

The dampness from the tiled floor had seeped through to Alex's boxers now, so he decided it was time to get up and forget about what just happened and go back to Algebra. He checked himself in the mirror. Then he turned around to check the water damage to his jeans. It was bad, so he took off his hoodie, exposing his Glamour Kills t-shirt and tied it around his waist to hide the damp patch. Perfect. A final ruffle of his hair and he was set for class. He stuck his head out of the toilet door to check that the corridor was clear and set off, not looking up at the still open door to room 15.

He got back to class, where Mr Murphy was still dozing at his desk. The rest of the lesson went without incident, as did fourth lesson Art with Miss Ravenkroft (who had collected photos of Al Capone and screen shots from ‘The Godfather’ for him) where Alex and Tay chatted about weird things they’d seen in supermarkets (Tay couldn’t top Alex's story of the awkward, shifty nuns buying 5 bunches of bananas in the grocers) and music again.
At lunch, Alex went down to the lockers and found Zack and Rian already waiting for him. They headed out to their spot through the fence. They shuffled into the den and sat down on the ground. Alex, however, settled himself on Zack.

“Er, Alex, what’re you doing?”

“Trying to get comfortable. Stop fidgeting, Zee.”

“Er, okay then...”

Alex wiggled his butt around a bit before leaning back and resting his head on Zack's shoulder and grinning up at him. Alex saw Rian throw Zack a ‘look’, and felt Zack move in a way that felt like a head shake and a shrug. Alex sat up and looked back and forth between the two boys, who both looked somewhat guilty. Zack gulped and shook his head and Rian, eyes wide and fearful.

Alex had had enough. “Okay guys, I know something is going on. What is it that you can’t tell me?”

Zack sighed and put an arm around Alex, “Look, I’ll tell you later, alright? We need to talk anyway, how about you come round after school, yeah?”

“Okay then.” Alex relaxed backwards into Zack, which is where he stayed for the rest of lunch.

They chatted about what had happened in lessons (Rian had a fun story about Mr Allen the science teacher, a Bunsen burner and a tie), but the whole time, Alex's mind was on last lesson. Dramatic Arts.

---

English sailed by quite quickly, considering that Mrs Fielding seemed to be speaking extra slow today. But before he knew it, Alex was walking into room 15 with Zack and Rian. He went straight to the back of the room with Zack to talk to Tay, not even looking up to see where Mr Barakat was. He wanted this lesson to go smoothly and without injury.

Soon the class fell quiet and the chatter was replaced with the cheerful voice of Mr Barakat. “Okay, everyone! I know it’s last lesson on a Friday, so today we’re just going to be carrying on from last time. You have half an hour to rehearse in your groups from Tuesday, and then you’ll be performing to the class.” A few groans and shouts of protest went up around the room, but Mr Barakat just waved his arms for silence and spoke louder, “It’s nothing serious, you’re not going to be graded on it. It’s just to get you used to lessons with me! Get the books and off you go!”

People went to fetch the books, while Alex stayed at the back of the room, head down, not looking at anyone.

“Er, Alex are you alright?” said Zack, looking in to Alex's eyes.

Alex instantly snapped out of his bad mood and smiled innocently. “Yeah, I’m fine, sorry. Hey, Tay,” he said as the dark haired girl approached with the books, “How’re we going to do this then? Like, who’s going to be the Friar?”

Without missing a beat, Tay looked to Zack. “You should be the Friar, Zack! It suits you! Not that I don’t want to marry you Zee.” She added with a grin.

“Actually, I was gonna say that Alex should be Romeo.” Zack said with a shrug, “You two have a kinda chemistry. It’s weird...”

“Okay then, let’s get this show on the road. I guess we’ll have to leave the wedding for another day, eh, Loverboy?” He winked at Zack, who turned bright red.

Just to add insult to injury, Alex pulled Zack in and planted a huge wet kiss on his fuzzy cheek. Zack just let him, he was used to Alex's overly affectionate nature by now. Just then, Mr Barakat walked over, chuckling at Alex's sudden attack on Zack's face.

“Having fun boys?”

Tay laughed at the two red-faced boys. “You know it!” She laughed out.

“Shut up...” Alex hissed at her, head down avoiding the teachers gaze.

“Come on boys, get on with the task in hand, yeah?” and Mr Barakat left to observe one of the other groups.

Alex was glad he hadn't brought up what had happened earlier. “Jesus fucking Christ... Right, let’s do this.”

Half an hour later, and Alex, Zack and Tay were called to the front of the room to perform their piece to the class. Alex put his all in, ignoring Mr Barakat (who was sat on the front row which was really distracting) and trying to act as though Tay was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. To be fair though, even though he was gay, Alex had to admit she was really quite pretty in a giggly, dorky kind of way.
When they’d finished their piece, the class clapped enthusiastically, and a few people even whooped. As they took their seats, Mr Barakat stood up from where he was sitting and smiled widely.

“Wow, guys, that was great! Really believable! So, who thinks they can top that performance?”

The rest of the groups performed their interpretations of the scenes, and all went well, apart from the Lisa girl and her little, brown haired friend who, mid performance, forgot her lines, causing Lisa to huff “Oh my god, Kathryn, can’t you do anything!” and stomped off back to her seat.
Kathryn stood there for a few moments, turned ruby red, then dashed back to her chair, nearly tripping over her own feet and landing on one of the jocks.

Once everyone had performed, Mr Barakat let the class pack up early, ready for the weekend. Just as the bell went though, Mr Barakat called out “Hey, Alex can I have a quick word?”

Alex turned to Zack and told him to wait by the lockers, before walking over to the teachers desk. “Yes, sir?”

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I just wanted to say how great your performance was! I can’t say I’ve ever seen Romeo in a Glamour Kills t-shirt before, which is awesome by the way. Honestly, it was by far the best in the class, your group has such amazing chemistry, especially you and Tay... are you two, er...” he gently put his hands together, “together? If you don’t mind me asking?”

Alex laughed at Mr Barakat's less than discreet question. “No, we’re not! She’s not... We... I’m not... I’m gay.”

Mr Barakat's eyes widened somewhat, and Alex could have sworn the corners of the man’s mouth twitched slightly as he leaned back in his chair. “Oh, right, sorry. Well, that would explain you and Zack then.”

“Oh my god, no!” Alex laughed even louder than before, “Me and Zee aren’t together! He’s a great guy, but he’s straight, and he’s like my brother so...”

“Oh, okay. Sorry Alex, I’m getting too personal. Not my place at a teacher to ask that kind of thing, really unprofessional. I didn’t mean to pry, Alex.” Mr Barakat said, sitting up, looking a little flustered and embarrassed.

“No, sir, don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s nice when people take in interest in what’s happening in my life.”

Mr Barakat sat forward a bit and put his clasped hands on the desk top. “Anyway, I also wanted to ask you something.”

Alex's heart started racing. Was Mr Barakat asking him out? No he’s a teacher, don’t be so stupid, Alex thought to himself.

“Yes, sir?”

“I was thinking maybe you’d like to come by after school each week to practice guitar, like on Tuesday? I haven’t played for a while, but I could bring in my guitar and we can practice together. I quite enjoyed the other day!”

“So did I,” more than Mr Barakat could ever know, thought Alex, “I’d love to!”

“Awesome! Shall we say, Tuesday again? We can carry on with ‘Basket Case’, yeah?”

“Yeah, cool. Thanks, Mr Barakat!”

“Anytime Alex,” Mr Barakat smiled across at him, brown eyes shining bright, “You’re a good kid, talented. I like you, Alex.”

Alex could have sworn his heart stopped. Mr Barakat just said that he liked him. What did this mean? Was this real? Did this mean Rian was right? All these questions buzzed around Alex head as he froze and turned around to face the teacher again.

A split second later though, he shyly grinned and said, “Thanks Mr Barakat. I like you too.” and swiftly left, pursued by a yell of “Have a good weekend!”

He threw a “You too, sir!” over his shoulder into the classroom and joined Zack.

“What’re you so happy about Alex?”

He hadn’t realised he had the world’s greatest grin plastered across his face. He looked up at Zack and said “Nothing.”

---

They got to Zack's house and dumped their stuff in the hallway. Zack's mom wouldn’t be back until later so they had plenty of time to chat without being interrupted. They went to the kitchen and Zack opened the fridge.

“Okay, we’ve got Coke, Coke Zero, Kool Aid, Orange juice, milk and water. What do you want?”

“Er, just water thanks.”

The boys got their drinks and headed up to Zack's bedroom. It had changed since Alex had been there last. Before the summer, the walls had been practically alive with posters of Blink, New Found Glory, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance, among other bands. Now, there were just a few movie posters (mostly Tim Burton), weight lifting sets and some classic album art. It was a big change, being able to see the pale blue walls, and it worried Alex slightly.

“Hey Zee, what happened to all your posters?”

“Oh, erm... my mum didn’t like them. It had to take them down.”

“Well that sucks. It’s your room, you should be able to do what you want.”

“Yeah, well, things changed over the summer.”

“I kinda guessed that.. Come on, Zee. Tell me what’s been happening buddy.”

They sat down on Zack's bed, and put the drinks on the bedside table. They settled themselves and Zack just stared down into his lap, fiddling with the cuffs of his hoodie sleeves.

“Come on Zee,” said Alex, reaching out and gripping one of Zack's hands, “I’m all ears.”

Zack sighed, and looked up, eyes shimmering with small tears. “Okay. Well, it all started at camp. Mom had heard about how Rian was being sent there and thought that it would do me some good. It wasn’t too bad there. There was lots to do, people to talk to...”

“Hang on,” Alex interrupted, “you never said why you got sent to a Correctional Camp for the whole summer. What did you do?”

Zack burst into tears, head in hands. Alex had never seen Zack cry before, and it was distressing. He was always the one who stood up for Rian and Alex, and anyone else who needed help. He was the tough guy, but he’d finally reached his breaking point. He curled up on the duvet, shoulders shaking as he cried into the bedding. Alex immediately crawled forwards and wrapped himself about the sobbing mass, making soft hushing noises.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright Zee. It’s alright...I’m here, okay? I’m here...”

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Zack's sobbing subsided and he sat up. Alex had never seen anything so heartbreaking before: Zack Merrick, the resident tough guy, sat with a tear stained face, eyes red and puffy, looking like he had never been, and never would be, happy. Alex could almost feel his heart shatter as he looked at his best friend.
He crawled forwards and wrapped his arms around Zack as best he could and just held him in a hug, rubbing small circles onto his back. Zack hugged him back and buried his tear-sodden face into Alex's shoulder. Alex heard him say something into the fabric of his t-shirt, but couldn’t make out the words.

He pulled out of the hug slightly and softly said, “What was that Zee? I couldn’t hear you...”

There were fresh tears running down Zack's face. “I... I said I’m... I’m gay, Alex.”

Alex just pulled him back into the hug, letting Zack softly cry onto his shoulder. He knew exactly how Zack felt. He’d been there, trying to figure out his sexuality, and he knew how confusing it could get. He remembered the days where he just wanted to hide away from everyone, and the days where he wanted to slam people’s head into the walls if they so much as looked at him, feeling their eyes judging him, him just wanting escape. Trying to convince himself he was just confused, he was straight, and this would all pass. Eventually he accepted it, and things got better. Clearly, things hadn’t happened like that for Zack.

“I... I’m sorry I d-didn’t tell you b-before,” Zack sobbed into Alex's t-shirt, “That’s w-what me and R-Rian have been talking ab-bout. He wanted m-me to tell you, I’m s-sorry A-Alex...”


“Shh it’s alright Zee, don’t worry. I’m glad you told me, okay. Just, calm down a bit and then tell me about camp, alright?”

A few minutes later, Zack had stopped crying. His eyes were even redder than before, making his green-brown eyes shine bright. Alex reached out and rested a hand on Zack's knee, smiling a soft, encouraging smile.

“Okay... Well, that’s why I got sent to the camp. I told my mom I thought I was, you know... gay. She thought that some coaching and discipline would er, straighten me out. It didn’t. I’m glad Rian was there though. He was the first to know, but some of the others overheard us talking one day and they weren’t too happy about having me around. It was just... the names, and the way they acted around me. Like I didn’t matter, or like I had some disease. Rian helped a lot, but one day I just lost it and punched through a window. The pain kinda helped, and it just got worse from there. You’ve seen.”

“Oh Zee... I know how you feel, I got close to doing the same. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through though. You don’t deserve any of that, you’re a great guy. How anyone could be nasty to you I don’t know. You are honestly the nicest guy I know, Zack Merrick. You are my best friend and I am here for you.” Alex held Zack, and he could feel Zack gripping tightly to the back of his t-shirt.

“Thanks Alex, I love you.”

“I love you too, big guy.”

“No, Alex,” Zack pulled out of the hug, “I.. I really love you.”

Alex was slightly taken aback. Zack loved him? He sat and looked at Zack for a moment, before looking down into his own lap. A second later he felt a hand on his chin, tilting his face upwards. He looked into Zack's still red eyes. He felt the mattress shift as Zack shuffled forwards. Then, Zack's lips were on his.
It was strange, neither boy moved, until Alex felt himself pressing his lips back onto Zack's. Their lips moved together for a second, Alex making to move his hand up to Zack's face, before he broke away. It felt like it should have been right, like one of those kisses you see in the movies. It was nice, but the spark was missing. It was wrong.

“Alex...”

“No, Zee, I’m sorry. This isn’t right. This... us. It’s wrong. I’m sorry, I can’t...”

“No, Alex, it’s okay. I felt it to. I.. I’m sorry, I just needed to check.” Zack blushed and lowered his gaze.

“Oh... okay then. Erm... Well, you have very soft lips, Zee.”

“Ha, er, thanks. So do you.”

“You’re a good kisser. But this is... awkward. I think I’m just gonna... Go.”

Zack snapped his head up to look at Alex, looking slightly bewildered with what just happened. “Er, yeah, sure. Okay. I’ll, er, see you on Monday then.”

“Yeah, see you. Oh and, Zee?”

“Yeah?”

Alex walked over and hugged Zack, kissing him gently on the forehead “Stay safe, buddy.”

Notes

Merrikarth?