A Daydream Away

Alex’s POV

The next day of school was completely uneventful.

Except for history, of course.
I’d moved seats so I was next to Jack, which was not nearly as nerve wracking as I thought it would be. In fact, he seemed really happy that I was now sitting in the previously unoccupied desk, and starting talking to me the moment I sat down. It was so weird how one chance happening could change how you view someone entirely. Although I still was head over heels for the dude, he seemed more approachable… like he wasn’t some holy force that I wasn’t allowed to touch or communicate with.
“So, you still coming to my house after school today, or are you ditching me for someone cooler?” he questioned, half paying attention to our teacher.
‘Trust me, you’re my first choice of who I’d want to be with all weekend’ I thought.
“I don’t know, you’ll just have to wait and find out.” I joked, also only half paying attention.
“Damn. That’s a killer on my self esteem.” He said, shooting out his lower lip in a fake pout.
I laughed, finally managing to pull my attention away from Jack and towards my teacher, who was ranting about her ex-husband or something.
“-so since I am not in the mood to teach today, you guys have a free period to do whatever. You can have your phones out, just make sure I can’t hear your music.”
Before I could even process what she said, I felt a cold object slip into my ear. I jumped back, startled by the new feeling that had presented itself near my face.
“Dude, chill. It’s just a headphone.” I heard Jack say, attempting to calm me down. I was both annoyed and thankful. I wasn’t annoyed because he hadn’t asked permission before putting something in my ear, but because he felt like he had to calm me down everything I got just a tad bit startled. I wasn’t 4.
“I love this song.” Jack said enthusiastically, tapping his thumbs on his side of our shared desk.
I smiled at the little habit. It was just like the one I possessed and used to help myself concentrate.
I let myself get lost in the words, taking in the unfamiliar notes and the verses I’d never heard. I didn’t bother asking who the band was or what the title was called, I was sure I’d hear about them sometime tonight when we hung out.
I drowned out the world completely, and it wasn’t until I felt an unsteady tapping on my thigh that my mind finally wondered back to where I actually was.
I looked down, seeing that Jack had moved from using the desk as a drum to my leg.
“You aren’t even on beat with the song.” I said, watching his fingers repeatedly hit my thigh lightly. Each subtle little touch sent what felt like a bolt of electricity running through my skin. I sucked in quick, short breaths and hoped he wouldn’t notice the weird way I was acting.
“That doesn’t even matter.” He hummed out. His eyes were shut and a grin was spread across his face. It was times like this that Jack looked the most stunning, because he was completely and utterly himself. It was a rare thing to see, and I’d only been able to catch a glimpse of it once in freshman year when he talked about his music taste in front of our music appreciation class.
“Of course it doesn’t.” I responded, chuckling quietly as I spoke.
We parted ways at the end of our class, and I promised I’d meet him at the flag pole near the front of the school.
Lunch had finally finished and I had two hours left of school, where I had to face my two least favorite classes.
I walked down the hall slowly, wanting to get there as late as I possibly could without getting into trouble.
I spotted Max, one of Jack’s friends coming down the hallway towards me. He’d never been too kind to me, but since I was openly gay and an easy target I’d never really taken it personally.
Max finally saw me after a few moments, and a smirk grew on his face. That was my first indication that this passing was going to be different than the other ones we’d shared.
“Hey there, Alex.” He said nastily.
That was my second.
I nodded my head in response, not wanting to say something to make him mad.
Turns out, I didn’t have to say anything at all. Before I could take another breath, I was being slammed against the lockers to the side of me. A sharp pain hit my shoulder, where I took most of the impact.
I scrambled to get away from the locker, but the next thing I knew, there was a fist flying at my eye. I didn’t have time to duck before it hit me full force and causing my head to snap back so it hit the lockers again. Agony shot through me like a bullet hitting a target, and I immediately crumpled to the ground.
My head was throbbing and all I could see was a pulsing red color. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or closed or if I was still being hit.
I heard a spitting noise and a venomous voice mutter the word “faggot”, and then footsteps walking away.
I sat there for a few minutes, not trusting myself to stand with such a pounding headache.
Finally, when some of the throbbing had gone away and I could see something other than red, I stood up. I was a bit dizzy at first, but I was able to make it to my classroom quickly and slip into the back of the room and find a seat without my Spanish teacher knowing I was late.
Math didn’t prove to be as lucky. According to random classmates, I had a black eye.
‘Fucking great.’ I thought. ‘I’m going to have to meet Jack like this and tell him how I just fucking let his friend beat me up. Now he’ll think you’re really a whimp.’
Finally, the ending bell rang and I hurried to my locker, watching carefully to make sure that Max and all of his friends were out of sight before I turned and walked to the flag pole.
Jack was already there, his back facing mine. I saw him typing away on his phone, completely oblivious to the world around him.
I felt a buzz in my pocket, causing me to tear my attention away from the back of Jack (whose butt looked extremely hot in his skinny jeans). I smiled at the ID, seeing that it was actually Mr. Hot Butt himself.
‘Hurry up, I might leave you.’
I quickly scampered ahead, dodging classmates and teachers as I went. I finally got close enough to tap his shoulder, which caused him to spin around and face me.
At first his face was filled with a classic Barakat smile, but soon, another emotion flashed before his eyes, causing his smiled to go into a thin line.
“Who the fuck did that to your eye?” Jack yelled, stepping closer to examine it “I’m going to beat the shit out of whoever it is.”
“Aw, you care.” I said sarcastically, letting him get a closer look at the bruising around my swollen eye.
“Of course I care.”

Notes