My Only One (Jalex)

Alex’s POV:
It’s difficult being young. No one will ever take you seriously. Your views are taken the wrong way because you’re young and why should it be any other way? After all, we’re just young adults. In comparison to older, wiser, adults, we’re nothing. And we, the young adults of society, should just accept the, right? Wrong. But do you want to know when it’s a prime example of the younger generations not being taken seriously? When one of them is put in charge of a school and but ‘put in charge’ I don’t mean some pen-pusher who sits in an office all day. I mean a working, teaching head master of a school and that’s the category that you’ll find me in.
It’s difficult being only 24 and being in charge of people who are either old enough to be your father or just slightly younger than yourself that it could be deemed acceptable to hang out with them. A lot of you may be wondering how such a young person, like myself, ended up being appointed head teacher of a school and, to be brutally honest, I think I’m thinking exactly the same too.
I spent the last two remaining weeks left in the summer holiday sprucing up Dulaney High. Almost every wall had a fresh lick of paint, new posters had been put on every wall and all class rooms had been bought up to date technology. The music department was my favourite part of the school though. Instead of the dull baby blue that I had chosen for the rest of the school walls, the music department was painted a vibrant purple. Both classrooms within the department had been kitted out with new instruments and I had built a completely sound-proof recording studio in one of the old practice rooms. It looked like a totally different school but I think it needed it. A fresh start...for everyone.
As of right now, I was sitting down in my office, going through the list of new students with the deputy head, Mr Merrick. We were mainly discussing whether students needed extra help with any subjects but we also had to discuss a select few pupils in detail.
“Jack Barakat...expelled from his three previous schools for bullying, lack of attendance and just being a plain asshole, from what I can tell from his record.”
“With all due respect, Alex, I really don’t think you can call a kid an ‘asshole’ and why the fuck did you agree to take him on?”
“What can I say? I love a challenge, Zack. I don’t know, really, I just seemed...intrigued.”
“You love a challenge, huh? You won’t be saying that when he’s here. I taught him at my last school. He’s a complete dickhead, Alex.”
“I can be a dick if I want, Zack. I’ll sort him out. Plus, it’s his senior year. He needs to settle down otherwise he’s staying here till he’s passed every class.”
Zack chuckled, him shaking his head at my determined attitude. Zack and I finished up not long afterwards, packing away all the papers ready for the first day back tomorrow. We said our goodbyes before heading off to our homes.
-
First day of being the head teacher of my own school and to say that I was nervous, would be the biggest understatement of the century. I’d made sure to have washed my hair within an inch of its life, making sure that it was perfectly styled over my forehead shortly afterwards. I pulled on a pair of new skinny jeans- I’m the head, I can wear what I want- and a skinny-fit, white button up shirt. I loosely tied a skinny black tie around my neck and slid my feet into my new black vans. Feeling good about my appearance and deeming it suitable for a school environment, I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder, heading out the door.
The drive seemed to go on for ages, the roads seeming a lot busier than usual. Nerves were starting to spread through my body. I subconsciously tapped my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the crappy pop music that was obnoxiously blaring through the speakers in my car. I didn’t turn it down though: I’d rather have something to distract myself from my self-eating thoughts. I passed many teenagers lazily dragging themselves towards whichever school they belonged to. I took every single one of them in, analysing them. I wasn’t judging, not in any way, shape or form but I was a big believer in being able to tell what someone is like by the way they present themselves. You had the typical slutty girls with their skirts barely covering their ass. You had the jocks with their jackets on, their muscles showing even through the thick fabric of their jackets. There were a few punk kids with their hair all different colours, piercings and few even had tattoos. I had nothing against this, I’m all for expressing yourself and I can hardly disallow tattoos when I have a few myself. There was one kid that caught my eye though. He was tall and lanky with his hands shoved into the pockets of his Green Day hoodie. His hair was a very dark brown, almost a black colour that had a huge patch of blonde in the front that was spiked up in a sort of Mohawk thing. It suited him. He was very skinny though, his legs clad in ridiculously tight skinny jeans. He just had this weird kind of air about him. Even through the protection of my car around me, I could feel his ore radiating off of him. He was definitely one to keep an eye on if he was heading my way.
I pulled into the car park of the school, narrowly avoiding the few kids that were already in school. I parked my car and grabbed my bag before walking into the main doors, confident Alex taking over. I held my head high, nodding to any students or teachers that acknowledged my presence. I’d made my way to my office, greeting Zack as I walked in.
“You ready for this, Alex?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve got to head off to the hall so I can greet the new kids. See you later.”
I’d made my way to the hall, dodging a few students that were running to greet their friends. I’d just finished laying out the chairs when the bell went, signalling the start of the school day and the start of the school year. I had a few teacher who didn’t have forms in the hall with me so we could divide the group and make sure they we familiar with the school rules etc. The hall soon filled up with lost and nervous looking kids, most biting their nails or playing with the hems on their shirts. I’d recognised a few of them from my little observation on the way here. I waited till the late bell rang until I started talking.
“Hello, I’m Mr Gaskarth and I’m the head here at Dulaney. For the majority of you, this is your senior year and fortunately, for everyone involved, you’ll be out of here in less than a year. Basically, I just want you all to feel welcome here and if any of you have a problem, anything at all, don’t hesitate to come and speak to a member of staff, okay? At the end of the day, we’re here for you. We’re not mean; we’re not going to bite. A lot of us, including myself, are very young and we’ll probably understand. Okay, so the first few rows on my left go with Mr Fuentes and he’ll show you around. First few on the right please go with Mr Urie over there and he’ll do the same. Back few rows on the left, you’re with Miss McDougall over there and the remaining students you’re with Mr Stump. I hope everyone has a good time here, well, as good as you can get whilst being forced to go to a place of education, but you get the gist. Thank you all.”
All the students stood up and made their way over to the teacher that they had been assigned to. The hall cleared quickly, the chatter of the students dying down. I sighed and rubbed the tension from my neck with my hand. I was about to turn out of the door to head back to my office when I noticed a mass of black and blonde hair sitting on the very back row, headphones in his ears, tapping away on his phone. I smiled slightly, remembering that it was the kid who had me fascinated on my way here. I walked over to him, him not even reacting to my presence. The closer I got, the clearer his music became. I heard Tom Delonge’s voice pour out of his earphones. His thumbs danced over the screen on his phone, a text conversation displayed on the screen. I straddled the chair that was in front of him, his head finally snapping up. He pulled one bud in annoyance, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes?”
“Oh, sorry, I just wanted to know why you thought that Blink-182 are more important than what I was saying up there because, clearly, you didn’t hear a word I said.”
“It’s Blink, Sir. Of course they’re more important.” He said as if it was one of the most obvious statements in the world.
“Granted, they are a fantastic band, but this is your education, Mr Barakat, and this is your future that you’re toying with.”
“I don’t care.”
“Deep down, I know you do. Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d put your phone away, turn off your music and follow me to my office: I need to talk to you.”
“How the fuck did you know my name?”
“Lucky guess, Jack, but less of the swearing next time, okay?”
Jack huffed and stood up from his chair, pulling out the remaining bud from his ear and slinging his phone into his bag. I stood from the chair and gestured for Jack to follow me. We walked in silence to my office. I kept sneaking small glances at the boy. His nose was a little too big for his face but in a strange way it suited him. He had the biggest eyes that I’d ever seen, big brown orbs with a certain spark in them. I’m not going to lie, he was attractive and if I wasn’t his teacher, I would certainly make a move on him.
We made it to my office. Jack looked up at the sign that was nailed to my door.
“Head teacher? Are you having a laugh? You look about twenty!”
“No, not having a laugh at all. Thing is, Jack, I was a nerd at school. I worked hard; I left school at sixteen and went to college. I’m proof that if you knuckle down and get on with it, you can do so much with your life in a small space of time.”
“Whatever.”
Jack followed me into my office and plonked himself down in the chair that sat opposite my desk. I walked over to the cabinet that held all the files and pulled his out. I placed it on the desk, flipping it open onto his record.
“We need to discuss this, Jack.” I pointed down to the stack of papers that sat on my desk, each one detailing every moment of Jack’s school life.
“We don’t need to discuss anything.”
I sighed and sat my head in my hands, my eyes staring at Jack, who was staring right back at me. This was going to be one hell of a challenge...

Notes

Heyy,

IT'S ME, I'M BACK WOO
I've missed writing even though it's only been like five days...

Anyway, this is my new fic and I'm actually very excited for this one.
Em x