My Only One (Jalex)

Alex's POV:

I watched Jack walk out of the door with Vic trailing behind him. I wasn't as worried about him now that I knew he'd be with Vic. All I had to focus on is getting Ronnie and Andy to Zack. The first few students were just starting to come into the school, chatter firing back and forth between them. I greeted a few as I made my way to the entrance, nodding my head or smiling at them if they acknowledged me, which only a small percentage did. I wasn't expecting Ronnie or Andy to be in this early so I wasn't in any rush to get to the main doors. It went in Jack and I's favour that Ronnie and Andy lived at opposite ends of the school's catchment area so they had no time to talk face to face to get their story straight. Also, from looking at the past records, they arrived at school within five minutes of each other. I was determined to get this sorted and that's exactly what I'd do. If I had to quit my job to avoid prosecution, so be it. I'd do anything for Jack and I'm pretty sure he knows that. Our relationship wouldn't have progressed to the level that it had if what we had meant nothing.

It was five minutes before the bell went that signalled the start of school. The majority of the students were now arriving, student after student filing in through the doors. This made it hard to pick out individual people but I wasn't exactly short and neither were Ronnie and Andy, hopefully making them easier to spot. I was starting to get nervous now, the palms of my hands sweating, my heart beating a mile a minute. It wasn't anxiety, as such, it was just pure panic. I was scared, to be brutally honest. Both Ronnie and Andy were intimidating, even to me. They were both of a stronger build than myself and it wouldn't take them much to knock me out if they really wanted to. The only thing making me stay was the images of Jack and I together that were flashing through my head. Thoughts of the past and thoughts of the future flashed through my mind. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jack, that was set in stone, but whether he wanted to do the same was a subject that we were both yet to approach. Neither of us had really thought about it: we were so hell bent on making sure that our relationship stayed under wraps and the constant stream of unfortunate events that kept cropping up in our lives just stole away our focus on our potential future together.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a loud booming voice echoing into the main corridor where I was stood. It was definitely Andy: only he has such a deep, gravely voice.
"Ahh, Mr Biersack, just the person I've been waiting for. Well, not exactly, I've also been waiting for your friend but that's not important now."
"What the fuck do you want, faggot?"
"Oh, mature. Resorting to being middle school behaviour now, are we? Wait here with me please."
I had no idea how I'd managed to get Andy to wait along side me until Zack came, which should be any minute now. Andy sunk to the floor, leaning against the lockers. He looked defeated and that was exactly what I was wanting. I had no idea where my sudden burst of confidence had come from either but I wasn't complaining, I just wished that it would make an appearance more often. Zack came striding down the corridor a few seconds later, a smirk appearing across his face when he saw Andy sat on the floor.
"Mr Merrick, could you please escort Andy to my office please?"
"Yeah, sure."
As Andy hauled himself up off the floor, Zack leant in towards me and whispered in my ear.
"All's good so far. We'll sort this out, I promise."
I nodded in thanks towards Zack and watched as he marched down the corridor with Andy struggling to keep up beside him. It was a few more minutes before Ronnie sauntered into the gates of the school and up towards the doors, headphones blaring some shitty rap music making him oblivious to me calling his name several times. As he got closer, I could smell the overpowering stench of weed on him. It was obvious that he'd been smoking. He was just about to walk through the doors until I stepped in front of him.
"Get the fuck out of my way."
"Excuse me?"
"Get the fuck out of my way, faggot."
"Oh, so it's not only Mr Biersack who's resorting to middle school name calling. Come with me please."
"Why should I?"
"Maybe because not only have you turned up for school late and high but we've got a little something to have a chat about. Now, come with me."
I'd somehow managed to get Ronnie to follow me to my office- I was on a roll.

Once we were there, we were greeted with Zack and Andy, their conversation just ending. I didn't manage to catch any of it but from the look of Zack, it had been a success.
"Right, Andy, step outside with Mr Gaskarth, i believe he wants to talk to you about this too. Mr Radke, take a seat."
Andy stood up and walked past Ronnie, totally ignoring him. Andy did look genuinely sorry and I was dying to have a chat with him, just to know for myself. Ronnie sat down in the chair previously occupied by Andy, crossing his arms and huffing loudly, obviously trying to be intimidating. Andy stepped outside the door and held it open for me.
Once outside, we stood face to face in silence until Andy broke the silence.
"Look, Sir, I really am sorry. I thought it was just some sick joke that Ronnie had made up, I didn't think it was true for one second and-"
"It's not true, Andy. Speculating a relationship between a teacher and a pupil and voicing those speculations can get the teacher, student and everyone else involved into a lot of trouble."
"Sir, don't lie. I know it's true, you're fighting back a smile now. Look, I've known about Kellin and Mr Fuentes for months now and I've not said a word. I promise to keep this a secret. Plus, we're all out of here in a few months, it'll all be okay soon."
I sighed, a thousand questions and worried were running riot in my brain right now. I wondered how he knew about Vic and Kellin but most of all, I was wondering if I could trust him. Sure, he said he's known about Vic and Kellin for months and he's not said anything.
"Fine, but you've got to promise not to utter a word."
"I promise, Sir. Ronnie's a dick. He does have photos but they're Photoshopped. He found one of both you and Jack kissing someone else on the internet and used them to make it look like you were kissing each other. I hate him. The only reason why I hang around with him is so I don't get bullied but it's ended up in me being a bully and I'm not okay with that. I'm really sorry, Sir, I really am."
"I believe you. Thank you, Andy. You have no idea how much that means to both Jack and I. You don't happen to have one of those pictures though, do you?"
"Yeah, actually. Here."
I took one look at the photo and burst out laughing. It would've been fairly viable if the editing wasn't so poorly done.
"What's so funny, Sir?"
"The editing. It's obvious it's fake. Plus, that photo of me is at least two years old. I had pink clumps in my hair when I was in college, I've never had pink in my hair whilst I've known Jack. Thank you."
"No worries. I think I might go and have a word with Jack at break or something, just to apologise. Can I go back to lesson please?"
"Yeah, go ahead. Your teacher already knows why you're not in lessons so it shouldn't be a problem. See you, Andy."
"You too, Sir."

I sighed and leant against the wall. Zack and I had arranged previously that I would go into the office when Zack calls me in, which he hadn't done so yet. I looked down at the photo again, even more laughter escaping my mouth. It was so badly done. Jack's arms had been dragged to meet mine, making them look wobbly and distorted, both of our necks had been craned too far and the back ground behind us was a college party, the exact one that the photo of me was taken at, kissing Liam, my ex.
"Everything okay, Sir?"
Jack's voice startled me a little, causing him to chuckle. Jack had switched back to a completely innocent pupil, although I did notice his face scrunch slightly every time he took a step.
"Yes, thank you, Jack. Why are you out of isolation?"
"I needed work. What have you got there?"
I held the picture out to Jack for him to take it and look. He, too, burst out laughing, his beautiful laughter echoing through the halls.
"Oh my God. This is really bad! Who did that?"
"Mr Radke."
"Fucking junkie. Anyway, I better be off, Sir. Bye."
Jack took a quick scan of the deserted hallway before pecking me on the chin and going off down the corridor, him walking noticeably stiffer than usual.

The door to my office opened slightly, revealing a stressed looking Zack. he gestured for me to come in with his hand before stalking back into the office and sitting opposite Ronnie at the table. I took the only spare seat next to Zack.
"Right then, we'll discuss the fact that you turned up late and high in a few minutes time but firstly, what have you got to say for yourself about producing these fake images?"
I laid the photo out on the table in front of Ronnie. He took one quick glance at the photo before stiffening in his seat.
"I didn't make that."
"Oh, but you did. The little name on the edge of the white border of the photo kind of gives it all away."
"Oh...someone must have logged onto my account then."
"Right, that must've been what had happened then."
"Yeah, that's what happened, Sir."
"Quit the lies, Ronnie. I know it was you. I don't care about your bigoted opinion, just as long as you keep it to yourself. Thanks to your idiocy and poor editing skills, too many people have ended up either upset or punished. Just own up, it'll be easier for you."
Ronnie stayed silent, his head down in shame.
"Fine, I did it but it was just a joke, okay?"
"No, not 'okay'. What you did was serious, Ronnie. And you're not going to get away lightly for it."
"All right, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Damn right it won't happen again. Why? Because you are not to return to this school. I'm fully in my rights to expel you after an incident like this and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I want you to collect your things from your locker and leave. I'll call your parents right away to explain the situation."
"But, what about my exams? They're in two weeks! You can't throw me out now!"
"Oh, I can. Anyway, you should have thought of the consequences of your actions first. I'll talk to your parents and maybe we can arrange for you to finish your exams here but you can kiss goodbye to going to the prom."
"What? You're fucking with me, aren't you?"
"No, why would I? Not only have you possible jeopardised your future but you could've jeopardised mine and everyone else involved. I may be young and new to this school and to running a school in general but there is no way on this planet that I will tolerate behaviour like that, understood?"
Ronnie nodded, finally admitting defeat.
"Oh, and as for your lateness, I'll over look that but turning up to school high? Not acceptable either. I'll be discussing that with your parents too. Mr Merrick, will you please escort Mr Radke off of school property?"
Zack nodded and walked over to the door, opening and holding open for Ronnie. He shot me a smile and a wink before leading Ronnie out of the room.

I could finally relax. It felt like a massive weight had just been lifted off of my shoulders. Finally, Jack and I were out of the danger and we could finally go back to normal, whatever that was for us. If today had taught me anything, it was to value what you've got because, tomorrow, the world could be totally different and everything you had could become lost. It also made me realise how much I actually loved Jack. I was annoyed at myself for only seeing it when I could lose it but at least I've realised it now before it was too late, right?

Notes

Hi,

I don't meant to sound like some bitch here but I'm really not feeling the love for this fic. In no way am I just pinning this on all of you guys, because I'm more to blame here. A select few of you guys are commenting and one person in particular has actually rendered me speechless with their comments on how much they like this fic and that's amazing but I'm not really feeling any love for this any more, from myself too.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like this fic and I don't enjoy writing it as much as I used to. Whether that's down to my mental health, I don't know, but it just feels like this fic isn't liked. I'm really sorry to come across as a bitch here. I really don't like it when people beg for comments and only post a new chapter if a certain amount of new comments are posted and I'm not going to do that: I'll post daily, or as close to that as possible. Once again, I'm really sorry.

Thank you for reading,
Em x