Take A Breath and Let the Rest Come Easy

*Alex Pov*

Our section was assigned the very back of the auditorium for our sectional. Together there are about 12 of us. My old school only had 5. Wow. Gerard gave the lanyards to the section leaders, and they were now being passed out. Tay and Jack decided to split them, so they could both pass them out. There were only 3 new freshman, and all of them were girls. Great. That means i'm really the odd one out. There's only 4 new people, so 75% of the section already knows each other. That means I'll be even easier to notice. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice Jack calling my name.

"Alex, are you ok?", I snapped out of my haze to see a rather confused and concerned Jack holding my lanyard out to me. I didn't trust my voice not to shake, so I just nodded and forced a half smile. I tried to take the lanyard out of his hand, but of course, it slipped out of my hand and almost fell on the floor. We both reached out to grab it, but Jack was a little quicker. He handed it to me, and I felt my face heat up. I quickly turned to sit back down. Now for self introductions. Oh, the joy. The seniors decided to start. I wasn't really listening though. I was busy looking at the people in my section, analyzing. Ok, not the whole section. Just Jack. I'm honestly fascinated by the amount of energy that boy has. It's not even 9 am. How is he so hyper? I noticed that we were on the person to my right in the ciricle, and I could faintly feel my heart speed up. Please, not in here. Not in front of all of these people.

"Alex?" Tay called. I looked down into my lap, and I felt myself start to shake.

"Tay, let's go through all of the returning people first. Save the newbies for last" Jack quickly suggested. I looked up and saw Jack looking at me.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed. Crap. I nodded and attempted to smile. A minute later, and I still hadn't calmed down. It didn't help that I could still feel someone watching me. Two more people left before me. The thoughts were coming back. 'It hasn't even been 15 minutes and you've managed to embarrass yourself. They all think you're weird. They can see you shaking. You're a freak.'

"Tay, I forgot, Gerard needed to talk to Alex about paper work for camp." Jack said suddenly. Why does he need to speak with me? My mom took care of it all.

"Oh, ok. He can introduce himself during the next sectional then." Tay casually agreed.

"I'll show him to the office." Jack stated, gesturing for me to come with him. I quietly followed him.

*Jack Pov*
Gerard didn't need to see him. I noticed something was up when he didn't hear me calling his name the first time. Then he started to freak out. I don't know what's wrong, but I know that being in the middle of that chaos isn't going to help him. We took the back way out of the auditorium, and I started to lead him to the bathroom around the corner.

"I-isn't the b-band room t-that way?" He quietly chocked out, gesturing to the music wing. That's the first I've heard him speak. His stutter confirmed my earlier hunch: he has anxiety, and he's about to have a panic attack.

"Yeah, but we're not going to the band room." I stated. He looked at me with confusion painted in his eyes.

"B-but I thou-"

"I lied. He doesn't need to see you. We're going to the bathroom." I explained upon reaching the bathroom. I opened the door and signaled for him to enter. He walked in, staring at the ground. I checked to make sure no one was in the room, and then locked the door. When he heard the lock click, he looked at me in complete terror.

"W-what are y-you doing?" he asked, panicked.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. I don't think you want anyone walking in when you're already on the verge of a panic attack." I calmly explained. He began to nod, but then his head shot up, and he looked completely horrified.

"H-how d-did you kn-know! I-is it t-that n-noticable!?"

"No, but my little brother has the same problem. I know what to look for. That's why I got you out of there. I know how bad those can get, and I didn't want you to pass out or anything." I reassured him. His breathing was still heavy. He was currently sitting up against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees, so I decided I'd try what I do with Joe. I went and sat next to him.

"Alex, I need you to breathe with me. I'm going to count to 4. I want you to breathe in for 4 seconds, and then breathe out for 4 seconds. Then I'll switch to 6, and finally 8. okay?". He nodded. "Okay. In, two, three, four; Out, two, three, four; In, two, three, four; Out, two, three, four.". I continued until his breathing was back to normal. Soon after, he stopped shaking.

"I'm sorry." Alex whispered, barely meeting my eyes.

"There's nothing to apologize for. Shit happens. It's not your fault.". He looked down again. "And don't worry. This stays between us.".

"T-thanks." He mumbled through his half smile.

"Hey, you should sit with me during lunch break." I suggested, taking note of his Blink shirt.

"I-I don't want t-to impose"

"Dude, you're wearing a Blink shirt. Anyone with that awesome of a music taste is welcome to join us.".

"Wait, y-you like Blink!?"

"And Green Day, New Found Glory, Yellowcard, and the like." I responded with a slight chuckle. His eyes lit up and he smiled. Like a whole smile. Not that half smirk thing he's been doing. "So, you sitting with us?".

"Sure." He answered, his grin never leaving his face.

This is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Notes

Jalex before jalex happens. I'm going away for band camp tomorrow, so I might not be able to update.

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