It's Nothing Personal (rewritten)

*2 months into school*

Jack POV

Alex and I have been I guess a form of friends with benefits, in-between kind of dating and just making out in practice halls at school and in the forest preserves ever since the first day of school. I really want to take it further but Alex seemed to hold back a little, getting a bit separated and spending a lot of time talking to one of my friends Cass. Today school feels like any other day but there's something making Alex a little more quiet than usual.

“Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today, cause something is going on,” I ask as we walk to the last class of the day

“I can’t be quiet for once, damn” Alex laughed as we walked into the class and sat with Zack and Cass

“I just wanted to make sure you’re ok” I placed my hand on his thigh under the table and he pushed it off

Class started and I tried to talk to him about what was going on but he seemed very closed minded today. I gave up about halfway through the class and just did my work, chatting with the teacher and shooting the shit with a few other students. Alex, Zack, and Cass looked back at me a few times throughout the rest of the hour and I gradually got more and more paranoid before I left the Music room and walked into the practice hall to maybe get some work done. I finish my work and sat in the practice hall for the rest of the hour, having a little time to play my guitar while waiting for the hour to end. When the final bell rang I walked out of the practice hall, avoiding the music room, and went straight to my locker to put away a few books. Alex walked up behind me and poked my hips.

“What the hell!” I jump

“Hey” he leaned up against the locker next to mine and smiled

“What, you finally want to talk to me” I rolled my eyes and slammed the locker

“Hey hey, whats going on,” Alex asked

“How about you tell me.” I walked away in a pissy mood, I walked right to my car and though I usually drive Alex home, I pulled out of the lot and left him at school

I pulled into my driveway, dropped my bag in the front room and I see Zack’s car pulling into Alex’s driveway. I grab a blanket and walk out of the front door with my headphones on and walk into the forest preserves. I walk two miles deep into the preserves off a marked trail and find a little spot to just relax and get out of my head. I lay there for a solid hour before I get up to go back home, my mind is clear and I am smiling as the music pulses through my body. I make it back to the path and start to walk down one of them.

It's going to be alright, just take a breath and let the rest come easy

I think as I make it out of the woods. I pass the meadow where Alex first found me and I see a mound on the bench overlooking the hill. It’s shaking and it's not even that cold out. I notice the hoodie, red and black, just like the one Alex was wearing earlier. I groan and walk up to the bench.

“Alex,” I say flatly

“What do you want” He hiccups

“Why are you crying?” I ask

“Cause I messed up” He shook

“How did you mess up” I lift his head up and sit in its place, leaving his head in my lap, I cover us with the blanket

“You probably hate me and I like you, I lost all faith in myself and I lost you, I hurt you” He sobbed harder

“You didn’t,” I say softly

Alex sits up and looks at me, his eyes bloodshot and his face is a mixture of bright red under his eyes and ghostly pale everywhere else

“I didn’t mess anything up” He looked at me with his eyes wide

“No I’ve just had a stick up my ass cause I thought you and Cass were talking about me and I get really paranoid” I shrug

“So I still have a chance” he smiled like a child

“A chance at what?” I smile

“Dating you,” Alex said softly

“yeah” I smile

“Wait, I do?” Alex looks so innocent

“Yes” I grabbed his face and kissed him

Alex broke first and laid his head on my shoulder

“So what does this mean?” Alex asks

“It means whatever you want it to mean” I hold his hand and he giggles

“Well boyfriend sounds pretty good rolling off the tongue” Alex smiled

“Then boyfriend it is” I smiled and held his hand

We walked out of the forest preserves together and walked up to Alex’s house. I kiss him before he enters his house and a kid walks past, a tall and slender form. It looks at us and I recognize the face, as well as the last name on the back of the letterman jacket

Hopper. Chad Hopper


A notorious asshole and vice-captain of the soccer team who is a firey homophobe and has pushed me in the halls and messed with me ever since grade 6, he also lives a few houses down and frequents the preserves. There will most definitely be hell if he spots either of us in the hall tomorrow.

Alex walks into his house and I walk into mine, I eat a larger dinner than usual and go up to my room and dance around out of happiness. I fall asleep with a grin on my face and an energy in my heart that I had not felt in years.

Notes

Sorry for how long this has taken, I've had exams and I've been studying my ass off. Here's chapter three and I'm going to try and put out chapter four sometime early this week. It'll be a longer one and you might hate me but it'll be worth it.