Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

“I just don't get why you get a car and I don't,” Tom grumbled as I pulled into the school's parking lot.

I sighed and grabbed my bag from the back. “Because you had a car and you totaled it.”

“That wasn't my fault!” I rolled my eyes and slid out. There was a moment of silence between my brother and I as we appraised our new school. “It looks...” Tom trailed off waving his hands dramatically in place of words.

“Posh? Stuck up?” I offered.

He grinned. “Yeah, exactly.”

We shuffled our way to front security desk where Tom smoothly asked for directions to the office. We made two wrong turns – thanks to Tom – but eventually found it. My wonderful, loving brother shoved me in first. “Your turn short-stop.”

I scowled at him before turning to the secretary who's attention was on her computer. I swallowed. “Um, e-excuse me?”

She looked at me over her glasses. “Yes?”

“I, ugh, we're new here,” I managed to sputter out. I was cursing Tom – who was snickering behind me – to the deepest darkest pits of hell; speaking to unfamiliar people was never my strong suit.

“Last name?”

“G-Gaskarth.” Tom snickered again. I kicked my foot backwards; finally getting him to stop when my heal connected with his shin.

“Thomas and Alexander?” I nodded. “Ok, here's your schedules and a couple maps of the school.” She passed the papers to Tom before leaning on her elbows to face me. “My name's Mrs. Williams if you need anything, sweetie,” she smiled.

“Um, thanks?” I said as Tom already began walking out the door.

She glanced down and back up at me. When I looked down I saw my hands shaking. I flushed and clasped them behind my back. “My daughter has anxiety, too. If you ever need to just come and sit, it's always quiet in here.”

I managed a nervous smile. “T-Thank you, ma'am.”

“Alex, come on!” Tom called from the hallway.

I gave Mrs. Williams one last wave before meeting my brother in the hall. He handed me my papers with a grave expression. “What?”

“Do you have your pills with you?” He asked seriously. When I nodded he returned the gesture. “Ok, good. Don't be afraid to use them. If you need me-”

“Text you, I know. I'm not a kid, Tom. I can take care of myself.” I sighed and began to search my schedule for my homeroom.

“I know, but I worry. You're my brother, it's my job, let me be an overprotective asshole sometimes, ok?” He squeezed my shoulder.

I nodded without looking up, trying to find room E206 on the map. “I'm going to get so lost.”

The bell shrieked, making Tom scrunch up his face in displeasure. “Christ, that's awful. I'll meet you at the car after school, ok?” He ruffled my hair and ran off with out letting my respond. I sighed for the umpteenth time that day before making my way to homeroom.

My morning, in short, was uneventful. I managed to only get lost once, but still made it to class with seconds to spare. It wasn't until I stopped at my locker to unload the books I had gotten thus far that anything at all happened.

I probably looked ridiculous standing there staring into my locker, but I was trying to not freak out. I had one more class before lunch, and I was undecided if I wanted to risk going to the cafeteria or take Mrs. Williams up on her offer to sit in her office for the duration of the period. I was deep in this anxious downward spiral when a sharp smack to my ass wrenched my from my thoughts.

I yelped and whirled around to see three guys walking away. The tallest, and closest to my side of the hall, turned his head to wink at me briefly before disappearing around a corner with his buddies. I gaped after him momentarily before rushing off to my next class.

I took my favorite seat – back corner closest to the door - and waited for class to start. As the bell shrieked again, the tall guy from the hallway waltzed in. I was ninety percent sure he was the one who slapped me.

“Starting off your junior year as wonderfully as the other two, Mr. Barakat?” Our teacher sighed. I felt bad, he seemed nice.

“You know it, Mr. O'Neil,” he smirked.

“Take a seat, Jack.” Mr. O'Neil waved his hand dismissively before turning back to the papers on his desk.

Jack Barakat scanned the room slowly before his eyes met mine. He smirked. “Yes, sir.” He casually strutted over to the empty seat next to me and slid in. Just my luck.

Hard as I tried, I couldn't focus on what our teacher was saying. My anxiety was going through the roof because Jack Barakat, the fucker who blatantly smacked my ass in the hallway, was shamelessly staring at me with that stupid smirk. After ten minutes, I couldn't take it anymore and was getting up the nerve to ask for a bathroom pass when he opened his mouth.

“You're the cutie from the hallway, aren't you?” he whispered. I felt heat crawl up from my chest to my hair. How do you even respond to that?! He chuckled. “I guess so. I'm Jack.” He stared at me expectantly, but I wasn't directly asked a question, and I wasn't entirely sure I could speak a coherent sentence at that moment. “Do you have a name, cutie?”

My face got even hotter. “A-Al-Alex,” I managed.

“Alex, hm? I like it. Suits you.” He appraised me from top to bottom. “I like your shirt, too. Enema of the State was a good album.” He nodded approvingly.

Oh god, he's trying to have a conversation with me. I was about to open my mouth, and most likely make an idiot of myself, when I was saved by Mr. O'Neil. “Barakat, I swear if we're going to have a repeat of last year I'm sending you to the principal.”

Jack raised his hands to his shoulders in surrender, but never lost that damn smirk. He stayed silent until the bell, but never stopped looking at me from the corner of his eye.

When the bell sounded it's awful shrill noise, I jumped up to collect my things as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough.

Jack caught my elbow. “Alex, yeah? You seem alright. Quiet, but alright. Why don't you sit with me for lunch?” I wasn't sure I really had a choice, as his hand was on my back guiding me from the room. “So, Alex, how come I've never seen you around? I know everyone, and I don't know you.” He whisked us through the hallway effortlessly. People seemed to be moving out of his way.

“I-I'm new,” I muttered. He nodded and looked at me waiting for more. “I, ugh, my family just moved here?” I mentally slapped myself.

He smiled. “That would explain it. Where did you move from?” He led me through the cafeteria doors. I knew for a fact that our classroom wasn't anywhere near the cafeteria, but apparently with the sea of students parting for him, Jack managed to get us there in record time.

“N-New York.” He waited again, with an exasperated look. “I, um, it was a s-small town out on Long Island.” He waited. “Ronkonkoma.”

He laughed. “Jesus, it's like pulling teeth to get more than two words out of you. Don't worry, I probably talk enough for the both of us.” Sure seems like it. He looked at me surprised.

I flushed as I realized I must have been thinking out loud. Nice one, Alex. I was sure to keep that thought in my head.

Jack chuckled. “Alright, so you can speak like a normal person.” His arm slung around my neck, pulling me closer to his side as we made our way to the back of the room. “You need to loosen up, Lexy. I don't bite.” He leaned down to my ear. “Well, not yet I won't,” he purred. I couldn't help the goose bumps that raised on my arms before Jack stopped suddenly at a table. A full table, non-the-less.

“Jack, what are you doing to that poor kid? He's bright red!” A girl laughed from under what I assumed was her boyfriend's arm.

I glued my eyes to the floor and tried to scoot away from Jack, but he was having none of that and just pulled me closer. “Guys, this is Alex. He's new, and unbearably quiet.” He pulled me over to the one empty seat and pushed me down before grabbing a chair from the table behind us. He pulled it uncomfortably close to me and sat on it backwards.

The girl rolled her eyes. “I'm so sorry for him, he thinks he's in charge here-”

“I know I'm in charge here,” Jack interrupted.

“He THINKS he's in charge here. I'm Cassadee.” She smiled.

“Rian,” the guy attached to the arm on her shoulders nodded.

The guy to his right smiled, too. “Zach.”

“Jenna.”

“Shaley.”

“Oliver.”

“Tay.”

“Jeremy.”

“Lizzy, but no 'I', just Lzzy.”

I tried my hardest not to gap at them like a moron. There was no way I was going to remember all of those names. I was more than grateful when they all went back to their separate conversations. However, my luck only went so far, because Jack turned his full attention back to me.

“Don't worry, you'll get to know them.” He sounded incredibly confident in that fact. “You have your schedule on you?” I silently pulled it out and handed it to him. He grinned. “We have last period together, too.” Of course we do. “What's the matter, Lexy? Not excited to see me for another hour?” He placed his hand on my thigh.

I wanted to smack that smirk off his face. “Not particularly.”

His eyebrows raised, but the smug expression stayed. “Oh, I'm offended.” The way he squeezed my thigh said otherwise. “I promise, I'm not trying to get in your pants just yet.”

“You have to know him at least three hours for that!” one of the guys from the other side of the table laughed.

Jack sighed. “You're not helping, Oli.” Oliver, that was his name. Jack stood suddenly. “Well I know you'll all miss my presence terribly, but we have to go.” I took his hand on my shoulder as my cue to stand and follow him. His hand found my back again as we walked. “Did you want to go to your locker first?”

I tried to remember if my locker was close to my last period class, but Jack had tucked my schedule into his pocket. Asshole. I shrugged. “I-Is it near the r-room?” I truly hated myself sometimes.

“You're cute when you're frustrated.” He winked at me. “And no, not really, but we have plenty of time.”

We really did. The halls were still practically empty, the bell far from ringing. I shrugged, the idea of putting away the heavy History textbook certainly sounded appealing. Jack just flashed me the smirk. “I-I suppose.”

“Are you ever going to put an effort into keeping a conversation with me?” He sighed.

“No,” came out of my mouth before I could think of how I wanted to respond.

He just laughed. “You're a sassy little thing, aren't you?” We stopped at my locker and Jack smacked my ass for the second time that day. “I like it.”

I scowled at him. “Could you not?”

“I could, but you're even hotter when your mad. Come on, Lexy, we don't have all day to stand here.” But he made himself quite comfortable as he leaned against the locker next to mine.

“Ass,” I muttered, throwing my books in my locker.

“You stopped stuttering,” Jack noted as we began walking to class.

I shrugged, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a real answer. He was really getting on my nerves.

He stopped suddenly, stepping in from of me to look me in the eyes. “Oh, don't be cranky with me.” He placed his index finger under my chin to make sure I didn't look away. “I'm obnoxious, and I'm a flirt. I know it, everyone knows it, and we all accept it. You, however, don't seem to take shit from me.” He grinned. “I like it. It's different. So don't curl in on yourself, put me in my place. I dare you.” His arm was around my shoulders again in a flash and we were walking. “So why'd you move?”

“Do you have a weird physical contact issue where you always have to be touching people?” I hissed. At least I'd stopped sputtering for words.

“Yes. Are you going to answer my question?”

“My mom got promoted.”

He nodded. “I assume the town you come from wasn't like this one?” I shook my head. “Yeah, you seem like it.” I glared at him. “Not in a bad way!” he amended quickly. He chuckled. “No, no, you're just...”

“Not a stuck up twat?”

He smirked. “Sure.”

I shrugged. “I suppose this kind of place is new to me.”

Jack nodded thoughtfully as he guided me into the almost full classroom. When did the bell ring? We made our way to my favorite corner of the room and took the same two seats as our class before lunch. He was oddly silent for the entire period, but didn't seem to be paying a bit of attention to the teacher. When the final bell sounded, he seemed to snap out of his thoughts.

Jack held his hand out to me as I hoisted my book bag onto my shoulder. “Phone.”

“You could ask,” I mutter, but hand it to him anyway.

He looks up from what he's doing to smirk at me again. “If I did, you'd still be stuttering. I have to keep you mildly annoyed with me to get you to speak.” He slipped my phone back into my front pocket. His look told me he knew that he was dangerously close to getting slapped, but didn't even care. “Text me, Lexy.” He winked and was gone.

That, was my first experience of Jack Barakat.

Notes

There we go, that's a propper chapter. Enjoy, loves. - Anna