The Boy Next Door

Today's the first day of school after homecoming. I haven't seen Alex since the night he'd spent at my house. To be honest, I don't know how to act to him after what happened that night. I've spent the whole weekend trying to figure it out. Will he still be the same old Alex again?

I take one last sip of my coffee before heading out because Travis won't stop honking his car horn outside. He's always 10 minutes early for everything, but not today.

"Bring a muffin for Travis, it's blueberry." Mom hands me a brown paper bag

"Bye, mom!" I kiss her cheek before leaving

"Be careful, call me when you get home!" She answers

I nod and sling my bag over my shoulder. Not forgetting my painting for Mr. Fitz's assignment that's due today. I slide into the passenger seat and toss the bag to him

"Blueberry muffin, your favorite."

"Thanks! Hmm, still warm." He opens the bag

"Don't mention it. And hurry, we're gonna be late if we don't leave now." I say

We ride in silence after that, since he's too busy nibbling his muffin, one hand on the steering wheel. I look out the window, wondering what could possibly happen today at school when I see Alex.

I haven't told anyone about it. Not even Travis, Jaz, or my mom. Maybe I should tell Travis, he's my best friend. But I don't know. Should I?

We stay that way until we finally reach the parking lot. We walk together to our locker before separating to our class. I head to my homeroom class, carrying my books and canvas. I'm starting to regret choosing a canvas this big since it's half the size of my body. The struggle to keep all things in hand is real.

I was just about to drop and scatter everything, when suddenly a pair of hands catch them one milisecond before they hit the floor.

"Whoa." I steady myself

"As far as I know, school only lasts for 9 hours, not 3 weeks." Jack says, helping me with my stuff

"At least I pack a pencil case to school so I don't need to borrow one to my classmate every single time." I smirk

"You got me. So, how was your weekend?" He casually asks

Didn't Alex tell him?

"It was.. Okay, I guess. You?" I ask back

"You know, busy kidnaping ninjas and slaying dragons." He says

I laugh, "Damn, that explains my missing dragon plushy."

"And now explain your missing hair. I thought you were a new girl. Well, you still are though." He walks beside me

"It's not that big of a deal, is it? Everyone keeps asking about it." I frown

"It looks good on you."

I smile, "Thanks."

We arrive to our homeroom class, there are only a few kids in here. To my surprise, Alex is already sitting on his usual seat. He has his headphones on and one foot up on the desk. He doesn't seem to notice us coming.

"Someone give this kid a medal for the first time this year not being late!" Jack tackles Alex

"You, Dick! It took hours to style my hair!" Alex groans and pushes Jack aside

I place my things on my usual desk, trying not make eye contact with Alex. It's not that I'm avoiding him. Truth is, I'm afraid of what his reaction's gonna be.

"Good morning."

I glance up to see him smiling at me. Smiling.

"Coming early, friendly greeting, are you even Alex?" I give him a perplexed look

"New year, new me." He smirks

"It's not even new year, Idiot."

"You might've heard of this before, It's never too late to change." He recites

"You may be friendlier now, but hell you're still as annoying as last time. Can you be normal and persistent for once?" I turn my back.

"Why fit in when you can stand out?" He whispers softly in my ear

---------------------

Time goes by so fast and suddenly it's time to go home. I head to my locker to put my things away before meeting the others in the parking lot.

"Gail! Wait!"

I turn to see Jack running across the hallway, breathless when he finally reaches me

"What's up, Jack?" I question

He bends to his knees, one hand up signaling me to hang on as he catches his breath.

"Do you always walk that fast?"

"You're the one with bigger steps." I refer to his long lean legs, "What's up?"

"Alex told me you have an acoustic Gibson, the Hummingbird one?" He asks

"Well, I guess. I don't really know what type it is. I know nothing about guitars." I admit

"Yeah, Alex told me you wanted a guitar lesson."

"He did?" I didn't think that he'd really tell Jack about it. Besides, he's the one forcing me. But learning to play guitar won't harm anyone, right?]

"Yes. So, are you up for it?"

I try to not to sound surprised, "Of course! Sure! As long as it doesn't bother you, does it?"

"I'd love to! It doesn't bother me at all duh, like I have anything better to do." Jack says

"Thanks, when are you available?" I ask

"Sorry, I'm taken by Alex."

I giggle, "I knew you guys were a thing!"

"Jk. What about tonight? At 8? Me and the others are hanging out at Alex's, you can crash in and you know, hang out." He suggests

By the others, I know that he meant Rian and Zack are coming along. Who else could they be?

"Are you sure the others won't mind? You know, I just don't want to ruin your time together." I cringe

"They won't mind! They bring girls all the time. We can sit on the other side of the room if you want to, well, by room I mean garage."

"Uh.. Well, okay. Tonight. 8 o'clock." I assure

He nods, "Do you want me to pick you up first or..?"

"Jack, I think I can handle a 10-second walk to Alex's without getting slaughtered on the way there." I laugh

He laughs lightly , "Alright, I'll see you tonight."

--------

It's only 7.50 when I start walking to Alex's, my father's guitar in one hand. Doubt starts to rise in my mind, I shouldn't have said yes. It's not that I don't want to, it just feels kinda weird and awkward to be around Alex.

Jack gets up to greet me by the time I reach Alex's house. "You're early!"

"I'm always approximately 5 minutes early to everything." I say

Everyone is there, Rian and Zack are watching TV while Alex is sitting on an amp with an electric guitar. I briefly say hello to everyone, even to Alex who even gets up from his seat to welcome me. The music playing from the stereo is loud, it's saying about meeting a girl at a rock show. I catch up with Zack, which I haven't seen since the party at Matt's.

"Make yourself at home, Gail." Jack sits on a couch, gesturing me to sit next to him

"It's my house, Dumbass." Alex says from across the room

I laugh at them and take a seat next to Jack. He retrieves an acoustic guitar from behind the couch and strums a note.

"Before we get on to the lesson. Tell me, what kind of music do you like?" He asks

"I don't really listen to music, I guess. Just a few songs from my mom's old walkman and stuff. Bee Gees and Genesis? I don't even know what's on the radio." I admit.

"What the fuckkk? Are you even human? How can you live without music? Don't you like freaking Justin Bieber or Katy Perry or One Direction?" He gasps

"I may be into art, but I spend most of my time on a different form of art. Music is art too, I know." I say

"Let's see.. Genesis? I know a few songs. Old guys, but they're good. 'Invisible Touch' is it?" He starts humming the beat of the song

"Yes, that one!" I nod and join him humming

"What about Green Day? Blink-182? I'm sure you've heard of them."

"Green Day? It does sound familiar. I think my dad used to have their vinyl. The one with yellow font and the explosion artwork. But I've never heard it." I vaguely remember the stack of vinyls in my dad's room. Where he'd placed the guitar there too.

"Dookie! Nice taste, he has. Green Day's a huge influence on us as a band. And Blink-182 too. Have you heard of Blink-182?"

"Not until now. Weird name for a band." I say

"But they're like, living legends! I'll make you a mix tape tomorrow, for references. A punk rock 101 from Jack Barakat. I might as well get you to dye your hair crazy colours."

"No thanks, as if being a red head is not enough." I laugh

"Wait- I think Alex has that Dookie album I was talking about. Hey Alex! Put Dookie on!" Jack shouts

Jack must be one the very few people than Alex listens to, because Alex changes the CD after Jack said that.

"Welcome to Paradise!" Jack shrieks

I've got to admit that this song is really catchy, especially the guitar. I find myself humming along after I get familiar to the song.

"It's actually really good." I admit

"Of course it is, it's Green Day." Jack says

"Hey, let me make you a mix tape. I can put some other songs similar to Green Day." He adds

"Really? I don't want to bother you even more." I frown

He shakes his head, "Of course not! I'd love to! I'm dragging you down to our punk rock world."

"But I'm sticking with my red hair, Jack." I laugh

"Of course you are. Okay, now let's get going to the basics. There are a few super easy major chords you need to memorize. This is the easiest one, an E minor." He strums. I follow the pattern of his fingers on my guitar, quite struggling despite how easy it actually looks like. I finally give the guitar a strum. But the sound that comes out of it doesn't sound anything like his.

"Ehh, almost forgot. Alex told me your string needs changing. I brought a new pack of strings from work today, it's on me." He fishes a small packet from his pocket and grabs my guitar

"Oh, I could've just got it myself!" I feel so bad. He starts changing my strings, and I can tell that he's changed a lot of string before because he works very fast.

"It's okay, seriously. It was nothing." He smiles when he's finished

"Thanks." I smile back. I strum the guitar once again, and finally it sounds decent

"That's really good!" Jack compliments

"What's so good about playing an E minor?" Alex snorts out of the blue

"You were once a beginner too, Alex." Jack says in my defense.

We end up learning only 5 chords because it's getting late and I need to finish my math homework. I say good bye to everyone, and walk back home with Jack who's insisted to walk me.

"I managed to get here by myself, what could possibly go wrong this time?" I say

"I don't know. A serial killer who only goes out at 10.30?" He suggests

"Alright, walk with me." I surrender

After a not surprisingly really short walk, I say thank you for the last time to Jack

"Thanks for tonight. I had fun despite how my blistered my fingertips are right now." I joke

"You'll get used to it, they'll turn into callouses after awhile." He says in reply

"See you at school, I guess?" I say

"Alright, see you then."

I close the door behind me. What a day.

Notes