Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

It was particularly interesting for Alex whenever he found himself sitting quietly in class, thinking about how he always seemed to be in the same spot. In English, all he could think about was how he seemingly spent hours there all the time. The same thing happened in math afterwards, and in all of his other classes, too, so he knew the feeling was not real. Even when he was at home, it felt like school was miles away and years behind. That was Alex’s favourite feeling by far.

As he sat in English the next day, Alex passes the piece of scrap paper Marissa had passed to him earlier back up to the girl. The small sheet contained various games of tic-tac-toe, as well as a reminder for Alex to join Marissa and her friends again for lunch. Alex had written back in agreement, finally able to shake off the fear that his place to belong was only temporary.

Although some kids enjoyed the way school structured their lives, Alex was not one of them. He hated having to go to bed early, and he hated having to wake up early. He did not care for routine, if it meant attending lessons every day. So, the structured nature of school days themselves naturally pissed the blond off. He sat through math in the same boring way he did before, breathing a sigh of relief when the bell rang once again.

Alex got to their table quite early, not at all surprised that he only saw Natasha seated there, as he had basically sprinted to the cafeteria from his math class.

“Uh, hey,” Alex greeted her, slightly disappointed with his own social skills. He wanted to sound friendly, not rude.

“Hey, Alex.” Natasha responded, motioning for Alex to sit down. After she did so, she kept her eyes on the papers that Alex then noticed to be in front of her. They looked like they were full of math problems, or something.

Keeping his head down as he waited, Alex tapped his shoe against one of the table legs. Deciding he was probably annoying Natasha, he stopped, sighing to himself.

“What’s got your panty hose in a bunch?” A voice asked from behind Alex, and he was glad to notice that the question had come from Sam, who was joined by Marissa. The two girls sat down on either side of Alex, Sam giving Alex a questioning look.

“Huh?” Alex asked, before remembering her question. “Oh, um. It’s school, so, y’know.”

“I hear you,” Sam laughed, before launching into a speech about how Natasha was always doing extra homeworks at the worse times.

Meanwhile, Marissa turned to Alex, asking him how his day was.

“It’s going alright,” Alex decided, “I’m just glad lunch doesn’t suck.”

“Speaking of lunch, aren’t you hungry?” Marissa questioned.

“No, not really. I ate after English, since I didn’t have breakfast this morning.” It was true, Alex was used to irregular eating patterns, so he had no problem scarfing down his sandwich between periods.

“Okay,” Marissa dismissed the subject, “Do you want to come to my family's bakery after school? I already asked those two, but Natasha has a math club meeting, and Sam has a soccer practice.”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Great, I’ll meet you at your locker, then.”

Marissa then launched into the conversation that Natasha and Sam were having, about if it was appropriate for juniors to go to the senior prom.

“Absolutely not,” Natasha urged, “They aren’t seniors, end of story.”

“Well, yeah, but what if you were dating a senior? You couldn’t go to his prom with him!” Sam argued back, only to have Marissa cut her off.

“Prom doesn’t have to be all about dates. It should be about spending time with the people in your own grade that you’ve spent the last four years with. What do you think, Alex?”

“Yeah, wouldn't you be pissed off if you were dating a junior, and you couldn’t take her to prom?” Sam added, leaning in, excited by their debate.

“I don’t know. I agree with what Marissa said,” Alex stated, receiving a smile from the brunette in return, “And I was going to say there could be exceptions, but where do you draw the line with that, y’know? And, besides that, I, um, I don’t really like girls. I mean, I like girls, but not, uh, like… that.” Alex stuttered, trying to hit two birds with one stone.

“Makes sense,” Marissa agreed, without a bat of an eye.

Sam, on the other hand, just settled with, “Oh.”

“Told you,” Natasha spoke quietly in Sam’s direction, earning a shrug from the blonde. Alex chuckled at both of them, glad his little confession had become lost in the mix of their conversation once again.

As the girls talked, Alex’s eyes scanned the room, as usual. He was unable to find himself to continue looking on, though, once he caught site of the table he had asked about the day before. The three boys were all there again, but no one else was currently residing at their table. Alex’s could not particularly keep his eyes off of the dark haired boy, interested quite a bit in the stranger.

“Alex? Alexander?” Marissa asked, nudging Alex in the arm softly.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” Sam asked, turning around in her seat. She spun back around with an eyebrow raised, then asking, “Which one?”

“What do you mean?” Alex frowned.

“Leave him alone, Sam,” Marissa sighed, but she was soon waved off.

“No, no. Tell me, I’m not stupid.” Sam insisted.

Alex slouched in his seat, deciding there was no way he was getting out of this. If anything, it may help him.

“The thinner one, with the black hair.” Alex mumbled, not really expecting the squeal he received in response.

“That’s Jack, and you’re in luck, Lexy,” Sam giggled, “I happen to know that he’s the one that also swings that way.”

“Jack,” Alex repeated calmly, before perking up, “Seriously?”

“No doubt,” Sam grinned, “We dated back in freshman year, since we both played co-ed soccer. He told me. He’s been with a couple guys since then, too.”

“Oh,” Alex began, “Nevermind then-”

“No, no, no, no. I want you to go for it. You totally have a chance, and he’s a great guy. We broke up after, like, two weeks, because we realized we were totally better as friends.”

Smiling with his cheeks tinted pink, Alex double checked, “You’re sure?”

“Definitely. I could even help you out, if you want.”

At that, Alex shook his head, along with both Marissa and Natasha.

“You’re definitely not meddling with this,” Marissa warned Sam, and Sam put her hands up in response. Their conversation moved on swiftly, as it usually did, but Alex could not help but to sit in place with only a small smile on his face. He was more than glad that his new friends thought he had a chance with the cutest boy he had yet to see at his new school.

After P.E. ended, Alex found Marissa at his locker, just where she said she would be.
He was quite surprised by how fast she had changed in comparison to him, and then he told himself to shut up, not wanting to fill his brain with such trashy ideas. She looked good, though, probably a lot less sweaty than he did.

“Ready to go?” Marissa asked, and Alex nodded his head in affirmation.

The pair of friends walked to Marissa’s family’s bakery at a fairly relaxed pace, as it was not that far. The shop was located on the nearest busy street, which was only a couple blocks away from their school. Upon arrival, Marissa dropped her stuff near the counter, then turning to Alex.

“So, what do you want?”

“I’m alright.” Alex shrugged, hoping Marissa would not press on further.

“Oh, come on. No need to be polite.” A voice rang out from behind the counter, and Alex turned to see a woman that looked just like Marissa, but around a few decades older.

“Really, I’m fine, Mrs., um-” Alex tried, relieved when the woman interrupted his rambling.

“Grimaldi, but you can call me Angela.”

“Right,” Alex nodded with a smile, turning back to Marissa as her mom busied herself once again. “So, is it just you and your mom? Or, who else helps out here?”

“My dad, Michael, and my brother, Leo, do, too. Now, stop avoiding my question. What’s up with you?” Marissa asked Alex, finally causing him to do what he knew was the right thing. He did not like talking about it, but by this point, it was just easier to explain.

“Uh, I’m anaphylactic to dairy.” Alex said, realizing he would have to continue to explain when Marissa gave him a confused look.

“Like, lactose intolerant?”

“No, like, if I touch dairy I can die,” Alex explained, chuckling at the shocked expression on Marissa’s face.

“Oh my, how do you even live? No wonder you’re so skinny,” She remarked, returning Alex’s smile.

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad. I’ll explain more later, but for now, all you need to know is: No dairy for me. At all. Ever.”

Notes

i am back! and only a day later than i originally intended to be!

i really hope you guys are liking this, because i'm actually somewhat having fun writing these now. i still haven't been able to get ahead, but whatever yolo

also also also??? my lady and the tramp fic is 1 year old in 8 days??? it's my baby??? go read that if you want to read my sucky first chaptered fic

ok i'm done please please please leave a comment, and let me know what you think! :^) thanks for reading!