Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Friday was not particularly interesting for Alex. Everyone was quite laid back, and it made for a calm and quiet ascent into the weekend. He went through his usual classes, chatting with Marissa in the morning, smiling at Jack from across the room after that, and meeting up with Marissa and the rest of the girls for lunch. Marissa, Sam, and Natasha were especially interested in bothering Alex about his new friend that day, much to his dismay.

“You have to tell us what happens tomorrow,” Sam voiced to Alex, “Right away.”

“Yeah, sure,” Alex chuckled, “I’ll just take my phone out every two seconds to tell you guys everything he says.”

“We would expect nothing less,” Natasha said, poking around the meal in front of her with a fork.

“Why do you guys care so much, though?” Alex sighed, not wanting his friends to get the wrong idea. He barely knew himself where his relationship was heading with Jack, so he did not want them getting any ideas.

“Because we’re losers who snoop into other people’s lives for our own entertainment,” Marissa said matter-of-factly, earning laughs from everyone at their table.

“Fair enough.”

“So, do you like him? Does he like you? What’s going on?” Sam pressed on, not accepting Alex’s shrug as an appropriate response. “You have to know the answer to at least one of those,”

“Fine,” Alex mumbled, “Maybe a little, but it doesn’t really matter. It seems like he just wants to be friends, and I’m cool with that.”

“Sure you are,” Sam raised her eyebrows, turning to face Natasha when she felt the other girl tap her shoulder.

“Leave him alone, guys.” She said, returning the small smile Alex gave her.

“Sorry,” Marissa laughed, “It’s just that nobody even dates in our grade anymore.”

“Especially not two cute boys dating each other, both of which are my friends,” Sam added.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex grinned, “I’m pretty excited about it, too.”

He was certainly very excited about it. Back where Alex was from, everyone only attended school because they had to, not even giving each other the time of day. Friends were made to pass the time, and nobody even considered dating interesting or worth-it. Jack’s outgoing attitude surprised Alex. The way he was able to just talk to Alex seemingly without a worry, after they had only been introduced briefly. It almost seemed like a movie, where everyone was more interesting than they were in real life. This was real life now, though, and it would take Alex a while to grasp it. Even when he would be able to get the hang of it, he still did not understand why it was him that Jack was being so friendly toward. Maybe he was the first new kid in a while? Regardless, he was not going to let the opportunity to slip, because that is not what anybody in their right mind does when a nice, cute boy shows any interest in you.

Later on that evening, when Alex was sitting down to eat dinner with his mother, she could tell something was on his mind.

“How was your day?” She asked, “Have you made any more friends?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“What’s their name? How’d you meet?”

“His name’s Jack. Sam introduced us.” Alex had answered questions about Marissa, Sam, and Natasha all week, after revealing the existence of his new friends to his mother.

“And does this Jack have anything to do with why you look like you want to ask me something right now?” Isobel knew Alex inside out, and was always able to read him, no matter how annoying it became for her son.

“Um, yeah. Is it alright if I hang out with him tomorrow?”

“Sure, just call me to let me know you get wherever you’re going safely.” His mother hummed, and Alex visibly relaxed. It was not as if he thought his mother was going to say no, so he had no idea why he was so nervous to ask her. Perhaps it was because this was the first time he was going out with a boy that he kind of sort of maybe liked, and his parents had no idea he liked boys. It was impossible that anyone could figure that out from Alex’s simple question, but then again, Alex was pretty readable. Even then, though, he was aware that neither of his parents were the least bit homophobic. Maybe it was just Jack in general that was making him nervous.

After dinner, Alex headed to his room. He noticed his phone light up just as he walked in, and walked over to it quickly. It was a text from Jack, and he flopped down onto his bed as he opened it.

Jack Barakat, 7:13 PM: Hey, what time are you free tomorrow?

You, 7:14 PM: Hi! I’m free all day

Alex sat contemplating the use of his exclamation point as he waited a couple minutes for Jack to reply.

Jack Barakat, 7:17 PM: Perfect, meet me at the park near the school around 1. Is that good?

You, 7:18 PM: Yeah, that’s great :) See you then

Jack Barakat, 7:19 PM: Cya

For most of the conversation, Alex cringed at the almost-formal language. It was obvious that they barely knew each other, and Alex rayed that Jack would be right about not needing to always speak to each other to have a good time.

Alex walked to the park the next day with his hands in his pockets, and his face stuffed into the neck of his jacket. It was fairly cold out, but not rainy or snowy. He had forgotten his headphones at home, so he walked quite quickly. Jack was waiting for him on one of the park benches, and he stood up when he saw Alex approaching.

“Hey,” Jack hummed, as he fell into step with Alex. “So, I had no idea what to do next, but then I saw the trails that lead into the forest over there, and I thought that would be fun. What do you think?”

“Sounds good,” Alex said, eyes trained to the ground as he watched Jack’s feet moving beside his own.

The pair walked side by side into the forest, pointing out whatever they thought looked interesting as they talked about school, the only thing they seemed to have in common.

“I hate math so much,” Jack grumbled, “I almost failed it last year, but I got a tutor. If it wasn’t for that, I would have been kicked off of the soccer team.”

That was another thing about his new school that took Alex by surprise. High school sports were actually taken seriously, as opposed to just being ran for fun.

“And who would you be without that, right?” Alex giggled.

“Hey, that’s not true. I’m very multidimensional.” Jack argued, to which Alex countered with, “Prove it, then.”

“Well,” Jack thought, “I like music, too. I like going for walks like this, I like going to parties. I like food, and I like cute boys… and girls, but that’s not useful information right now.”

“Oh,” Alex mumbled, glad he had been looking off to his side as Jack spoke. The obvious piece of flirtation could not help but to catch his attention, and it made it a bit hard for Alex to articulate himself as it lingered in their conversation. “I like all of those things, too, I guess. I like reading, too. But no so much parties. Or girls,”

“Interesting,” Jack smiled.

Alex hummed in reply, walking off into a clearing they eventually approached. Earlier on, the two boys had strayed off from the main trails, Jack claiming he would know the way back.

“This is such a cool area!” Alex said, walking around the perimeter of the area.

“We should totally build something.” Jack decided, as he looked at the piles of fallen branches surrounding the clearing.

Alex had been quite happy with Jack’s suggestion, so the pair spent the next few hours finding the perfect logs, with little conversation. By the end of their time, they had only built a small foundation to what seemed like it could be a reasonably sturdy, small cabin.

“We should come back and work on this some other time,” Jack said, “If you want.”

Alex nodded along, adding, “We could bring some tools or something, to make it better.”

“Totally,” Jack grinned, “My dad’s on a business trip, so we can just take his.”

“Perfect!” Alex cheered, “That’s funny, my dad’s away, too.”

Their conversation about their families lasted for a while on their way back home. Alex learned, along with his mother and father, Jack had an older sister and brother, too. Along the way, Alex began to tuck into himself again, trying not to make it too obvious that he was near-shivering.

“Are you cold? Jack asked, and when Alex mumbled a quick, “No,” Jack just shook his head and laughed, taking Alex by the hand and pulling him closer to himself, tucking Alex’s hand into his jacket pocket along with his own, once they were side by side.

Notes

i'm getting super ahead with these, which is good, since school will start soon. i'm also liking the new chapters a lot more, too! leave me a comment with your thoughts, and thank you so much for reading :^)