I had my phone attached to my hip all night after sending Jack the first text, anticipating anxiously for his response. At dinner, my phone was beside my silverware, and I was too focused on seeing if my phone would light up instead of eating the veggie stir fry that was on my plate. Mum and pop must have noticed because pop set down his beer can and asked, "Alex, why aren't you eating? You know your phone should be put away when we're having dinner." I looked up, a hot blush finding its way to my cheeks. I shoved my phone in my pocket; I knew it was on vibrate, so if my ass vibrated, I knew Jack or Jenna had texted me -- hopefully it was Jack.

"Sorry, just waiting on a text from someone." I muttered an answer before shoving a mouth full of stir fry in my mouth. Mum chuckled.

"You hear from Jenna everyday, dear. Why is it so important?"

"It's actually not from Jenna. It's from that guy who was in the restaurant the other day! His name is Jack Barakat, and he goes to the art school." Just talking about him made me blush harder and a gummy smile finding its way to my face. Mum raised a brow.

"The boy who asked me how you were doing? Wow! How did you meet up with him and get his phone number, Lex?"

"When Jenna and I went to go see Macbeth, he was there to support his friend, Zack. As I was leaving, he found me and talked to me! That's when we exchanged numbers. He seems really friendly and wants to be my friend." I smiled. Mum smiled wide, clapping her hands.

"That's great, Lexy! I'm so proud of you making a new friend!" Pop scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Jeez, Iz. You make our son sound like he can't make friends." In unison, we all chuckled.


After dinner, I decided on taking a shower. My Spotify was playing while I showered, Twenty One Pilots blasting throughout the bathroom. As I washed my hair, my music lowered as my phone's vibrations echoed into the shower. I gasped. Someone had messaged me! I was shaking in excitement at this point, my stomach twisting into knots. I hoped to the Gods above that it was Jack, not Jenna sending me stupid messages. I hurried out of the shower, dried off, got into my fresh pajamas, and hurried into my room to check my phone. I pressed my phone's power button to be showcased a message alert lighting up on my phone. I smiled even wider when the message was from Jack's contact. I swiped the alert open to read the text.

From Jack:
Hey there, clumsy. What's up?

I squealed like a school girl upon reading it. I hurried to type back.

To Jack:
In bed, just finished showering. What about you!

Seconds later,

From Jack:
Just finished playing video games with my mates. Staying at their house.

Jack and I texted for hours until I passed out around two o'clock in the morning. It only left me six hours to sleep before I had to wake up for work, but for Jack, it felt worth it. We talked about our interests, our friends, and even our schools. I found out Jack is going to be a junior compared to me who is going to be a senior. He adores the bands Blink-182, Maroon 5, Twenty One Pilots, and Good Charlotte, all bands I adore myself. He wants to have his own band after high school with his best mates, him doing guitar because it was his favorite instrument. He told me he has two siblings, a sister named May and a brother named Joe, all older than him and moved out. I told him about Tom, my older brother, but never told him that he was gone. I felt we weren't acquainted enough for him to know Tom's story. We had so much in common, and I knew in the future, we'd get along just fine.

---

JACK

I woke up with Zack's toes in my nose and Rian snoring like a pig in my face. I groaned, shoving Rian's face away from me and yanking Zack's disgusting toe out of my nose. Somehow, the two lard asses never awoke from my gestures. I just rolled my eyes, got up, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Whether they were awake or not, I was heading out of Zack's place to head towards Peter's and Son's. I needed to see Alex again. Our conversation the night before was just amazing. I never thought him and I could have more in common, and all the time we talked, I wished that I had met him sooner than just yesterday.

I put on my short sleeved hoodie that read Guitar Hero on the front, my blue jeans, and my weed leaf snap-back on my head before grabbing my skateboard from Zack's room. The two of them still snored on the floor, and I wasn't waiting for them to wake up to leave; it was already noon, and the restaurant would be booming soon if it wasn't already. I got on my skateboard and skated my way to the burger joint.

Arriving just before the restaurant was spilling with people, I put my skateboard under my arm and waltzed inside. I took a sigh of relief to see that there was a table open, and I had my heart set on it. Alex was smiling and taking the order of the Deli owner across the street, so I patiently waited at the door to be seated. Isobel noticed me waiting, for she hurried over with a smile. "Hello! I remember you, Jack, right?" I nodded happily.

"That's me. I'm assuming Alex told you about me?"

"He sure did. You can take the last table of the house, and Alex will be right with you, dear." Her British accent chimed joyously in my ear, making me blush.

"Thank you, miss." I trotted to the booth and slid in slowly. I took hold of the menu and was scanning through it when a little voice chirped in my ear.

"J-Jack?" I turned to see Alex standing at the booth, clutching his notepad and pen to his chest. I smiled lightly.

"Hey, Alex. I thought I'd come back; your dad's burgers are really something. Better than McDonald's." I joked which made Alex giggle.

"I'll let the chef know." he winked. "Um, what can I get you?"

"How about... a bacon cheeseburger, french fries, a pop, and you joining me for some lunch?" My remark made Alex's eyes bug from their head. I'm surprised they didn't fall to his feet.

"M-Me sit and ha-have lunch with you?" he stammered out. I chuckled and scoffed.

"Yes, Alex. You think your folks would be okay with you having some lunch with me for just an hour?" Alex looked back at his mum and at me multiple times, biting his lip.

"I'll have to ask. I'll put your order in and u-um, let you know?"

"Sounds good to me." I nodded before watching Alex hurry off. I pulled out my phone to see 5 MISSED CALLS - RIAN and (3) MESSAGES - RIAN glowing on my homescreen. I groaned and opened up the messages.

From Rian:
Way to leave us alone, Jack.
Where are you?
You're at that burger place, aren't you?

I rolled my eyes.

To Rian:
I wasn't going to wake you sleeping princesses up.
Yes, I am. So what?

I set my phone down and turned to see where Alex was. He was speaking to his mum, most likely about my offer. Isobel looked hesitant while Alex was practically begging her to let her accept my offer. I watched until my phone starting buzzing again from a message from Rian.

From Rian:
Oh my God, Jack. For that Alex kid? He's not even that special. He fucking fell like a moron.

The message made my blood boil, but before I could respond with an angry rant, I heard footsteps come up beside me. I looked up to find Alex holding out my food on a tray, but my food was alongside another plate. He was smiling wide. "Room for one more?" he giggled. I laughed, patting the spot across from me.

"Join me, comrade." Alex plopped down across from me, sliding me my plate of food while he set his own plate of food in front of him. I was leaning in to take a bite of my greasy meal when I noticed his burger was green. "You know your burger is green... right?" I said in concern. Alex laughed.

"Duh! It's a veggie burger, silly." he explained, taking a large bite of his green patty. My brows still raised, I took a bite of mine. I swallowed my grub, deciding to continue interrogating him on his "veggie burger".

"Veggie burger? You're in a burger joint, and you order something made of vegetables?"

"Well, this may sound absolutely crazy, but I'm a vegetarian." Alex said. I gasped, my jaw dropping.

"You were raised in a burger joint, surrounded by ground beef and bacon deliciousness, and you're vegetarian?!" Alex was now laughing at my shock. He covered his mouth to censor his harsh laughs.

"Yes! I know, it's insane!" he heaved out through his laughter.

"You're nuts, Alex Gaskarth! If you don't like bacon, we can't be friends." I playfully crossed my arms and shook my head. He gasped with a giggle.

"Fine, carnivore."

"Fine with me, herbivore." We both smiled at each other, blushes on our faces.

We ate in silent for a few moments before Alex decided to pick a conversation. "So, would you mind telling me about the art school? I've always dreamed of going there." His voice was low, and from what I can tell, it depressed Alex to talk about a school he couldn't go to. I wondered why.

"Well, it's nothing extravagant. It's mostly a lot of music and art kids walking around the halls, talking all the normal classes, but instead of gym or electives, we work on our majored art. I major in music, so I do band and music appreciation. It's fun, but it can be competitive with hundreds of kids majoring the same as you." I explained.

"I auditioned for the music program, and I got accepted." Alex whispered before taking his final bite of his veggie burger. I perked up.

"You got accepted? Why aren't you attending it, then?"

"My family didn't have enough for tuition, so we had to turn it down." Alex's expression changed from content to sadness in a matter of seconds. I could see in his face that it hurt him to say he couldn't attend the school of his dreams because of his family's income. I reached and rubbed the top of his hand gently.

"Your family restaurant doesn't bring in enough income for it?"

"I mean, we could have if we didn't have to pay for a family funeral." he mumbled.

"Funeral?" I asked in curiosity.

"Yeah, it's nothing you should concern yourself with. I understand that I wasn't meant to go to BSA, okay?" he whispered, collecting our empty dishes. I frowned, sitting back.

"Hey, I hope I didn't hit a sore spot, Lex." I worried. Alex looked at me with a soft smile, shrugging.

"Nah, it's okay! I brought it up. I don't really worry about it any -"

"Alex!" We both turned our heads to see Jenna McDougall running in with a happy wave. Alex grinned.

"Hey, Jenna. What's up?" he greeted softly. I just looked at them both, watching them interact.

"Kellin, Vic, and some of their friends are having a bonfire tomorrow night, and they're inviting us to come. You in?" she smiled, heaving from her running entrance. Alex chuckled and nodded.

"Sure!" Jenna looked in my direction and gasped.

"Hey, you should come to! I can pick you up when I pick up Alex!" I was taken aback by Jenna's offer, unsure of how Alex would feel. I looked at Alex.

"You okay with me coming?" Alex nodded quickly with a scoff.

"Duh! You could even bring Rian and Zack?" Alex looked in Jenna's direction for approval, her nodding quickly.

"The more the merrier!" she cheered. "I have to run off, just wanted to stop by and ask if you wanted to come. See you tomorrow night!" With that, Jenna rushed back out. Alex chuckled, looking in my direction.

"Pay the check with my mom, and I'll text you later, stud." Alex winked with a giggle before going to the back with the dirty dishes. I sat back, blushing and taking a deep breath. God, that boy took my breath away. I threw a five down on the table as a tip for Alex, paid Isobel for my meal, and headed outside to skate down the street to return home.

Notes

I didn't like this chapter at all, but I promised myself I'd get it out before Monday. So, why not post it thirty minutes before midnight on a Sunday night? Lol.

Hope this is okay for you guys!

Side note: Cannot believe both this and A Love Like War (an old story of Bree and myself) are on the first page of the popular tab! So much love omg.

xoxo krys