Secrets Don't Make Friends

Alex

"First he called me like a hundred times, then he showed up to my house. Luckily my parents weren't home or they would have let him in." I told Rian and Vic. We were in my car, in parking lot, smoking before school again. I was telling them about Jack who wouldn't leave me alone yesterday. He kept calling me, I guess trying to get me to take him back. It was all in vain though. I still wanted nothing to do with him.

"It sounds like he's obsessed with you." Vic joked and I laughed.

"It's creepy, and that's why I blocked him." I said.

"What if he needs you for something?" Rian asked.

"That's what Zack is for. He's been taking him home and he's so in love with Jack so he can help him with that pregnancy shit."

"Dude, but what if you turn out to be the dad? Won't you feel bad that you didn't help Jack?" He asked.

"Rian the way I see it is this shouldn't be a 'what if' situation. If I knew for sure that I was the dad then Jack and I would still be together. I'm more bothered by the fact that Jack doesn't know who the father is than I am about Jack being pregnant." I told him honestly and he rolled his eyes at me. "Once the baby is born, if it turns out I'm the father then I'll get involved but until then I could give zero fucks." I said and finished off our joint.

"There's Jack now." Vic pointed to Jack getting out of his mom's car. I watched as he told her bye and closed the car door. Then he walked into school by himself. Part of me missed meeting him in the parking lot and walking him to class every morning.

"And there's Cass. I should go so I can walk her to class. I'll see you two at lunch." Rian said. He sprayed cologne on himself before getting out of the car and then went to meet up with Cass.

"I guess we should go to class too." Vic said and I nodded.

I got of the car and grabbed my backpack. Then I walked inside with Vic. Today was going to be a long day, I could just feel it.

*****

I met up with Rian, Cass, Vic, and some of our other friends in the cafeteria for lunch. At first lunch felt empty without Jack, but now I was kind of used to it. Cass said that Jack went to the library every day for lunch to avoid me. She told me that to make me feel bad, but I felt indifferent. It would have been weird if Jack or Zack were still sitting with us.

"Are you both still going out with us this weekend?" Our friend, Jaime, asked Rian and I.

"Yeah definitely." I quickly answered. I've been using every weekend to go out and get drunk so I could stop thinking about everything that's happened in the past week. It was only a temporary fix though.

"I can't. It's Cass and my anniversary so were going to spend the weekend together." Rian told us and I rolled my eyes. Seeing him and Cass together happily was so annoying sometimes. I just missed being happy myself.

I played with my food while listening to them talk about what they doing for their anniversary. Jack and my anniversary would have been two months from now on my birthday, but that wasn't happening now.

"Uh oh heads up." Rian warned, catching my attention.

I looked in the direction Rian was looking and was surprised to see Jack walking into the cafeteria. I was even more surprised when he started walking in my direction. He looked pissed off and like he was glowing, which was weird. I sat up as he approached the table.

Jack took a deep breath before saying, "Can we talk?" It didn't sound like he was asking, more like demanding. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. It also looked like he had just finished crying. He looked broken, but I didn’t let that affect what I said next.

"No, there's nothing we need to talk about." I stated nonchalantly and he furrowed his eyebrows. Talking with Jack would have made me angrier. I didn't want to hear how sorry he was anymore and I wasn't planning on taking him back so there really was no other reason, I could think of, for us to talk.

"It's about the you-know-what." He said trying to stay discreet. Not all of my friends knew about it so I was thankful he didn't say it out loud, but that didn't mean I would talk to him.

"Well go talk to Zack about it." I said. The next thing I know, Jack slammed a piece of paper down on the table and stormed off. I picked up the paper and flipped it over. It was a picture of an ultrasound. I ignored my friends stares and looked at the picture closely. It had Jack's name in the corner of it. My palms began to sweat as I looked at the grey blob in the middle.

******

*Jack*

I stormed out of the cafeteria with tears in my eyes. Alex made me so angry and I didn't have any other way to express my anger. I gave him the ultrasound picture, but he probably couldn't care less.

I ran into the nearest bathroom and grabbed some paper towels to wipe my eyes. I wanted to blame my pregnancy for me crying this time, but I couldn't. Seeing Alex act this way with me was breaking my heart. A month ago we were telling each other how much we loved each other and how'd we never leave one another and now here we are barely speaking. My tears fell as I thought about our relationship. I spent ten minutes crying in the bathroom before finally walking out.

Lunch was almost over so I began walking in the direction of my next class. I didn't care about running into Alex. There was nothing he could say or do that could make me feel any worse.

"Hey Jack wait up!" I heard Zack call after me. I stopped and let him catch up to where I was standing. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, when he saw evidence that I had just been crying.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said and he looked at me worriedly.

"You don't have to lie to me." He said and I looked down. I pulled my backpack off and pulled out the ultrasound that was for him.

"Maybe you'll care more than Alex." I told him as I handed him the picture.

"Is...is this your ultrasound?" He asked as he stared at the picture in awe.

"Yeah I had my appointment yesterday which is why I wasn't at school." I told him.

He continued to look down at the picture. "That's it right there." I pointed to the grey blob on the picture. A drop landed on the picture and I looked up to see it had come from Zack's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm just...wow this seems so unrealistic." He chuckled while wiping his eye.

"Tell me about it." I wish Alex had the reaction Zack was having.

"Thank you for this, Jack. It means a lot."

"It's nothing. Thanks for actually caring about this." I told him.

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked.

"I don't know, Alex doesn't so it's just nice to have someone who does." I shrugged.

"I told you, I'm not Alex. And I'm here if you need anything." He assured me and I smiled. It was nice to hear that too, I just really wished it was from Alex.

"I'll keep that in mind. But I should get going to class. The bell's going to ring any minute now."

"Okay, I'll see you after school." He said and walked off.

I felt better knowing that at least one of the potential fathers actually cared about the baby. I would honestly like for Alex to be the father so we can work through our problems, but Zack wouldn't be a horrible option. At least I was positive he would actually help take of the baby.

******

*Alex*

I sat on the back of Rian's car as I looked at the ultrasound picture Jack had given me. It was all I could think about for the rest of the day. It made this situation feel so much more real.

"Let me see it again." Rian said and took the picture out of my hand. He and Cass examined the picture for a second time.

"Look at that precious blob!" Cass exclaimed.

"Yeah he's definitely pregnant. Alex you have to talk to him." Rian told me.

"N-no I don't. This picture doesn't change the fact that Zack might still be the father too." I said, mostly to myself.

"But it does show that in nine months Jack's actually going to have a baby." He explained.

"This picture changes nothing, Ri. It's just a dot on some paper."

"It's a growing fetus in Jack's stomach." Cass told me and I rolled my eyes.

"Dude at least go check on him. I know you still love him, you're just hurt. Go talk to Jack and see how he's handling things. And you should tell him how you feel too. That would really help." Rian suggested.

"I shouldn't have to tell him how I feel. He knows I'm pissed off!" I complained.

"I hate how guys are allowed to cheat all they want, but the second their girlfriend... or boyfriend does it to them it's the end of the world. You cheated and then Jack cheated. There is literally no difference besides the fact that Jack is pregnant." Cass scolded me.

"But he had sex with Zack, one of my friends or well he used to be. And what if Zack's the dad? How am I supposed to be with Jack knowing that he has a baby with someone else?" I told her.

"If you love him enough then it won't matter whose baby it is." She said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm only seventeen, I'm not ready to raise a baby. Especially one that's not mine."

I tuned out the rest of Cass's argument and looked over towards the front doors of our school. I just so happen to see Jack walk out of the building with Zack. Jack looked calmer than he did when I saw him in the cafeteria today. He looked up and his eyes met mine. Then he quickly looked down before talking with Zack again. I watched as they walked to Zack's truck and Zack opened the door for him. I frowned as I watched them interact with each other. I wished that I didn't feel this strong sense of jealousy wash over me, but I couldn't stop it.

******

*Jack*

"I don't see anything." I told my mom as I looked at my face in her bathroom mirror. She swore that my skin was "glowing" but I didn't see it. I did however see that my skin was clearer. It seemed like the small amount of ache I had went away. There were some good perks to being pregnant.

"It just looks like your skin is radiating. It's not literally glowing." She said and I chuckled.

"I still don't see it. Maybe I'll notice a difference when I'm not pregnant anymore." I said and she nodded.

"...So, I've been thinking about Alex lately." She said and I frowned.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I know how badly you want him to care about you being pregnant. So, I was thinking I could go talk to his parents if you want. That way he'll have to address it because his parents will force him to." She told me. I told her about Alex’s reaction to seeing the ultrasound at school today. I was sort of still upset about it and she really wanted to help.

"Umm well Alex's parents will be angry if they find out he's been ignoring me because I'm pregnant. But I’m afraid they won’t care once they find out that I don't exactly know if he or Zack is the father." I sighed.

"Shit, yeah." She agreed.

"I'm just going to let Alex tell them himself. He probably won't do it until he's positive he's the dad though."

"I can't believe he's treating you like this. He's usually so sweet with you." My mom said. "He must be really hurt."

"Hurt? Mom he's angry." I scoffed.

"No, boys usually fight or use other ways to get over their anger. Alex's feelings are hurt. That's why he's ignoring you. His ego is probably hurt too because you fucked his friend."

"Can you not? I don't want to be reminded of that." I sighed.

"Well you did." She chuckled. "Deep down inside he probably wants to be the father so he can get you back and not have to worry about Zack anymore." She guessed.

"I doubt it. He probably wants Zack to be the dad so he can be free and go sign with that record company without anything holding him back."

"Yeah that too. At least Zack is helpful. He seems nice. Why don't you like him? He's buff and he has that cute nose piercing."

"He's just not my type." I shrugged.

"But yet you had sex with him? Yeah that makes total sense." She said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes at her.

"I only did that because Alex cheated on me and I wanted to use Zack to get back at him. I wish I could go back in time and stop myself."

"Yeah you should have broken his car windows or literally anything else besides having sex with someone else." She joked.

"Well I didn't know I could get pregnant at the time." I said and this time she rolled her eyes.

"I already apologized for that." She said and I chuckled.

"Yeah I know." I was quiet for a minute before talking again. "I was really hoping that once Alex saw the ultrasound picture, his feelings would change." I sighed.

"About you or the baby?" She asked.

"Both. I just want him to care so badly. It's frustrating being ignored by him."

"I told you to stop worrying about Alex."

"It's not that easy, mom." I complained. "

"Yeah it is. Just ignore him too. Pretend he doesn't exist and sooner or later he'll be crawling back to you on his hands and knees." She explained. "See right now Alex knows he has you wrapped around his finger. He knows he can get away with not being around while you're pregnant. He can go party and have sex with whoever he wants without guilt because he's probably convinced himself that Zack is the dad. Alex knows that you'll take him back whenever he's ready because you are constantly trying to get his attention. If you ignore him, he'll become more interested in you. Then you can decide from there if you really want to take him back or not."

"You really think so?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. There are two sure ways to get a guy's attention. One is ignoring them and the other is flirting with someone else in front of them."

I sat down on my mom's bed as I thought about what she said. Those two things usually worked in movies, but I wasn't sure if I could go through with it. I didn't want to push Alex away even more by ignoring him and making him think I didn't care. But then again Alex probably wouldn't care if I didn't talk to him. That's what he wanted. I guess trying out what my mom said couldn't hurt.

******

~The Next Day~

I spent all morning preparing myself to eat lunch in the cafeteria. I knew that Alex would be in there with his friends. I needed to eat in there so he could see me living "happily" without him. I couldn't go hide in the library today. Plus, I was actually starving today so I was going to have to eat something other than granola bars.

The bell rang dismissing us from class and I picked up my backpack. I slowly made my way towards the cafeteria. I took a deep breath before walking in. It felt like everyone was looking at me. Most likely they weren't but it just felt like they all knew my secret. I went to stand in one of the shorter lunch lines. I was just going to get my food, find a semi empty table, and sit down and try to enjoy my lunch.

"Isn't that him?" I heard a girl whisper behind me. Her friend, which I realized was a guy, quickly shushed her and the girl giggled.

I wanted to look behind me to see if I knew who they were, but I didn't. They probably weren't even talking about me. I was just being paranoid. I grabbed a lunch tray with a chicken sandwich, fries, and a fruit cup on it.

"Who was it with? Does anyone know?" The girl whispered to her friend again.

"No, but I think Zack. That's probably why he and Alex aren't friends anymore." The guy told her.

"That's so fucked up."

I swallowed and looked down at my food as I waited to checkout. They were definitely talking about me. I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment and my eyes watering. I regretted talking myself into coming in the cafeteria.

It was finally my turn to check out. I put my lunch number in and thanked the lunch lady. I picked up my tray and on my way out of the line I looked behind me to see if I knew the two that were talking about me. I saw that one of the girls was Lexus, a girl that was in my grade but we didn't have any classes together. The guy was named Jeffree, he was one of those boys that wore make up every day to school. I wish I had the courage to say something, they most likely didn’t know Alex cheated on me too.

I changed my mind about trying to show Alex how "happy" I am. Instead I wanted to hide so no one would pay me any attention. I found a table near the back of the cafeteria. I sat down by myself and laid my head on my hand as I ate. Sitting alone was torture.

"Mind if I join you?" Zack asked, before taking a seat anyways.

"I don't care." I sighed and stuffed another fry in my mouth.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.

I really didn't want to talk about it, but I wanted someone to feel bad for me. "I'm the school slut." I mumbled and he frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard some people in line talking about me cheating on Alex. Everyone knows because of his tweets."

"But he cheated on you too." He reminded me.

"Yeah, but Alex is perfect in everyone else's eyes. They'll just say he cheated on me because I cheated on him." I said as I wiped a tear from my eyes. This whole situation was so frustrating.

"Does it really matter what everyone else thinks? I mean we'll only be here for eight more months and then you'll never have to see any of these people ever again."

"You sound like my mom." I lightly chucked.

"That's because it's true. And the people you heard talking about you were probably jealous of you. They probably have a crush on Alex, for some unknown reason, and they're jealous that you've actually dated him. I can only imagine how pissed they're going to be when they find out that you might be pregnant by him." He joked and I laughed.

"Oh god I'm going to be the school freak when my stomach starts growing." I sighed.

"You'll be fine, I'll be here to help you." He assured me and I smiled.

"Thanks Zack." I told him.

"Don't mention it."

Zack and I finished eating lunch together and soon the bell rung. For once I forgot all about Alex. I didn't check if he noticed when I laughed or seemed happy with Zack. I sort of wish I was paying attention to him though.

Zack offered to walk me to class so I let him. I needed to remind myself to keep my distance so he wouldn't get the wrong idea about us. I was going to Biology which was the class I had across from Alex so it didn't surprise me when I saw him walking down the hall way too. My stomach did drop as he looked over at Zack and I walking together. Alex's eyes narrowed as he walked passed Zack and me. Did that count as jealousy or anger?

"He doesn't look so happy about us hanging out." Zack chuckled and I nodded.

"Yeah so that means he still cares, right?" I asked.

"Who cares if he does? He isn't here helping you so he obviously doesn't care that much." He said, dragging me back to reality.

"You're right. I'll see you after class." I told him and he nodded. We told each other bye and I walked into class once again upset. These mood swings were getting out of hand.

Notes

I combined two filler chapters to make this one which is why it's a little bit longer. The next chapters will better and more Jalex affiliated if you're waiting on that lol
Also I don't mean for Alex to come off as a Jerk, I just mean for him to be a hurt, stubborn, teenage boy.

Title Credit: Take Cover by ATL