We've Got Unfinished Business
This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB
Heading to school the next day, Alex was in a terrible mood. Zack sat in the driver’s seat, just as tense as Alex was; Alex doesn’t even try to console him, though. It’s his own problem.
“It’s a high school, Zack. There’s nothing so scary about it. Well, not to someone who graduated more than ten years ago,” Alex said irritably. He won’t even try to cover it up; Zack knows how he feels about this.
“I didn’t like how my high school days went, and people your age seem much more rowdy,” he replied curtly, knuckles whitening as they tightened around the steering wheel.
“You didn’t even need to come.”
“I need to monitor you. Your mom told me you’re usually absent for a longer period of time, but you insisted on coming in today, so I need to be there just in case.”
“Well, fuck you.”
“Great to know I’m appreciated, you little shit.”
On any other day, Alex would have been fine with this; Zack did the same when he came from Essex last year, except he only went for one day because 1.) it was “all he needed”, 2.) he was monitoring Alex’s depression, and 3.) Alex spilled his guts later that night because he didn’t like being stared at for having this huge-ass body guard-like “friend” following him around.
Zack made a bargain with the school yesterday evening: a trial month of the school for $500, with absolutely no homework or grade-giving. Alex was more furious over the fact he couldn’t have done the same thing concerning the homework for him, but the fact he was there to follow him around definitely added fuel to the fire.
He was completely against this. He’s fine. He was only ever absent longer because Jack’s a lazy fuck, and he only obliged because it meant more cuddles. Alex felt his cheeks heat-up immediately after thinking about those, and he gave a small smile; he misses those.
And, call him a baby, but he wants Zack nowhere near Jack. The older tends to overanalyze everything, and then he’ll over exaggerate and over-act. He gives everyone these judging looks, and his face was born passive; add that to his body-stature, and you’ve got the one thing that would keep Jack away from Alex forever – like he said before, Jack has problems about what other people think of him.
“What’s your first class?” Zack asked as he shut the engine. They shut the door, and started walking towards the school. Alex could already feel the eyes on him as Zack took the bag Alex was holding and sling it over his shoulder, walking close behind him to make sure he’d be able to see whatever Alex sees ahead.
“Econ.”
“Is Jack in that class?”
Alex made a big deal of rolling his eyes and sighing. “Yes, but I don’t see how that concerns you.” He saw the side of Zack’s mouth curl up into a smirk, and he groaned. “I fucking swear, if you scare him, I will have you shipped back to Essex in a dog crate.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” he insisted, his smirk growing.
It has come to Alex’s mind that he was only doing this because he’s concerned – as always. But he knows what Zack’s up to: he’s going to protect him. From Jack. Why? Because he’s making him happy. That’s exactly what Alex’s saying about Zack’s over-analyzing ways: he thinks that Jack’s going to let Alex down, and then Alex is going to experience a pain, and he quotes, “somewhere near the one you experience when Tom died because you know you can’t let Jack go.” Okay, yes, that’s true: he can’t let Jack go. He’s been pretty clear about that over the years. But Alex really wants to make Zack happy, and the only way to do that is to completely ignore Jack. He sighed quietly. Sometimes having to make everyone happy was difficult.
And, just his luck, Jack was already sitting on his seat in the Econ classroom, ear buds plugged in his ears, his feet tapping to the beat as he doodled in his notebook. He looked really nice today – dark skinny jeans, a gray shirt topped with a black jacket, and converse – and there were dark circles under his eyes that concerned Alex and made him want to give him a big hug. Jack and Alex were seatmates in most classes because it was told to the teachers about a fake problem of Jack’s, which is his incapability to work to his full extent unless he’s beside Alex. Alex found it awkward that they’d always tell Jack things at the start of the year like, “There! You’re next to Mr. Gaskarth!” or “You and Mr. Gaskarth better give me good grades,” or other things like that.
Zack nudged him into the room, his eyes darting all over the place. Thankfully for Alex, Zack had a special seat at the back of the class because he was just “observing the class,” and that was pretty far from where Jack and Alex sat. It was nearly time, so Zack and Alex headed straight to their seats.
“Morning,” he heard Jack greet when he took his seat. “How are you?” Feeling Zack’s eyes on him, he merely nodded, lips pursed. “Oooookay, then.” Alex felt like screaming as Jack turned over to look to the front of the class, his tone hurt and confused.
As the teacher drawled on about statistics, Alex got restless, really concerned that Jack might have taken his lack of response the wrong way – mentally slapping himself, he realized that there was absolutely no way to not take what he did the wrong way. The class dragged on, and with every second, Alex got even more restless. He felt his breathing turned rushed, and he tried to calm himself down, resting his head on the table when their teacher gave them the rest of the time to work on their other homeworks. Thankfully, he went to the back to talk to Zack, so Alex didn’t need to talk to anyone he wasn’t in the mood to.
Too bad he really wanted to talk to Jack. But Jack knows his boundaries too well, and went back to what he was doing when Alex first walked in. Alex noticed him looking at him constantly with shy but concerned eyes, and he ached to just whisk him from this class and head to the music room, but he needed to do this for Zack, and if Zack sees that he’s fine and that Jack isn’t someone that’ll hurt him, he’ll probably stop going to school and stay home, then Alex can lead the way he was previously, except with more Jack.
He felt something slip under him arm, and he moved his head, not necessarily lifting it from the desk. Jack was looking back at him, lips pursed. He picked up the piece of paper he was passing to Alex and dropped it where his head previously was, then went back to doodling on his notebook. Alex sat up straight and read the note:
I have no idea why you’re not talking, but I hope you’re doing okay.
Not able to resist the urge, Alex wrote back. The bell rang and Alex placed the note on Jack’s lap, then ran over to Zack, a fake, but hopefully convincing smile splattered on his face.
I’m really, really fucking sorry, Jack. Chin up and don’t do anything stupid, okay?
“It’s a high school, Zack. There’s nothing so scary about it. Well, not to someone who graduated more than ten years ago,” Alex said irritably. He won’t even try to cover it up; Zack knows how he feels about this.
“I didn’t like how my high school days went, and people your age seem much more rowdy,” he replied curtly, knuckles whitening as they tightened around the steering wheel.
“You didn’t even need to come.”
“I need to monitor you. Your mom told me you’re usually absent for a longer period of time, but you insisted on coming in today, so I need to be there just in case.”
“Well, fuck you.”
“Great to know I’m appreciated, you little shit.”
On any other day, Alex would have been fine with this; Zack did the same when he came from Essex last year, except he only went for one day because 1.) it was “all he needed”, 2.) he was monitoring Alex’s depression, and 3.) Alex spilled his guts later that night because he didn’t like being stared at for having this huge-ass body guard-like “friend” following him around.
Zack made a bargain with the school yesterday evening: a trial month of the school for $500, with absolutely no homework or grade-giving. Alex was more furious over the fact he couldn’t have done the same thing concerning the homework for him, but the fact he was there to follow him around definitely added fuel to the fire.
He was completely against this. He’s fine. He was only ever absent longer because Jack’s a lazy fuck, and he only obliged because it meant more cuddles. Alex felt his cheeks heat-up immediately after thinking about those, and he gave a small smile; he misses those.
And, call him a baby, but he wants Zack nowhere near Jack. The older tends to overanalyze everything, and then he’ll over exaggerate and over-act. He gives everyone these judging looks, and his face was born passive; add that to his body-stature, and you’ve got the one thing that would keep Jack away from Alex forever – like he said before, Jack has problems about what other people think of him.
“What’s your first class?” Zack asked as he shut the engine. They shut the door, and started walking towards the school. Alex could already feel the eyes on him as Zack took the bag Alex was holding and sling it over his shoulder, walking close behind him to make sure he’d be able to see whatever Alex sees ahead.
“Econ.”
“Is Jack in that class?”
Alex made a big deal of rolling his eyes and sighing. “Yes, but I don’t see how that concerns you.” He saw the side of Zack’s mouth curl up into a smirk, and he groaned. “I fucking swear, if you scare him, I will have you shipped back to Essex in a dog crate.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” he insisted, his smirk growing.
It has come to Alex’s mind that he was only doing this because he’s concerned – as always. But he knows what Zack’s up to: he’s going to protect him. From Jack. Why? Because he’s making him happy. That’s exactly what Alex’s saying about Zack’s over-analyzing ways: he thinks that Jack’s going to let Alex down, and then Alex is going to experience a pain, and he quotes, “somewhere near the one you experience when Tom died because you know you can’t let Jack go.” Okay, yes, that’s true: he can’t let Jack go. He’s been pretty clear about that over the years. But Alex really wants to make Zack happy, and the only way to do that is to completely ignore Jack. He sighed quietly. Sometimes having to make everyone happy was difficult.
And, just his luck, Jack was already sitting on his seat in the Econ classroom, ear buds plugged in his ears, his feet tapping to the beat as he doodled in his notebook. He looked really nice today – dark skinny jeans, a gray shirt topped with a black jacket, and converse – and there were dark circles under his eyes that concerned Alex and made him want to give him a big hug. Jack and Alex were seatmates in most classes because it was told to the teachers about a fake problem of Jack’s, which is his incapability to work to his full extent unless he’s beside Alex. Alex found it awkward that they’d always tell Jack things at the start of the year like, “There! You’re next to Mr. Gaskarth!” or “You and Mr. Gaskarth better give me good grades,” or other things like that.
Zack nudged him into the room, his eyes darting all over the place. Thankfully for Alex, Zack had a special seat at the back of the class because he was just “observing the class,” and that was pretty far from where Jack and Alex sat. It was nearly time, so Zack and Alex headed straight to their seats.
“Morning,” he heard Jack greet when he took his seat. “How are you?” Feeling Zack’s eyes on him, he merely nodded, lips pursed. “Oooookay, then.” Alex felt like screaming as Jack turned over to look to the front of the class, his tone hurt and confused.
As the teacher drawled on about statistics, Alex got restless, really concerned that Jack might have taken his lack of response the wrong way – mentally slapping himself, he realized that there was absolutely no way to not take what he did the wrong way. The class dragged on, and with every second, Alex got even more restless. He felt his breathing turned rushed, and he tried to calm himself down, resting his head on the table when their teacher gave them the rest of the time to work on their other homeworks. Thankfully, he went to the back to talk to Zack, so Alex didn’t need to talk to anyone he wasn’t in the mood to.
Too bad he really wanted to talk to Jack. But Jack knows his boundaries too well, and went back to what he was doing when Alex first walked in. Alex noticed him looking at him constantly with shy but concerned eyes, and he ached to just whisk him from this class and head to the music room, but he needed to do this for Zack, and if Zack sees that he’s fine and that Jack isn’t someone that’ll hurt him, he’ll probably stop going to school and stay home, then Alex can lead the way he was previously, except with more Jack.
He felt something slip under him arm, and he moved his head, not necessarily lifting it from the desk. Jack was looking back at him, lips pursed. He picked up the piece of paper he was passing to Alex and dropped it where his head previously was, then went back to doodling on his notebook. Alex sat up straight and read the note:
I have no idea why you’re not talking, but I hope you’re doing okay.
Not able to resist the urge, Alex wrote back. The bell rang and Alex placed the note on Jack’s lap, then ran over to Zack, a fake, but hopefully convincing smile splattered on his face.
I’m really, really fucking sorry, Jack. Chin up and don’t do anything stupid, okay?
Notes
Chapter title belongs to We Are The In CrowdHi :-)
6/11/13