Show Choir.

Jack returns to school on Monday, and Alex is the first person to run up to him and engulf him in a hug.

“I was worried.” He says. Jack rolls his eyes.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Alex looks a little hurt.

“Alex, we’ve never associated outside of show choir before now. That’s not about to change because we sang a silly little song together.” Jack sighs, opening his locker.

“But-”

“Alex. You’re the captain of the hockey team, and most of them seem to enjoy using me as a punch bag. We cannot be friends. You have the cheerleader girlfriend and the meathead friends. I’m perfectly fine with Hayley, Cass, Rian, Zack and Matt, thanks.”

Jack pulls his History book from his locker and shuts it before starting to walk away.

“Hey! Barakat!” A voice yells down the corridor. Jack freezes and winces.

“Yes, Jonathan?” He says with slight despair.

“Leave our team captain alone. He’s not a fag like you.” Jonathan spits.

Jack looks down the corridor at Alex, who’s frozen in horror.

“Oh yeah, because I’m gonna infect him with my gayness. Shows how intelligent you lunkheads really are. I’m not interested in Alex.” Jack lies.

But it’s not enough, apparently, because Jonathan still punches him in the stomach and laughs when he falls to the floor.

Alex runs over and starts shouting at Jonathan.

“Not cool, man! Not cool at all!”

Jonathan shrugs and walks away. Jack hauls himself to his feet and Alex starts to brush him down.

“Get off me.” Jack grimaces, flinching back from him.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks worriedly.

“I’m fine! This happens almost every day of my life, Alex, I think I can deal with it!” Jack shouts, and stalks off down the corridor.

*

“Team meeting! Now!” Alex demands on the hockey pitch. His team grumble a little but gather around him anyway. He pulls Rian and Zack to the front with him.

“You may have heard about an incident involving Jonathan and Jack Barakat that happened earlier today.”

The team jeers and laughs.

“That fag was coming on to you!” Jonathan exclaims.

“Anyway!” Alex shouts, “The point is, you leave him alone. All of you! Otherwise Zack, Rian and I won’t hesitate in putting you through everything you’ve done to him over the years. Don’t think we won’t!”

“So you’re sticking up for your faggy boyfriend now?” Jonathan sneers.

“He’s not my boyfriend! And he’s not a fag either!”

“Yeah, whatever you say, fag boy.”

“For God’s sake, Jonathan, I’m dating Lisa! Unless you wanna tell her yourself that you’re calling her boyfriend a fag, I suggest you shut up!”

“You don’t deserve to be with her!”

And then, that’s when Alex flips. Zack and Rian make a futile attempt to grab him but miss terribly as he launches himself at Jonathan.

“Yeah? You don’t deserve to be alive!”

*

Zack and Rian walk sheepishly into show choir without Alex.

Mr Goldstein does a quick headcount, and frowns when he doesn’t see his male lead.

“Where’s Alex?”

“Suspended.” Zack sighs. Everyone turns and stares at him. He sighs again, stands up and goes to stand beside Mr Goldstein.

“What happened was Alex was telling the team to stop being a-holes to someone, so Jonathan called him a fag for sticking up for another guy. Alex said that the guy wasn’t a fag. Jonathan said that Alex had turned gay, and that he was a fag now too. Alex mentioned that he was still dating Lisa, and Jonathan said he didn’t deserve to be with her. Needless to say, Alex flipped out. Me and Rian tried to stop him, but we weren’t fast enough.”

“Are they both okay?” Mr Goldstein asks worriedly.

“Well, considering Alex had Jonathan pinned down on the pitch, he’s fine. Couple of minor cuts and maybe a few bruises at most. Jonathan’s kind of worse off though, I’m pretty sure he has a broken nose. Alex is back tomorrow.” Zack explains.

Mr Goldstein sighs, stacking up the pile of song sheets on the piano.

“Well, we were going to start rehearsing New Perspective for Sectionals, but since Alex is here, I don’t think we can.”

“You could just give the solo to someone else.” Cassadee suggests, shrugging.

“Jack, Zack, do you guys want it?”

“Zack can have it.” Jack shrugs, “I’ll do the echo, and stuff.”

“Okay, everyone get with your dance partner and we’ll go down to the auditorium. So Zack, you don’t need one, Jack with Hayley, Sierra with Christofer, Cassadee and Rian, Victoria with Matt, and just for today, Vinny and Lisa.”

Zack stands nervously at the front of the stage, all the pairs behind him.

“Girls, I want you on the boys’ backs, then boys, I want you to drop them down after ten seconds, then get her wrist and pull her around in front of you.”

The boys all did as they were told and were almost perfectly synchronized.

“Good. Now, pick her up by the waist and hold her against you, girls, I want you to kick your legs out. Yes, it’ll take some time to get right, but we have to get this.”

*

When Alex returns to class and to show choir the next day, everyone’s talking about New Perspective.

“Do you think we have costumes yet?”

“How awesome is the dance!”

“Zack should get more leads!”

Zack blushes a little and sits down in the empty seat beside Jack.

“You’re an awesome lead.” Jack says, nudging him gently, “You’re just as good as Alex, if not better.”

Alex inadvertently flinches and continues walking over to Lisa.

Mr Goldstein fixes him with an irritated look and moves over to talk to him.

“I gave the New Perspective lead to Zack, and the back up to Jack.”

“I heard.”

Mr Goldstein backs off and leans on the piano, surveying his group and counting them all.

“Right, now everyone’s here, this week’s actual assignment: solos! Everyone will be performing a solo song a week from today. It can be anything you like, any genre, any artist. Decide now, so I can do a running order again.”

Zack, Jack, Hayley and Matt begin talking hurriedly, and Cassadee looks like she’s seen a ghost. Sierra and Rian both hug her tight; they know how scared she gets when performing.

“Okay, songs! Zack?”

“Someone Like You by Boys Like Girls.”

“Jack?”

“Do You Feel, The Rocket Summer.”

“Hayley?”

“So What by Pink.”

“Matt?”

“Hey There Delilah, Plain White T’s.”

“Cassadee?”

“You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.”

“Sierra?”

“My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson.”

“Rian?”

“Where My Mouth Is. Taking Back Sunday.”

“Vinny?”

“The Curse Of Curves, Cute Is What We Aim For.”

“Victoria?”

“Hypertronic Superstar by The New Cities.”

“Christofer?”

“Three Times A Lady, The Commodores.”

“Retro, nice. Lisa?”

“Hey Soul Sister by Train.”

“And Alex?”

“Maybe It’s Just Me, Butch Walker.”

“Okay, that’s everyone. Excellent. Get practicing!”

*

Alex vents his anger at hockey practice.

“Okay, Zack, Rian, Vinny, we’re practicing defence today. You’ll need your shin pads and all that get up, so go sort yourselves out.”

“Guys! Huddle!” He addresses the group, “Okay, everyone but Jonathan is here, which doesn’t surprise me. We have to work on our attack, because, right now, it’s shabby.”

Everyone starts grumbling, and Zack, Vinny and Rian reappear in full kit.

“Okay, positions! Go!”

Zack and Rian look petrified as the rest of the team descend upon them.

“Caleb, that shot was terrible!” Alex commentates from the sidelines, “Kyle, I could’ve made that shot in my sleep! Austin, if you’re gonna hit the ball like a pussy; I’ll transfer you to the junior team!”

Jack, Hayley and Cassadee thud down on the higher levels of the bleachers and watch the practice.

“Rian looks terrified.” Cassadee giggles.

“I’m not surprised, Alex looks so mad.”

Hayley grumbles to herself and pulls out her Spanish homework.

“Hey, is that Matt?” Jack says, holding back a laugh.

Hayley quickly puts the Spanish homework down and leans forward.

“Awh, he’s adorable.”

Rian notices them and waves, dodging one of Kent’s poorly aimed shots in the process.

“Rian! Less waving, more defending!”

Rian and Zack roll their eyes and glare at Alex, who has his back to them, so the obnoxious ‘GASKARTH 01’ on his back is blaring at them down the field.

Alex glances into the stands and sees Hayley, Cassadee and Jack falling about in giggles. He sighs and walks across the field, stopping the practice, to talk to them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at the three of them.

“Waiting for people.” Jack replies, and Hayley presses her face into his shoulder as she laughs.

“Uh-huh. Really believable, Barakat. Just quit distracting them.” Alex replies, folding his arms.

“We’re not. If three people are a distraction, that explains why you’re so crappy in actual games.” Jack retorts quickly.

Alex freezes and glares at the younger.

“Face it, Alex, you’re on a crappy high school hockey team that can’t shoot to save their lives and would get distracted by a rock.”

Alex winces at his words.

“Yeah, well you should go fuck that Oliver kid you dated last year. Oh wait, you can’t! Because he left you!”

Jack stares at him, and Alex doesn’t notice the tears in his eyes.

“You know what, Alex? You’re the sperm your mom should’ve swallowed!” Jack shouts, and the hockey team can hear him from the ground.

Zack and Rian exchange a scared glance before dropping their sticks and heading over; sure, Alex will probably kill them but they’re not particularly bothered.

“What’s going on?” Zack asks as he reaches them.

“He’s being an asshole!” Jack and Alex both yell, glaring at the other.

“I’m being an asshole?” Alex shouts incredulously.

“Yes you are!” Jack screams, and he’s about two seconds away from killing Alex, “Don’t fucking remind me of Oliver!”

Zack freezes and his eyes widen.

“You said something about Oliver?” Rian asks sternly. Alex shrugs.

“So what if I did?”

“You’re a fucking asshole, Alex Gaskarth! Go die!” Jack screams as he storms away. He’s not crying in front of people.

Hayley and Cassadee stand up and go after him, Zack a few steps behind.

“You can yell at him, and hate him all you want, just don’t say anything about Oliver! You don’t have any idea whatsoever about how much that fucker hurt him! You have no idea!” Rian yells as an afterthought as he tails the others.

Alex stands there, mouth hanging open a little. He turns to what’s left of his team and sighs, trudging down the bleachers to the field. Lisa and Sierra come stalking over from the other side of the field and glare up at him.

“Did you just make Jack cry?” Lisa asks, her voice cold.

“I swear I didn’t mean to.” Alex says, hanging his head.

“Sure you didn’t.” Lisa replies, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Lee, please. You know I wouldn’t.”

Lisa rolls her eyes and drags Sierra in the direction Jack and everyone else went a few moments ago.

Alex sighs again and Matt frowns at him.

“Nice work.”

“Shut up, Flyzik! Carry on practice! Now!”

*

It’s not hard to pick up on the frosty atmosphere during show choir the next day.

Almost everyone is glaring at Alex, be it obviously or indirectly.

“Okay, it’s tense in here.” Mr Goldstein remarks as he walks in, “We need some love here, don’t we?”

Almost everyone rolls their eyes.

“Just… Carry on practicing your solos. Jack, Alex, could I have a word with you both for a moment?”

Jack freezes and trudges his way down to the front, but doesn’t look at Alex when he stops beside him.

“I heard about you two having a pretty bad fight yesterday. I have a song I’d like you to sing together, to help you get past it.” Mr Goldstein says, handing them both sheets for Somebody To Talk To by This Providence, with varying degrees of highlighter on them.

“Would you be okay to sing this on Monday?”

“Whatever.” Jack sighs, leaving for the rest of the group before Alex tries to talk to him.

“What was that about?” Hayley asks as Jack flops down beside her.

“I have to sing this with Alex. Have you seen the lyrics?” Jack says incredulously.

“Oh man.” Hayley says, her eyes widening as she scans the words quickly.

“I know. Silver lining’s that it’s not very long, I guess.”

*

Monday is torture. The hockey team spend most of the day stalking Jack everywhere and just going ‘Oliver!’ to piss him off. Luckily, he has Zack with him for most of the day, so one look from him scares the spineless morons away.

It’s show choir that’s the worst, though.

They’re in the auditorium, and by the time Jack and Zack get there, Alex is waiting expectantly on stage, an empty stool beside him. Jack swallows nervously as Zack ushers him up the stair before sitting down beside Victoria.

Alex nods at Jack in greeting, but Jack doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Ready?” Mr Goldstein asks, and they both nod as Jack sits down beside Alex. He presses play on the remote and the backing track start playing.

“I need somebody to talk to, but I pushed you away. I need somebody who understands, but it doesn’t look like you’re coming back.” Jack sings nervously, eyes trained on the floor.

“My sins caught up to you; I said, my sins caught up to you. I lost the best love that I’ve ever known, and it doesn’t look like you’re coming home.” He continues, not looking up at all as the chorus starts.

“Even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes; you came through.” Jack sings, still alone. Alex is watching him in awe, until he finally takes over.

“I hate, hate, hate this place; I said, I hate, hate, hate this place. A brightly lit tragedy, sterile and cold; but I can feel the warmth of your grace. Yeah, I can feel the warmth of your grace.”

“Even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes; you came through. Even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes; you came through.” They sing together, and Alex’s gaze is fixed on Jack, but the younger’s refusing to look at him.

“I believe in miracles.” Alex takes over again, and Jack is left to echo.

“I believe in miracles, I believe in miracles. Yeah, I believe.” Alex sings.

“I believe in miracles.” Jack echoes weakly.

“I believe.” Alex sings, and he’s so much stronger than Jack.

“I believe in miracles.”

“I believe.” Alex carries on, and Jack still hasn’t looked up.

“I believe in miracles.” Jack repeats, finally looking up at Alex.

“Even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes; you came through, yeah.” They sing together, and Alex absently slides his arm around Jack’s waist. Jack flinches.

“Even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes, even after all my mistakes; you came through.”

“Even after all my mistakes.” Jack sings, and his confidence seems to have improved.

“Even after all my mistakes.” Alex sings with a smile playing on his lips.

“Even after all my mistakes; you were true.” They sing together. As soon as the track finishes, Alex hugs Jack tight and is amazed when the younger hugs back.

“I’m sorry for mentioning him.” Alex says quietly.

“It’s okay. You weren’t to know I’d get upset.” Jack replies, but he feels sick to his stomach.

Once today is over, Alex will go back to how he used to be; he’d have the popularity, the cheerleader girlfriend and the idiotic hockey team friends.

Jack would be forgotten all over again.