Stay Seventeen

A house sat helplessly as music thumped its insides and teenagers ran wild. The living room was cleared of furniture and the kitchen was stocked with drinks. People shot arrogant smirks while others traded lustful eyes as they passed each other in the crowded house. The insides reeked of something bittersweet, but the smell of alcohol was prominent. It was a place where lines would be crossed and promises would be broken, but it was definitely not a place where you would find Alexander Gaskarth.

But somehow, the boy was sitting on one of the couches that were shoved against the wall, hands toying with his cell phone. It wasn’t like his cell phone was interesting or anything, but he would rather flip it open and close while he waited for his friend Rian to turn back up. Alex was regretting being there more and more each second he was alone. The only company he had were the kids that sat down to make out for a while before either getting more drinks or heading to a spare room. Whoever decided to plop down on the couch, Alex would immediately shrink away from them and dub them a threat.

At the party’s climax – when everyone was the loudest, drunkest and most likely getting into someone else’s pants – a couple tumbled onto the couch, their lips attacking each other. As usual, Alex made himself as tiny as possible and shrunk away. The two teens eventually slowed down, the girl settling into the guy’s lap. That was when he noticed the brown haired boy, tucked into the corner of the couch.

“Oh, sorry,” the guy laughed, ruffling his own black hair, “I didn’t realize there was someone else.”

Alex smiled at him awkwardly and just shrugged his shoulders. He looked back at his lap, his cell phone lying uselessly there. The girl reached out and tapped him harshly on the shoulders. He flinched, not expecting her to do that, but looked up.

“Um, would you mind going somewhere else?” she asked. Her voice was sickly sweet, trying too hard to persuade Alex. It wasn’t working, but Alex didn’t want to make anyone angry so he nodded.

“Wait,” the guy said, holding his hand up, “he had the couch first.”

The girl puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes. She cupped they guy’s cheek and whispered something in his ear. Alex scooted a bit further away, feeling extremely uncomfortable. He didn’t know whether to go or stay.

“Uh…could you get me a drink?” the guy requested. The girl looked offended for a moment before rolling her eyes and removing herself from his lap. She muttered something before slipping past groups of people to get to the kitchen. The guy stood up, wobbling a bit. Alex was quick to be at his side, holding him up. “Thanks,” he grinned. Alex blushed, taking a step back and nodded his head.

“No problem,” he mumbled, not quite sure if the other boy even heard him. He expected to sit back down and wait a few more hours, maybe even get a drink, before Rian reappeared, but when Jack’s hand curled around his arm, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Alex stared at Jack like he insane, wondering what the hell he was doing. Jack chuckled, letting go of Alex’s arm. The boy whipped his arm back, pressing it protectively against his chest. This made the other boy laugh.

“Dude, chill. I just thought we should go somewhere else before she came back. And I think you probably don’t want her on your ass about where I went.”

Jack’s explanation calmed Alex a bit; just enough to let his hand drop limp beside him. The Lebanese boy clutched Alex’s arm again, surprising him. Jack didn’t halt again though. He just shoved past people and headed towards the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard, leaving Alex to apologize to everyone that shot them dirty looks as they pushed by. He also didn’t pull away since he didn’t want to be rude.

When they stepped outside and shut the glass behind them, it was like they turned the party down two notches. There were very few people outside because of the chilly summer weather. Another reason why there were only about twenty people on the other side of the glass was because the backyard was bare and nothing special. It was basically a square of cement surrounded by bushes. A hammock sat off to the side with three kids swinging on it, chatting joyfully. There was also a plastic table with matching chairs where most of the people in the backyard had grouped. Others were scattered, either in pairs or by themselves. Jack decided to sit down against a tree, and since Alex was still being dragged around by him, he had no choice but to sit as well. They both leant against the tree, Jack with his legs sprawled out and Alex with his legs crossed. Jack finally let Alex’s arm go.

“So,” Jack started, turning his head to look at the brunette boy, “what’s your name?”

Alex hesitated, but decided that sharing his name could do no harm.

“Alex,” he answered. To be polite, he asked the other as well.

The black haired boy stuck out his hand as if he was meeting someone for an interview. “Jack,” he replied with a tiny grin. Alex smiled comfortably back at him and raised a hand to shake. That was when he realized he had raised the wrong hand, and Jack had noticed too. He blushed furiously as Jack chuckled. Once he had stopped, Alex was still looking away from him with pink cheeks.

“Y’know,” Jack said, pinching Alex’s chin and tilting his head towards his own face, “you’re kind of cute.”

His compliment had made the brown haired boy glance away and blush even harder. Alex couldn’t hide it this time because Jack still had his fingers holding his chin so he was facing Jack. The embarrassment that flooded Alex’s face made Jack laugh loudly, piercing the silence in the backyard. Jack’s laughter interrupted everyone’s conversations, causing them to turn and stare at the two of them. Alex blushed even harder, his cheeks bordering a hot red. He jerked his head to the left to get his chin free of Jack’s fingers. The other boy didn’t seem to mind though since he just continued smiling at the older boy. Jack only smiled cutely before turning back to face forward. Alex was confused as to why he was still there, so he stood up and brushed off his pants. The younger boy looked up at Alex and frowned. Jack didn’t make any protests though. Alex took this as an okay to go, so he turned and began towards the glass doors. That was when a blonde fell from the sky – or tipped over from the plastic table. Alex crashed into her, and even though he was a skinny boy, she was tinier and was sent back, colliding into a guy’s drink. The red plastic cup poured all over him, staining his shirt.

“You,” he snarled, pointing at Alex. He backed away, intimidated by the other male’s size.

“Look, I’m sorry! I’ll g-get you another drink,” Alex apologized, his words spitting out rapidly. The muscled guy stood over Alex, staring down at him – literally. The brown haired boy swallowed a mouthful air, not moving an inch.

“Oh, get over it!”

A hand stuck in between Alex’s chest and the guy’s stomach, shoving them apart. Alex glanced at Jack, mouthing a ‘thanks’ to him. Jack nodded lightly before turning back to the three hundred pound of muscle.

“It’s just a shirt,” Jack began to reason, “you can change later.”

“Oh?” The guy asked as he snatched a cup away from the bystander that was standing beside him. With a mischievous grin, he held the cup out and tilted it, sending the liquid pouring down the front of Jack’s shirt. The chilling liquid made Jack gasp and jump back. All Alex could do was gawk at what had just happened.

“You should go change too,” the bulky guy snarled. Alex didn’t want to draw anymore attention, so he tugged gently on Jack’s sleeve. Jack’s head whipped around, giving Alex a curious look.

“We should go,” Alex suggested quietly. Jack wasn’t the type to just walk away, but seeing how uncomfortable the older boy was, he nodded his head. This time, Alex grasped Jack’s wrist and led the way towards the glass doors. On the way there, they could both hear the guy mutter, “pussies,” under his breath. Jack stopped, making Alex almost trip over his own feet. The brown haired boy glanced back at Jack, seeing the irritated expression on his face. He sighed, letting go of Jack’s wrist.

“Go,” he waved his hand aimlessly. A foolish grin broke out on Jack’s face. He leaned over and pecked Alex on the cheeks, surprising them both. Jack shrugged, assuming it was just the large amount of alcohol he had consumed that night. Alex lifted his fingers to place them over where his cheeks were now growing a dark rosy colour.

The younger boy marched up the guy’s face and smirked. He pulled a fist back and let it fly into his jaw. A sharp pain shot up through Jack’s arm but he ignored it. The giant tipped over, struggling to keep his balance. He knocked over one of his buddies before desperately clawing for the table as he fell. Jack had tears in his eyes by the time he hit the floor and the table had flipped over on top of him. Alex chuckled, hiding his mouth underneath his palm. Jack twisted around and started dashing for the door, not forgetting to grab a hold of Alex’s hand on the way. They both laughed loudly as they tumbled through the glass doors and entered the chaos of the party again.