Paradox

It was early Wednesday morning when Jack's parents had finally arrived back from wherever they were. May raced to their mom's arms, clearly more eager to see her parents than Jack was.
"Hey May-bear! How are you? Did you brother treat you right? Did he feed you?" his mother soon bombarded May with all these questions like Jack would actually mistreat his little sister.
"Yes mom, I feed her and I treated her right. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to school now." Jack slouched his book-bag over his right shoulder and walked out the door. No one bothered to stop him which irritated him even further. Yes Jack wasn't the greatest son but he still needed love from his parents as well. He brushed off the thought and immediately drove over to the highway. He wasn't sure where he was going at first considering he was an hour early for school, but once he saw the sign for Lutherville Timonium, he knew exactly where he was heading. He parked in Alex's driveway and casually walked to the door. He knocked twice and rang the doorbell just in case no one heard the knock. Alex opened the door and he was wearing a white beater and wore his sweats low on his hips. His hair was skewed all over his head and Jack couldn't help but bite his lip. Alex looked really hot and Jack was glad Alex was in a groggy state otherwise he would notice Jack's boner.

"Hey Lex."
"Hey Jack, why are you here?"
"Just thought I'd take you to school since you almost came late yesterday." Alex hummed in understanding and stepped aside to let Jack in. Jack walked inside and noticed how beautiful Alex's house was. It was freaking huge and it made Jack think of his grandparent's house.
"I'm gonna go take a quick shower and yeah. Wanna wait in my room?" Jack nodded and followed Alex up into his bedroom. His bedroom was very plain as far as Jack could see. A guitar case lay right next to Alex's bed and the guitar was nowhere to be seen.
"I'll be quick; you can crash on my bed if you're still tired."
"Thanks man." Jack was defiantly not going to deny that request. He was still tired and didn't know how tired until his head hit Alex's pillow. He fell asleep quickly with the sound of the shower running and hitting the acrylic floor. Thirty minutes had passed and Jack heard the shower turn off. The bathroom door opened and Alex stepped out with a towel wrapped tightly around his waist. He looked at Jack's sleeping form and smiled. He walked over to his walk-in closet and pulled out a clean white beater, boxer, a hooded shirt, and a pair of medium-wash jeans. He changed quickly and grabbed his bag.
"Hey Jack," Alex poked Jack in the side to wake him up, "Jack, I'm ready."
"Hmm? Okay. I'm up, let’s go." Jack grabbed his bag and slouched it over his right shoulder once again. Both boys made their way downstairs and into the kitchen. Alex grabbed two bowls and poured milk and cereal in each.
"Thanks man." Jack grabbed the bowl and began to scoff down his breakfast. Alex ate quietly and watched Jack with great interest. Yeah, Alex thought Jack was totally cute with his big nose and goofy smile. Too bad Jack was probably the straightest guy Alex knows. Alex started imaging how nice it would be to be wrapped in those lanky arms that were just utterly adorable and having Jack place kisses all over his neck and face delicately.
"Dude! Are you okay?" Alex shook his head to rid himself of the thought.
"Uh yeah. Ready?" Jack nodded and Alex wrote a quick note to his mom before they left.

___

Alex and Jack walked to first period quietly. None of them uttered a single word which was oddly different for both of them. They took their usual seats in the back of the class and Alex saw Katie appear first again with a flowy floral print dress on. Alex thought she was really hot and actually could see something happening between them if Zack wasn't dating her.
"Hey Katie!" Jack said and waved his hand overly enthusiastic. Katie came over and pecked Jack on the cheek. She soon came over and pecked Alex on the cheek as well. Jack glared at her but forced an immediate smile when she turned back.
"Hey Alex. Hey Jack. Have you seen Cassadee?"
"Yeah, she's coming in during third period."
"Oh good, I thought she was ditching today." Jack shook his head no and looked at Alex. Alex smiled and looked down at his lyric journal. Jack turned his attention back towards Katie who had a wickedly big smile on her face.
"Oh la la Jack." She winked at Jack and turned around in her seat. Zack and Rian both came in and Rian sat next to Jack. Zack bent down and planted a sloppy one on Katie and sat down where Cassadee was sitting just the other day. Class began and Alex saw Jack instantly fall asleep. No wonder he's failing, he falls asleep. Alex chuckled and proceeded to write in his journal. He stopped writing and looked down at what he had written down. It read;
Wait, where you say you've been?
Who you been with?
Where you say you're goin'?
Who you goin' with?

Keep me on my toes,
keep me in the know.

Wait, keep me in your skin,
keep me in your chest.
I'll wait for it to start,
I'll wait for it to end.

Alex instantly liked what he wrote and tried to think of more but couldn't. He gave up and started on his work. Katie turned around in her seat and passed a note to Alex. It read;
'Where u goin' nxt? :)' Alex quickly scribbled down; 'Art 2 w/ Hanninghan' He passed it back to her and watched as she pushed her golden locks behind her left ear. She passed it back quickly and Alex read it.
'Cool! Me 2. Wlk w/ me? :) Alex nodded and Katie smiled. First period ended and Alex collected his things. Rian and Zack were already off and only Jack and Katie were left.
"Hey, I'm going to walk with Katie since we have the same third period. I'll see you at lunch?" Jack's mouth dropped as Alex walked out with Katie and didn't even care to wait and hear his response. Jack walked to his Auto Shop class with a furious stride. Katie was acting like a fucking whore and it was seriously pissing off Jack. Jack was the first one in Auto Shop and he sat all the way in the back. He put goggles on and started to work on the bird house he never finishes. Fucking cunt was Jack's lost thought before he got lost into his own creation.
Third period ended and Jack walked by himself to lunch. Jack waited in line still fuming. Cassadee appeared behind him and poked his side. Jack didn't react and Cassadee quietly got her tray and waited behind him.
"Hey Jack, what's up?" Jack looked up and saw Katie and Alex walk into lunch laughing. Jack rolled his eyes and turned his back towards them.
"Fucking whore."
"Excuse me?" Jack glanced at Cassadee and shook his head.
"Not you. Someone else."
"Oh, who?"
"No one. Forget it." He got his lunch and walked to their usual lunch table.
"What’s with Jack?" Cassadee said as soon as Alex and Katie were behind her.
"Don't know. He seemed fine earlier." Cassadee sighed and they all got their food and went to go sit where Jack and Rian were already seated. Zack was still in line for pizza but noticed Jack was acting tense.
"Hey Jack." Alex and Katie said in unison. They both giggled uncontrollably as if that was the funniest joke in the world. Jack looked at Rian and Rian glared at Katie. Cassadee looked at Rian in confusion and Rian had to explain what was going on. She made a big 'O' with her mouth and picked at her food. It was quiet at the table until Zack came.
"Hey guys. Hey Cassadee, good to see ya." He smiled at Cassadee and Cassadee forced a smile.
"Jack, what's up?" Jack said a rather loud 'hmph' and continued to eat his sub.
"Uh did I miss something?" Zack said as he glanced around the table.
"No babe. Jack's just going through his period." On any other day, Jack would laugh it off but not today. He slammed his sandwich which caused the whole table to go silent.
"Why don't you shut the fuck up you little cunt and care about other things other than my mood swings." Katie's mouth dropped and they all watched as Jack snatched his tray and walked out dumping all of it into the trashcan. He walked out the cafeteria and went to this empty staircase. He really didn't want to be bothered right now. With only ten minutes left of lunch, he didn't think anyone would come out to get him. The bell rang and Jack walked quickly to English. It wasn't going to be a fun class. All of his friends came into the classroom and sat around him. Katie turned around in her seat and looked at Jack. He was slumped over and his head was buried in between both of his hands.
"Jack...?" Jack looked up and saw Katie looking down at him.
"What?"
"I'm sorry for what I said in the cafeteria... I really didn't mean to... Forgive me?" Jack sighed and rubbed his hands over his eyes.
"No, I'm sorry. Just a little out of it I guess." Katie nodded and held out her hand for Jack. He took it and kissed the top of her palm. She smiled and released his hand. She turned back in her seat and draped her arms around Zack who was sitting directly in front of her. Alex took the seat behind Jack and poked him with his pencil. Jack turned slightly and noticed Alex had his head turned in a questioning expression kind of like a lost puppy.
"Sorry bro. I really didn't mean for you to see that." Alex nodded and reached for his lyric journal. Jack turned around in his seat and sighed drastically. English went by slowly and Jack had fallen asleep. He knew he received a zero for the day but he wasn't in a good mood to participate. Maybe next period will lighten him up. The bell rang signaling the last class change for the day and they all walked to Music class together. They all took their seat in the back of the class and Jack reached for a guitar. Rian sat on the stool by the drums and Zack grabbed another guitar. Katie and Cassadee sat in the group with the girls and Alex was just left standing there. The teacher approached him then and put his hand on Alex's shoulder.
"Are you our new student?" Alex nodded, "Fabulous! We need you to sing a few notes for us." Alex gulped but nodded anyways.
"Perfect! You can pick out one of our song choices here but if you don't like it, you can sing any choice you want!" Alex raked through the note sheets and realized they were shitty songs that didn't suit his voice.
"Can I sing Perfect World by Simple Plan?" he said quietly to the teacher who nodded eagerly.
"Class, be quiet! Alex will sing to us. And hold judgment until later." He smiled and Alex took a deep breath. He never liked singing in front of anyone so this was going to be hard. He thought of things that made him happy back home. It worked and soon Alex opened his mouth.

I never could’ve seen this far
I never could’ve seen this coming
Seems like my world’s falling apart

Yeah

Why is everything so hard
I don’t think that I can deal with the things you said
It just won’t go away

In a perfect world
This could never happen
In a perfect world
You’d still be here
And it makes no sense
I could just pick up the pieces
But to you
This means nothing
Nothing at all

I used to think that I was strong
Until the day it all went wrong
I think I need a miracle to make it through

Yeah

I wish that I could bring you back
I wish that I could turn back time
Cuz I can’t let go
I just can’t find my way
Yeah
Without you I just can’t find my way

In a perfect world
This could never happen
In a perfect world
You’d still be here
And it makes no sense
I could just pick up the pieces
But to you
This means nothing
Nothing at all

I don’t know what I should do now
I don’t know where I should go
I’m still here waiting for you
I’m lost when you’re not around
I need to hold on to you
I just can’t let you go

Yeah
Yeah

In a perfect world
This could never happen
In a perfect world
You’d still be here
And it makes no sense
I could just pick up the pieces
But to you
This means nothing
Nothing at all
You feel nothing, nothing at all
Nothing at all

Alex choked on the last few words and when he was done, he opened his eyes and stared at the class in front of him. Jack was the first one to stand up and start clapping. The whole class than followed pursuit and Alex had this cheesy grin plastered on his lips. He made his way to the back of the class and sat down beside Jack. The teacher followed him and had his hand against his heart.
"My word Alexander. You have such a raw passion that it is completely indescribable. Wow, such talent. Congratulations on such a beautiful voice." He left and now it was Zack and Rian’s turn to compliment Alex on his voice. Katie and Cassadee walked over and stood by their boyfriends.
"So much for saying you don't sing! You have a beautiful voice Alex!" Cassadee said.
"I'll say! That was pretty unbelievable!" Katie chimed in.
"I'm not good honest. I was just lucky."
"Dude, don't be so humble. You're fucking amazing. Just admit it." Alex smiled sheepishly at what Zack just said. Alex turned to look at Jack who was staring at him with a wide grin.
"Guys, I think we might have just found exactly what we've been looking for."