Never Too Soon

A week later, Jack is sitting on the couch with a giant calc textbook in his lap and also multi-tasking with watching some sort of Dateline murder mystery with his sister. He's working on some problems his teacher assigned, though he doesn't really have a clue what he's doing- He's kind of just writing down some numbers and symbols and hoping it at least looks like he's paying attention in class.

A very committed student, Jack is.

He taps his pencil on his chin. "I think I scarred some guy for life in the library the other day."

Rachel snorts. "Well, what'd you do? Whip it out in public?"

"As hilarious as I think you are, all I did was introduce myself. And maybe kind of obviously come onto him. But he was weird before that, I swear." Jack defends himself. Very valiantly. He is a very valiant self-defender. His sister laughs anyway, because she is evil.

"I am hilarious, thank you. Also, you're still stuck on library guy? That's some seriously committed crushing." Rachel says, "I see good things for your future," She says, distantly.

"Are you trying to give me advice?" Jack says, horrified. He will have to make some serious life changes if his fifteen year old sister apparently knows better than him.

"See only I, give not advice."

"Fuck off, you're not Yoda."

"Hurt am I. Help you, I won't."

Jack ignores her. He does not need help from his sister.

---

He definitely needs help from his sister.

---

"Here," Rachel shrugs, tossing a piece of paper at Jack. Written on it is the name 'Alex Gaskarth', and a phone number. "I did some snooping around, turns out one of library guy's friends is in my AP Psych class. Rian Dawson, I think." She furrows her eyebrows then decides that apparently his name doesn't matter and makes some weird hand-waving gesture to convey this to Jack.

"Anyway," She says, "You can thank me anytime."

"I am not thanking you for being creepy."

"I wasn't being creepy, the kid sits next to me and he mentioned an Alex who hangs out at the library a lot. So being the awesome sister that I am, I tricked him into explaining what this said Alex was like... Then I casually dropped that you were obsessed with him and he wrote down his number for you."

Jack might be angry with Rachel, if she wasn't so stupidly smart. He sort of wishes his brain was as big as hers at age fifteen.. But then, when he thinks about it, with the way it's growing, it'll probably explode fairly soon.

---

Turns out, Rian Dawson is in one of Jack's classes, too. He really needs to pay better attention to people.

"Dude, are you trying to date him?" Rian asks Jack, leaning forward excitedly. He is worse than Jack's sister. "Please tell me you're trying to date him. It's starting to be a concern that he'll, you know, grow old and die a virgin, and adopt a lot of cats and stuff.

Jack laughs. "Um, yeah, I am trying. I am not succeeding."

"You have to come over tomorrow, then! You show up to my house, Zack and I back you up, bam, you've got a date with Alex." Rian grins. He is too invested in Jack's love life, and he has only known him about twenty minutes. Jack kind of hates people.

He makes a face. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

Rian shrugs. "Uh, maybe?"

Jack shrugs, too. "Good enough for me."

---

So that's how Jack ends up outside of some kids house he barely knows on Friday, Rian handing him a cheap beer (Jack really hates Natty Bo, but he's not going to be a pussy about it) and standing right in front of Alex. His heart does a little undignified and very manly flutter just from seeing him again.

Seriously committed crushing indeed.

--

He finds out Zack is fairly shy, too, but also very invested in Jack's so far non-existent love life. Zack is also a fan of the movie Mean Girls, so that's what they watch, sprawled out on Rian's humongous couch and quoting the hell out of Regina George.

Jack watches less of the movie and more of the way Alex's lips look on the neck of his beer bottle, because, his fucking mouth. In the dark of Rian's living room, he has more of a chance to really look at Alex. His hair is perfect as Jack suspected, and he's a little bit scrawny, but Jack can't judge. Jack is a lot scrawny.

"To the greatest people you will ever meet," Rian says, holding up his beer bottle, and they all clink their beer bottles together in a drunken toast.

Halfway through the movie, Rian pushes him a little closer to Alex. "Hi," Jack says, drunk, smiley and loose-limbed.

Alex smiles back a little. Jack can't tell in the darkness, but he thinks he might be blushing. "Hi," He says.

Jack takes a swig from his beer bottle. He feels Alex's eyes on him. "So, you know I'm kind of flirting with you, right? Or, trying to." He says, biting his lip.

"I, um. I am okay with that." Alex says.

Jack grins.

Rian groans, leaning in closer to Zack. "It's like watching the mating ritual of incredibly clueless animals."