Life's a Bitch, but I'm Friends with Her Sister

I didn't like their piercing, yet curious, gazes on me. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot.

"Oh hey, Lex," Jack said, after a second. "These are our other friends. Introduce yourselves, dude!"

The guy sitting the closest to me cracked a friendly smile in my direction. He had short, dark brown hair, and was wearing a grey tee shirt. "Hey, I'm Cameron."

"I'm Alex," I said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alex! You're new here, hunh?"

I nodded in reply.

The guy sitting to his left frowned slightly at me, tilted his head and said, "What happened to your cheek?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but Cameron interrupted. "Oh yeah, and this is Jordan. Count on him to ask these kind of questions. He notices everything, this guy. I don't know how he does it. Anyways. You don't have to answer him."

"Is that what Adam did to you?" Rian asked, almost out of nowhere.

I turned my head to face him and shook my head. "No, it was someone else. While I was walking I must've been in their way... Or something..."

Rian sucked his teeth. "Tut, ridiculous. Some people at this school are really horrible. You're okay, right?"

I blushed, looked down and nodded. Oh gosh. He didn't know what he was doing to me right now. He just looked so adorable, and he seemed to actually... Care. That was a word that was still a stranger to me.

"What do you mean? Adam?" I heard Jordan ask. "As in... McQueen?"

I looked up to see Rian nodding and Jordan turning back to face me. "That sucks, man. Had to run into Adam on the first day. He's a jerk to everyone."

He trailed off, lost in thought, then said, "Uh, I don't think I actually introduced myself. I'm Jordan Eckes. Or as Jack calls me, Jordy. Jack here loves giving everyone nicknames, but I think you've noticed...."

I smiled. "Yeah, I noticed."

Finally, the third guy spoke. He closed the book he was holding open, and said, "We also call him ostrich because of how tall he is. I'm Rob, nice to meet you."

I nodded, shaking his hand. "I'm Alex. Nice to meet you, too."

I looked Rob over. He had glasses, a bit like Mike's, and pretty short black hair. It would look like a normal haircut if it wasn't for the streak of white that went right down the middle, making him look a bit more like a skunk than Jack.

"So," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Where are you from?"

"Well, I moved here from England not too long ago..."

"That explains the accent!" Tay said, grinning. I smiled back.

"GUYS!" Jack practically shouted.

"What?" Zack asked, looking at him with an expression I couldn't quite place.

"Do you guys wanna hang out at my place after school?"

Most of them agreed, and the others just shrugged.

"What about you, Lex? You wanna come, too?"

I bit my lip nervously. "I-I don't know... I'm not sure I can..."

"Parents, hunh?" Cameron asked.

"You have no idea," I mumbled, looking down, playing with my hoodie strings.

"Whatchu mean?" Jack asked. I clenched my jaw slightly. "Don't they-"

"Jack, shut up. It's none of your business."

I was so thankful for that interruption from Mike's part.

"But I want to know!" Jack shot back.

"Yeah, well, tough luck."

I tuned them out as they began to bicker again. I felt some of them moving around, and looked up when I felt someone sit themselves down next to me. It was Jordan.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you? I don't like being next to Jack and Mike when they get like this."

"No, it's okay," I mumbled.

"Um," he said after a moment. "What happened between you and Adam? I heard that Zack found you, but that's it."

"He just slammed me against a locker..."

"He just slammed you against a locker?"

"It's, uh... I... I guess I'm used to it."

Jordan pulled an apologetic man, and I shrugged. It was pretty much my lifestyle, after all. What more could I say to him? 

"But why?"

"It's nothing." I didn't want to tell them why. If Adam had a thing for gay people, then they might, as well. I didn't detect any signs of homophobia, but nothing showed me that they were open to it, either.

Jordan just nodded, and looked forward. I didn't know what he was looking at, so I figured he was just thinking. I took this opportunity to look over at Rian again. He was laughing at something I'm assuming Cameron had said. His smile was practically contagious, and I realized I was blushing furiously. Luckily enough, no one noticed me. I put my head down and smiled shyly to myself.

"Hey Alex?" Tay asked.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking up at her, praying she didn't see me smiling like an idiot.

"Aren't you feeling hot with that hoodie on?"

I shook my head, but it was a lie. It was pretty hot out here, and I would love to take it off. But I couldn't.

"Okay," she said, as if she was forcing herself to believe me. I sighed, and then frowned. What exactly were we doing out here? I decided Jordan would be the best person to ask.

"Um, Jordan?"

"Hmm?"

"What are we doing out here?"

"Well, it's our free period. Every senior has second period to themselves. And we always spend any free time we have out here."

"How come?"

"Oh, Jack just loves climbing that tree. Look, there he is, at it again."

I turned to look at Jack, perched high in a tree. He was yelping.

"Jack, can you please be quiet? I'm trying to read here!" Rob snapped.

"No! My tee shirt's caught in a branch! Zacky, come save me!"

Zack groaned, yet stood up and yanked Jack out. He fell with a thud to the ground, but it didn't seem to affect him. He sprung right back up, grinning. "That was fun! You guys should totally try it out!"

"What, get our tee shirts stuck in a branch?" Rian said. "I think I'll pass, if you don't mind."

What did this guy do that wasn't perfect? Okay, so maybe that haircut could be fixed up a bit. But really, did it matter?

----------------
The bell rang that afternoon, signaling the end of class for the day. Crap. I hadn't thought about how I was going to get home. I certainly couldn't walk, I would probably get lost. And I was too nervous to ask for a ride home. Plus, what was I going to do about my car?

After thinking about it for a bit longer, I figured I'd walk back to my car, then figure it out from there.

Jack immediate bounced to my side as I left the classroom. So he had been waiting by the door for me? That was... Nice of him.

"So, Lex! Have you got a car, or do you want a ride home?"

"Jack, you're not driving anyone," Zack said, coming up from behind us. "We don't wanna die."

"Hey! No fair," he pouted, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"No, but seriously dude," Tay said, appearing on Jack's other side. "Do you want a ride?"

"Um, well... Thing is... My car broke down not too far from here, and-"

"But that's not a problem!" Jack beamed. "Rob is great at these things! He'll fix your car up in no time! Oh, and Tay, too!"

"Uh, are you sure?" I asked nervously.

"I'm positive! Right Zacky?"

"Uh... I know they're good with cars," Zack said.

"We'll have to see it to be sure," Tay said, smiling.

We walked out of the school doors, soon to be joined by the five others.

"So where are we going?" Cameron asked, as we stood in the parking lot between his car and Mike's.

"We need to go check out Alex's car," Tay said. "Apparently it broke down not far from here?"

I nodded, and she continued. "So Jack suggested Rob and I go check it out."

"Alright then, who's going in my car?" Cameron asked as he opened the door to the driver's seat.

"Ooh, me!" Jack squealed. "And you too, Lex! And Zacky, you'll come, too?"

"Okay."

"Oh, and Tay! And Rian!"

"Well I think Jack just sorted everything out," Jordan laughed. "See you there?"

"Obviously," Cameron said, and everyone filed into the cars.

I was happy to say that I was stuck between a hyper-active Jack, and Rian. We all managed to fit quite comfortably. After all, we weren't that fat.

The ride back to the spot where my car was was fun. Cameron had put on a CD by some band with a name that had some numbers at the end, but I didn't fully catch the name because of Jack squealing and jumping everywhere just at the mention of it. I couldn't say I didn't like it, though.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to face Rian. "Hey is that yours?"

He pointed to a rusted red car that I recognised immediately. I grinned.

"I'm talking that as a yes! Yo, Cam! That's the car!"

Cameron pulled up behind it and turned the car off. We got out of the car, and I saw Mike's car pulling to a stop behind Cameron's.

Rob and Tay had already opened the bonnet and were hunched down, trying to figure out the problem.

"Have you got a toolbox, by any chance?" Rob asked.

I shook my head, feeling as though hope was lost, but then Mike said, "I think I've got one in the boot of my car."

He found it and handed it over to a beaming Tay.

"It's not a bad car," Rian stated, peering through the window at the driver's seat.

"Thanks," I smiled, looking down. But I quickly looked up to see if anyone had noticed. I caught Tay staring at me and she just smiled before getting back to work. Hunh. I wonder what was going through her mind.

We stood around while the two of them worked, making small talk. Rian and I talked about music, and apparently we had pretty much the same tastes, and Jack went around, jumping up and down like an excited puppy before attaching himself to Zack, who didn't seem to mind. He was having an animated conversation with Jordan and Mike, and I thought he hadn't noticed Jack until he put his arm around his shoulders and kept talking as if it wasn't anything abnormal.

"There we go!" Rob said, after what seemed like ages. Tay closed the bonnet shut as he rubbed his hands on his jeans. "I did whatever I could, but I'm positive it'll start now. Give it a try?"

I got in and turned the ke in the ignition. I grinned the biggest smile I've had in a long while. It was working!

"It works!" I cried, jumping out of the car. "Thank you so much!"

"Nah, you're welcome," Tay said, ruffling my hair.

"What are friends for?" Rob shrugged.

"Yay!" Jack yelled, letting go of Zack and hugging Rob. "You did it!"

Everyone laughed, then Zack said, "Well, uh, you sure you don't want to hang with us tonight?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to intrude..."

"Oh you won't be a bother!" Jack squealed. "It'll be so cool, please come?"

I bit my lip. "I don't think my parents would like it, to be honest. Maybe some other time, yeah?"

They nodded a bit sadly, and we said our goodbyes. They all got into the two cars, but just before I could get into my own, Rian called me out.

"Yeah?"

"Get home safely!"

I laughed. "I'll try!"

"Alright. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

And with a wave, he ducked and got into the car, closing the door behind him. I threw my bag on the passenger seat and got in, slamming the door shut and smiling as it rattled.

Now, for the hard part. Getting home.

I drove slowly, so that I took as much time as possible to get home. Once I reached the dreaded destination, I sighed as I pulled my bag onto my shoulder, turned off my car, got out and tiptoed into my house from the back door. I crossed my fingers and shut my eyes tight, hoping no one would hear me.

"Alexander? Is that you?"

Fuck.