Dirty Little Secret

I walked into school on Monday morning, still worn out from the weekend. I had spent yesterday lying in bed to nurse my hangover. I walked over to my locker and opened it, shoving my backpack inside. The hallway was pretty empty; my mom had dropped me off early on her way to work, so I didn’t come here with Alex today. I yawned loudly, shutting my eyes. My locker was suddenly slammed shut and I jumped, looking around. Alex, Rian, and Evan were standing there.

“Hey. You guys are here early today,” I said, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

“Where the fuck were you the other night?” Alex demanded, his arms crossed.

I raised an eyebrow, “I could say the same for you. You said you left without me!”

“That’s not the point. None of us knew where you were and we thought you died or something,” Alex said.

“Where did you go, hmm? How did Grieco get home without you?” I asked, ignoring his first question.

“I drove Grieco and Evan home after Alex left without saying anything. He still won’t tell me where he was,” Rian said, eyeing Alex suspiciously.

“This conversation isn’t about me,” Alex grumbled. “Who brought you home, Jack?”

“I have a better question; why were you attached to Martin Johnson’s lips later in the night?” I demanded, and Rian and Evan both gasped. I knew that would change the subject.

“You kissed him?” Evan exclaimed. “I want all the details!”

Alex blushed heavily, “Martin kissed me at the party and it was all a blur from there. We went out to my car and I drove back to my house. We, uh, hooked up...”

Evan and I both practically squealed, and Rian laughed. “So that’s why you disappeared!” he chuckled.

“Who topped?” I asked curiously, grinning at Alex.

“Me – but stop asking questions! I don’t want to discuss my sex life in the school hallway!” Alex whined.

“Aw, there’s no one else around. It’s too early,” Evan said. “By the way, where’s Grieco? I saw him walk inside when I got here, but I haven’t seen him.”

Rian laughed, “Probably avoiding you.”

“What? What did I do?” Evan asked, eyes wide.

“Oh fuck, you were wasted the other night – you probably don’t even remember. No one told you what happened?” I asked, and Evan shook his head. “You were all over Grieco. Flirting with him and trying to kiss him and everything. It was actually pretty funny to watch you get pushed away.”

Evan’s face paled and he looked upset, “Really?”

“Yeah, dude. You were groping him in my back seat on the way home,” Rian chuckled, looking at him sympathetically.

“So he didn’t like it, did he?” Evan asked, the question sounding more like a statement.

I shrugged, “You’d have to ask him. He kept pushing you away, but he never left your side.”

“Fuck. I gotta find him,” Evan said, sounding desperate. He ran down the hallway and Alex smacked Rian and I in the back of the heads when he was gone.

“You dumbasses. You just broke his heart,” Alex scowled.

“We told him the truth!” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

He rolled his eyes, “You didn’t have to be so mean about it. And you shouldn’t be one to talk about truth, Jack – you still haven’t told me where you went after the party!”

“I went home. I got a ride from one of Danny’s friends and he dropped me off. I don’t remember who it was,” I lied smoothly.

“Oh. Well you should have just told me that from the start,” Alex rolled his eyes at me. “Hey, I saw you and Merrick together at one point – why?”

I froze slightly, trying to think of a valid reason. “Um, we were just talking. We’ve been talking a lot since that project we did.”

“Well you should quit talking to that asshole. We didn’t want anything to do with him before the project started, why now?”

I searched for an answer, but I suddenly saw Grieco walking down the hallway. “Hey, there’s Grieco! I’ll go warn him that Evan is looking for him,” I said, quickly walking away from Alex and Rian. I just barely escaped that one.

--------------------

A few days later, we were in science class. Class was pretty boring, as usual. We were working silently on worksheets. About five minutes before class ended, Mrs. Adams stood up and announced, “I’ve graded those projects you turned in a week or two ago! Would you all please go sit with your partners so I can give you your grades back?”

I sighed softly, standing up from my spot next to Alex as everyone started to get up and move seats. I gathered my stuff and walked over to Zack, sitting beside him awkwardly. I hadn’t talked to Zack since that morning after we hooked up, four days ago. He hadn’t even made an attempt to talk to me and it kind of sucked, to be honest. Zack just smiled at me slightly, giving me a nod.

We were in the very back of the classroom, so we were the last to get our project back. Mrs. Adams handed us the paper and we both leaned in to look at it, shoulders bumping. “Sweet! An A!” I exclaimed, and Zack and I grinned at each other in triumph.

“I knew you boys could do well. You obviously work well together if you got such a good grade,” Mrs. Adams commented.

“Apparently,” Zack mused. The bell rang and we both stood up, heading toward the door. Alex came up to us as we walked out of the classroom.

“Well, now that we’re completely done with those projects, Zack can move on with his life and stay away from us,” Alex said, scowling at Zack.

“You know, just because you hate me, Alex, doesn’t mean Jack has to. He has a mind of his own, you know. He’s not your puppet,” Zack argued, raising an eyebrow at Alex.

Alex shook his head and snapped back, “It’s not just me – Jack hates you too! You’re an asshole!”

Zack looked slightly surprised, and both of them turned to look at me. I was just standing there with my mouth opening and closing, not wanting to say the wrong thing and blurt anything out. “I-I don’t hate you, Zack... you’re just... annoying?” I squeaked out, and it sounded more like a question.

Zack chuckled, “I know I’m annoying. Sorry.”

“Whatever. Come on Jack, let’s go,” Alex grumbled, turning to walk away.

As soon as Alex’s back was turned, Zack winked at me, whispering, “Call me later,” as he walked past.

What just happened?