The Party Scene Has Got the Best of Me and You

Alex's POV

The last couple of days have gone by pretty smoothly, and without any bother from Travis and his mates. Some people have started saying 'hi' to us in the hallway as we walk past. Which is nice. For the first time in all of our lives, we don't feel completely invisible.

It's now Friday morning, and we're on our way to school in Jack's car.

“Hanging out behind the club on the weekend, acting stupid, getting drunk with my best friends, I couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour, I remember it's the first time that I saw her... there!” all three of us sang along to The Rock Show by Blink-182 at the top of our voices as we drove down the road towards school.
When we got there, we could immediately tell something wasn't quite right, because the car park was pretty much deserted.
Jack parked his car and we walked to the front entrance and walked in. There was a note on the door, it was held up by a drawing pin.
I walked over to it, and read it out to the others. “No school today, Mr Walker has had an accident with a test experiment in the lab, we're working on fixing the rooms affected. Until then, school is cancelled.”
“Oh my god, yes. NO SCHOOL!!” Jack screamed and ran back outside towards his car. “Who fancies a trip to the mall?!”
“Fuck yeah!” me & Matt said at the same time.
“Jump in then!” we left the building, and get back into the car and headed for the mall.

We pulled into the carpark, which was massive.
'Wow.' was all I could think as we walked through the door. And by the look on Matt's face, that's what he was thinking too. “I've never been here before, it's amazing. So much better than the poor excuse for shops back in Essex!” I turned to look at Jack, he was laughing at us. We must've looked pretty funny with our wide, shocked eyes, and dropped jaws. “You guys crack me up.” he said when he caught his breath after a laughing fit.
“Shut up, Jacky.” I said, lightly punching him in the arm, he returned this by poking me in the side. “This place is amazing.”
“Once you two are done staring at the entrance, should we actually go into a shop?” Jack was still smirking at us.
“Yeah, come on,” I headed towards a shop with a cool window display, including band t-shirts with amazing bands on, and skinny jeans in various colours...including pink.
- - - - -
We left the shop about an hour later. I bought a Blink tee & a Foo Fighters one, Matt had bought some dark grey skinny jeans and a New Found Glory shirt, and Jack had decided to buy himself some bright pink skinny jeans. For reasons I don't think I'll ever find out.
“Can we go get some food?” Matt asked, looking around for a restaurant. “I forgot to eat this morning, and I am starving!”
“Taco Bell!” I shouted. “I've always wanted to go there, but mum would never let me go to the one back in England.”
“Taco Bell it is then,” Jack said.

We walked in and ordered our food; a burrito for Jack, nachos for me, and a taco for Matt. We sat down at a table by the window and I noticed some girls on the other side of the glass, who I recognised from school. I quickly realised that it was Travis' girlfriend Beccy and some of her friends. They looked like they were trying to cheer Beccy up, but with no luck her friends just kind of walked away to go into some stupid shop with windows full of pink skirts and dresses. Ugh.
“Hey, that's Beccy isn't it?” I asked Jack.
“Yeah, and she's by herself.” Jack replied. “I wonder what's wrong, she looks upset.”
“Well, her friends just abandoned her to continue shopping,” I told them.
“Wait, who're we looking at?” Matt asked looking out the window.
I pointed towards her, and she looked over and saw the three of us watching her. I quickly put my arm down, and looked away. A few minutes later I felt someone walk past me, it was Beccy.
“Hey guys, is this seat taken?” she asked, gesturing towards the spare chair at our table. Me and Jack exchanged a surprised look, why did she want to sit with us?
“No, feel free to sit down,” Matt told her, he had a really weird smile on his face.
“Thanks,” she sat down and we all sat awkwardly for about five minutes.
“What's up?” Jack broke the silence, and looked over at Beccy.
“Um, you probably won't really care,” she said, as a tear rolled down her cheek. “No one else really does.”
“Of course we care! We're not like all the dicks in our school, we actually care about people,” Jack told her. He was right. Our school is full of absolute idiots. She gave a weak smile, and laughed slightly.
She sniffed and said, “Travis cheated on me with Rachael,” another tear rolled down her already damp cheeks. Rachael was the slut of our school, and she was well known for being a boyfriend stealer and sleeping around, Jack had warned me about her, little did he know I wasn't even interested in the girls in our school, and I only had eyes for him.
“Awh, that sucks,” Matt said, as he put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.
I nudged Jack, “do you think he likes her?” I whispered, nodding my head in Matt and Beccy's direction.
“I wouldn't be surprised, she is pretty,” he replied. “But not my type. I tend to go for guys.”
What?! Jack had never told me he was gay! “Oh, right.” I tried my best to sound casual.
“What about you? Vagina or penis?” Jack looked me right in the eye as he said this. How can he ask something like that so seriously?!
“Um, both, I guess. I've only really thought about that kinda thing recently, though,” I replied, he looked at me suspiciously. Then he looked away and finished his food.
- - - - -
“What time is it?” I asked Jack. We'd been walking around the mall and visiting various shops for ages now. Beccy had stuck with us, and Matt was constantly talking to her, and trying his hardest make her laugh. He definitely had a thing for her!
“Um, 4:30pm.” he said, checking his phone.
“God, is it that time already? Mom'll be wondering where I am!” Matt told us.
“I texted my mum earlier to explain, but I’m getting bored and my feet hurt… Should we get going?” I said, looking around at the others.
“Yeah, alright. There's no more shops to go in of any interest now anyway,” said Jack, as we headed in the direction of the exit.
“Do you want a lift home, Beccy?” Jack asked her, smiling.
“If that's alright with you guys,” she smiled back, and we all climbed into the car. Jack driving, me next to him, and Matt with Beccy in the back.
I hit the play button on the radio and Blink started playing again, I half-expected Beccy to be all like 'ugh, turn that shit off', but she actually started singing along, and she knew EVERY word.
“Hey, you like Blink-182?” Matt asked her, looking just as shocked as I felt.
“Yeah, they're amazing! I've never made it obvious that I like this sort of music though, because Travis can't stand it!” she told us.
“Oh, well, you can sing all you like when you’re with us,” I told her, smiling. She smiled back, and I realised that Travis had been pretty controlling over her.

“That's my house, on the corner,” Beccy said, pointing. Jack pulled over and we all waved goodbye as she got out of the car. She looked so much happier than when we found her this morning.
“So, Matt, found yourself a new friend?” Jack turned in his seat to face Matt straight after Beccy had shut the door. He had a cheeky grin on his face, but Matt looked like a naughty child who'd just been caught causing mischief.
“Um... no... why... um... why would you say that?” he stuttered.
“Oh, no reason, just your constant flirting with her all day,” I said, winking at him.
He sighed. “Was I that obvious?” He asked us. “Do you think she noticed?!” he added, with a horrified look.
“No, I don't think she noticed. Although, the way she was reacting made it pretty clear that she kinda likes you back. Just be careful, Travis will go insane if he finds out.” Jack told Matt, with a warning look in his eye.
“Is Travis that ginger guy who hangs around with those two taller lads who like to beat the shit out of everyone who comes near them?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, Travis, Cameron and Zack, they’re like a gang,” Jack replied. “You don't want those guys after you, trust me.”
“No, you really don't, they beat me up within my first week here,” I told him. “My nose and back are still a little sore now.”
Matt looked kind of worried, but I still think he had his heart set on getting with Beccy.
Jack quickly changed the subject. “So, how about we all go back to my house for a game of Mario Kart? Or we could watch Home Alone!”
“What's Home Alone?” I turned to look at Jack, I was slightly confused.
His jaw dropped as he faced me. “You've never seen Home Alone?!” he was almost shouting. “How can you have never seen Home Alone? It is literally the best film ever invented.” he stared at me.
“Um, I don't know. I don't remember ever watching it.” I felt bad now, like I was missing out, and even worse, I'd upset Jack a bit because I'd never seen what appeared to be his favourite film.
“That settles it then. WE'RE HAVING A MOVIE NIGHT! With popcorn and everything. We're going to watch the first two Home Alone movies. Fuck the other ones, they changed the guy who plays Kevin.” Jack looked so excited. “You up for that, Matt?”
“I don't know, guys. I might just go home.” Matt told us.
“Oh... okay. Guess it's just you and me then, Alex!” Jack was very excited about this plan. He was so cute when he was excited. “Would you like us to drop you off?” Jack asked Matt.
“Yeah, if that's okay.”
Jack started the car and we drove to Matt’s house. It was only about a two minute drive. We waved and shouted 'goodbye's and 'see you tomorrow's out of the window as he went into his house.

We arrived at Jack's house and got out of the car, headed up the path and he opened the door and let me go in before him.
“HELLO!” Jack shouted after he'd shut the door. Footsteps came running to where we stood.
“What took you boys so long?” his mum asked as we walked into the hallway. “We were worried sick!”
“Oh, school was cancelled today. A teacher accidentally blew up some classrooms.” Jack told her casually. “So we spent the day at the mall!” she just laughed.
“Do you two want anything to eat?” she asked us.
“Popcorn, please! It's movie night.” Jack told his mum.
“Oh, alright. I'll sort that out for you and bring it up to your bedroom when it's ready,” she smiled and went to the kitchen.
“C'mon!” Jack shouted and grabbed my hand, pulling me to his bedroom. I sat down on the bed and watched Jack as he grabbed a load of cushions and the blankets I slept on a couple of nights ago, and placed them all on the floor.
“What are you doing?” I asked, laughing as he placed the cushions in a pretty pattern on the floor.
“Oh, you didn't think we'd be sat on the bed to watch the film, did you?” he looked over at me, and I nodded. “Nope, that is not how a movie night works. You have to sit on cushions and cuddle under blankets on the floor. It's the law!” he was talking like he was about five, so I just laughed and went along with it... I mean, who would deny the chance to snuggle with Jack Barakat to watch a film?
There was a knock on the door. It was Mrs Barakat, and she was carrying two bowls, each overflowing with popcorn.
“Thanks mom!” Jack said, taking the bowls and handing one to me.
“No problem, enjoy whatever it is you're watching,” she said, closing the door and going back downstairs.
I took my place on the floor, and Jack sat next to me. He grabbed the DVD remote, hit play and we cuddled under a blanket as the movie started.