Jalex nights

We were just your typical fourteen year olds, you know? Hyper, crazy, junk food loving, band obsessed fourteen year old boys. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Not that anyone could see, that is. Behind closed doors, Alex and I were a whole other, untold story. That is until now. I think its been long enough now, that I can safely tell you the real story behind “Jalex”. Don’t think of it as a unicorn, think of it as a puppy. Everyone can see it, and everyone except for heartless bastards think its adorable.

As many people know, we met in freshmen year of high school. I, Jack Barakat, for those who are reading this and somehow do not know my name, was only thirteen. Yes, I was that genius kid that skipped a grade like a badass, but didn’t really advertise it. The first day of school was intimidating, especially when you know you’re the youngest in the school, and are the tall gangly kid with a big nose. I was sure I was going to be picked on, and that high school was going to be the worst four years of my life.

Lucky for me, I was proven wrong. I walked into class and found Zack, Rian, and Alex, and almost instantly (and all because of a band t-shirt, none the less) we all became best friends. It seemed like we were together every day, hanging out, playing instruments awfully in Rian’s basement, and just generally goofing off. When you’re that young, all you really want is good friends like that, and we got lucky enough to have found each other right off the bat. There was more to the story than friendship even, but only I knew that at the time. I had known for a year or two at the time that I was bisexual, and only my older sister knew. I swore her to secrecy because frankly, I had enough things to be picked on about, I really didn’t need to give people anything else to tease me about.

The four of us had sleepovers a lot, but Alex and I grew especially close. We were literally attached at the hip, it seemed like. We still are, of course. I remember one night, during spring break, Alex and I were laying on the basement floor watching some bad reality show like usual. Alex knocked his shoulder into mine to get my attention. “Hey, the popcorn’s gone, go make more.”

“Dude, its your house. If you want more popcorn, you go make it.” I answered, shoving him with my shoulder away.

Alex fake whined. “But its so farrrrr!”

I looked at the staircase, and then back at him. “If its too far for you, then its definitely too far for me. I am staying right here, thank you very much.” I laid back down on the carpet.

Alex jumped on my back. “Oh come on, its your turn.”

I squirmed underneath of him, until I was able to flip over to look at him. “Now how do you expect me to get up and get popcorn with you on top of me?”

Alex shrugged, innocently. “I don’t know, I’m sure you could figure something out.”

“Tell you what, if you go make the popcorn, I’ll tell you a secret. Only you will know it too, because I will not tell Rian and Zack. Only one other person in the entire world knows this.”

Alex shook his head. “Knowing a secret isn’t worth going all the way upstairs for.”

I sat up underneath of him and licked his face. “Please, Alex, I don’t want to go get it.”

Alex faked disgust. “Eww, Jack germs!” He wiped his face off with his shirt. “You’ll pay for that!” He leaned forward, and pinned my arms down, and then promptly licked from my face to my forehead.

“Oh God, call a medic, I’m going to die! I have Alex cooties on my face and can’t wipe them off.” I sat up the best I could and wiped it off on Alex’s shirt. “Take your saliva back, nasty!”

Alex laughed, knowing how stupid this was. “What if I don’t want to?” He let go of my wrists, and I sat up all the way, with him still on my lap. I wondered if he even realized he was still sitting there.

I didn’t actually have an answer, and I didn’t mean to do what I did next. Alex didn’t see it coming either. I leaned forward and without thinking did what I had been thinking about since I met Alex. I kissed him. Alex didn’t really react. He didn’t kiss back ,or pull away. After a few seconds, I realized what I had just done and pulled away, pushing Alex off my lap gently.

“Um…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” I got up and grabbed the popcorn bowl, certain that my face was red. I was pretty embarrassed, and honestly, I hadn’t ever actually kissed any one before. I thought for sure our friendship was going to be over after that. “I’ll just go get the…popcorn, now.” I started to walk upstairs, when Alex got up and stopped me at the foot of the stairs.

“What’d you do that for?” Alex asked, just generally looking confused.

I took a breath, knowing I had to just come out with it and say it. “I’m bi. I like guys, and girls, and that was the secret I was going to tell you.”

Alex sort of nodded, like he was trying to completely come to terms with what I said. “How did you figure that out?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…I just sort of, knew it one day.”

“Okay…then why’d you kiss me?”

I sighed, he still sounded very confused. “Because I wanted to, do I really need a reason?”

Alex shrugged. “Well, I mean…no, but I’m just curious, dude. A guy’s never tried to kiss me before.” He sat down on the bottom step and looked up at me.

I sat down next to him, and looked back at him. His eyes were so big and brown, it was kind of looking into melted chocolate. God, he’s adorable… “Well, is that a bad thing?”

Alex looked me over, like he was trying to decide how to respond, and then shook his head. “Nope, not at all.” He leaned over just then and kissed me softly right on the lips.

That, my friends was how it all began. Right there in Alex’s basement. Its stayed pretty much a secret, what with our denial through out the years and all. None of that really mattered, now did it? You guys saw through it all along, and I’m glad. Maybe one day Alex will realize the good thing we’ve always had, and come back to me officially, but for now, I guess I’m okay with staying his ‘dirty little secret’.