Outlines

The first half of the day went past in a blur. After homeroom, Lisa met Alex outside his classroom, somehow she managed to get there before the bell had even rung, Alex thought it was funny how much effort she was putting into showing him around. She led him up the stairs into a different corridor of the school, explaining that the “West Wing” was where most of the Language Arts subjects occurred. (English, Literature, Spanish, Japanese…) He thought it was odd that they even had a Japanese class, but he shrugged and carried on. Calling Mr. Livingston’s English class “boring” would be an overstatement. It was the most dreadful class that Alex had experienced; he spent the entire hour writing notes. Eventually he would become side-tracked and start to doodle little air-planes, wishing they would jump from his page and take him home to Essex. Not a single person in the class wondered who Alex was, and by the end of the hour, he didn’t care. He wanted out of that room as soon as possible.

Finally, the bell rung out, students began packing up their things and Alex left the room as soon as humanly possible. He looked around the hallway for a few short seconds. Lisa wasn’t there but he didn’t remember making plans to meet once again before his next class, which –according to his schedule – was History. Alex chewed his lip,
“Shouldn’t be too difficult to find.” He mumbled to himself, he vaguely remembered the tour he was given during the summer. The young English boy walked the hallways mindlessly, trying to decide which way to turn. Upstairs? Downstairs? How would he ever find the class? The hallways were almost bare now, with only a couple of students wandering about. Alex had to decide what to do, and fast. He didn’t want to look like a fool and ask for help. No, he refused, so he decided to study his surroundings.

“Need some help?” A cold hand reached out from behind Alex and grabbed onto his shoulder. Alex jumped and turned around, a smile escaped on his face.
“Hey.” He said to the tall lanky boy. It was Jack, though Alex couldn't remember the funny-haired boys last name, he knew that he would be of help.
“Uh, err I s’pose.” He smiled shyly, scratching his head. “I can’t find my history class” He shrugged.
“History?!” Jack exclaimed “No way, I’ve got that too. What teacher have you got?” Without warning Jack pulled Alex’s schedule from the English boys hands. A bright smile appeared on his face. “Awesome” he whispered, “Come with me!” He tugged Alex by the sleeve of his sweater, laughing he pulled the boy through the hallways of the school and down a flight of stairs.

The boys came to a classroom labelled “Room 203”
“This is our history class, now we’re only five minutes late, shouldn’t be too much trouble.” He smiled at Alex happily. Before entering the room Alex turned to the boy,
“Thanks for the help” He said shyly. Jack patted him on the back with a smile,
“Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head.” He laughed “It can’t be easy being the new kid… not that I would know. I’ve lived in Baltimore my whole life…” He trailed off, “But any-ways, shall we?” He motioned towards the door.
“We shall.” Alex nodded, Jack couldn’t help but giggle to the sound of Alex’s posh accent.

History was Alex’s favorite class of the day. The two boys sat at the back of the room and listened intently, taking the lesson in. Alex didn’t have trouble paying attention, even though Jack continued to make slightly inappropriate jokes, Alex didn’t mind though, he was happy to have made a friend on his first day. Especially a friend like Jack, Alex admired the boys witty confidence, and he especially admired the fact that he had decided to befriend the new English boy. There was only one factor that Alex had to worry about and he was quite worried as to how Jack would react when he told him, but their friendship was freshly new and Alex knew that he had quite a long time before they told secrets to one another, he just hoped that he could trust Jack when the time came.
After their teacher stopped speaking to her students, Jack began to quiz Alex with various questions.
“What’s it like in England?”
“Erm, cold… windy… rainy…” Alex stammered.
“What was school like?”
“Different… yeah. Different.”
“How different?”
“Well… we had uniforms.” Alex offered.
“Really!?” Jack exclaimed. “Man that would suck dick, I wouldn’t know what to do if I couldn’t wear band shirts to school.” Alex looked down at the boys purple hoodie in confusion.
“Not today, dumb-ass” Jack joked around, rolling his eyes. Alex laughed at the boys name-calling. “But really,” Jack continued “Music is well... my muse you could say. I have music for when I’m angry,”
“Green Day” Alex offered, interrupting. Jack nodded approvingly with excited eyes.
“Music for when I’m sad…” he continued.
“Bob Dylan, Nirvana.” Alex bit onto his lip. Jack nodded once more, with a bright smile plastered on his face, he was impressed with Alex’s musical knowledge.
“Happy music…”
“The Beatles, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sting.” Alex nodded.
“And music for absolutely everything, or just when I want to fuck around!” Jack exclaimed.
“Blink-182” The boys both said at the same time, they outburst in giggles.
“You’re awesome” Jack said suddenly. Alex noticed the sincerity in the brunette’s eyes, he felt a warm blush take over his face.
“T-thanks” he stammered, trying to hide the embarrassment that crept over.
Just then, the bell let out a loud ring from up above.
“Ahhh” Jack sighed with relief. “My favorite time of the day, lunch” He grinned at the English boy. “Care to join me?” Alex nodded quickly, afraid of what might happen if he was left alone once again. The two boys stood and gathered their books, without a word, Jack guided Alex down the hallways of the school and into the cafeteria.

“How American” Alex mumbled to himself, looking around the room. The scene that played before him was just as how it looked in any movie that was set based in America. There were tables, there were teenagers, and there was food, and plenty of each. The English boy became flustered; would he and Jack sit alone? Or would he have to go through the pain of meeting new people? It looked as if his question was quickly answered.
“ZAACCKK” Jack yelled obnoxiously across the room, as if anyone would be able to hear him over the thousands of kids who were already in the room.
A very tall and muscular boy made his way through the crowd. He had light brunette hair and a nose ring, Alex noticed him immediately, and it wasn’t difficult either, the boys’ arms were almost covered in colorful tattoos, Alex couldn’t help but stare.
The boy walked up to Jack and greeted him with a high-five, Alex just watched in awe.
“Lex!” Jack looked at Alex, he seemed to have acquired a nickname. The English boy walked slowly over to Jack and the tattooed-boy.
“Alex Gaskarth, meet Zack Merrick.” He smiled at his two friends. “Zack,” He said to the boy who stood next to Jack. “This is Alex, he’s from Essex, England.” The tattooed boy suddenly had a smile spread right across his face. He stuck his hand out formally so that Alex could shake it.
“England!? That’s fantastic, I was there last summer, London though, I’ve never seen Essex before, you’ll have to tell me all about it.” He smiled coolly at the English boy before releasing his hand. Alex was no longer intimidated by his big arms or his flashy tattoos, by the way that he spoke, Alex could tell that Zack was a lovely boy. Alex nodded happily,
“Of course” He said.
“Now,” Jack said putting his hands on his hip, Alex couldn’t notice how feminine he looked in this pose,
“Outside or inside?” He jutted his lip out, trying to decide where to go.
“Inside by the looks of it.” Zack nodded towards a table sitting off to the side of the room where there were a few teenagers already sitting and laughing away, by the looks of it, they were friends with Zack and Jack. The trio walked towards the table, Alex following close behind Jack and Zack, trying not to lose himself in all the commotion that was going on in the building.

Jack scooted in beside the others who were already sitting at the table.
“Beside me Lex” He raised his eyebrows and smiled at the poor English boy who was looking dazed to all the excitement. He stumbled into the empty spot beside Jack and tried not to look nervous.
Jack cleared his throat before speaking,
“Guys,” He said, loud enough so that everyone at the table would hear him. “This is Alex. He’s new here, just moved all the way from Essex, England.”
“Actually,” Alex piped up “I moved two months ago.” He felt a blush creeping up on his cheeks, Jack just laughed.
“Okay well he’s new to the school.” He nodded happily. Jack smiled and laid his deep brown eyes on Alex while combing his fingers through his hair. Alex couldn’t help but think about how kind Jack had been towards him in his first few hours at school, he made note to thank him later.
“Hey man,” a boy sitting across the table from Alex stuck out a fist, Alex pounded it back and smiled. “I’m Rian.” The boy said. He was wearing a simple white V-neck shirt with a black hoodie over top, left unzipped. His hair was blonde and neatly shaven, Alex thought that he had one of the nicest smiles in the world.
“H-hi” Alex said shakily, trying not to become flustered and nervous once again.
Rian nodded back at the boy, Alex new that becoming friends with Jack was the best thing that had happened to him that day. After a few more introductions the boys began to eat, Alex grabbed his lunch from his bag that he had been carrying around all day, he had almost forgotten about how hungry he was.

After a few minutes of scarfing down food, a familiar face showed up.
“You look happy.” Lisa Ruocco smiled as she stopped by the boys’ table in the cafeteria. Rian seemed to grimace at the sight of Lisa, and Jacks smile dropped. Alex wondered why but he ignored the looks on his new friends faces,
“Yes Lisa,” he began “Thanks for showing me around” He said politely.
The girl just gave him a lip-gloss smile, “You’re very welcome!” She said with a twinkle in her eye. She waggled his fingers at him and purred “See you in Biology” Before walking away.
After she was out of earshot, Jack let out a sigh of relief.
“Fuck.” Rian mumbled, Alex looked at the boys, confused.
“My ex.” Jack nodded, biting on his lip.
“Oh.” Alex looked down at his lap. “Sorry” he mumbled quietly. The awkward silence was quickly interrupted by the sound of Jack’s happy laughter.
“Don’t be sorry man!” He patted Alex soothingly on the back “There were perfectly good reasons why that didn’t work out… but we’ll get to those later.” He gave Rian a small wink, which led Alex into curiosity. “But seriously,” Jack continued “It’s all good! We just don’t get along anymore, but no worries” He gave Alex a smile that made him feel warm inside. Alex was so happy that he had made a friend like Jack, he knew that this wouldn’t be a short-lived friendship, he could feel that this was going to last for a while.
After lunch had ended Jack offered to take Alex to his next class, Biology which was in the science wing.

“I had bio first period,” Jack claimed as the boys stood outside the science classroom. “You won’t have to do much, just pick lab partners, and by the looks of it… you’ll be with Miss.Ruocco” Jack nodded at the smiley girl who walked towards the two males in the hallway “And that’s my cue to leave.” Jack winked at Alex. “I checked your schedule though, we have P.E together right after,” Alex smiled happily, “So I’ll meet you here after alright?” Jack said to the English boy. He patted Alex on the shoulder before leaving him in the hallway amongst other students.
“Ready for some science?” Lisa giggled as she approached Alex. “Let’s go inside” She took Alex by the arm and led him into the classroom that they had been standing in front of.
The science room looked just like the ones back in Essex. The walls were a plain white color and there were many lab tables set up. Lisa wanted to sit near the front of the class, Alex followed willingly. He’d rather sit close to the teacher than sit In the back with unfamiliar faces.

After listening to the teacher for quite a few minutes, the students in the class were given time to talk to their newly chosen lab partners. Lisa turned to Alex,
“So tell me,” She smiled brightly, shining her pearly whites right in his eyes. “How did you become friends with Jack?”
Alex’s eyes raised at her question, he wondered how much he would learn about their past in the next few minutes.
“Oh,” Alex mumbled, “Well I was lost, and he helped me, pretty simple.” Lisa just laughed quietly to herself.
“That’s so… Jack.” She narrowed her eyes slightly and twirled a strand of her curly hair around her finger. “We went out for an entire year you know.” She looked down at the desk. “It was nice.” The tone in her voice had changed much from what Alex was used to. When they had met that morning, Lisa had spoken in a chipper high-pitched tone, but now her voice had gone flat, as if she was told that her long-beloved cat had passed away… or something of the sorts.
“That’s nice…” Alex mumbled. He was never good while talking about relationships; never had he experienced anything serious. His last relationship had lasted just a few months, and ended terribly, but Alex preferred not to think about that.
“Yeah but, we don’t talk much anymore. It’s okay.” She sighed and rested her head on her hands which were perched upright on the table, “Nice that you two are getting along though.”
Alex nodded silently, he tugged on the back of his beanie, making sure that it was still placed properly on his head.

“Say, Alex…” She mumbled. “Since you’re… new,” A deep red blush crept onto her face “Do you want to you know… get dinner sometime?” She smiled with a twinkle in her eye, it was obvious that she was trying to show confidence. Alex breathed in steadily and pressed his eyes closed; only this would ever happen to him.
“Lisa, uhh...” He stammered, afraid of how to word the next sentence. “How should I put this…” his accent picked up a bit “I’m… well. I’m not straight Lisa. I couldn’t date you, I mean if that’s what you’re asking.” A dark red color took over Lisa’s face and she burst out in giggles.
“O-oh” She continued giggling “S-sorry A-Alex this isn’t….f-funny.” She couldn’t contain her laughter, it took her a minute or so to settle down, “God, I’m sorry, it’s just, I really was not expecting that!” She exclaimed “Serves me right for asking out such a cute boy like you.” She winked at him. “Oh well, worth a shot.” Alex Gaskarth had never been ashamed of his sexuality, as much as he wished that he was attracted to girls, he just couldn’t find himself appreciating them… sexually. Sure he loved hanging around with women from time to time, as friends they were lovely? But as partners… Alex couldn’t deal with the constant bantering and nagging that would come along with having a girlfriend.
“Hey,” Alex looked at Lisa with steady eyes, “I know it’s a lot to ask but for now, could you keep this between us? You were really accepting but…”
“Not everyone’s like me.” She nodded, “I totally understand Alex, it’s no problem. Sorry for asking you out so bluntly” She laughed once again at her foolish behaviour.
“Friends?” Alex stuck his hand out at the girl. She looked down and smiled, taking his hand in hers.
“Friends.” She said, giving it a good shake.

After a conversation which seemed to go on for hours, Alex left the classroom, feeling less afraid of the air around him. If Lisa had been so accepting of his orientation, maybe Jack would be to? Alex wasn’t quite sure, boys were often very different when it came to the acceptance of Alex’s sexuality, which had been one of the reasons Alex decided to leave to Baltimore with his mother in the first place. He was just so bloody tired of getting picked on by his old friends. He figured that with a new school, came a fresh start, and so with that, he left, with high hopes and a heavy heart.
Alex found Jack in the hallway immediately. He was leaning up against the wall along with Zack, the tattooed boy from lunch.
“Hey Lex!” Jack cried out, he pulled the boy in for a high-five. Alex smiled at his new friend. “How was science with Ruocco?” He asked the English boy. Alex wondered why Jack continued to call Lisa by her last name, but he never asked why.
“It was really good.” He smiled “She’s nice.” Jack narrowed his eyes at the smaller boy and smiled,
“ooOoOoOH” He let out a long drawl, “Anything special going on that your new best friend needs to know about?” He winked at Alex. Alex just laughed,
‘if only you knew.’ He thought to himself. Out loud he explained, “No, she’s not my type, at all.” That would do for now. Jack nodded acceptingly,
“Too preppy I’d assume.” He smiled, Alex just nodded in reply. “Well, Zacky here’s got P.E with us as well! So that should be fun.” Zack gave Alex a warm smile, he didn’t speak much but Alex could tell that he was a nice guy. The three friends made their way to the gym. On the way, Alex couldn’t help but grin at the fact that Jack had previously referred to him as his “new best friend.” What a perfect first day this was turning out to be.