Outlines

The three boys took their places on the bleachers in the crowded gym. It was quite a lot like the gym at Alex’s old school in Essex, large space, basketball hoops, and bleachers on the side for when assemblies would take place, it was the usual. There were just about 30 other students in the P.E class, once they were all huddled inside they were instructed to take a seat and get ready for orientation. Just like any other Phys Ed. Class, they were told the regular rules, where the change rooms were, and the activities that they would be doing throughout the year. It was just revision for Jack, Zack and most of the other teenagers in the class, but it was all new to Alex, and it was a lot to take in.
“You play football here?” Alex whispered at Jack who sat next to him. Jack laughed subtly.
“Yes…” He said slowly “Quite common actually, which reminds me, Zakky are you watching the game tonight?” Zack looked over at Jack,
“Duh” He said “Go Ravens!”
Alex had no idea as to what was going on. He just sighed heavily, trying to understand what was so great about watching old men chase around after a ball on the field.
When the P.E instructors had finished with introductions, the students had a few moments to chat amongst themselves.
“So,” Jack swung his leg over the bleacher so that he was straddling it in the direction of Alex. “No football?” A smirk escaped on his lips.
“Nope” Alex shook his head “I used to play cricket when I was younger, and rugby sometimes…not often, Dad was big on rugby.” He nodded.
“Alright,” Jack smiled happily “Then how about you come around to my place tonight? Say, eight o’clock? We can watch the game together and I can teach you a bit about Americas Favorite Sport.”
Alex giggled gently,
“You want to teach me football?” He said smiling.
Jack nodded “Well you’re going to want to understand it if you want to get by here my boy.” Jack wrapped his arm around the English boy, still laughing, “But really, do you want to?”
Alex didn’t have to think twice,
“Yes!” He replied, “I Just have to get your address…” Jack nodded at the English boy.
“I can give you my cell number, that way we can text beforehand.” Jack said, Alex agreed that this sounded like a good plan. Alex took out his brand new iphone that his mother had bought him just a few days ago. He couldn’t take his old phone from England, it wouldn’t work with the American networks, but it was for the best. He was happy with a fresh new contact list that he could fill up with new names of people he had yet to meet. Jack took out his own iphone; it was white just like Alex’s. The two boys smiled at one another,
“but look…” Jack flipped his own over to show Alex the Blink-182 emblem that was engraved into the back.
“That’s so sick!” Alex exclaimed excitedly, he wished he had thought of doing that. Jack nodded, unlocking his phone, he handed it to Alex so that he could punch in his number. Alex did so, but not before handing his own phone to Jack so that the taller boy could do the same.
After exchanging numbers the bell let out a loud ring, informing the students that the day was finished. Jack looked to his new friend,
“Are you getting picked up?” He asked him, they headed towards the doors of the gym.
“Yeah,” Alex nodded, “Knowing mum, she’ll be here already” He laughed at his own mother, he knew that she would have been worried about him the entire day.
“Alright” Jack nodded. “Do you want me to walk you to the car? I wouldn’t mind meeting her…” He trailed off. Alex didn’t question the boys strange motives, he agreed to his suggestion and they walked to the parking lot together. Alex spotted his mother’s bright red car right away, she was parked quite close to the school, and he could see her smiling through the window.

“Hi mum” Alex said as they approached the car. The woman already had the windows rolled down, ready to ask Alex who this new boy was that he was with.
“Hello Mrs.Gaskarth.” Jack chimed, he had his right hand on the top of the car and he was leaning in so that he could speak to her face-to-face. “I’m Jack Barakat, I was the one helping your poor lost son around the school today.” He winked at Alex. Alex just nudged the taller boy.
“Jaack, you were not. I was perfectly fine!” he whined.
“really? Because I could have sworn you wouldn’t have been in history if it wasn’t for me.” He laughed. Alex just rolled his eyes at Jack’s teasing.
“Nice to meet you Jack.” Mrs. Gaskarth said finally, greeting him with a warm smile.
“Say mum,” Alex said biting his lip, “Would I be able to watch the football game with Jack tonight? I mean, American football.” He smiled excitedly. Mrs.Gaskarth laughed at her son,
“Of course darling, but wouldn’t you like to come home first?”
“The games at 8 tonight.” Jack piped up. “So he can come over around quarter two” he smiled at the older lady. Alex’s mother nodded politely
“Sure thing, I can drop him off then.” She was happy that her son had made such a lovely friend on just his first day.
“Well,” Jack looked at his phone quickly “My rides going to leave soon so I’ll be seeing you tonight Lex, It was nice to meet you Mrs.Gaskarth!” The boy quickly smiled and then turned away. Alex watched him leave and then slowly crawled into the car, shutting the door behind him.
“He was pleasant” Mrs.Gaskarth eyed her son.
“Yeah...” Alex trailed off.
“Anything to tell your mum?” She winked. Alex blushed ferociously,
“Mum!” He groaned “I’ve known him for like a day and… he’s… I think he’s straight.”
“Ahh, well.” His mother shrugged “You never know until you try.” She winked at her son as she pulled out of the parking lot, making their way back home.

Alex lied down on his bed, sighing with relief. It had been a busy first day of school, and he was glad it was over with. There was no way he was going to have an easy time keeping up with all his classes, but thankfully he had met Jack, and Jack would help him get by. He laid there for a few moments, taking in the events of the day. Meeting Jack was the highlight, he couldn’t get over the amazement he felt when the boys had been talking about music, it was like finally he had found someone who relied on music just as much as he did… and nothing could feel better than that. He thought about home for a few moments. He wondered what it was like back in Essex, without him. His father had been distance in the last two months that Alex was still there. He had recoiled from his relationship with his son and spent more time with his new girlfriend, rather than spending his last few moments with Alex himself.
He pressed his eyes closed, trying not to let his anger get to him, but it was hard to help , six months ago Alex had been a wreck. He was happy here in Baltimore, he felt better than ever, and making new friends today was the start of something wonderful. A few seconds later his phone buzzed loudly from inside his pocket. He jumped out of the silent state he was in and reached for it, reading what was sent.

Jack B: “Hey Lex, in need of my address?”

The English boy read the message over slowly, and began to type, trying not to seem to eager;

Alex G: “Yes thanks :)” he sent his reply quickly.
Jack B: “177 Maryview Ave. :) ”

Alex G: “wow are you serious?”
Jack B: “Erm, yeah, problem?”
Alex G: “Well, I live only five minutes away.”
Jack B: “Are you flippen serious bro?! sick.”
Alex G:"Yep, see you @ 8!"

Alex put his phone down on his bedside table and sighed heavily, even though he had only known him for a day, he never had a friend quite like Jack Barakat. Back in Essex Alex had a ton of friends. He would even be considered popular to most of the student body, but he never felt quite right attending all the parties. Drinking was definitely not his forte and if it was up to him, he would be at a concert opposed to a party, any day of the year. There were too many times when Alex was pressured into doing things that he didn’t want to do, and he tried not to think about those nights of wreckage, no matter what it took. Baltimore was a new city for Alex, a new city meant a clean slate, and he wouldn’t mess it up this time. He didn’t want to pretend to be something he wasn’t. It was just Alex now, 100%, and if the kids at Dulaney High couldn’t accept that, then he would figure out how to make it by on his own.

The English boy stumbled down the stairs and into his kitchen where he found his mother, preparing a pot of tea.
“Care you tell me more about your day darling?” She turned to her son, giving him a warm smile. Alex sighed heavily and sat down at the table, he tugged his beanie further onto his head and shuffled with his hair.
“Well,” He started. “it was really… scary at first.” He laughed to himself. “I went to the office and the lady there… err I’ve forgotten her name, but she introduced me to this other girl, Lisa. Lisa showed me around a bit and took me to classes and she was lovely.” He smiled at his mum who was listening intently from the other side of the table, he had always been close with his mum and never had any problems telling her what was on his mind, or what was going on in his life. They had become quite open with one another ever since the big move to America. The English woman nodded at her son, encouraging him to continue.
“So I got lost quite a few times, but lisa, yeah she helped me. I had English first…boring, then history, but I couldn’t find the class, which was when Jack formally introduced himself to me, he showed me the way! We had class together.” Alex laughed to himself, “That was nice.” Mrs.Gaskarth gave her son a suspicious smile, Alex tried to ignore it but he couldn’t help but blush slightly. “Anyways,” He continued “we had lunch after, I met more people… Rian and.. Zack their names were. Yeah, Jack’s friends, they were cool. Then I had biology and Lisa was in that class, it was really good but…” Alex looked down at his fingers “Lisa asked me out” He muttered. The English boys mum laughed at her son.
“Oh Alex” she smiled “That couldn’t have been fun for you.” Alex narrowed his eyes and looked at his mother.
“Yeah no, I had to explain to her that I didn’t exactly… swing that way.” He let a soft smile appear on his face. His mother nodded, understanding.
“And…” She led him to continue the story.
“She was cool with it, but I asked her not to tell anyone, not everyone is so accepting.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh darling” Mrs.Gaskarth reached across the table and held her sons hand. “I’m proud of you.”
It had only been a few months since Alex had come out as gay, and not many people were very accepting to that factor. He had struggled dealing with it back home and expressing it here, may be even more difficult.
Alex nodded at his mum,
“I had phys ed after that, with Jack and Zack, it was boring, we just listened to the teachers yab on about who knows what.” He sighed. “And then Jack invited me over tonight!” He gleamed happily, thinking about the tall, dark boy.
Alex’s mother nodded happily “He seems lovely” She smiled, turning towards the counter and pouring tea for herself and her son.
“Yeah, he likes Blink-182 and a lot of other bands so we get along.”
“Have you told him that you play guitar?”
“No…” Alex stammered. He never shared his own music with anyone other than his mother. His guitar was his sacred secret that he refused to share with anyone. Mrs.Gaskarth placed the warm steaming mug infront of her son,
“You should think about it.” She smiled “might be a nice change for you, love.” She took a sip from her own mug, keeping her eyes on the boy.
“Maybe.” Alex shrugged, he knew it was unlikely. As wonderful as Jack had seemed, you had to be really special for Alex to share his music with you, it wasn’t something he shared around.
“Alright darling, well I have some paper work to fill out still, health forms and such. I’ll be in the study if you need me!” The older woman walked out of the room with her cup of tea in her hands.

After a few hours of video games and a nice dinner with his mother, it was time for Alex to get ready to head over to Jacks house. He looked at the wall clock. 7:30, That gave the boy just enough time to get ready and then walk over. He raced up the stairs and into his bedroom.
“What to wear… what to wear.” He mumbled to himself. “Oh god I sound like a sixteen year old girl.” He groaned to himself. He pulled open his top drawer, reaching for his favorite blink-182 shirt. Simple enough, he knew that jack would be impressed once again by his taste in band merch. He reached into the bottom drawer for a pair of fresh black skinny jeans. “Perfect” he mumbled, “but…” He looked around the room “Aha.” Quickly, Alex grabbed a dark navy beanie from his closet. He smiled to himself, approving his selection of clothing. After taking a shower and blow-drying his hair, Alex changed and was ready to go, he made sure to text Jack before he left the house.

Alex G: “On my way!” he sent.

A few seconds later, Alex’s heart only fluttered for a short second while reading Jack’s response.
Jack B: “I’ll be waiting :)”
Alex smiled to himself before pulling on his bright green Vans and heading out the door, but not before saying goodbye to his mother.
“Have a good time, call me if you need me.” She had smiled, looking up from her paperwork.
“Will do.” Alex nodded. The English boy walked down the street, reading the directions on Google maps from his iphone.
“Well this shouldn’t be too difficult” He sighed. He slowly made his way down the street, just like the directions said. turn left onto Hillside Ave. the boy did as told. He didn’t want to get lost in this big new city.

Eventually Alex came to a big white Victorian-styled house.
“177 Maryview Ave.” It was marked. “This must be it.” He walked up the front path slowly, admiring the house. It was beautiful with white stucco walls and chestnut trimmings. The garden was full and blooming with purple and orange pansies. Alex tried to take it all in but then he noticed the stain-glass window that hung on the top floor.
“Oh…” He gasped out loud. The glass was a rainbow of sorts, set out to look like an angel. He admired it as he walked to the front porch.
Slowly, the young English boy tapped on the front door. He hesitated to ring the door-bell, afraid of causing too much noise, instead he just hoped that knocking was enough.

Shortly, the door swung open and Jack was standing in front of the boy, wearing a purple jersey of sorts and dark blue skinny jeans.
“Hey!” Jack smiled widely at the shorter boy, he pulled Alex in for a hug but then released him quickly. “Welcome to the cave” he said sarcastically, “come in!” He pulled Alex by the hand and dragged him forward and inside, closing the door behind them.