Fall Away

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies, put your hands up!" Jack screamed as he pranced around his room making his bed and picking up various items from the floor.

A sock, some old bottle of water, wait no that's not water, oh god yes is that vodka? His thought process was interrupted when Alex asked, "So why are we listening to this?"

He was sitting on Jack's floor in the corner of his room, playing with his hands. "Well obviously cause you're a single lady and we are embracing that!" Jack exclaimed, holding the water bottle and opening it slowly as if it were explosive before smelling the contents and smirking. "Look I even have booze; now we can really celebrate."

"Jack don't you ever stop drinking? You’re lucky your mom even let you stay home from school." The taller boy laughed before closing the bottle and throwing it under his bed.

"Of course, see I'm not drinking today." Alex shook his head in amusement, a small smile coating his features. In reality he was just nervous because it was exactly the three month mark for his mission to get Jack to fall in love with him and he could tell that even though Jack surely saw him as a friend, it wasn't nearly close enough to love considering the passing time.

He picked up a book, flipping through it slowly as he thought of how to approach the topic. Jack was still sifting through the mess on his floor, occasionally smelling shirts to judge their cleanliness. Every few minutes he would softly sing a line from the music playing as he drummed his fingers on his knees.

"Jack?" Said boy made a soft "hm?" sound letting Alex know he was listening.

No. It was too early to ask. And anyway, Alex was afraid of getting rejected, since his last relationship with Lisa went so well.

"Can we find my friends?" He blurted out instead.

Jack looked up at the question giving Alex a confused look, "How do you suppose we do that?"

"Well I mean we can go to my school?"

"And then what?" Alex glanced at his hands quietly because he didn't know. It's not as if Jack could walk up to Matt and just say, "yeah hey man so how are you coping with your best friend laying in a coma?"

The younger sat and stared at Alex, trying to figure out what to do. "Ugh fine you're turning me into a fucking pansy," Jack grumbled, before standing up abruptly and fixing his pants.

"Thanks Jack, I'll be sure to repay you for this favor," Alex stated brightly giving Jack a wink and nearly choking when Jack actually started blushing at the statement. Jack barely ever blushed. And yet there he was rolling his eyes as his cheeks turned a soft pink from a simple line.

Jack cleared his throat then, tugging on a pair of converse and Alex realized he'd been
staring at Jack with doe eyes. "So let’s do this shit."

-----

They'd been driving for ten minutes and Jack had a basic idea of where Middleton high should've been, but he wasn't sure of the exact street. Alex was sitting in the passenger seat drumming his fingers and singing along to Green Day (quite well if you ask Jack) while staring out the window.

"Hey Alex what street is your school on?"

Said boy's face paled considerably after a moment. "I-I don't remember."

Jack groaned loudly. "C'mon man I don't know where it is."

Alex crossed his arms in defense before Jack could start yelling at him. Jack didn’t bother yelling though and simply blew and popped a bubble with his gum while trying to figure out a solution. The answer came in the form of a gas station a few minutes later where Jack parked the car, running inside. Alex watched from the car; he could tell that Jack was getting annoyed with his shit but it’s not as if he had a choice. To be honest he'd much rather have been alive and dating Jack instead of being stuck as a half dead thing who had to get a very much alive human to fall for it. There was a knock on the window and Alex looked up to find Jack standing there with a bag of twizzlers and a cup of coffee.

“Open the door jackass!” He yelled through the window, although it was slightly muffled. Alex leaned over to the driver’s seat and opened the door, grabbing the cup of coffee from Jack’s hands and placing it into the cup holder.

Jack stood in shock watching Alex and trying to figure out how the fuck he just grabbed the coffee like he wasn’t a goddamn soul. “Sit down Jack,” Alex snorted, grabbing the twizzlers too and placing them on his lap.

Jack fell into his seat, tugging on the seat belt and closing the door softly before turning stiffly to stare at Alex. “How in the actual fuck did you just do that?”

This prompted the older boy to laugh loudly, opening the twizzlers package and grabbing one before moving towards Jack. “Open your mouth, the train is coming chug a chug a choo choo!” He made exaggerated hand movements, bringing the red stringed candy and pressing the tip to Jack’s lips. He opened his mouth instantly and took a bite, chewing quickly before grabbing the rest of the candy with his teeth and chewing then swallowing that too.

“Alex, answer my fucking question!” Jack exclaimed once the candy was no longer in his mouth, tired of having to wait for his answer.

“Drive and maybe I will,” Alex countered. The younger rolled his eyes and started the car before pulling out of the parking lot. “I told you that being around you gives me human like abilities. If I gain enough energy I can choose to use it in certain ways such as grabbing the coffee or punching someone.”

Jack once again found himself questioning not just the soul’s sanity but moreover his own, because it got weirder every day.

“So you’re stealing my energy?” Jack asked, suddenly feeling angry. How dare he take his energy? “Is that why I’ve been guzzling coffee like my life depends on it?”

“No Jacky boy, that’s cause all your energy is wasted on trying not to get boners around me. I only take a bit of your energy. Now shut the fuck up.” Alex rolled his eyes, twirling a twizzlers around his finger.

“You suck dick.” Jack grumbled, making a right turn off the main intersection and onto a smaller street.

“Only yours.” Alex winked and threw the twizzler at Jack.

“Don’t fucking throw candy at me, you pervert, I could wreck the car.” Jack parked the car sloppily at the side of the road. “We’re here.”

Alex looked out the window as his soul registered the location. Those brick walls, the large windows, the fucking hideous flower garden and of course the large blue doors and the sign that featured in bold letters: “Middleton High School.”

“How’d you figure out where it was?”

“I asked the guy at the gas station dumb ass.” Jack rolled his eyes, opening the car door and getting out while Alex slid through the door as if wasn’t even there. “Don’t do that shit around me, it freaks me out.”

“What if someone saw the door open on its own Jack? Anyways once we get inside I can talk to you but you can’t talk to me unless you wanna be labeled as a freak.”

They started the walk to the big doors, sneaking in and rushing past the security guards who were too busy eating and gossiping to notice that they (well Jack) came in from outside. “Get to class!” A large woman dressed in the customary uniform yelled, before turning to the fellow security guard and complaining about dumb students.

Jack snorted and ran with Alex through the hallways, until they reached a bathroom, well, if the sign was any indication. They stepped in and Jack scanned under every stall to check if there was anyone in there. He noticed a pair of feet and looked at Alex shrugging. The older boy then carefully stepped into the second stall and onto the toilet before looking down into the nearby stall and looking at the kid in there.

“Holy fuck, he’s hot.” Alex stated, sparking jealousy in Jack that he didn’t even have time to ponder because seconds later Alex was screaming, “Holy fuck I know him!”

He jumped down from the stall and ran over to Jack grabbing his hand and tugging on it sharply, as his eyes glazed over as he put a name to the face as his soul made the connection to his human brain. “It’s Matt. Shit, I just said my old best friend is hot?”

Jack chuckled just as Matt flushed and walked out of the stall and towards the sinks. Jack hadn’t even realized he was staring at the rather tall black haired boy until he gave him a weird look as he was lathering his hands in soap.

“Can I help you?” He asked, and Jack noticed his gleaming lip ring.

“Uh, um, hi I’m Jack.”

“And? Do I know you? You look familiar but I really don’t think you go to this school.”

“I think you’re friends with Rian?” Jack mentioned the other boy’s name, hoping for
recognition which came seconds later when Matt’s face lit up.

“Oh! Jack Barakat, eh? How you doing man?” Having finished cleaning his hands, he wiped them on his jeans and stuck out a hand for Jack to shake.

Jack took his hand and shook it, before letting go and shrugging. “Well, you know, just living every day.”

“Shit man, come to lunch with me right now, we all have a free period.”

Jack nodded before following Matt as Alex looked around the hallways remembering each thing. He grinded to a halt next to a certain wall, and motioned Jack over. When Jack got closer to Alex he noticed that the boy had tears in his eyes and he turned to look at what made him cry. On the wall there was a huge sign that said, “Praying for Alex Gaskarth” in bold letters surrounded by pictures of Alex. Jack leaned in, looking at the pictures and finding that Alex was even more beautiful in real life when there is a healthy glow to his skin not the pale deathly glow ghost Alex had. He looked so happy; there were pictures of Alex next to friends at a campfire, ones of him at track meets, and a few of him and Lisa which immediately made Jack sick. They looked so happy and yet Lisa was off fucking another guy as Alex lay in a fucking coma.

Beside him, Alex whispered in a broken voice, “They care about me.”

“Jack?”

“Yes Alex?” Only then did Jack realize it wasn’t Alex who had said it.

“Uh, okay?” Matt grimaced, pain resurfacing on his face as he took in all of the pictures. “Oh yeah, Alex is sick.”

Jack sighed and took the bait, asking the questions he knew Alex needed answers to, despite being terrified of having to listen to it all again. “How?”

“Maybe we should talk about this somewhere that isn’t the middle of the hallway,” Matt stated, grabbing Jack’s wrist and pulling him into the cafeteria. His eyes scanned the area, looking around and seeing the different groups of people. They stopped in front of a circular table and Matt took a seat motioning towards the empty chair. “Sit.”

Jack took a seat slowly feeling the gaze of three other people on him. Alex stood awkwardly as Jack quickly gave him a questioning look. “That’s my seat.”

Jack stared at the table in guilt, before Matt cleared his throat. “Guys, this is Jack. Jack, this is Danny, Evan, and Vinny.” He pointed to each boy while saying his name. They weren’t eating lunch, just sitting around a table with their feet up and throwing paper at each other.

Jack waved slightly, giving them a small smile before someone walking by caught his attention. Said person seemed just as shocked to see him and Danny noticed before motioning her over. She looked worried, staring between her table and the guys before finally giving up and walking over to them. “Hey guys!” She was dressed very differently in school, not as dressed up but still wearing a short skirt and high heels, just less make up and perfume.

“This is Jack.” Vinny mentioned, bored by her presence.

She looked at Jack smiling brightly but her eyes held malice and warning as if telling him to keep his mouth shut. “Hello, I’m Lisa, nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Jack stated, not bothering to be too polite.

“This is Alex’s girlfriend,” Matt grumbled, not bothering to look at her any longer than necessary.

She gave another sickly sweet smile before showing Jack yet one more warning with her eyes. “What brings you here?”

“Wanted to talk about Alex actually.” Jack snarled, before shifting slightly away from Lisa. It was awkward because she was standing just a foot away from Alex lying through her teeth, oblivious.

Lisa tensed visibly, before perking up when she noticed one of her friends waving at her. “Oh look, I have to go!” She practically ran away, and Matt snorted a laugh.

Something clicked in Jack’s head and he blurted out, “I heard you and Rian and Zack were going to set me and Alex up to date. How come? I mean he has a girlfriend.”

“Had.” Alex growled and took a seat on the floor, crossing his legs and arms in anger.

“We fucking hate her. She’s so goddamn sketchy, it’s like she’s plotting shit. We wanted you and Alex to become friends and eventually you two would end up together and Alex would leave Lisa for you. We kinda figured you were perfect together and you could be the one to get him away from that sneaky conniving bitch,” Vinny stated while waving his arms to emphasize his point.

“Why do all of you think me and him would be a good couple?”

“This one time we hung out and got high and your bony ass wouldn’t stop talking about the stars and of course Alex loves space,” Danny exclaimed, smiling brightly.

“You’re both sarcastic and loud and love to fuck. At least you mentioned loving it while you were hammered,” Evan held his hand up for a high five and Jack slapped his hand smiling softly.

“Whatever man, the point is you and he would be perfect,” Matt stated, smiling brightly as if he were the ultimate match maker.

“But he’s sick right?” Jack asked, knowing the answer perfectly.

Vinny seemed to get angry in seconds and jumped across the table grabbing Jack’s shirt in his fist before shaking the taller boy violently. “Don’t fucking talk about it so goddamn nonchalantly.”

Evan stood up immediately, pulling Vinny off as Jack fell back in the chair, a look of pure terror on his face. For someone much shorter than him, Vinny was fucking terrifying when angry.

“Vinny, calm down, please.”

He sat down, his face red, and reached for a water bottle downing half of it as the rest of the table sat in silence. Jack heard Alex say, “I’m so sorry Jack, shit, fuck.”

Matt hit Vinny’s arm, giving him a sharp glare.

“I’m sorry, man. I overreacted.” Vinny mumbled.

“I-it’s fine. Just forget it, yeah?” Jack asked, carefully.

“He’s our best friend. You have to believe us when we say it’s fucking hard.” Danny said, standing up and holding out a hand to help Evan up.

“Let’s cut next class and talk in the field.” The boys got up and walked out of the lunchroom. Jack once more caught Lisa’s eye and sneered at her, before flipping her off.