New Necessities (To Live and Let Go)

"Zack, why's there all this homework in high school...?" groaned Jack Barakat on the Tuesday of his second week into an important first year.

"Teachers like makin' kids cry. It's really simple. And they're like, 'Oh this kid's takin' my class, he probably wants to study in my subject when he grows up, even if he has a bad attitude' but no. He doesn't want to sit in cubicles when he grows up doing fucking math."

Jack was faintly surprised. Zack didn't get heated about many things.
"Seems legit," was all Jack could respond with.
Jack turned back to his chem...frustrated by all the numbers. Why couldn't he just blow things up for homework? Couldn't there be a take home lab to find what homework on fire looks like?

So... .5mol X 10g / 1mol

How was he supposed to know what any of this meant? It was only the SECOND. FUCKING. WEEK. OF. SCHOOL.
He put his head on the table.

"Zaaaaaaaack...do my work for meeeee..." Jack complained.

"I'll HELP you with it, if that's what you mean."

"Whatever...just do it..." Jack groaned again.

"Well first..." was all Jack heard.
Jack started wondering how Rian was doing with all this. He probably finished the worksheet by now, he was way too smart...and had too much commen sense compared to the commen male.
Then Jack wondered how Alex was doing. He probably wouldn't even put it on a hard surface. It'd go straight into the trash bin.

Alex had some fun highlights in his hair...Jack liked them. He wanted to get some too. He'd ask his mom again later. Or maybe Zack could just take him to a place where people got that stuff done so their mom wouldn't find out...

"Got it Jack?"

Jack's mind snapped back to chemistry.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks," he added.

Zack smiled back. Jack noticed that all the problems looked finished with perfection.

It was 8 o' clock. Finally all of my homework's done, Jack thought. This is ridiculous...Zack's right. All the teachers want to make me cry. Even the stupid gym teachers with their five mile run for fun and then another to 'cool off'. Even if Jack does play soccer, that's ridiculous. What is with this place...?

"Hey, Jack? Y'all right?" Zack burst out of nowhere.

"What? Oh, yeah."

Zack sighed.
"Just hit a shower. Even for a dude, you smell like a cow. And then go to bed."

"What?!" Jack woke up. "It's only like eight! There's still time to play Xbox!"

Zack looked down at Jack with a look. The younger brother frowned and put his homework away obediently.

Jack had a dream that the number 8 could fly and that he flew to a party in chemistry class and then Mrs. Greppetho killed everyone. He woke up with a small sweat trailing down the back of his neck.

"Hey," Jack said to Rian in an unusually low voice to speak in. Rian nodded back.

The warning bell rang, and Jack looked around for Alex in the terrible classroom. He remembered a bloodbath here in his nightmare. Although the dream did fit with the function of the room.

Alex came in while the bell continued ringing with his arms out in a 'Praise the Lord!' style and a tooth grin. Jack did think that Alex made the whole class better. He even could see people's faces brightening when Alex entered. Jack was sure
his face looked the same, but it gleamed too.

"The king has arrived my people!" Alex boomed.

But he hopped to his seat quickly when Mrs. Greppetho came towards him angrily with a ruler in her reddening hand. Laughs came from various points of the class, mostly from the back where Jack, Rian, Matt, and others sat.

When class ended, Jack couldn't keep himself from staying in the class talking with Alex more than he should've. He should've gone straight out as always to Zack. He should've explained the annoyances from today. He should've been with Zack, but instead, he was with Alex, talking about that one YouTube video going around about the squirrel and how it couldn't compete with the classic squirrel one where the squirrrel's water skiing.

It was weird. It was like Jack and Alex had been friends forever, even though like two weeks ago was the first time Jack had ever heard of an Alex Gaskarth and Jack was still being timid and shy.

When the two got out of the doorway, Zack was leaning on the white brick wall being awkward.

Guilt rushed into every part of Jack. His smile lost some happiness.

"And then there's the custom mini skis for the–"

"Sorry, gotta' go," Jack said to Alex after cutting him off.

"Oh. Okay, see ya' later then," said nicely Alex.

Guilt pressed on harder. There wasn't any logical reason why though. At all.

So Alex left, and Zack replaced him smiling, like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

But Jack wasn't so sure...

Holy shit. I just made Zack wait for me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He's probably really mad right now...fuck...Why the hell was I talking with Alex for so long? Guys don't fucking do that!...And then I just told him to fuck off there's something more important than you shit shit shit I'm fucked God fuck that's never happened before fuck fuck fuck shit balls shit

"So I see–"

Fuck.

"–you made–"

Balls.

"–a frieeeeend, eh?"

Well look, I stepped in dog fucking shit just now.

"Yeah I guess," Jack said blushing and cursing in his mind still.

At the end of the day, Jack had a hard time concentrating on where to walk. He was focused and desperately trying to find a way to tell Zack that he didn't need a ride home today again without sounding mean and not feeling guilty about it and sounding like a bad person/brother.
It was just that Rian and he were going to ride Alex' bus home and hang out with him.
And then, shit. Jack was supposed to have Zack's Amazing Fantastic Miraculous Soccer Training Practice today...How was he going to say he wasn't going to make that either...?