Never Let Me Go

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and Alex shoved his books into his bag and raced toward the classroom door. He weaved his way toward the school's gates. He was about halfway there when he heard someone playing "Basket Case" by Green Day on guitar. Alex stopped and turned to look behind him. The same kid from lunch was strumming the chords on an acoustic guitar filled with band stickers, scratches, and multiple frayed strings sticking out at the neck. He didn't realize he was staring until the kid finished playing and looked up. The kid blushed and the tiniest of smiles crossed his face.

"I didn't know anyone was watching," he said. His eyes dropped back to the floor.

"Sorry, I—that's a great song," Alex said, the words all coming out in a jumble.

"Yeah, I just learned how to play it. Hopefully it didn't hurt your ears too much," the kid said with a laugh.

"Are you kidding? That was great, dude. Especially for having just learned it." Wow.

He is gorgeous up close. Wait what? I need to stop.

"Thanks," the kid said. His eyes lit up.

"What's your name, by the way?" Alex said.

"Jack, what's yours?"

"I'm Alex." A huge smile crossed his face. He hadn't felt a real one of those in a long time. His face muscles hurt from the effort.

"What other songs do you know?"

"Oh, um, 'Head On Collision', 'Dammit', 'All the Small Things', 'Learn to Fly,' 'My Own Worst Enemy,' 'Semi Charmed Life.'"

"Want to jam? I can sing a little. Usually not in front of people. But still." Another smile and a laugh escaped Alex's mouth.

"Sure. Which song?"

"Want to try 'Dammit'?"

"Good choice," Jack said, smiling as he looked at Alex.

Jack's bugged out eyes after they finished the song reminded Alex of a cartoon character. It freaked him out.

"That was pretty good, especially for someone who's never sung in front of people before," Jack said.

A sigh of relief whooshed through Alex's lips. He managed another smile.

"Thanks. I write a lot of music, I just don't usually share it," Alex said. He shoved his hands in his pocket and looked away from Jack.

"Really? That's awesome. How many have you written so far?"

Alex's head snapped up. His writing hobby had been called a lot of things; awesome wasn't usually one of them. He realized he had to think about that answer for a second.

"At least 20 or 30 recent ones. Why?"

"I'm looking for some people to play music with but I'm not much of a writer. If you're interested, maybe you could show me some of your songs."

"That could be cool," Alex said, caution in his voice.

"Want to meet up at lunch tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure. Same spot?"

"Sure. Know any other songs?" Jack said, smiling.

"I do. 'What's My Age Again?,' 'Good Riddance,' 'Set Phasers to Stun.'"

"Want to do 'What's My Age Again?'"

"Sure."

Before either of them knew it, Jack's mom had come to pick him up.

"See you tomorrow, Alex," Jack said. He practically bounced into the passenger seat of his mom's car.

Alex waved and bent down to pick his book bag up off the floor. He turned right once he got to the school gates, starting the walk home. He couldn't stop smiling. He loved Jack's energy. And, he thought, I might have just made my first real friend.

As usual, the house was empty when Alex got home. It would probably remain so until tomorrow morning, when his mom got off her rotation. She'd left a note and some money on the kitchen table. Alex tossed his book bag onto one of the chairs and ran across the hall to his room. Normally, the empty house would have bugged him, but today it gave him the opportunity to concentrate. He found one of his song notebooks, looking through it to find the best ones. He found himself excited for school tomorrow.