Guitars and Love Notes
one
His world was falling apart; perfect, Mr. Popular Alex Gaskarth had his world crumbling around him.
Why was his world falling apart you ask. Well, it’s very simple; his parents announced that they were getting a divorce. But it wasn’t only that that made him feel as though all the walls around him were crashing down, it was the fact that rather than finding a new house on the other side of town like most divorced couples, his mother was moving all the way back to England so that she could have some distance between herself and her now ex-husband.
Growing up as an only child, with a father that worked a lot, Alex came to be extremely close with him mom, so naturally he wanted to go back to England with her. But his parents wouldn’t let him. As his mother had tried to explain to him, they moved to the US in hopes of Alex having a greater life than he would have had back in England, so there was no way she was taking him back with her.
He still had two more weeks with his mother until the divorce was finalized and she left, but he was too angry with her and his father to even care. She could have been half way to England and he wouldn’t have cared; at least that’s what he kept trying to convince himself of.
Going to school Alex kept up his straight face, let all his friends believe that he was doing just fine; hell half of them didn’t even know about the divorce. He’d bring his guitar with him to school every day and sit out front with his friends and play a few songs on his guitar while his girlfriend Lisa would hang on him and make it somewhat hard to actually play.
It wasn’t until about a week after the divorce was announced that the notes started. As Alex was pulling out his guitar one morning and small slip of paper fell off his guitar and into the case. Thankfully no one else saw it and he discreetly slipped it into his pocket planning to read it in first hour.
Once he was settled into his seat and his girlfriend was happily talking away about all the plans she had for that weekend, Alex slipped the paper out of his pocket and started to read.
I know how you must be feeling, my parents divorced last year too. Although, unlike your mom who is just going back home, my dad took off with his secretary who is two years older than me. –Z
“Are you even listening to me?” Lisa said glaring at Alex and making him look up from his note.
“Of course, I always listen to you,” he said with a fake smile.
“Then what did I just say?”
“You were talking about how you were planning to go to the mall with Kara on Saturday,” he said knowing how predictable his girlfriend was.
“Fine, I guess you really were listening. So you don’t mind not seeing me Saturday?”
“No, it’s fine, have a girls weekend.” Just like you do every weekend.
As class continued on Alex couldn’t help but think about the note in his pocket. Who was this ‘Z’ and why did he feel the desire to tell Alex about his dad? Plus, how did ‘Z’ even know about his parents’ divorce; hardly anyone knew. Hell, Lisa didn’t even know, but then again she didn’t care about much other than her own life and her own problems.
“You coming?” Lisa asked pulling Alex out of his thoughts and making him realize that class was over and basically cleared out.
“Yeah, sorry just zoned out there for a minute,” he smiled hoping that it wasn’t too noticeable that he was ignoring her.
“Try the whole class period sweetie,” she said with a laugh as she grabbed his hand and started leading them down the crowded hallway and towards their next class. “The teacher tried getting your attention like seven times. Thankfully I got him to believe that you were having troubles at home and he decided to leave you alone.”
“Thanks, I guess I just didn’t get enough sleep last night,” he said with a shrug as he opened the door to their chemistry class for her and released her hand so that he could go to his seat on the other side of the room from Lisa.
Swinging his backpack off his back and onto the floor next to him, he couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. As much as he liked Lisa, and liked being with her, he couldn’t help but be thankful he was away from her insistent chatter. Everything was about her hair, or what she wanted to buy on her next shopping trip. He just wished that once in a while she would ask him about his life and his problems.
With a clap of her hands Alex’s chemistry teacher Miss Martinez got the classes attention. “So guys exciting news,” she said with a smile on her face. “I’ve decided that you’ve sat in your current seating chart long enough so today you all are getting new seats.”
“Do we get to choose where we sit?” Lisa asked, smiling over at Alex letting him know in her own little way that if they did she was going to be sitting next to him.
“Unfortunately for you, no,” Miss Martinez said as she pulled down the screen for her projector and started booting the device up. “I know that people like you and your friends will all want to sit around one another because that’s your little clique and that’s where you feel the safest, but I want you guys to try and reach out of your comfort zones, and sit near someone new. So I’ve noticed who is friends with who just by watching you interact before class or when I give you guys free time, so I’m putting you guys next to someone you probably wouldn’t talk to otherwise.”
“But it’s our senior year. If we haven’t formed a friendship with the person you’re about to put us next to yet, maybe it’s because we don’t want to,” Lisa said talking back to Miss Martinez like she did on a normal basis making Alex roll his eyes, and wish that his girlfriend would just shut up already.
“Well in case you forgot Miss Ruocco I’m the teacher and what I say goes. I don’t care if the person I sit you next to is your worst enemy; I want you guys to learn to get out of your comfort zone. Because once you go into college you won’t have this kind,” she said gesturing to Lisa’s table that had all of her friends nearby. “A lot of you won’t even go to the same college, and even if you do the likely hood of having a friend of yours in your class is slim to none. So you need to learn to step outside your circle of friends and work with other people, even if you know for a fact you don’t like them. Now if you would all be so kind as to move into your new seats,” she said before clicking the mouse of her computer and pulling up the seating chart for the whole class to see.
Even though he could tell that his girlfriend wasn’t happy, Alex himself was extremely happy with their new seating chart. Not only was he still in the very back of the classroom, same exact seat to be exact, but his girlfriend and her mall obsessed best friend Kara were both in the front of the room. The only thing that Alex didn’t like was that he didn’t recognize the name that was next to his on the screen. Alex will honestly admit that he doesn’t talk to that many people outside of his social group, but he thought he knew almost everyone in their grade, but the name Zack Merrick wasn’t ringing any bells for him.
The sound of a chair scraping across the floor next to him is what finally gained Alex’s attention and he looked up to see Zack Merrick. Looking at the boy’s face Alex couldn’t say he recognized him and was willing to bet money on the fact that Zack was a new student, or maybe even a smart kid from the grade below since this class was mainly just seniors.
“Hey, I’m Alex,” he said with a smile offering his hand out to the other boy.
“Zack,” Zack said as he hesitantly took Alex’s hand in his own for a hand shake.
“So are you new here?” he asked trying to make conversation with his new lab partner while the rest of the class worked on moving to their new seats.
“No, I’ve been going here since freshmen year,” Zack said as he slowly pulled his notebook out of his bag and placed it on their shared lab table.
“Seriously?” Alex asked slightly shocked. “So are you a junior or…” he trailed off hoping that Zack would take the hint and tell Alex a bit more about himself.
“No, I’m a senior.”
“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”
“We were partners for a Romeo and Juliet project back in Freshman English. Not that I expected you to remember,” Zack said with a shrug before turning back to face the front of the room as Miss Martinez called them all back to order now that they had found their new seats.
Alex didn’t know why, but he felt extremely guilty about not remembering the boy. Watching Zack throughout the next forty-five minutes of class Alex couldn’t help but think of ways to apologize. He knew that if he told anyone else they would think he was overreacting but Alex felt horrible because not only had he been partners with this kid before, but he didn’t even know that he had been going to the same school as him for the last four years. Heck, for all he knew Zack could have gone to his elementary school too.
“Hey Zack, want to have lunch with me and my friends today?” Alex asked as the bell rang and he started gathering his stuff.
“No thanks, I’d rather stick to my normal lunch routine,” Zack said with a smile before pulling his backpack over his shoulder and walking away from Alex.
“So I have got to have like the worst lab partner ever,” Lisa said as she walked over to Alex and hooked her arm through his.
“I’m sure they’re not that bad,” Alex said as he started walking her to her next class.
“Umm yeah they are. It’s totally obvious that they guy she stuck me next to has a crush on me by the way he was staring at me throughout the class.”
“Lisa, you’re a very pretty girl. You should be flattered that yet another person finds you attractive,” Alex said as he stopped right outside of her Spanish rooms door.
“Not jealous that someone else finds me attractive?”
“Nope, because I know at the end of the day you’re still my girlfriend,” he said with a smile before kissing her cheek. “See ya at lunch.”
Walking down the corridor to his own third period, Alex couldn’t help but smile because he was going to get to play his guitar again. He loved the fact that his third class of the day was a study hall and that the teacher that ran it allowed his to play his guitar.
“Hey buddy,” his best friend Jack said with a smile as Alex sat down in the free chair next to him.
“Hey Jack, ready to work on that song some more?”
“What are you talking about, you and I both know that you are the creative genius behind the songs, I just help you play some chords,” he laughed.
“Fine, I guess when I one day publish one of these songs you won’t be getting any credit,” he said as he pulled out his writing notebook and guitar.
“So I’m assuming Lisa is going shopping yet again this Saturday,” Jack said as they both checked to see if their guitar was still in tune from that morning.
“Of course, when doesn’t she go to the mall on the weekend?”
“Good point. So what do you say you join me and Rian Saturday? We were planning on just staying at my house for the day and playing videos games.”
“That sounds like fun, maybe Rian could even help us figure out the drums for this new song while we hang out,” Alex said with a smile as he pulled out his notebook and started searching for his current song in progress.
The rest of the school day went by in a blur for Alex, between thinking of the note from ‘Z’ that still rested in his pocket, to thinking of lyrics for his newest songs, he didn’t really have much time to focus on the actual school work he was given. Walking up his front porch with his guitar case in one hand and his backpack on his shoulder he couldn’t help but notice the fact that both his parents were still at work.
With his mother moving back to England in a few weeks he knew that she would start being home when he got home since she put in her two weeks’ notice about a week ago. Any other time he would have appreciated the time alone with her, but now, now he wanted to distance himself from her. Why get even closer to her when he knew she was just going to leave him in two weeks?
After throwing his backpack on the couch, and setting his guitar nicely on top of his bag, Alex made his way into the kitchen in hopes of making himself some dinner so that he wouldn’t have to come down and eat dinner with his parents. Ever since they told him about the divorce meals had been awkward. Both of his parents would chose to ignore each other while trying to make conversation with Alex about his day. It was hard to carry on two conversations at once. He really hated being stuck in the middle of it all.
At six o’clock when both his parents walked through the door, still giving each other the silent treatment, Alex was sitting at the kitchen table finishing the last of his homework.
“Afternoon sweetie,” his mom said with a smile as she went over to the refrigerator and started grabbing supplies for dinner out of it. “Dinner should be ready in about a half hour, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it, I already ate,” he said as he scribbled down his final answer of his math homework and slammed the book shut before quickly gathering all his things and making his way up to his room.
“Alright, let me know if you need anything,” she yelled after her sons retreating back hating how distant they had become in the last week or so.
Throwing his bag down on the floor right next to his door so that he could easily grab it on his way out the door the next morning, Alex flopped down onto his bed and grabbed his remote off of his bedside table. Flipping through the channels he hoped that he could find something that could hold his attention without being brain numbing like half of the shows they now had on TV. After about ten minutes he finally decided to watch CSI, because crime shows aren’t as horrible as reality shows. At least the crime shows are a bit more realistic than reality shows that make everything in life seem staged and full of drama.
Ten minutes into his show, Alex’s phone started buzzing on his bedside table alerting him to a call. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes slightly when he saw Lisa’s name flash across the screen. Swiping his finger along the touch screen he answered the call.
“Hey babe, what’s up?”
“I need to ask you a favor.”
“And that favor would be?”
“Tomorrow could you pick me up on your way to school? Kara got in trouble so her parents are driving her to school for the rest of the week, so I’m out a ride.”
“Sure, I’ll be by your place at 7:15.”
“7:15,” Lisa whined making her distaste known. “School doesn’t even start until 8.”
“I know, but school is about 15 minutes away from your place, plus I’m getting there early to meet with Jack. So I guess you can either be ready or ask someone else,” he said with a shrug even though she couldn’t see it.
“Fine, I’ll be ready. See you tomorrow.”
“See ya,” he said before hitting the end call button and throwing his phone down by his feet hoping no one else would call and interrupt CSI.
Even though Lisa was walking alongside him complaining about how it was too early in the morning to be at school Alex couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he walked up the school steps and sat down next to Jack.
“So I think I figured out the words,” he said as he sat down and put his guitar case next to him.
“Finally,” Jack yelled raising his hand above his head. “Thank you to whatever higher power gave Alex inspiration, now he will stop complaining to me about how he can’t find the right words.”
“Do you have to be so over dramatic?” he said his best friend with a shake of his head.
“No, but I have more fun this way.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” he laughed as he turned to his side and opened his guitar case only to see yet another note on top of his guitar. Looking around Alex couldn’t help but wonder how the note got there. It wasn’t in his guitar case last night when he put his guitar away. So how was it there now?
“So when are you going to let me hear the new lyrics?” Jack said pulling him back to reality.
“Once I get my guitar out of its case,” Alex said as he slipped the note in his pocket and put his guitar in his lap.
“Does this mean the songs done?”
“Not until I get Rian to help me write the drum bites,” he said as he tuned his guitar and prepared to share the new lyrics with his friend.
“Did you write the song about me?” Lisa asked wrapping her arms around Alex’s left arm, making it difficult for him to strum his guitar.
“Umm, kind of,” Alex said looking at Jack for help. How do you explain to your girlfriend that your new song is about being tied down in a relationship when you’re secretly in love with someone else? It’s not like he was writing it about personal experience because he was as happy as he thought he could be in his relationship with Lisa, but doesn’t mean he can’t use other people’s experiences for his songs.
“Yay, it’s about time you wrote a song about me,” she said with a smile.
“Hey Lisa, want to come with me to the bathroom?” Kara asked as she walked up the steps and stopped next the three sitting on the steps.
“Yeah, I’ve got to fix my makeup anyways. I’ve listen to your song later,” she said before untangling herself from Alex and following her friend up the stairs.
Waving goodbye to Lisa, he turned back to Jack and worked on playing the song they’ve spent the last four days working on.
On his way into first hour Alex told Jack to go ahead and he’d meet him inside just so that he’d have a second along to read his newest letter. After stashing his guitar in his locker, he slipped his backpack onto his shoulder and pulled the note out of his pocket.
I can’t even imagine how hard it must be having your parents trying to live together peacefully under the same roof while the divorce finalizes. The awkward, silent dinners must be horrible. I wish there was some way I could make it better for you. –Z
Shoving the note back into his pocket, Alex couldn’t help but wish that he had someone there to help make it better. With a sad smile he walked into the classroom and sat down next to Lisa dropping his bag onto the floor.
“Something wrong babe,” Lisa asked rubbing Alex’s arms.
“Just some family issues,” he said with a shrug hoping that maybe she would finally be there to listen to his problems.
“Don’t even get me started on family issues. Did you hear what my brother-in-law just did? My sister announced that she was pregnant and he told her that he thinks they ‘need a break’. Can you believe that? What kind of person says they need to take a break after finding out their wife is pregnant? Seriously,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Well, have you heard about my parents?” Alex asked hoping she would finally listen to him.
“Alex, sweet, I can tell how much your parents love one another just by looking at them. Heck your dad looks at your mom the same way you look at me,” she said with a smile. “I’m sure whatever they’re fighting about will blow over in a few days.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said throwing open his notebook and actually copying down the note from the board, something he didn’t often do, unless he wanted to avoid talking to Lisa.
“I’m going to have to copy your notes at lunch, alright sweetie,” she said with a smile before pulling out her phone and putting it in her lap so that the teacher couldn’t see it, even though they all knew the teachers in this school didn’t care.
“So what’s got your panties in a wad?” Jack asked as Alex sat down next to him in third hour.
“What do you mean?” he asked faking a smile. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Come on Alex, I’m not stupid. Now what’s wrong?”
“I was trying to open up to Lisa and tell her something important that I haven’t told anyone else, and she basically blew me off and started going on about her own problems.”
“You want to talk about it man? I may not be your girlfriend, but I am your best friend, and I’m here to support you,” Jack said putting his hand on Alex’s upper arm in what he hoped was a supportive manner.
“My mom’s moving back to England in two weeks,” Alex said with a sigh as he toed at the floor.
“Just your mom’s going?” Jack asked hoping that his best friend wasn’t going to be leaving him so soon.
“Yeah, my parents are actually getting divorced. She’s moving once in finalized, which should be some time in the next two weeks.”
“Here I would have thought you would have moved with your mom. You always seemed to be closer to her.”
“I wanted to move with her,” Alex said looking up over at Jack. “But she said she wanted better for me and felt that moving back to England would be a setback. I’m kind of pissed at her for that. She’s always been there for me, but now she’s not going to be there.”
“Don’t be too dramatic Alex. Just remember there is always the phone, or Skype. She might be an ocean away, but you can still talk to her,” he said trying to make Alex see that it wasn’t going to be so bad.
“It’s not going to be the same. Plus with the time difference who knows when we’ll get time to talk. I just want things to stay the same; I don’t like how much they are changing.”
“Things change and I know how hard it can be, so if you need to talk just know that I’m here. I know I can’t relate to parents getting divorced, but I can listen when you need to vent.”
“Thanks,” Alex said with a smile as he pulled out his guitar in hopes of starting work on a new song.
The next morning as Alex pulled out his guitar there was another note, which he once again slipped into his pocket before anyone in their group could notice it; just like every other morning.
“So what are our plans tonight?” Rian asked as he threw his backpack down on the steps in front of Alex and Jack and sat down next to it.
“Well from what I heard there is a party at one of the off campus apartments near the college,” Jack said with a smile as Kara and Lisa came over and joined them.
“Sounds like fun,” Alex said as he snapped his guitar case closed.
“Not playing today?” Rian asked noticing that there was no guitar resting across Alex’s lap today.
“No, my wrist is kind of hurting so I don’t think it would be a good idea to play. I actually think I’m going to stop by the nurses’ office and see about getting a wrist brace or something,” he lied getting up and heading to put his guitar in his locker until he could play it in third hour.
“Alright, feel better,” Rian said waving to his friend.
Walking into school Alex went straight to his locker and carefully put his guitar into his locker and grabbed the books he needed for his first two hours and swapped them out with the books he had taken home for home work. Slamming his locker shut he made his way to his first hour and pulled the note out of his pocket.
I’m happy to hear you finally told someone about the divorce and your mothers move. Jack has always been a great friend too you, so I’m sure he will be the perfect person to talk to through this whole ordeal. Stay Strong –Z
Alex couldn’t help but smile at the note. Yeah, he didn’t know who ‘Z’ was, but it was nice to know someone cared about him enough to sneak a note they wrote into his guitar case. The one think he couldn’t get over though was how this Z character knew so much about him, without actually knowing him. At least he didn’t think he knew anybody with a name starting with a Z. Well there was Zack, but how could a guy he just really got introduced to two days ago know so much about him.
“How’s your wrist doing baby?” Lisa asked as she walked into their first class and distracted Alex from his thoughts.
“It’s fine, barely even hurts,” he said with a smile.
“I thought you were going to get a wrist brace from the nurse?” Kara asked turning around to look at the two.
“She gave me some aspirin and said I probably didn’t need one,” he lied while taking out his notebook.
“That’s good; it obviously means it wasn’t so bad.”
“Yep, it’s a good thing too especially since Jack and I are starting work on another song in third hour.”
“Well we can’t wait to hear it,” Lisa said with a smile as the teacher called the class to order.
Why was his world falling apart you ask. Well, it’s very simple; his parents announced that they were getting a divorce. But it wasn’t only that that made him feel as though all the walls around him were crashing down, it was the fact that rather than finding a new house on the other side of town like most divorced couples, his mother was moving all the way back to England so that she could have some distance between herself and her now ex-husband.
Growing up as an only child, with a father that worked a lot, Alex came to be extremely close with him mom, so naturally he wanted to go back to England with her. But his parents wouldn’t let him. As his mother had tried to explain to him, they moved to the US in hopes of Alex having a greater life than he would have had back in England, so there was no way she was taking him back with her.
He still had two more weeks with his mother until the divorce was finalized and she left, but he was too angry with her and his father to even care. She could have been half way to England and he wouldn’t have cared; at least that’s what he kept trying to convince himself of.
Going to school Alex kept up his straight face, let all his friends believe that he was doing just fine; hell half of them didn’t even know about the divorce. He’d bring his guitar with him to school every day and sit out front with his friends and play a few songs on his guitar while his girlfriend Lisa would hang on him and make it somewhat hard to actually play.
It wasn’t until about a week after the divorce was announced that the notes started. As Alex was pulling out his guitar one morning and small slip of paper fell off his guitar and into the case. Thankfully no one else saw it and he discreetly slipped it into his pocket planning to read it in first hour.
Once he was settled into his seat and his girlfriend was happily talking away about all the plans she had for that weekend, Alex slipped the paper out of his pocket and started to read.
I know how you must be feeling, my parents divorced last year too. Although, unlike your mom who is just going back home, my dad took off with his secretary who is two years older than me. –Z
“Are you even listening to me?” Lisa said glaring at Alex and making him look up from his note.
“Of course, I always listen to you,” he said with a fake smile.
“Then what did I just say?”
“You were talking about how you were planning to go to the mall with Kara on Saturday,” he said knowing how predictable his girlfriend was.
“Fine, I guess you really were listening. So you don’t mind not seeing me Saturday?”
“No, it’s fine, have a girls weekend.” Just like you do every weekend.
As class continued on Alex couldn’t help but think about the note in his pocket. Who was this ‘Z’ and why did he feel the desire to tell Alex about his dad? Plus, how did ‘Z’ even know about his parents’ divorce; hardly anyone knew. Hell, Lisa didn’t even know, but then again she didn’t care about much other than her own life and her own problems.
“You coming?” Lisa asked pulling Alex out of his thoughts and making him realize that class was over and basically cleared out.
“Yeah, sorry just zoned out there for a minute,” he smiled hoping that it wasn’t too noticeable that he was ignoring her.
“Try the whole class period sweetie,” she said with a laugh as she grabbed his hand and started leading them down the crowded hallway and towards their next class. “The teacher tried getting your attention like seven times. Thankfully I got him to believe that you were having troubles at home and he decided to leave you alone.”
“Thanks, I guess I just didn’t get enough sleep last night,” he said with a shrug as he opened the door to their chemistry class for her and released her hand so that he could go to his seat on the other side of the room from Lisa.
Swinging his backpack off his back and onto the floor next to him, he couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. As much as he liked Lisa, and liked being with her, he couldn’t help but be thankful he was away from her insistent chatter. Everything was about her hair, or what she wanted to buy on her next shopping trip. He just wished that once in a while she would ask him about his life and his problems.
With a clap of her hands Alex’s chemistry teacher Miss Martinez got the classes attention. “So guys exciting news,” she said with a smile on her face. “I’ve decided that you’ve sat in your current seating chart long enough so today you all are getting new seats.”
“Do we get to choose where we sit?” Lisa asked, smiling over at Alex letting him know in her own little way that if they did she was going to be sitting next to him.
“Unfortunately for you, no,” Miss Martinez said as she pulled down the screen for her projector and started booting the device up. “I know that people like you and your friends will all want to sit around one another because that’s your little clique and that’s where you feel the safest, but I want you guys to try and reach out of your comfort zones, and sit near someone new. So I’ve noticed who is friends with who just by watching you interact before class or when I give you guys free time, so I’m putting you guys next to someone you probably wouldn’t talk to otherwise.”
“But it’s our senior year. If we haven’t formed a friendship with the person you’re about to put us next to yet, maybe it’s because we don’t want to,” Lisa said talking back to Miss Martinez like she did on a normal basis making Alex roll his eyes, and wish that his girlfriend would just shut up already.
“Well in case you forgot Miss Ruocco I’m the teacher and what I say goes. I don’t care if the person I sit you next to is your worst enemy; I want you guys to learn to get out of your comfort zone. Because once you go into college you won’t have this kind,” she said gesturing to Lisa’s table that had all of her friends nearby. “A lot of you won’t even go to the same college, and even if you do the likely hood of having a friend of yours in your class is slim to none. So you need to learn to step outside your circle of friends and work with other people, even if you know for a fact you don’t like them. Now if you would all be so kind as to move into your new seats,” she said before clicking the mouse of her computer and pulling up the seating chart for the whole class to see.
Even though he could tell that his girlfriend wasn’t happy, Alex himself was extremely happy with their new seating chart. Not only was he still in the very back of the classroom, same exact seat to be exact, but his girlfriend and her mall obsessed best friend Kara were both in the front of the room. The only thing that Alex didn’t like was that he didn’t recognize the name that was next to his on the screen. Alex will honestly admit that he doesn’t talk to that many people outside of his social group, but he thought he knew almost everyone in their grade, but the name Zack Merrick wasn’t ringing any bells for him.
The sound of a chair scraping across the floor next to him is what finally gained Alex’s attention and he looked up to see Zack Merrick. Looking at the boy’s face Alex couldn’t say he recognized him and was willing to bet money on the fact that Zack was a new student, or maybe even a smart kid from the grade below since this class was mainly just seniors.
“Hey, I’m Alex,” he said with a smile offering his hand out to the other boy.
“Zack,” Zack said as he hesitantly took Alex’s hand in his own for a hand shake.
“So are you new here?” he asked trying to make conversation with his new lab partner while the rest of the class worked on moving to their new seats.
“No, I’ve been going here since freshmen year,” Zack said as he slowly pulled his notebook out of his bag and placed it on their shared lab table.
“Seriously?” Alex asked slightly shocked. “So are you a junior or…” he trailed off hoping that Zack would take the hint and tell Alex a bit more about himself.
“No, I’m a senior.”
“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”
“We were partners for a Romeo and Juliet project back in Freshman English. Not that I expected you to remember,” Zack said with a shrug before turning back to face the front of the room as Miss Martinez called them all back to order now that they had found their new seats.
Alex didn’t know why, but he felt extremely guilty about not remembering the boy. Watching Zack throughout the next forty-five minutes of class Alex couldn’t help but think of ways to apologize. He knew that if he told anyone else they would think he was overreacting but Alex felt horrible because not only had he been partners with this kid before, but he didn’t even know that he had been going to the same school as him for the last four years. Heck, for all he knew Zack could have gone to his elementary school too.
“Hey Zack, want to have lunch with me and my friends today?” Alex asked as the bell rang and he started gathering his stuff.
“No thanks, I’d rather stick to my normal lunch routine,” Zack said with a smile before pulling his backpack over his shoulder and walking away from Alex.
“So I have got to have like the worst lab partner ever,” Lisa said as she walked over to Alex and hooked her arm through his.
“I’m sure they’re not that bad,” Alex said as he started walking her to her next class.
“Umm yeah they are. It’s totally obvious that they guy she stuck me next to has a crush on me by the way he was staring at me throughout the class.”
“Lisa, you’re a very pretty girl. You should be flattered that yet another person finds you attractive,” Alex said as he stopped right outside of her Spanish rooms door.
“Not jealous that someone else finds me attractive?”
“Nope, because I know at the end of the day you’re still my girlfriend,” he said with a smile before kissing her cheek. “See ya at lunch.”
Walking down the corridor to his own third period, Alex couldn’t help but smile because he was going to get to play his guitar again. He loved the fact that his third class of the day was a study hall and that the teacher that ran it allowed his to play his guitar.
“Hey buddy,” his best friend Jack said with a smile as Alex sat down in the free chair next to him.
“Hey Jack, ready to work on that song some more?”
“What are you talking about, you and I both know that you are the creative genius behind the songs, I just help you play some chords,” he laughed.
“Fine, I guess when I one day publish one of these songs you won’t be getting any credit,” he said as he pulled out his writing notebook and guitar.
“So I’m assuming Lisa is going shopping yet again this Saturday,” Jack said as they both checked to see if their guitar was still in tune from that morning.
“Of course, when doesn’t she go to the mall on the weekend?”
“Good point. So what do you say you join me and Rian Saturday? We were planning on just staying at my house for the day and playing videos games.”
“That sounds like fun, maybe Rian could even help us figure out the drums for this new song while we hang out,” Alex said with a smile as he pulled out his notebook and started searching for his current song in progress.
~~~~
The rest of the school day went by in a blur for Alex, between thinking of the note from ‘Z’ that still rested in his pocket, to thinking of lyrics for his newest songs, he didn’t really have much time to focus on the actual school work he was given. Walking up his front porch with his guitar case in one hand and his backpack on his shoulder he couldn’t help but notice the fact that both his parents were still at work.
With his mother moving back to England in a few weeks he knew that she would start being home when he got home since she put in her two weeks’ notice about a week ago. Any other time he would have appreciated the time alone with her, but now, now he wanted to distance himself from her. Why get even closer to her when he knew she was just going to leave him in two weeks?
After throwing his backpack on the couch, and setting his guitar nicely on top of his bag, Alex made his way into the kitchen in hopes of making himself some dinner so that he wouldn’t have to come down and eat dinner with his parents. Ever since they told him about the divorce meals had been awkward. Both of his parents would chose to ignore each other while trying to make conversation with Alex about his day. It was hard to carry on two conversations at once. He really hated being stuck in the middle of it all.
At six o’clock when both his parents walked through the door, still giving each other the silent treatment, Alex was sitting at the kitchen table finishing the last of his homework.
“Afternoon sweetie,” his mom said with a smile as she went over to the refrigerator and started grabbing supplies for dinner out of it. “Dinner should be ready in about a half hour, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it, I already ate,” he said as he scribbled down his final answer of his math homework and slammed the book shut before quickly gathering all his things and making his way up to his room.
“Alright, let me know if you need anything,” she yelled after her sons retreating back hating how distant they had become in the last week or so.
Throwing his bag down on the floor right next to his door so that he could easily grab it on his way out the door the next morning, Alex flopped down onto his bed and grabbed his remote off of his bedside table. Flipping through the channels he hoped that he could find something that could hold his attention without being brain numbing like half of the shows they now had on TV. After about ten minutes he finally decided to watch CSI, because crime shows aren’t as horrible as reality shows. At least the crime shows are a bit more realistic than reality shows that make everything in life seem staged and full of drama.
Ten minutes into his show, Alex’s phone started buzzing on his bedside table alerting him to a call. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes slightly when he saw Lisa’s name flash across the screen. Swiping his finger along the touch screen he answered the call.
“Hey babe, what’s up?”
“I need to ask you a favor.”
“And that favor would be?”
“Tomorrow could you pick me up on your way to school? Kara got in trouble so her parents are driving her to school for the rest of the week, so I’m out a ride.”
“Sure, I’ll be by your place at 7:15.”
“7:15,” Lisa whined making her distaste known. “School doesn’t even start until 8.”
“I know, but school is about 15 minutes away from your place, plus I’m getting there early to meet with Jack. So I guess you can either be ready or ask someone else,” he said with a shrug even though she couldn’t see it.
“Fine, I’ll be ready. See you tomorrow.”
“See ya,” he said before hitting the end call button and throwing his phone down by his feet hoping no one else would call and interrupt CSI.
~~~~
Even though Lisa was walking alongside him complaining about how it was too early in the morning to be at school Alex couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he walked up the school steps and sat down next to Jack.
“So I think I figured out the words,” he said as he sat down and put his guitar case next to him.
“Finally,” Jack yelled raising his hand above his head. “Thank you to whatever higher power gave Alex inspiration, now he will stop complaining to me about how he can’t find the right words.”
“Do you have to be so over dramatic?” he said his best friend with a shake of his head.
“No, but I have more fun this way.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” he laughed as he turned to his side and opened his guitar case only to see yet another note on top of his guitar. Looking around Alex couldn’t help but wonder how the note got there. It wasn’t in his guitar case last night when he put his guitar away. So how was it there now?
“So when are you going to let me hear the new lyrics?” Jack said pulling him back to reality.
“Once I get my guitar out of its case,” Alex said as he slipped the note in his pocket and put his guitar in his lap.
“Does this mean the songs done?”
“Not until I get Rian to help me write the drum bites,” he said as he tuned his guitar and prepared to share the new lyrics with his friend.
“Did you write the song about me?” Lisa asked wrapping her arms around Alex’s left arm, making it difficult for him to strum his guitar.
“Umm, kind of,” Alex said looking at Jack for help. How do you explain to your girlfriend that your new song is about being tied down in a relationship when you’re secretly in love with someone else? It’s not like he was writing it about personal experience because he was as happy as he thought he could be in his relationship with Lisa, but doesn’t mean he can’t use other people’s experiences for his songs.
“Yay, it’s about time you wrote a song about me,” she said with a smile.
“Hey Lisa, want to come with me to the bathroom?” Kara asked as she walked up the steps and stopped next the three sitting on the steps.
“Yeah, I’ve got to fix my makeup anyways. I’ve listen to your song later,” she said before untangling herself from Alex and following her friend up the stairs.
Waving goodbye to Lisa, he turned back to Jack and worked on playing the song they’ve spent the last four days working on.
~~~~
On his way into first hour Alex told Jack to go ahead and he’d meet him inside just so that he’d have a second along to read his newest letter. After stashing his guitar in his locker, he slipped his backpack onto his shoulder and pulled the note out of his pocket.
I can’t even imagine how hard it must be having your parents trying to live together peacefully under the same roof while the divorce finalizes. The awkward, silent dinners must be horrible. I wish there was some way I could make it better for you. –Z
Shoving the note back into his pocket, Alex couldn’t help but wish that he had someone there to help make it better. With a sad smile he walked into the classroom and sat down next to Lisa dropping his bag onto the floor.
“Something wrong babe,” Lisa asked rubbing Alex’s arms.
“Just some family issues,” he said with a shrug hoping that maybe she would finally be there to listen to his problems.
“Don’t even get me started on family issues. Did you hear what my brother-in-law just did? My sister announced that she was pregnant and he told her that he thinks they ‘need a break’. Can you believe that? What kind of person says they need to take a break after finding out their wife is pregnant? Seriously,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Well, have you heard about my parents?” Alex asked hoping she would finally listen to him.
“Alex, sweet, I can tell how much your parents love one another just by looking at them. Heck your dad looks at your mom the same way you look at me,” she said with a smile. “I’m sure whatever they’re fighting about will blow over in a few days.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said throwing open his notebook and actually copying down the note from the board, something he didn’t often do, unless he wanted to avoid talking to Lisa.
“I’m going to have to copy your notes at lunch, alright sweetie,” she said with a smile before pulling out her phone and putting it in her lap so that the teacher couldn’t see it, even though they all knew the teachers in this school didn’t care.
~~~~
“So what’s got your panties in a wad?” Jack asked as Alex sat down next to him in third hour.
“What do you mean?” he asked faking a smile. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Come on Alex, I’m not stupid. Now what’s wrong?”
“I was trying to open up to Lisa and tell her something important that I haven’t told anyone else, and she basically blew me off and started going on about her own problems.”
“You want to talk about it man? I may not be your girlfriend, but I am your best friend, and I’m here to support you,” Jack said putting his hand on Alex’s upper arm in what he hoped was a supportive manner.
“My mom’s moving back to England in two weeks,” Alex said with a sigh as he toed at the floor.
“Just your mom’s going?” Jack asked hoping that his best friend wasn’t going to be leaving him so soon.
“Yeah, my parents are actually getting divorced. She’s moving once in finalized, which should be some time in the next two weeks.”
“Here I would have thought you would have moved with your mom. You always seemed to be closer to her.”
“I wanted to move with her,” Alex said looking up over at Jack. “But she said she wanted better for me and felt that moving back to England would be a setback. I’m kind of pissed at her for that. She’s always been there for me, but now she’s not going to be there.”
“Don’t be too dramatic Alex. Just remember there is always the phone, or Skype. She might be an ocean away, but you can still talk to her,” he said trying to make Alex see that it wasn’t going to be so bad.
“It’s not going to be the same. Plus with the time difference who knows when we’ll get time to talk. I just want things to stay the same; I don’t like how much they are changing.”
“Things change and I know how hard it can be, so if you need to talk just know that I’m here. I know I can’t relate to parents getting divorced, but I can listen when you need to vent.”
“Thanks,” Alex said with a smile as he pulled out his guitar in hopes of starting work on a new song.
~~~~
The next morning as Alex pulled out his guitar there was another note, which he once again slipped into his pocket before anyone in their group could notice it; just like every other morning.
“So what are our plans tonight?” Rian asked as he threw his backpack down on the steps in front of Alex and Jack and sat down next to it.
“Well from what I heard there is a party at one of the off campus apartments near the college,” Jack said with a smile as Kara and Lisa came over and joined them.
“Sounds like fun,” Alex said as he snapped his guitar case closed.
“Not playing today?” Rian asked noticing that there was no guitar resting across Alex’s lap today.
“No, my wrist is kind of hurting so I don’t think it would be a good idea to play. I actually think I’m going to stop by the nurses’ office and see about getting a wrist brace or something,” he lied getting up and heading to put his guitar in his locker until he could play it in third hour.
“Alright, feel better,” Rian said waving to his friend.
Walking into school Alex went straight to his locker and carefully put his guitar into his locker and grabbed the books he needed for his first two hours and swapped them out with the books he had taken home for home work. Slamming his locker shut he made his way to his first hour and pulled the note out of his pocket.
I’m happy to hear you finally told someone about the divorce and your mothers move. Jack has always been a great friend too you, so I’m sure he will be the perfect person to talk to through this whole ordeal. Stay Strong –Z
Alex couldn’t help but smile at the note. Yeah, he didn’t know who ‘Z’ was, but it was nice to know someone cared about him enough to sneak a note they wrote into his guitar case. The one think he couldn’t get over though was how this Z character knew so much about him, without actually knowing him. At least he didn’t think he knew anybody with a name starting with a Z. Well there was Zack, but how could a guy he just really got introduced to two days ago know so much about him.
“How’s your wrist doing baby?” Lisa asked as she walked into their first class and distracted Alex from his thoughts.
“It’s fine, barely even hurts,” he said with a smile.
“I thought you were going to get a wrist brace from the nurse?” Kara asked turning around to look at the two.
“She gave me some aspirin and said I probably didn’t need one,” he lied while taking out his notebook.
“That’s good; it obviously means it wasn’t so bad.”
“Yep, it’s a good thing too especially since Jack and I are starting work on another song in third hour.”
“Well we can’t wait to hear it,” Lisa said with a smile as the teacher called the class to order.