Falling in Love Will Kill You

The summer days passed quickly, and it was now early September. During the later days of summer vacation, while Jack should have been preparing for the upcoming school year, he found himself worrying about Alex’s whereabouts, instead. That’s how he ended up in an office supplies store the night before school was scheduled to start, searching for the items that he’d need to be successful in his sophomore year at his public high school.

As he was walking down the aisles of the store, Jack was mindlessly throwing things into the basket he was carrying, paying more attention to the rest of the people in the store instead. He could hear various types of conversations going on, ranging from “Mommy, I can’t decide if I want the pink one or the purple one, can I just have both?” to “No, I’m sorry sweetie, we can’t get any of those this year, it’ll cost too much.” Deciding that he’d had enough of other people’s problems, Jack let his mind wander into his own. He knew that Alex was probably back home in England by now, and he wondered if there was any way that he could get his attention. He considered publishing an ad in the newspaper, or going to the television news station, but Jack rendered all those ideas as completely stupid, as well as useless. No one would care enough to put his message through, and it probably wouldn’t reach Alex, anyways. For all he knew, Alex could’ve forgotten about him already. Maybe he’s had someone back in England the entire time.

“What else do we need, hon?” Jack’s mom asked him, pushing the cart up next to her son, breaking his train of thought.

“Huh, what?” Jack replied quickly, his head snapping up to look at his mother.

“Jesus, Jack, pay attention. I said, what else do we need?” His mother shook her head, obviously annoyed with her son.

“Oh, uh,” Jack stuttered, looking into the basket he was carrying. “Just this,” the boy finished, walking a bit further down the aisle he was in, and dropping a calculator into the basket. “Alright, that’s it. Let’s go.”

Jack was sat with his family at the dinner table that night, his dad and older brother going on about sports or school or something, while his mom began to serve everyone, his sister, also older, helping her. The youngest boy just stared at the wall ahead of him, his chin resting in his hand, as everyone else remained busy around him. A pain in his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts, and it didn’t take him long to realize that the pain was caused by a jab delivered by his sister.

“Jeez, May, what do you want?” Jack asked the girl, seemingly irritated.

“Just asking if you wanted any peas, lil bro,” his sister replied, and Jack lowered his head, responding with a “Yeah, sure,” feeling sorry for lashing out at her.

As his sister served him, his eyes moved to his mother, who was giving him a look. Before he could question her about it, though, his brother spoke up.
“Jack, what’s up with you lately?” his brother, Joe, asked him, obviously amused by how much his younger brother kept zoning out.

“Uh-“ Jack started, before being interrupted by his mother.

“Oh, I know,” the woman stated, raising her eyebrows at her son.

His brother and father mimicked his mother’s action, and then May spoke out.

“Oh yeah! Jack had a little boyfriend on our trip last month, didn’t he?”

“He wasn’t my boy-“

“Whoa, seriously, dude?” His brother cut him off, reaching across the table to slap him on the back.

“Our Jack has a little crush, doesn’t he?” Jack’s mom cooed, aggravating him to no end.

The boy grunted, muttering an “Excuse me,” before running off upstairs into his bedroom.

Jack lay on his bed, his mind a whirlpool of “Alex, Alex, Alex.” He wondered if he’d ever forget the other boy, and, also, if he’d be forgotten. He wondered which would happen first, too. Jack had always been the type to remember people, even ones he’d met as a kid. He remembered other children he’d conversed with in department stores, as their mothers spent hours looking at pillows and soap dishes. He remembered every single peer that had come and left his school, even the ones that had only stayed for a couple of weeks. He remembered everyone who had wronged him, everyone who had done him right, and everyone he had come across in general. Sometimes the thoughts of people he used to know would cloud over his brain, and he wondered if it were the same for Alex. He hoped Alex wouldn’t forget him.

The boy heard a knock on his door, and he sat up, quietly saying, “Come in.” He was met by his brother, who walked into his room and sat next to him on his bet, his arm going around Jack’s shoulders.

“Sorry for that conversation at dinner, man” His brother started, “I knew how our family can be, and I’m sorry for bringing it up in front of them. We can talk just the two of us, now, though, so why don’t you tell me what, or who, has been bothering you?”

“Well,” Jack sighed, “My heart, it’s going crazy. It feels like I’ve been hit by a train.”

He looked to his brother for a response, but when he was faced by only a smile, he pressed on.

“What is happening?”

Finally, Joe replied, shaking his head as he said, “Listen, you fool, you’re falling in love.”

Meanwhile, not too far away, Alex was shopping around in an office store, with his aunt and uncle, and their three year old daughter. He was supposed to be picking things out for himself, but most of the trip had been dedicated to his little cousin, who wanted almost everything that she saw. It didn’t matter much, anyways, because private school supplied the kids with most of what they needed. He watched as the little girl looked up to her mother with big eyes, babbling, “Mommy, I can’t decide if I want the pink one or the purple one, so can I just have both?” receiving an, “Of course, baby,” in reply. Alex would have probably rolled his eyes if the little girl wasn’t so adorable.

Figuring that he wouldn’t need anything else, the golden haired boy handed his items to his aunt and uncle, thanking them, and then telling them that’d he’d be going for a walk, and that he would meet them at home later. Alex walked down the streets for a little bit, until he came to a coffee shop. He decided to go in and order a hot chocolate, but then decided that he’d go back outside again, and maybe walk to the park, to get some fresh air and sort his thoughts out.

The first thing on his mind was the same as the other boy’s he was thinking about; Would there ever be a way for him to get a hold of Jack? Alex was so angry with himself for simply letting such an amazing person go, and he missed the dark haired boy with every fiber of his being. He was baffled at the fact that he’d forgotten to tell Jack when he’d be leaving the resort, as well as the fact that he’d never even given the other boy his full name, or received Jack’s in return. He’d also never been to Jack’s room, so he couldn’t go and talk to him before he was supposed to leave. He was lucky to have spotted who he thought was Jack’s mother just as his car was pulling out of the gates, quickly scribbling down his house number, and handing it to the woman. Alex was so caught up in the moment that he forgot that he would be moving to America fully, and that the vacation was just to let him get used to the country. He’d be living with his aunt and uncle, his parents moving back to England, to lead a much less complicated life somewhere on the side of a hill in the middle of nowhere. All of this meant that the number Alex had given to Jack’s mother would not even lead to him, even if Jack could make out his messy scrawl.

Alex had had enough with his thoughts for one night, and decided to walk back home, hoping to find something that’d be able to distract him there. When he opened the door, he was met by his aunt, who was sitting on the couch. She gestured for him to come sit, simply patting the cushion next to her.

As Alex took a seat beside his aunt, the woman began to speak to him.

“Alex, honey, what’s been on your mind lately? Surely moving to a new country has had a big impact on you, but you seem to be extra out of it lately. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, really, you don’t have to worry about me. You have Lilly to worry about, and I really don’t want to be a bother-“

“Oh, nonsense!” His aunt chuckled, “You’ll never be a bother. Come on Alex, tell me what’s bothering you, and then we can make some popcorn and watch a movie. How does that sound?”

“Great,” Alex replied, grinning back at her.

“Now, go on!”

“Alright, fine,” Alex groaned jokingly, “It’s just that, my head, it’s going crazy, but things get all mixed up inside my brain, so what is happening?”

Alex’s aunt chuckled again, leaning over to wrap her nephew in a hug.

“Shut up, you fool, you’re falling in love.”