Hearts & Spades

"It's not happening - I'm not going." Alex decided, tugging his shirt over his head and throwing it in the pile of the dozen others he had tried on moments before. His mother let out a sigh, moving from her spot leaning on the door frame and began to pick up the discarded clothing.

"You have changed your mind a million times, and don't even get me started on the amount of outfits you've thrown on." she protested, shooting a disappointed look in her son's direction. He simply scoffed and crossed his arms against his bare chest. "You'd think you were getting ready for a date or something."

The boy's dimpled cheeks turned a light shade of pink as his face scrunched up in frustration. "I just don't want to look like an idiot. It's not my fault I have no idea what high schoolers are like." Alex had been shuffling through his closet for almost an hour now to prepare for the football game he had promised to attend. He absolutely refused to admit that he wanted to look nice in front of Jack so instead he insisted he just wanted to fit in with everyone else who would be present. Though the second part actually was partially true, he had no clue what kids his age actually were like considering he had been sheltered most of his life.

"Darling, you really can't go wrong with a t-shirt and jeans. But it's going to be chilly so be sure to wear a jacket too."

"What do you know?" he huffed, turning to stare at the wall stubbornly.

"I'm sure you'll fit right in with an attitude like that." Mrs. Gaskarth scolded, a prominent frown on her face that made the teen automatically regret letting the words slip.

"I'm sorry, mom." he sighed, taking the shirt she handed him and slipping into it. Once again, he stared into his reflection, hands running through his hair countless times before he tugged on the ends of the fabric.

"See? You look great. And I'm sure everyone will think so, especially Jack." the elderly woman teased before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"Mother!"



Alex was already nervous as it was, he was showing up to a school full of people he'd never spoken to before. But to make matters worse, his mother still insisted on driving him to the game herself, not actually trusting him behind the wheel just yet.

"You be careful, Alexander. And text me if anything goes wrong." she directed as she pulled up in front of Dulany High. At the moment her son was much too busy staring at the window at the countless teenagers mingling in the parking lot.

"Yeah, yeah, mom. Love you." Alex mumbled under his breath as he opened the passenger door and attempted to ready himself for the night ahead.

"Oh, and call me if you need me to pick you up."

"I'm sure Jack won't mind driving me home..."

"I bet you'd like that."

"You are unbelievable!" he exclaimed before slamming the door behind him. But instead of anger he was greeted with the sound of his mother's giggling before she drove off. Leaving him to fend for himself.

Alex was no social butterfly by far, he was surprised he allowed his mom to actually talk him into actually showing up tonight. But he knew that if he didn't Jack would get the wrong idea and think he didn't want to be friends after all. Then they'd probably stop talking and it'd be as if they never met in the first place... and that was the last thing he wanted. So he was going to have to bear through this night for his friend's sake.

"I've never seen you around here before..." commented the girl behind the ticket booth he had approached. Maybe it was rude or a sign of terrible people skills by Alex really wished she wasn't trying to have small talk right now.

"Oh, I don't go here. I'm, uh. Here for a friend." the young man replied after swallowing thickly. He avoided her green gaze as much as possible, but he could feel her staring right at him.

"That wouldn't happen to be a girlfriend, would it?" she asked, taking the money from Alex and awkwardly keeping their hands close until he fabricated a lie.

"Actually, yes. She's on the cheerleading squad." Alex added nervously, rubbing the back of his neck nervously with his free hand.

The stranger's expression seemed to change completely, her thin brows bunching up in the center of her forehead before she shoved a small ticket in his direction. "Enjoy the game."

"Um, you too?" he barely whispered before making his way to the entrance. When he turned back the thin blonde was tending to the next person in line and he let out a sigh of relief. Alex had hardly been here five minutes and he was already questioning the choice he had made.

Now he was weaving through the sea of people to get to the bleachers. Maybe once he was able to sit down he wouldn't have to worry about interacting with others and this whole thing would be over before he knew it. However, he was never that lucky.

"Alex!" came a voice from behind him, causing the dainty boy to spin around in panic. A lanky figure in a red jersey was jogging in his direction on the other side of the fence. For a moment he stood there petrified at what the man could have possibly wanted, it didn't quite click that it may have been the very person he had been there to see. That was until he pulled off the helmet and revealed a mass of raven hair. It was Jack, a large eighty-eight on his shirt and a grin on his face. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show up."

The brunette hadn't made any attempt at moving or even responding, he just stood there with his mouth open as the passing students and parents made their away around him. His eyes ran down the elder's form, his face already damp with sweat. He was currently decked out in the stereotypical football uniform, large padding on his shoulders and....just wow.

"Hellooo, earth to Alex!"

"Oh, um, yeah, duh. I told you I was coming didn't I?" he said with a nervous chuckle, averting his eyes to the ground to hide the obvious redness in his cheeks. Luckily it seemed like Jack didn't see it as he joined in his laughter, only his was less forced.

"Well, I'm really glad you didn't bail on me. But I've gotta go get ready for the game. See you later!" Jack called before readjusting his helmet and jogging off to the center of the field, leaving Alex speechless and alone.

The rest of Alex's short journey was rather uneventful. Other than the stares that he got from passing faces, all probably trying to decide if he was one of the hundreds of students who attended their school or not. Though the looks were actually none of his concern right now, rather he was trying to figure out what on earth had made him so tongue tied earlier. The answer was obvious, but he wasn't willing to admit it, because by doing so he'd be signing up for a world of trouble.

The sixteen year old plopped down on the only empty-ish spot on the bleachers he could find, eyes scanning the football field for a familiar eighty-eight jersey. Just as he was about to wonder when the game would start his question was answered by a booming voice coming from a speaker just above his head.

It started off with a typical introduction announcing that the game was against some school called the Dundalk owls, and numerous cheers and even a few boos erupted from the crowd. Though none of that caught Alex's attention, it wasn't until the voice mentioned a name that had come to haunt him that his heart jumped into his throat.

"Before we begin I would like for us to pause for a moment of silence to remember our beloved Bethany Newcomb. It was been nearly a month since we lost her, but let us never forget the great friend and amazing student that she was."

Everyone fell silent, all that Alex could hear was the pounding in his ears. Suddenly the shining lights around him had become far too bright. He placed his face in his hands and struggled to catch his breath, was the mere mention of her name enough to send him into a complete malfunction? Her death was an accident, but he couldn't help but feel like he was the one to pull the trigger.

He hardly even noticed the voices around him gradually return to the overpowering roar. Everyone was screaming and fighting to speak over one another as the players began to run and pass the ball. Alex didn't understand much about football, he was never one to care about sports. Though he did his best to keep his eye out for one boy in particular.

"Alexander..." at first he thought he was going crazy, somewhere in the crowd a woman had called his name. As he scanned over the dozens of new faces he suddenly spotted Mrs. Newcomb, her hand waving him over. "Come sit with us, sweetie." she suggested once he had stumbled over. A part of him was surprised they had actually come at all, surely the place was filled with memories of their lost daughter. Though Jack did say they would come support him.

It seemed like she had been crying, and he couldn't blame her after the announcement earlier. Her freckled face was red and her eyes were puffy, but she was wearing a soft smile anyway. "Thank you, Mrs. Newcomb."

"Please, call me Paula." she insisted before falling silent once more. Her small hand was intertwined with Mr. Newcomb's much larger one. His eyes were focused on the game before him, though his wife's seemed to restless. "I'm really glad you and Jack are such good friends, I can tell you've really helped him cope."

"Yeah... friends." the teen gulped, tugging at his lip before turning back towards the game. The cheerleaders were loudly chanting 'Go lions, fight, fight, fight!' Then Alex's gaze was caught was a lone player running across the field with the ball in hand. And written across his back was the name Barakat. For the first time that night Alex actually felt excited, a rush coming over him as he began to bounce in place. "Go, Jack!"

He heard the woman sat next to him giggle slightly before everyone jumped to their feet, Jack actually managed to score a touchdown and all three of them were cheering his name.

That's when the younger boy's dizziness returned. The lights and hands thrown in the air, blurring into one fuzzy mess as he rubbed his eyes with his fists in an attempt to regain his sight.

"Alex, dear, are you feeling alright? You look a bit pale." Mrs. Newcomb - or rather Paula, asked. All she got was a shake of the head in response. Alex didn't feel like he could offer much else right now as his ears were ringing nearly louder than the sound of her voice.

"I'm just going to get something to drink..." he forced out as he excused himself and made his way down to the ground. His surroundings seemed to be spinning around him and everything was fading in and out of gray fuzz - like one of those old antenna tvs.

What was happening to him? Sure, he hadn't felt well all afternoon, but he figured it was nothing but nerves. It became obvious that anxiety was not the cause of his symptoms when the world went black and he collapsed into the grass.