I'll Keep You a Daydream Away

Alex leaned against the counter in Joslyn's kitchen, they could barely breath as the laughed again. The sound of Jack's very unmanly scream shot through the neighborhood like a bullet. Another bout of laughter erupted from the two teens, they were sat on the floor hidden from the taller 15 year old. They quickly fell silent as the door flew open and they could hear Jack stomping into the room.
"Jos, Alex! I know you two did it! Just come out now and there will be no problem." Alex quickly clamped his hand on Joslyn's mouth as she went to speak. He pulled her closer to him; her long, messy, black hair was pressed against his face. He could smell the vanilla shampoo she used, the sound of Jack's receding footsteps let them relax a bit.
"You were gonna tell him." Alex whispered.
"No..." She said with a guilty little smile on her face.
"Sure, whatever you say Jos."
He hadn't realized that she was seated in his lap, her entire being was nestled into his. He blushed and then she scrambled off his lap. Her pale skin was a slight pink tint, he smiled at her and knew his face was pink as well. He couldn't help but laugh again, it was the easiest way to cope with something like that. The hormones raging inside of them, they were always together. There was bound to be awkwardness between them.

Joslyn sat in the back of the class room; the Algebra lecture was boring her to death. She chipped at her black nail polish, the monotone voice of her teacher was drowned out as she heard Jack erupt into a maniacal giggle. Her eyes rose from her hands and looked over at Jack's seat, he was laughing at something. No one was sure what was happening; that was until he held up his graphing calculator and you could see the word 'Penis' written into it. He nodded over to Alex and the rest of the room started to laugh. Mr. Howard was not the slightest bit amused by the two teenage boys' antics. He sent them into the hall and they had to sit there for the rest of the class period.

Joslyn sat next to Zack at the lunch table, Alex and Jack were busy picking on Rian about his magic tricks. Zack leaned over the table and whispered "They're really stupid, huh?"
Containing her giggles she whispered back "Yeah, they are. Poor Rian."
"He'll be okay, he could crush both of them."
"So true. I like his card tricks though."
"Me too. Oh well, nothing we can do about them." His long shaggy black hair was falling around his face.
"Zack, I don't think they'll ever grow up."
"They won't, but I don't think I'd have it any other way. They're crazy and that's good."
"Yeah." Jos smiled as she looked over at Alex.
"Jos,"
"Hm?" She looked over at Zack again.
"Do you like Alex?"
"W-what are you talking about. That's silly."
"Whatever you say." The taller boy rolled his eyes and dropped the subject all together.

The sound of mindless strumming filled the all but empty bedroom, Alex's fingers were slowly putting together rifts. He softly sang to himself, the door opened. At the sound of the door handle being let go he stopped singing and strumming on the guitar. He looked up and his brown eyes met those of Joslyn Crowley. She smiled and said "Oh, don't let me interrupt."
"It's fine, I wasn't getting anywhere."
"You sure? It sounded really good."
"Oh, thanks!" A grin broke out on his face, getting compliments from her always made his day. He knew that if he let them go to his head the others would pick on him about having a crush or something stupid like that.
"What are you up to?"
"Just thought I'd see how you were, I don't feel like listening to my dad make business calls all evening. Mom's at something for Asa's Honors Pre-K dinner or something."
"Isn't Honors Pre-K just like Kindergarten or something?"
"I don't know they put him in this private school for well developed babies."
"They didn't do that with you, did they?"
"Nah, but I think I turned out well. I'm taking four honors classes, including AP World History."

The pair of them talked for almost an hour before they were interrupted by the sound of Jack yelling up the stairs to Alex's room.
"Be wearing pants this time, dude!"
Joslyn looked over at Alex with a raised eyebrow; he knew what she was going to ask.
"There was a time he walked in on you without pants on?"
"Uh...That's a long story." Alex said rubbing the back of his head. His door flew open and Jack stood there with a triumphant look on his face.
"Jos! Why on earth are you on Alex's bed? Alex I thought you had morals! Zack totally called dibs, remember?"
"J-Jack! Stop it, that's not what's going on. Plus; nobody gets 'dibs'! I'm a human being, not a cheeseburger!"
"I kid, I kid. Why are you both so red faced?" Jack smirked.
He knew how Alex felt about him getting teased about Joslyn, it made him blush and slightly angry.
"Shut up, Jack."
"Awww. Did I make my Lexi-Poo angry?"
"Shut up." Alex repeated with an even redder face than before.

"Yeah their faces were totally red, they were so close on the bed you would have though she was in his lap! It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen." Jack finished telling the story to their entire lunch table.
"Would you shut up, douche bag." Jos snapped.
"Jos, chill. It was just a little fun, no need to get your panties in a knot." Jack said calmly, looking over at her he saw the anger and embarrassment on her face. He hadn't thought she would take it so personally, he shrugged it off and rolled his eyes. Joslyn stood up quickly, she took her tray and left. Everyone was silent, Jack was the first one to speak.
"I didn't mean for her to get angry."
"You just had to keep pushing, didn't you?" Zack snapped as he stood up and went after her.

Joslyn sat on the other side of the lunchroom, she looked at the people around her. Popular kids, they all looked so polished and clean. Most of them were pretty nice to her, only because they knew that would greater their chances of getting her to help them with their homework. She knew her face was redder than a cherry, she was angry and upset. She didn't want the rest of them knowing that, she felt like Jack already knew that she liked Alex. Had he been serious about Zack liking her as well? Everything was just too much for her to handle at once, she would just have to break it down slowly. How did she feel about Alex? She knew the answer to that, she had liked him for the longest time. Before she knew what a romantic feeling was she had liked him. Should she worry about Zack liking her? She wasn't sure about that yet, it wasn't that she didn't like Zack. She just didn't feel romantically attracted to him, he was good looking and sweet and sensitive but she didn't feel like they were romantically linked. Unable to process anything in the loud lunchroom she dumped her tray and went to the library for the rest of lunch.

"I don't know where she went." Zack said as he said down at the table again.
"She'll pop up eventually." Rian said.
"I feel bad now, I should have stopped." Jack muttered.
"Yeah, you really should have." Alex snapped. He was still, for lack of a better term, really fucking pissed off about it all. He wished that he had been the one to run after Jos, not Zack. He wished that he hadn't let Jack start, or that he had stopped him before he made it worse on her. Alex saw the look on her face when the story started, it was horrified and embarrassed. He could see why she would be upset.
"I'm gonna try looking for her." He said getting up.
"I already tried everywhere." Zack said glancing over at Alex. Alex could make out a look of pure jealousy in his friend's eyes. He had nothing to be jealous of, Alex and Joslyn were just friends.
"I'm still gonna try." Alex offered and went to dump his tray. He knew the first place she would go if she was stressed or upset, the library.

Alex ventured into the back of the library where all the fantasy novels were, he could see a head of unruly black hair at the table. He walked over and sat down next to Joslyn. She glanced over at him and mumbled "Oh, hey."
"Jack says that he's sorry."
"I'm sure he is." She muttered under her breath.
"No really, he feels like crap about it. I'm sure when he see's you he'll be apologizing all over himself."
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Really? You're giving me one word responses, that's not a good sign."
"I'm fine Alex, don't worry about it."
"If you say so." He softly poked her side and she smiled as she tried to move away from his poke.

Alex and Joslyn went to classes and carried on with life; but Alex knew if something bothered her he would be able to cheer her up. He felt proud that he could do that for her, it made him smile. He felt like he could do something that Zack couldn't. In his mind he knew that she would always be a daydream away from him. She wouldn't feel like that, he knew that already. He looked down at his English textbook again, lost in his own world. He felt Jack poke the back of his head, he turned a little and a note was shoved into his hand.
'Whacha thinkin' bout?' Jack had written onto the slip of paper. The sound of the door opening made everyone look up. It was the teacher who was leading another woman in behind her.
"Okay everyone, this is Mrs. Killengers. She'll be subbing for me, I have to take my son to an orthodontist appointment. Behave, you know what you're not suppose to do."
When Mrs. Harris said that they all knew now was the time to talk and stuff, the door shut behind the 30 something teacher. Jack automatically shoved his desk against Alex's.

"What's up? You seem out of it bro."
"Just thinking." Alex said in a semi-vacant expression on his face.
"Oh? What about?"
"Nothing." Alex muttered. He didn't want to make trouble with his band mates, he knew that Zack liked Joslyn a lot as well. Maybe Alex didn't like her, he just liked the idea of liking her. He was just deluding himself into thinking that she liked him back. He let his head fall against the desk, he was mentally exhausted. Knowing he had to pull himself together he sat up and got ready for the bell to ring. He had drama with Joslyn and Zack next; he didn't want to seem like he was awkward with the both of them. Jack nudged him, when Alex looked over he saw a worried look on his best friends face.
"You sure it's nothing? Is it about me telling everyone that story?"
"No. It's fine, I promise." Alex reassured the taller boy.

Joslyn sat down at her desk in the Drama classroom, her head was still spinning from lunch. Jack had already said sorry multiple times, but what bothered her is that Alex was the only one who made her smile after that. She didn't want to like him as much as she seemed to, it would make their friendship awkward for everyone. She was sure that Alex didn't feel the same, plus if Zack liked her it would be weird for everyone. She didn't feel the same about Zack if that was true, it was a worrying and dizzing feeling in her mind. She couldn't concentrate on anything, the door to the classroom opened and in walked Zack and Alex. They both took their spots on either side of her, she had her head resting on the desk.
"Sup, Jos." Zack asked resting a hand on her back. She shrugged it off and mumbled "Nothing much."
"How was Chemistry?" Alex asked resting his head next to hers.
"Meh."
"Okay. Hey if you wanna talk just call me, okay?" Zack said resting his head down too.
"Sure."

Joslyn walked home, she could hear the pounding of footsteps behind her, she stopped and turned to see who it was. Alex was sprinting up behind her, he gasped for breath as he stood next to her.
"Jos! You didn't wait for me today." He wheezed.
"Oh, sorry. I figured you'd take the bus or get a ride home with Lisa."
"No, I was gonna walk with you like normal."
Her face turned pink, he never rushed after her. If they didn't walk home together he would just call her house and ask for math answers. He had ran after her tonight, her face felt hot and she knew that she was blushing. Alex grinned at her and then said "You seem really out of it today."
'Maybe because I really like you.' She thought to herself. He gave her a side hug and they walked with his arm around her shoulders.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah I'm sure."