Status: Should I continue this story?

The Boy by the Window.

3

Neither of them remembered the moment they met for the very first time due to being toddlers and having a very short memory spam. All they really knew was that they had been neighbours for as long as they could remember. They never hung out together because they grew up having different group of friends. They only saw each other on their way home from school, and whenever they were both in their room.

-

Jack was busying himself by doing extra homework and reading articles about medicine to distract himself from the emptiness he was currently feeling on his chest. He was confused as to why he was feeling so overwhelmed all of the sudden but he felt hopeless and had no idea what to do about it.

"Jack!" He heard his mother call from the door.

"Yes?" He answered putting down his pen and turning to look at his mother. She had done her makeup -something unusual- and Jack wondered if it was their parents' anniversary.

"I've called you like four times now. We are going over to the Gaskarth's house for dinner. Are you coming?" He felt quite stupid about his previous assumption about his mother but he also thought it was pretty stupid to put makeup on just to go for dinner with their neighbours when they saw each other without makeup every day.

He just panicked inside because he was SO not used to seeing Alex outside of his room due to the elder having a full-time job, and even if they did see each other outside their houses, they would pretend not to know each other. That is how it worked for them.

"Is Alex going to be there?" He asked trying not to sound too worried about such a stupid thing.

"I guess? It would be weird if he wasn't, it's his house"

"Right" He gave in, even though he didn't know how to feel about it.

-

Once the Barakat's arrived to the house next door, Alex greeted the elders and grinned when he saw Jack's nervous face.

"Dinner will be ready in 15" Mrs. Barakat said once the Gaskarth's walked inside.

"Want to see my room?" Alex asked the younger after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence between the two of them. The adults went into the living room to have some tea.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked Alex, and himself as they walked upstairs.

"Sure, why not?" Alex opened his door and let Jack in, closing it behind him and sitting on the bed.

Jack turned around and realised the room was structured just like his. The only difference between the two rooms being the messy floor and he noticed that Alex had no books and had food wrappings all over his desk instead.

"Sorry, it's a little messy. I didn't know you were coming" He said shrugging his shoulders. Jack decided that Alex wasn't sorry at all.

"It's okay" He muttered and joined him on the bed.

"Your mum's food smells amazing"He said politely.

"I don't usually eat at home but I know she's a great cook. I have lunch and dinner at my workplace most days"

"Where do you work at as again?"

"A posh restaurant. It's not my style but it pays well and the food is great"

"I should check it out"

"Nope. I told you I don't want you near the restaurant"

"I don't understand why though"

"You'll embarrass me"

"How? I don't even know you. The only thing I know about you is that your name is Alex. You work at a posh restaurant, you are intelligent and you're my neighbour. That's all"

"Whatever. Don't come near me when I'm at work"

"Guys, dinner is ready!"

"Coming!"

The two families sat next to each other around the table. Mrs. Barakat and Mr. Barakat sat facing each other, just like Mrs. Gaskarth and Mr. Gaskarth, leaving the two teenagers facing each other from one end of the table to the other. They both decided it was a great seat to send death glares to each other and pull faces to insult the other.

Their older siblings were working the afternoon shift and couldn't join them on the table but they assured their parents that they would the next time they had dinner together.

"You two don't get along as well as you did when you were little" Mrs. Gaskarth said out of the blue as they munched on roasted vegetables.

"We never got along mum.." Alex rolled his eyes and glared at Jack.

"I thought you did! Well, you went to the same school until you dropped out and got your job" She said.

"Yeah, I thought they always talked at school" Mrs. Barakat added.

"We never talked, we had different groups of friends" Jack told his mom.

"That's a shame. Maybe we should do more of these dinner encounters so you two get to know each other" Mrs. Gaskarth suggested. Both fathers were quietly talking about sports as the mothers took off pushing the two teens together.

"We're seventeen, mum. It's not like we don't exactly know what type of person the other is. We just don't get along well enough to spend hours together" Alex said and got up to put his dishes in the sink.

"That can change though!"

And damn, did it change.

-

"Alex?" Jack asked leaning against the window.

"What?" Alex said rudely from the other end of the house. Jack didn't really expect a response from the other since he hadn't seen him in his room the whole evening but he thought he would give it a try and see if the elder had sneaked in his room so that Jack didn't know he was there.

"I didn't know you were in there" Jack rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Then why did you call my name? What if I really wasn't? That would have been pretty embarrassing, don't you think?" Alex hissed and poked his head out of the window all of the sudden. Jack thought the elder had been lying on the floor for hours since he got home, but he wasn't sure, so he decided to ask him.

"I guess it would be, but it turns out, you really are there. Have you been lying on your floor this whole time?" Jack asked raising his eyebrow. Alex shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?"

"I think you crawled your way inside to avoid me" Jack said honestly. He was kind of hurt at the thought of Alex having to crawl to his own room just to avoid him, but then again, they weren't really friends, so why would he care?

"I did, but I wasn't trying to be mean to you by that. I'm just not in the mood for talking and I knew you would want to" Alex squeezed his eyes a little as to analyse the other.

"Fair enough" Jack muttered under his breath, still offended.

"You could have guessed I was in here by the smell though"

"Your room smells like weed all the time, I'm used to it" Jack shrugged. "So you've been smoking?" He asked.

"Yeah" Alex gave him a little smile, although he thought he was smiling big.

"I guess you can't help me with homework then" Jack sighed and threw his maths book to the floor.

"You know, my parents always lecture me on being lazy and not doing shit. They say you are a great example of a smart and intelligent student and they tell me to be more like you, and less than me. Yet this is the second time you have asked me to help you with homework" Alex had that look on his face. The one that told Jack that he was thinking too hard but he didn't care about what he was thinking of.

"I hate to know that. I have never liked the idea of comparing your child to one of their friends to encourage them to do more, study more, or be more productive or dedicated. They only bring them down and make them compare themselves to others in every aspect possible. No wonder we're all fucked up here" Jack frowned at his own words, he had never shared this kind of thoughts with anyone else before.

"For once, you are right. We're all fucked up in our heads" Alex was still smiling, and it somehow made what he just said seem a usual thing to say.

"That thing you're smoking seems to be working" Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, it takes me away from my problems for a while, you know? You should try it" Alex suggested nodding his head.

"I've never done drugs" Jack admitted proudly, thinking that he would never ever try them.

"You will eventually, so why not now?"

"I don't believe in doing something for a short period of time if you're not going to keep doing it for the rest of your life"

"Jack, it's just weed. It's nothing heavy" Alex rolled his eyes since he smoked it every day.

"I can't.." Jack insisted.

"Give me five good enough reasons why you can't try weed" Alex said, now serious and determined to get the younger to at least try it once in his life.

"I don't want to fuck up my grades, or life. I don't have money to buy weed. I wouldn't know where to buy it. I wouldn't have the guts to buy it. I wouldn't have anyone to smoke with. There, five" Jack rolled his eyes.

"You won't fuck up your grades, let alone your life, it's just weed and I'm just asking you to try it once to see if you like it or not. You don't need money, I'll get it for you. I would help you smoke it the right way" Alex smiled thinking he had won the argument, and he grinned when he saw Jack struggling to find another excuse not to.

"Fine" Jack gave in and sighed. He was excited in the inside - he got to spend time with the bad boy Alex was and he was about to experience something he hadn't experienced before. It kind of made him feel alive, he thought a little bit of time away from studying and being an innocent boy would do him good.

"Woah, really?" Alex asked surprised, his eyes as wide as his mouth. "Okay, we will next week. Now toss me your maths book and tell me what you need help with" Alex laughed.

"You're being nicer than other times" Jack laughed and threw his book out of the window.

"You wish, Barakat" Alex smirked and disappeared with Jack's book in his hand.