Don't Treat This Like a Secret

"Isn't that cute boy you're always talking about supposed to come in today?" May Barakat asks her brother as she leans against the counter at the record store where he works.

"He should. He usually comes in on Saturdays. Around three," Jack tells her, looking up from the list he's checking off to scan the store for the familiar blonde head.

"Seriously, little Bro. If you know the exact time frame that he comes into this store every week - and plan your schedule to work around it which I suspect you do- just talk to him besides ringing him up. Ask him out," she says.

"No!" Jack yells, perhaps a little too loud, causing a customer in the store to glance up at the disturbance. He ducks his head, gesturing an apology to the customer who continues their rifling through the cds. Jack grimaces when he hears the sound of the plastic cases clinking together. He's going to have to put them back in order later.

"Why not, Jack?" May asks exasperated, "He comes in every single Saturday, right?" she pauses and waits for his nod of confirmation, "He can't possibly need new cds every week."

"That's not all we sell, May. We sell iTunes cards and earbuds and headphones and speakers," he explains, reaching over to straighten a wonky iTunes card on the display by the register. He doesn't like things out of place. Well, except for his room. That place is sort of a mess. But that's different, he thinks.

"I know that," she rolls her eyes, "Does he even always buy anything?"

"No," Jack replies after a moment, thinking back to the times the boy had been in here. He still has yet to learn his name. He keeps forgetting to ask, he gets too entranced by the boy's accent; he'd told him before that he is from England. He can recall that there has been multiple times that he has come in and they'd chatted about the new music stock but the boy'd left without buying anything.

"He's obviously coming in here to see you," she says pointedly, cocking her head with a grin.

"Oh hush, May," he tells her, rolling his eyes as he tries to not get his hopes up about it.

"I'm serious! I'm sure he-"

"May! Shut up! There he is!" Jack whisperyells to her, ducking his head as his cheeks flush. May spins around immediately to scan the room for him and Jack resists the urge to smack her. Hasn't she heard of subtle?

"He's looking this way," she informs quietly.

He looks up with wide eyes, smacking her arm this time, "Well stop staring, idiot! He's going to think we're talking about him!"

"Well we are talking about him," she teases, looking back to her brother.

Jack risks a glance over to the boy, seeing he had turned and is scanning over a row of cds, though he can see the dimple in the side of his cheek from a smile. He flushes again, he's sure the boy knows they were talking about him now.

He rings up the customer who had been scouring the selection for around an hour, wishes him a good day, glares at May, then thunks his head against the counter, "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

She laughs, choosing not to answer as she plucks a magazine from the display, flipping the page open. He sits there with his head down, closing his eyes and wishing he could disappear. Or turn into a fly on the wall so that he can safely watch the boy without him knowing. Oh no, Jack thinks, I sound like a creeper.

"Hey Jack?" May asks.

"Will you please go away," he grumbles to her, screwing his eyes shut.

"Uh, I will if you want," a softly accented voice says and Jack's eyes widen as he jerks his head up, "Oh God, I'm so sorry! I though my sister was just messing with me." he tells him. He makes sure to refer to May as his sister instead of by name so that the blonde will not think at all that she is his girlfriend.

He laughs, those cute dimples reappearing that Jack loves to see, "It's alright," he replies, handing over the cd in his hand and reaching back to retrieve his wallet.

"Oh, Nimrod!" Jack exclaims, his eyes scanning over the Green Day cover. He had that cd, but he's pretty sure May borrowed it and never gave it back. Or maybe Rian.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh my God! I wasn't calling you that! I meant the cd," Jack squeaks, his eyes wide.

That cute laugh comes again and Jack risks a look, the boys eyes sparkling brightly as he looks over Jack's bright red face, "I know. I'm just messing with you."

Jack slumps his shoulders. If he didn't know better, he'd think May and the boy secretly knew each other and had teamed up on him to mortify him completely. But he knows that can't be true. May can't keep secrets from him worth shit so.

"He's just nervous. He's shit at talking to someone he thinks is cute," May blurts. She thinks she's helping him apparently. Jack really, really wants to punch her.

"May!" Jack exclaims. He wonders if it's possible to die of embarrassment. If it is, he's pretty sure today will be his last day on Earth.

"Oh, you think I'm cute?" he asks, eyes sparkling again and smiling so big that pearly teeth flash at him. Jack just kind of stares for a moment, trying to think up an answer that doesn't make him sound like a pre-teen girl but May jumps in again, this time actually proving helpful, "Yes he does. He talks about you all the time." Alright, well she serves to embarrass him more, but the blonde doesn't look like he thinks he's creepy.

"Well I have to go so," She grins, hopping off of the stool and waving. Of course she has to go now, now that she's embarassed him enough.

"Why don't you go grab lunch," Jack suggests pointedly.

"I'm not hungry," she replies, waving at Alex and winking at Jack.

"May," he starts, eyebrows furrowing. Of course she'll say that. He sighs a little as she bounces out of the store, hoping she'll atleast grab a snack. His sister has been battling an eating disorder for some time now, and he worries so much about her, even when she embarasses him.

Alex turns back to him from watching her bounce out, a smile replacing the unrecognizable look in his eyes, "So your name is Jack?" he asks, picking the magazine May had left on the counter, closing it and slipping it back into the display.

"Yes," he replies, nerves turning in his stomach. There's no one to take the attention off of him now, and flirting isn't as easy when the boy knows he thinks he's cute.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jack. Well, sort of officially. I never knew your name before," he grins, "I'm Alex."

"Alex," Jack repeats, "Nice name," he finishes lamely. It is true, it's a nice name for a cute boy, but without the last part, it doesn't sound near as good as it did in his head.

"Oh, if you like that, you should hear my phone number," the blond-Alex replies easily and Jack's eyes widen. He wishes he could be half that smooth.

He obviously wants to agree, but he doesn't know how to reply. He settles for taking a sticky note from the register, handing it over to Alex along with a pen, grinning widely. He can't believe the cute boy wants to give him his number.

"For the record, I think you're cute, too," Alex tells him bluntly as he takes the pen and paper, scribbling down his number.

Jack feels his cheeks flush again and he takes the paper that Alex hands back. He wonders whats the acceptable amount of time to text someone so he doesn't seem weird. He figures he'll leave it up to Alex.

He pulls his phone from his pocket and types the number in, saving it as 'Alex ;D" and typing out "hey its Jack!" before laying it back down, "There. Now you have mine," he smiles.

Alex glances at his phone screen and grins, nodding as he straightens up from where he'd leaned over onto the counter, "I have to get back to work. I'll see you later, Jack."

"Oh you work here?" Jack asks, raising an eyebrow. He didn't recall ever seeing the boy around the mall besides when he'd come by the record store.

"Mhm. I work at Hot Topic," he answers. Oh that's why Jack hasn't seen him. Zack had once dated a girl that works in there, and it ended badly. Since Jack knew her - and didn't particularly like her, he'd refrained from entering that store for a while now.

"Oh, awesome! Does Lynn still work there?" he asks.

"Nope. She got fired," Alex replies, a small grin quirking his lips which he tries to fight. Obviously he didn't like her much either. Hmm, maybe Jack will actually go in there one day. He could use a couple new band shirts. He'll check out their selection instead of just relying solely on Tilly's.

"Oh cool. See ya, Alex- oh! I haven't even rang you up yet," Jack says suddenly, realizing he's still holding the Green Day cd that Alex had handed him.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I already have that cd," Alex replies, flashing him a dimpled grin again as he starts to walk out, "I'll text you, Jack."