Title: Sleeping In by All Time Low

I sigh as Jack Barakat walks pass me in the hallway. He glances at me but doesn't say anything. He just walks faster. As if I'd try to talk to that fucker.

"Alex!" Lisa rushes over and hugs me. I hug her back and grin. "Fuck's sake, I haven't seen you all summer," she laughs and nudges my shoulder. "Where's Rian?" She asks, wiggling her eyebrows. She's convinced Rian likes me and has been trying to get me to feel the same.

"Um... He hasn't shown up yet." I look around. That's when I see two people bouncing off the walls. "Hey, look," I tap Lisa's shoulder.

She laughs as Kellin and Justin rush over to us. Justin hugs Lisa first and Kellin fist-bumps me. "Hey dude," Kellin says. "How was your summer?"

"Boring. Y'all left me." I pout. Kellin just laughs and hugs Lisa.

Justin pecks my cheek and I groan in disgust. "Sorry, Kells and I had summer camp. Lisa's too cool for us, being in Japan. Rian-"

"Yes, I get it, y'all have lives sorry!" I throw my arms into the air. Justin grins.

"You learn quickly." He pats my head and nods. "You're kind of like... Memory foam." Kellin gives Justin a look. "Ya know, you take the form of- ooh, yeah that sounds dirty." Justin scrunches up his nose. "Fuck me," he groans in disgust.

"Would rather not," Kellin mutters. Justin laughs. Lisa gasps and turns me around.

"RI GUY!" She shouts, gathering the attention of practically everyone in the hallway. Rian goes red as he walks over to us.

He hugs me quickly before moving on to everyone else. Lisa wiggles her eyebrows again. I roll my eyes and lean against the locker.

"So how was everyone's summer?" Rian asks once the hugging is done. Justin hops on Kellin's back.

"KELLIN AND I HAVE PLACES TO GO. NOW GO!" Justin shouts. The rest of us blink in confusion. Kellin stands up straight and lets Justin fall down onto his ass.

"I'm just gonna walk like a normal human being, thanks," Kellin says and walks off. Justin leans into my ear.

"He met a guy and Kellin is totally heads over heels f-"

"JUSTIN," Kellin shouts. Justin winks and dashes off. We watch as Justin keeps poking Kellin in the arm until Kellin gets frustrated and pokes him back.

"So... Where'd Taylor go?" Rian asks. Lisa and I share a look.

"She's still in the hospital, Ri," Lisa says softly. "I know we said she should be out by now, but she hasn't been getting any better."

"Oh," Rian purses his lips. "Sorry, I just thought-"

"It's fine." Lisa smiles weakly. I bite my lower lip and stare at my feet. "Anyway, Alex, have you talked to Tay's mom?"

"She's been going to the hospital to visit as often as she can," I offer. "Other than that... No."

"I wish I lived in your neighborhood. You have Tay and Rian. All I have is Zack." Lisa pouts. "And I'm 90% sure he's a dick."

I roll my eyes. "He's friends with Jack so," I shrug. Lisa winces. "Sorry, that was bitter, huh?" I nervously run my hand through my hair. She nods.

She and Rian were the only people there when the whole thing happened. It's a long story, but basically, I think Jack's a dumbass, and he ignores me.

Rian pats my shoulder comfortingly, and I see Lisa's eyes widen in excitement. I roll my eyes, but out of nowhere, Lisa's shoved into my arms. I hold her up as she catches her balance and I look up.

"Oh shit, Lis- I'm so sorry, I didn't-" Kellin gasps in horror. I glare at him, but Lisa stands up and shoves him back. He yelps and nearly loses balance.

"It's fine. Why were you running?" She asks. Kellin points behind him and I see Justin talking to a guy.

I raise an eyebrow. He smacks his forehead.

"Justin is talking to a certain person."

I look over again. "Who's that?" I ask slowly, giving Kellin a look. Kellin's face goes red. "Oh, the guy?"

Lisa's ears perk up. "Who? Guy? Are you two together? Am I allowed to write fanfic-"

Kellin groans. "Nothing just- a... An acquaintance." He laughs nervously. "Friendly acquaintance."

Rian smiles. "No one says 'acquaintance' that many times," he narrows his eyes. "Is Kelly in loooooove?"

Kellin smacks Rian's arm. "No I just-"

"Hey, you! Kellin, right? As you already know, I moved here over the summer, and apparently I go to this school."

Kellin spins around and laughs. "Right, yes, camp, we met- yes." He stutters, getting flustered. "Vic?" He asks- he tries to act casual, but now it just sounds like he's in pain.

The other guy- Vic, nods. "Justin was telling me some... Disturbing stories." He glances at Justin who's just grinning like an idiot.

"Hey, if you plan on joining our little group of sluts and butts, you better know this dirty stuff," Justin shrugs innocently.

"Sluts and butts?" I groan. "Ew, why?"

Justin just grins. "I told him about the dick sauce." I groan and bury my face into Rian's shoulder. Rian fake throws up.

"I can't believe you guys managed to get ketchup into a dick shape," Vic comments. Kellin goes red. Hah. Like ketchup.

"That was like years ago," Kellin says nervously. He tries to casually lean against the locker but ends up hitting his head. He blinks and laughs again.

"Kells, that was literally four months ago," Justin says blankly. Kellin smacks Justin's shoulder and clears his throat.

"Uh- anyway, classes exist so... We should go," I say, changing the subject. Kellin shoots me a thankful look.

"Vic, what's your first class?" I ask. He shows me his times table. "Ah, you have three classes with me. We're in the same first, third, and sixth bell." Math, music, and art.

Everyone clammers around and checks his schedule.

Kellin ends up with two classes with him. History and science.

I notice Kellin staring at Vic as he laughs when Justin dejectedly shouts. "DAMNIT I GOT NOTHING WITH YOU."

I tap Kellin's shoulder. "Do you like him?" I whisper. He turns and quickly shakes his head no. "I think you do," I mumble.

"It- I- It's complicated," Kellin groans. He looks around and pulls me to the side. "At camp, we were in the same cabin, and he's really cool and I dunno," he sighs. "I've never liked someone so..."

"What about that girl-"

"That was my parents brainwashing me into thinking that way. This is the first time I've had my heart fucking stop every time he walks into a room."

I press my lips together. "It's okay to feel that way... If you ever wanna talk, I'm open to it. I welcome you with open arms and legs."

"Alex-" he sighs and facepalms. "Fine, thank you."

I smile and lead him back to the group. "So, classes still exist," I clear my throat. Everyone gasps and grabs their bags. The group separates into pairs or solos to get to their first class.

I walk over to Vic, who just looks confused. "Come on, let's go together," I offer. He nods thankfully and follows me.

~~~

"Alright, Vic, what did you draw?" Ms. Williams asks after Vic corrects her by saying he goes by 'Vic' rather than 'Victor'. The mini assignment is for us to draw one thing to represent us. I go after Vic because I'm sitting next to him. Ms. Williams says there won't be assigned seats because she doesn't like the feeling of forcing people to sit next to each other.

Vic stands up. "Well uh, I drew a taco playing guitar."

A wave of laughter washes over everyone. Vic grins. "I'm Mexican. And I like music. Bam," he gestures to the drawing. Ms. Williams chuckles and turns to me.

"Uh, Alexan-"

"Just Alex is fine," I say quickly. She nods and I stand up. "I drew a guitar because... Music." Vic's was probably the most creative. Everyone else drew easy, bland things- but who am I to speak? I did that too.

I was the last to go and Ms. Williams stands up. "Alright, well, the first few days are going to be difficult, but don't worry too much, everyone knows it's hard. We'll get through this together, have a nice day."

As if on cue, the bell rings. Vic and I share a look and laugh softly.

"Enjoy science with Kellin," I say. "I'll see ya later, have fun, don't die." I grin at him and quickly walk away. I don't see any of my friends as I walk down to history.

"Hey look guys, it's Alex Gayscarf."

I press my lips together and ignore the snickers until someone trips me. I gasp and tumble to the ground. I look up and see Trace laughing his stupid head off.

"Oopsie, did you just trip? Try walking straight- oh wait," Trace laughs again. The group shares the same fucking laugh. It's nasally and annoying.

"Haha, very funny," I mumble and pick my stuff up.

"What was that? You little-" Trace stops when a teacher walks by. I take the chance and hurry to the room. I take the first seat I see, ignoring everything else. I take a breath and press my hand to my heart.

I look up and see the teacher, Mr. Irwin. The bell rings, and of course, Trace rushes into the room. He sits down, thankfully on the other side of the room, and nudges his friend's shoulder.

I hear a groan and turn- oh fuck.

"Hello class, I'm Mr. Irwin. This year is going to be... Weird. You're now juniors. It's a weird time, trust me, I know. But, I will try to make life slightly easier for you."

He walks behind his desk and pulls out a sheet of paper.

"I'm going to take attendance, pardon me if I mess up your name, please just tell me how to pronounce it, and we'll continue." He clears his throat. "Jack Barakat."

And as fate would have it, I wasn't hallucinating.

Jack, from right next to me, raises his hand. He glances at me before quickly looking away.

Mr. Irwin continues. I drown out his words until I hear him call me. "Alexand-"

"Alex is fine," I cut him off.

He nods. "Alex Gaskarth," he repeats. I raise my hand and he checks me off. After that, I stop paying attention.

I sigh and hear him slam a folder down. I look at him. "Alright class, I know that was boring. I want you to turn and talk to the person sitting next to you. This is because these seats are where you will stay for the rest of the year."

The last part of his sentence repeats in my head like a reoccurring nightmare after you're so scared your brain wakes you up like "you're dying, fucking get help."

The desks are arranged into pairs, which means I'm stuck with Jack the whole year. And with no one else to save me.

I glance at him and he rolls his eyes.

"I'm Jack, if you mess with me, I'll probably go fuck your girlfriend- or boyfriend, I don't care." He says bluntly.

"I know who-"

"Sorry, what was your name?" He asks in a bored tone.

"Alex... Alex Gaskarth."

"Alright," he mutters.

For fuck's sake. "Fine, whatever, I don't care anyway." I scoff and look away from him. Mr. Irwin notices us and walks over.

"Is something wrong?" He asks, looking between us.

"Nothing at all," Jack says casually. I bite my tongue and nod. "Alex was just looking around because your room looks really interesting," Jack says.

Mr. Irwin smiles. "Thank you! I had one of my art teacher friends help me with it. Well, keep getting to know each other. You'll probably end up doing a lot of projects together, and because... Well, you two are sitting next to each other, so either you're already friends, or are willing to be."

I internally scream. In my brain, I'm screaming so loud that the police barge in thinking someone's dying- and they'd be right.

I'M FUCKING DYING RIGHT NOW.

I smile and nod.

Mr. Irwin walks away and Jack looks right at me. He isn't even hiding it. I look back at him.

"Look, I'm not trying to friendly. But I have to be at this point. Just... Don't be weird. It'll just make me hate you more." He says.

Oh. You hate me? CONVENIENT.

"Whatever," I scoff and sit back in my seat.

It was three years ago. Jack and I were best friends. But then one day, out of nowhere, he said we couldn't be friends anymore. No explanation. He left me alone and went and found new people.

I was alone that year. Well, not really. Lisa and Rian were just people I knew, and people that didn't hate me, so I spent time with them. Eventually, we got closer.

But Jack went on to fuck people and go to parties. He became super popular and started to bully people.

Oddly enough, he never really did much to me, or anyone around me.

Trace- also Jack's popular friend- would go after all of us. Hell, all of Jack's popular friends make fun of us.

But not Jack.

He just ignores me and treats me like nothing.

On second thought, maybe that's worse.