Title: Jasey Rae by All Time Low

Tay and I ended up not sharing any of the same classes. It's sad, and I wish she had Jack's schedule.

"As I was saying, I swear you could hear the sound of a grandma being shot," Justin shudders. Out of nowhere, a carton of milk is thrown at us. It hits the table and spills. Thankfully, it doesn't hit any of us.

"Food fight?" Justin looks up and picks up his apple. He bites into it. 

My first five bells were relatively boring. Trace isn't here today, so science wasn't too bad. Mrs. Wick is still a nightmare. 

The weird thing is, Jack didn't show up for history, but I passed him in the hallway. 

Maybe he's doing drugs. 

I sigh at the dumb thought. 

"I hate people," Lisa groans and she tosses the carton of milk into the trash. Someone across the cafeteria laughs.

"GAYSCARF."

I press my lips together. Tay hangs her arm over my shoulders and leans close to me. 

"Don't let them get to you. They just want a reaction," she whispers. I look up and see Jack staring at me.

Apparently, Rian noticed too. He scoots his chair to block the view. Kind of like what Jack did in free bell...

Stop thinking about him. 

I silently thank him. "Suddenly, I feel like everyone's targeting me," I mumble. 

"Actually... I feel that way too. Usually, someone makes fun of all of us- but it's just been you," Kellin says slowly. 

I shrug. "It's weird. Maybe they gathered and planned something. I guess I'll just be careful."

"Hey, if you need someone beat up, I'll get them," Vic offers. "I know a thing or two about combat."

Kellin looks at Vic like he's Superman. Then, he goes red and looks away from Vic.

"Thanks, but violence is never the answer, is it?" I mumble softly and look down at the table. I fiddle with my fingers. 

"I guess," Vic mumbles. "The offer still stands though."

"Oh fuck," Rian grumbles. "Guess who has a doctor's appointment?" He laughs nervously, obviously trying to change the subject. "With pervy Steve."

Justin shudders. "He was my doctor when I was younger, and I think he might have been staring at my dick for way too long."

"He's my new doctor because my other one moved," Rian sighs. "I leave before 7th bell."

"Lucky," Kellin says. "I already hate English class. Trace just ruins everything." Justin nods, agreeing. 

"Alright, enough with the dramatic talk. How drunk do we wanna get this weekend? I was thinking black-out drunk-"

"NO!" Everyone shouts. He yelps and falls into the floor.

"Jesus- you didn't have to scare me," he grumbles.

~~~

The bell rings and we separate. I walk with Vic to art.

"So, be honest with me, do you like Kellin?" I ask. Vic gives me a look and his cheek slowly tint pink. "I won't tell, but the curiosity is killing me."

He moves to dodge a kid running through the hall. "Well uh, what does a crush feel like?"

I give him a shocked look. "What? Have you never-"

"No, it's just- the last person I was with... She kind of broke me apart, so I don't really know what's real." Vic shrugs. 

"Oh well uh- you like them because of who they are. It isn't that they look good or they have one thing you like... You like all of them. Not the thought of them, or who they might be." I find myself struggling to explain it.

"Oh... Have you ever had a crush?" He asks slowly. 

I nod but don't continue. I glance over at the locker hall and sigh. Jack pins a girl against a locker and kisses her. 

I quicken my pace slightly. 

"Alex? What are you doing?" He says, speeding up with me. We make it to the room and I sit down. "What just happened?" He asks.

"Nothing," I mumble. "Was afraid we'd be late."

"We still have two minutes," he points out slowly. "Uh anyway... If everything you said means you have a crush... Then-" he leans close to my ear. "Yes."

My eyes widen and I forget the image of Jack with that girl. I gasp and look at Vic. "Holy sh-"

"Shhh," he says quickly. "This is new to me... Just don't tell anyone?"

I place my hand over my chest. "Scout's honor." I grin. "But... Seriously?" I ask softly. He nods. "I ship you two so hard, and I've only known you for two days."

"Thank you?"

The bell rings and Jack appears. He sits down, again, at our table because all the other seats are taken. He turns to his friend. "Why didn't you save me a seat?" He whisper-shouts.

"Seemed like you'd want to see with Gayscarf and his Mexican friend," the guy says. "Kidding. I can't get Danny out."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Jack groans and turns back, facing us. "Hi," he says softly. 

"For today, everyone's going to draw something. Take your time," Mr. Way says. "It should represent something about you."

I stand up and grab a paper for myself and Vic. I sit down and hand it to him. Jack already has a piece of paper.

I start drawing the outline of my image. 

"What are you drawing?" Vic asks, not looking up from his drawing.

"Someone playing guitar," I answer. I finish the rough outline and start shading it to make it look better.

"Nice, I'm making someone surrounded by other people," he says and draws another line. "But it's proving to be quite difficult."

"Pft, of course," I mumble. "You should make shadow faces." I glance over at his sheet. "Holy- wow, you're really good at this."

He looks at mine. "Oh, shut the frick up," he says. I smile at the word, just because Mr. Way might report us if he heard us cursing. "You're amazing."

"Nah," I blend the marks on the paper. "Adequate, maybe."

"No, you're good," Vic says and starts shading. I glance over at Jack and see him drawing. 

As far as I know, he wasn't that great, but he wasn't terrible either. Mr. Way walks over and gasps. "Alex, that's amazing," he comments. I move slightly for him to see. "Wow."

I glance at Jack who stares at the drawing, his jaw drops slightly before he quickly looks away. 

The bell rings and I stand up. Mr. Way says goodbye to the class as people leave.

"I'll see you later," Vic says and walks out the door. I walk to free bell and sit down. The day's been relatively boring, and free bell usually doesn't have much.

Jack finds a seat, this time away from me. 

 "Hey, Alex," Mr. Harris says. He walks to the front of the room and sighs. Jack stares at us before giving me a confused look.

I shrug slightly and look down. 

The bell rings and the rest of the class rushes in. "Alright people, today I want to get to know you, so how about I come to your tables and talk to you," he says. "Just kidding, you really don't have a choice, now go do stuff."

I pull out my Chromebook and look at my class surveys. Basically, my teachers want to know a little about me. 

"You like Blink-182?"

I jump and turn to see Mr. Harris right behind me. He places his hand on my shoulder as he reads over my screen. 

I laugh nervously and move onto the next question.

Is there anything else you'd like me to know? 

Mr. Harris doesn't leave. He stays and stares at me, waiting for me to do something. 

No. 

"Oh come on, Alex. There's got to be something in that head of yours." 

I gnaw on my lower lip as I delete what I had typed. "Uh... There isn't much-"

Mr. Harris sighs and stands up. "Fine." He turns and walks to his desk. 

I let out a breath and glance at Jack, who was watching the whole time. He shoots Mr. Harris a glare before looking at me. 

I turn away from him and retype my original answer. 

The bell rings, so I quickly get out and find Tay. She smiles at me. "Hey Alex," she laughs. "I have to see my therapist, and Rian's at the doctors... Are you okay walking alone?"

I nod. "It's fine. Don't worry." 

"Okay well... I gotta go then. I'll see you tomorrow!" She says and walks away. I sigh and find Kellin and Vic walking out. 

"Alex!" Kellin says and waves. I walk toward them and we walk out of the school. "Where's Tay?"

"Therapy."

He nods. "Well, I have practice. Bye," Kellin jogs over to the back of the school where fall soccer practice is. 

"I go that way," Vic says, pointing in the opposite direction of where I'm going. I shake my head. "Okay well, I'll see ya later."

I nod and take a deep breath. This is fine. 

I start walking out. 

"Hey, it's Gayscarf, and he's alone."

I stop and look around.

"Hey, Gayscarf."

I turn, my heart starts pounding in my chest. "Who's there?"

Then, I hear a branch snap and someone punches me in the stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. I gasp and fall down.

"Oh look. Gayscarf can't breathe," the voice says. A rough hand wraps around my throat. I claw at it, but it doesn't move. The guy laughs. "Bet he loves this."

"Think it's one of his kinks? Maybe he also likes getting beaten up."

"Maybe tied down and blindfolded."

I try to see who's doing this, but my vision blurs. My head starts to feel heavy as I try to breathe. 

He finally lets go of me when someone kicks me in the head.