Two and a half weeks went by and there was no word from Mr. Barakat. Most of the others had forgotten him entirely, but something kept nagging me, telling me not to forget about him. I saw something in his eyes. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't forget him. Leo very quickly grew irritated with me so I stopped mentioning Mr. Barakat.
Monday I was walking down the sweaty, student filled hallway toward my locker when I saw none other than Mr. Barakat waiting by my locker. I walked up to him and he smiled down at me.
"Annalise?" He asked. I nodded.
"I'm here to take you out for ice cream so that we can get to know each other."
"Just the two of us?" I asked somewhat nervously. At the care home we learned at an early age(early meaning age ten)to never put ourselves into vulnerable situations where could get raped or murdered.
"No! No! I invited a couple friends of mine to join us. Alex and Lisa. I think you'll like them. And don't worry Allison agreed to this I promise." Something made me trust him.
"Okay. I just need to get my stuff from my locker." He nodded and moved so I could open my locker. I pulled out all the stuff I would need for homework that night and slammed the locker shut.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Um . . . I just need to let my my friend know that I'm going with you." Without waiting for an answer I ran down the hall to find Leo. I found him by his locker talking to his friend Evan. I ran and jumped on his back.
"Leo!"
"Hey Annie. What's up?"
"Mr. Barakat came back. He's taking me for ice cream."
"Alone?" Concern cover his face.
"No. His friends Alex and Lisa are coming and don't worry Allison signed off on it. I'll see you later!" I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and ran back down the hall. Mr. Barakat was still waiting by my locker.
"Ready!" I told him with a smile.
"Great." I followed him out of the school.
"So . . . Mr. Barakat what do you do?" He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Call me Jack?" I nodded and he continued, "I'm in a band."
"Really? What are you called? Are you famous? What's that like?" The questions spilled from my mouth before I could stop them.
"We're called All Time Low. I guess we're pretty famous. We've been a band for fifteen years. As for what it's like, well, it's definitely amazing. All the live shows and the fans are awesome, but sometimes I just want to be normal. I want have some form of a private life." He got quiet and had a sad look in his eyes. What started as a lighthearted conversation had quickly taken a turn into a depressing place. Jack wiped the sad look off his face and smiled wide.
"Sorry. Anyway . . . What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"
"Chocolate."
"That's kind of boring." I crossed my arms and pouted.
"That's kind of rude you jackass." Jack laughed.
"Why are you bringing my ass into this? I mean I know it's pretty great, but still." I made a very gross snorting noise before giggling. We chatted about this and that, mostly pointless stuff until the ice cream shop came into view.
"Oh my god!" I couldn't help the small squeal of excitement that left my mouth, "I haven't been here since my twelfth birthday! I love this place!" Jack smiled down at me.
"Allison told me." He said softly. He held the door open for me. There were only two other people in the shop. A man and woman holding hands and laughing. She was leaning against him, laughing and he was smiling down at her. I knew that was the kind of relationship I wanted in the future. They looked so . . . so in love.
"Finally! We thought you died." The guy, who I assumed must be Alex, said as we walked in. Jack led me over to the table.
"Sorry my legs aren't eight feet long." I retorted. "I couldn't keep up with Jack McLanky Legs over here." I jabbed a thumb at Jack. Alex laughed and Lisa playfully rolled her eyes.
"I like you." Alex said.
"Annalise meet my best friend and band mate, Alex and his wife Lisa. Guys this is Annalise. I'm gonna get our ice cream. Take a seat." Jack said and then walked over to the counter.
"I love your outfit." Lisa said.
"Thanks." I was wearing a pair of dark blue skinnys, a pastel blue shirt, my pastel pink hoodie and my grey combat boots.
"How's school?" Alex asked. Lisa gave him a 'really' look. "What?!" He asked.
"Really? That's what you decided to ask?"
"School's fine. Boring as usual. Algebra is fun though." Jack sat down and handed me a cone with chocolate ice cream. "Thank you." I took a bite out of it.
"So tell me about the lovely human being that is Annalise." Jack said.
"I'll be fifteen next month. On the third. And Annalise is actually my middle name. My first name is Juliet, but after my parents passed away I started going by Annalise or Anna."
"Mmhm. Okay. What are five things you love?"
"Five? Wow. The first one would definitely be Nutella. And then Green Day."
"I would not have pegged you for a Green Day fan." I smiled.
"Nobody ever does. Third would definitely be my best friend."
"Oh yeah? What's her name?" Lisa asked.
"His name is Leo." I whispered. Why do people assume that if your girl your best friend is a girl? And the same for guys. I don't understand.
"I'm sorry I assumed. What's Leo like?" She really did sound sorry and honestly everyone makes that same mistake.
"He's so sweet. We've been friends for four years and I don't think we've ever fought." I can't help but smile as I think of him. "He's an introvert and he never had many friends so I sort of declared myself his best friend and I swear now we couldn't live without each other."
"Sorry to sidetrack you, but what's number four? We only have till five. Allison wants you home with plenty time to do homework." Jack said before I could keep going.
"Oh right. Sorry. Uh . . . Number four would have to be pastels. And five would be the rain."
"Nice. Okay, what are five things you want to do before you die?" Alex and Lisa were conversing quietly and ignoring Jack and I.
"I wanna see Paris, sing karaoke, go to prom, go to a concert and . . . Meet Twenty One Pilots." Jack nodded.
"You are a very fascinating person, Annalise."
"Maybe I am, but I still don't know anything about you." Jack nodded.
"Ok. Well five things I love would have to be my band," Lisa cut him off.
"I never realized you could be so sweet, Jack." Jack rolled his eyes playfully.
"Fuck off. Second would be traveling and then my family and . . ." He trailed off.
"Come on there's gotta be more." I prompted.
"I can't think of another one." He then became very interested in the tabletop.
"That's okay. How about five things you want to do before you die?"
"Honestly? I've already checked off half my bucket list. I'm part of a famous band, I get to travel the world, I own two bars and I get to fly whenever I want. There's not much else I want before I die." Here he trailed off again and got a sad look in his eyes again. I knew there was he more wanted, but I didn't really know him so I decided not to ask.
"You own bars?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's pretty cool. Kind of weird though, you know? Like you walk in and realize that everyone there either works for or is buying alcohol from you." I nodded, though really I didn't understand that feeling at all. "But enough about me. What do you do in your free time?"
"Usually I read or play solitaire."
"What kinds of books do you read?"
"Well Allison only has a few, so I've read mostly classics like Pride and Prejudice and Treasure Island, but I've also read a few John Green novels and I really liked them." He nodded.
"Cats or dogs?"
"Cats. We had one when I was really little, but she got taken to a shelter when dad passed away and I came here. I tried to keep her, but they wouldn't let. They didn't think she would do well with the other kids. Bullshit. She was the sweetest cat you'd ever meet."
"Oh yeah? What was her name?"
"Pandora. She was a Siamese. She was so pretty. Mom loved her a lot." I smile at the memories of Pandora that pass through my mind. Alex's phone, which had been lying on the table, buzzed.
"Jack, we gotta go." Alex said, looking up from his phone. Jack sighed.
"Okay. I'm gonna walk Annalise back to Allison's. I'll meet you there." Jack said and stood up. I followed suit.
"You don't have too. It's not too far." I grabbed my backpack off the floor and threw it over my shoulder.
"I'm not about to let you walk back alone. The point of this," He gestured back and forth between us and the table, "is to prove that I'm a responsible guardian." Jack said firmly. I sighed in defeat.
"Fine." He smiled which in turn made me smile. And so the two of us made our way out of the shop and down the street toward the group home.
   He was everything I could have asked for in a parent. He was loud, funny, weird, but sweet and patient and kind. I started picking up on the little things he did like tilting his head to the side when he was listening intently or playing with hem of shirt while he talked. Somehow he managed to be loud and crazy while also being shy and quiet. We got along so well and eventually I figure out why, but to begin with I chalked it up to luck or destiny or some crap like that. I think though what really caused me to get attached to him was the fact that he understood. He probably didn't think I would notice, but while we were with Alex and Lisa he would always glance at them and get a sad look in his eyes.
  We were both looking for something. Someone to love and be loved by. We needed something and we found it in each other.