A/N: What to say, what to say? Well, there's a lot of weird pairings. A lot of the solid pairings come into play later. (un-beta'd)
Starts off centering around All Time Low, with appearances by My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Hey Monday, and more I think.
Please suspend your disbelief for a moment and join me on a journey to the mysterious Chicago-land high school where our story takes place...
Jack sat at the edge of the clearing, watching the sun set. He could be at home right now. In fact, he should be at home. But what's the point of going back to a place where all you get is criticism and condemnation? It's the same reason he hated school; not because he was stupid, but because everybody hated him. He supposed he had brought this on himself. Everyone thought he had changed so much this year, since the fire.
Everyone had lived, and not much had been damaged. The source of the fire was unknown. Could've been anything from a candle to the pilot light in the kitchen. But, the damage to the walls and smoke damage forced them to leave his childhood home for good. For Jack, the move wasn't that bad. It didn't matter anymore. In fact, the house burning down seemed insignificant. Something worse has happened earlier that year. Something he told no one...
"Are we really going to do this?" Joyce murmured. "This seems crazy." She sighed and shook her head. They had to do this. They had to do it for Jack, for their family. It would be great. It had potential.
Alex got up and stretched. "Time for bed, I guess" he muttered, looking down at the essay that lay on his desk. "Fuck, that was fun." He crawled into bed and turned off the light. Writhing under the sweltering blankets, he pulled off his socks, and then undid his bright green belt. Then the skinny jeans came off, all forming a pile next to his bed. Silence. And suddenly a bright red light shined on the ceiling. bmmm. bmmm. The sound of his phone vibrating on his nightstand.
He rolled over and grabbed it. "Goddammit who is it. fucking midnight and ugh" he sighed. It was Rian. 'Zack's gonna do it Alex! Zack's really gonna kill himself! You have to call him! I'm only gonna make it worse!'
Alex deadpanned at the dramatic text.
(again?)
He didn't really feel like calling Zack, so he just texted him some bullshit about how everything was gonna be fine and how no one would know what to do without him. And then he rolled back over and went to bed.
Jack woke up as the first bits of sun glittered through his shades. There was something heavy hanging in the air, and Jack didn't like it one bit. Quickly, he grabbed a pair of black and bleached skinny jeans, and a Blink-182 t-shirt. Then he walked into the bathroom. Deodorant, teeth, straightener, hair gel. Time to go see what was going on downstairs.
Stealthily, he crept down the staircase, keeping all his weight on his toes. He peered around the corner. Mom cooking. Dad at the table. Little girl at the table? Light golden-brown hair under a black beanie, and from what he could see, a brown t-shirt.
(what the fuck?)
Jack came fully out from behind the wall, and into the kitchen. "Hey Mom. Dad."
"Oh, Jack! You're awake. Come here. We'd like you to meet Shannon. Shannon, honey, come say hello to Jack." The little girl pushed the chair away from the table and stood up. She turned around to look at him. Shannon was about ten, to Jack's sixteen. She came up to about the middle of his chest.
Jack looked her up and down. Sneakers with green on them. Dark colored jeans. Brown short sleeve deep-v t-shirt, and a neon green undershirt which matched her sneakers. Then he looked at her face. Her brown hair tumbled over her shoulders and she looked up at him with slate-grey eyes that shined blue in the kitchen light.
"Hi Jack." Her voice was light, and it held the quality of being detached. She seemed to be completely here, and yet she sounded like she was off somewhere else.
"Hey Shan." Jack wasn't entirely sure what was going on. But he had to get to school, nonetheless. "I gotta go." He murmured to his mom, grabbing his backpack off the kitchen floor and heading towards the door.
"We'll talk when you get home!" Joyce called out after him.
Alex spewed garbage at his alarm clock as it went off, and smashed at the sleep button with a closed fist. Then he grabbed his phone off the nightstand. A text from Zack. "Thanks Alex, you always know what to say." Alex laughed.
Rolling off his bed, he stumbled to the bathroom, performing all the same tasks as Jack was at his house. Alex looked at his gelled hair and cussed. It looked awful. Quickly he ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up, and pulled a beanie over it. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "CRAP GOTTA GO!"
Alex ran out the house and to his car. "Another day as Jesus H Gaskarth." he sighed and threw the car into drive.
Jack floated down the halls of this unfamiliar high school, the one he had attended since the fire had forced them to move. Jack had been here for three months, and still hardly had any friends. But he supposed he had brought that on himself. Carrying the weight of the secret like a padlock on his heart.
Not to mention Shannon. Why exactly was there a ten year old girl in his house? A sudden thought entered his mind as though carried to him on a cold wind.
(they adopted her)
What? Why? Jack was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Alex was as well, and neither boy saw that they were about to run into each other. Jack's books tumbled onto the ground and Alex's phone fell out of his hands and broke. Both boys grabbed at the pieces of the phone before they collected Jack's books, muttering sorries.
Finally Jack looked up at the boy. Instantly his heart jumped, and his breath stopped. Quickly recognizing the formings of a crush on this extraordinarily attractive boy, he felt sick to his stomach.
(not again)
This boy watched the emotions play across Jack's face. Startled, pensive, embarrassed, sick, and then terrified. Jack gathered his things quickly.
(i have to get out of here, i'm going to throw up, oh god, oh god)
Then the boy in front of him smiled; a smiled that sent Jack racing. Which in turn made him more sick.
"I'm Alex," he said.
"Jack," Jack mumbled.
"Well, I'll see you around, Jack." Alex said, still with that smile on his face. He stood up and walked away.
His back thudded against the cold metal of the bathroom stall. "Sorry," Zack breathed.
"Don't be," came the reply. He moved his hands slowly up underneath Zack's shirt, feeling his muscular back and finger-tipping up his spine. Zack shivered and started kissing along his jawline, moving down his neck. He lifted Zack's chin and looked into his eyes. Zack pressed closer to him and bit the boy's lip.
The bathroom door opened and both boys jumped apart. They heard whistling from outside their stall. Suddenly they saw Pete's head poke under the stall. "Hello boys. Having fun?" Pete winked at them and left. Zack kissed the other boy one last time and left the bathroom stall.
"I'll call you tonight!" the boy called. Zack smiled for the first time in a long time.
Alex was speechless. There was a boy who was in trouble. Not to mention he
(was cute)
must've been new or something, because Alex was sure he'd never seen him around before. This boy, Jack, was clearly dealing with something big; Alex had a gift for sensing these things. It was a gift most useful with teachers. They always thought he was so sensitive and caring because he could tell when they had personal baggage they wanted to vent. And his friends thought he was the wisest and most experienced person out of them.
Maybe he was only a sophomore, but he was damned popular. ...And he still hadn't met Jack before. What, did this Jack kid not have any friends? Nevermind that, Alex had to talk to him again. Alex walked into his science class, and saw Juliette talking to Zack.
(juliette!)
Juliette was basically the school gossip. If Alex wanted to know more about Jack, she was the girl to go to. He approached them, instantly noting how Zack seemed different... more confident. Happier? Not happy, more... giddy. That's the word.
(zack's fly is undone)
Alex raised his eyebrows at Zack. "Who is it?" he asked.
"Who is who?" Zack looked down at the ground.
"That girl you must've been making out in the hall with."
Zack looked at him with wide eyes. "Your fly is down, and you look like you've been touched by an angel." Alex explained. "So who is it?"
"I... uh..." Zack stammered.
"Alright, whatever. We'll talk later. Julie, I need stats." He changed the subject, and Zack breathed a sigh of relief, even though he wasn't completely off the hook. Alex was bi, but how would he explain to him that it was a guy he'd been making out with and not a girl? Everyone thought Zack was straight-edge straight.
"On who?" she didn't even look up at him.
"Jack." He said.
"Jack... who, Alex?"
"Umm... I don't know his last name, I just ran into him in the hall today. I think he's new? Kinda nervous? Quiet? Stunningly good-looking?"
"Jack Barakat." Juliette pursed her lips. "Hot. Damn." she shook her head. "Alright, well here's what I know: 1) he moved here at the beginning of the year 2) he moved here because his house was burned down in a fire 3) he has like, no friends because he's so damn shy 4) he's a sophomore... and I think that's all I got."
"You don't know if he's gay or straight or anything?"
"How would I? He doesn't talk to anyone!"
"Hm. Thanks Julie. I owe you a piece of gossip."
"Duly noted." She smiled.
A/N: This is my first story, so easy on the hate. I know it seems a little patchy and messy, but it'll start to flow more once we get deeper into the story. I'm on a weekly update schedule, so I'll see ya'll next week!