"Wake up or you're going to be late for your first day of school!"
Young Jack woke abruptly to the sound of his mother banging on the door.
"Okay!" he yelled back letting her know he was awake so she'd leave him alone. He sighed in annoyance and rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He yawned loudly as he slowly got himself to sit up. He turned and slid of the side of the bed and got to his feet as he stretched his arms high into the air. He had the worst taste in his mouth and his eyes felt heavy. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes again.
"Ugh" another yet more annoyed groan was made as he saw that it was only 5:40 am. The sun hasn't even begun to rise yet. He never understood how his parents could just wake up so easily in the mornings.
He made his way over to the big pile of clothes lying around on the floor. Both dirty and clean pants and shirts lay all over the place and on top of each other. His parents tried their best to get him to organize his things but he didn't really listen nor did he even really care. He picked up the most reasonably clean clothes he had. It was some kind of black shirt, probably a band t shirt, and some skinny jeans. They didn't smell like sweat or dirt and they didn't have any stains on them so he assumed they were clean. He then replaced his old clothes with the new ones he had found.
Jack lazily walked out of his room and went into the bathroom that was just at the end of the hall. He turned on the lights which nearly blinded him and he turned on the sink faucet. He grabbed his blue tooth brush and squeezed a small amount of toothpaste on the bristles. He put it under the water, causing some of the paste to fall off, and then began to brush his teeth. Not even a minute later, he spit out the minty foam into the sink and rinsed out his mouth with some water. He turned off the water and looked up into the mirror. He ran his finger through his hair and ruffled it up as if to substitute brushing it. It looked messy yet oddly attractive at the same time. He enjoyed making himself look as though he just didn't give a shit about his appearance. Girls usually found him attractive that way. He also put on some deodorant to make sure he didn't smell like shit all day.
He turned off the light on his way out and shut the door behind him. He walked down the stairs into the living room to find his shoes where he usually left them. His favorite pair of Vans were lying next to the couch where is mother always puts them.
"Are you going to eat something?" Jack's mother asked.
"No" he replied as he put on his shoes.
"Why not, Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" she tried to coax him.
"I think I'll be alright" he retorted. His mother sighed as she knew she couldn't make that boy do anything. Jack picked up his back pack and threw it over his shoulder.
"You got my car keys?" he turned to his mother. She sighed and reluctantly tossed him the keys to his car. Jack caught them in midair, he then turned to leave out the door but his mother stopped him.
"Are you not going to say good bye?" she asked. Jack let out a small sigh and walked over to his mom, planting a small kiss on her head.
"Bye mom. I'll see you later" he said before turning away again.
"Have a good day, sweetie" she said happily before he left out the door. He closed the door behind him on his way out and walked down the front porch steps and over to his car which was parked in their drive way. The sun was slowly making its way up into the sky. The sky was now a dark shade a blue, instead of pitch black. He unlocked his car door and climbed in, closing the door back as he sat down. He put his car keys in the ignition and started the car. He threw his back pack on the passenger seat. He pulled out his iPod and plugged it into the stereo, blasting Blink-182. Jack loved to start his day of with some music, it always seemed to make the day a little more bearable. He pulled out of the driveway and began making his way towards Dulaney high school.
He was really nervous about going to a new school. Jack was 17 now, going on into his junior year. You'd think an attractive young man like Jack wouldn't have any problem with making friends or getting girls but he actually does. He has a really great personality and a great appearance; he just dislikes most of the people around him. He tries talking to people but they're either too lame or too annoying. He never really fit in much. Everyone had their own little clique to go to; Jack just sat alone with the comfort of his music. Even at lunch he sat alone, finding satisfaction in his iPod. When the teacher was done with their lessons, he would sit there at his desk listening to music while all the other classmates just talked to each other. Sometimes teachers would send him to the counselor saying he's depressed. The truth though was he just enjoyed being alone. He'd told himself he would much rather be alone than hang out with people who didn't even like. It seemed like every year he became more and more antisocial.
It did get lonely sometimes though. Never having anyone to talk about your favorite bands and TV shows with, not having anyone come over to your house to play video games with you, no one to text when you're bored. Jack always tried to make the best of it though. He saw it as a chance to just have some peace and quiet. Never having anyone to let you down, no one getting on your nerves, having all the time in the world to do what you want, not having any burdens. He couldn't deny it though, he hated not having someone to talk to, to laugh with, and to go places with but he tried his hardest not to depress himself. His mom was probably his closest friend, and not to mention his pet goldfish, Larry, who he often neglected. He honestly enjoyed spending time with his mom though. Watching movies and cooking dinner with her. He still needed someone with his sense of humor and style though, he couldn't exactly talk vulgar around his mom or she would have a heart attack, nor does she like his, as she called it 'rebel music', which made him laugh.
Jack was hoping to make at least one good friend this year. This new school looked like it was a lot larger than his old one back home. A few songs later, Jack finally got closer and closer to the school. He found himself pulling into the parking lot, his heart now beating faster as reality hit him. He found his designated parking spot and pulled in. A sigh was made as he turned the car off by twisting the keys towards him. He unplugged his iPod and replaced the cord with headphones, placing them in his ears and slipping the device in his back pocket. He picked up his backpack as he opened the door. He threw the backpack over his shoulder as he stood up. He shut the door and made sure to lock it before walking off. Hesitantly, he made his way up to the entrance of the school building. His feet stopped and he froze in fear as he stood there in front of the door. It felt as though he was close to having a panic attack at this point. It was weird; he couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous about something. He sighed to try and relief some of the stress, he then decided it was time to grow a pair so he swallowed hard and opened the door to walk inside.
The smell of teen angst hit him in the face. Not really, it was just the smell of the hallways. He had never smelled anything like it before though; it was all new to him. It was weird because he couldn't explain it, almost like explaining what water tastes like. The further he walked the more people he saw, many different and new faces of boys and girls. Some threw glances back at him, some seemed flirty, some curious, some scoffed. Everyone seemed to be in their own special little group with their friends while Jack just stood there all by himself. He walked mindlessly through the hallway, not really knowing where to go or what to do, he felt so out of place and awkward. The sound of loud chatter filled every inch of the hallways; everyone excited about seeing their friends again and starting their new classes.
Suddenly he heard a loud ringing noise and all the groups started to scatter which obviously meant that it was time to start class. Jack pulled out his schedule list and it said his first class was English in room 107. He had no clue where that was. He looked around and saw another boy who had semi long brown hair; it was messy and a little wavy. He was a little bit shorter than Jack too. The boy seemed approachable so he began walking towards him. He cleared his throat;
"Hey" Jack said and the boy turned around, obviously not expecting to see him.
"Sup" the boy replied with a friendly smile.
"I like your shirt" he said when his eyes met his shirt. Jack hadn't realized he had put on a New Found Glory t-shirt.
"Thanks but, uhm, I was wondering if you could tell me where this class is" he pointed to his schedule and the boy squinted his eyes at it.
"Oh, I'm going there too. You can just follow me but I'm telling you now, she's kind of a bitch, so I've heard" he said still smiling.
"Great" Jack said slightly agitated at the thought.
"Let's go" he said pointing to the other end of the hallway with his thumb. They then set off to the classroom, Jack following the newly met boy. They soon found themselves in front of room 107 and they walked in, Jack still following behind. They took their seats in the back of class next to each other.
"Hey, Rian, who's the new kid?" a kid with long shaggy hair sitting behind Rian asked.
"I don't know. What's your name?" Rian asked turning to Jack.
"I'm Jack" he said with a small half smile.
"I'm Zack" said the boy with the long messy hair.
"-and I'm Rian" said the other boy.
"Yeah, I kind of caught that" Jack smiled a little more. Rian shrugged with a smile back to Jack.
"This sucks; we have Mrs. Charlotte for this class now." said Zack.
"At least she's better than Mrs. Yankee" said Rian.
"Who's Mrs. Yankee? What happened to her?" Jack felt like including himself in the conversation.
"I heard she got caught doing drugs or something" Zack said lowering his voice a little. Jack just smirked in slight disbelief. The kinds of rumors kids like to make up.
"Whatever though, she was a bitch. She gave me detention once for talking when I was just trying to get some paper off of someone" Rian exclaimed.
"Sounds like she needs to get laid" Jack joked. Rian and Zack laughed a little which pleased Jack. Not even an hour and things were going good so far, though he tried not to get his hopes up too high, things could go downhill any minute.
Suddenly the bell rang again, signaling it was time to start class. A young woman walked in the class, her hair up in a tight and neat bun, thick rimmed black glasses on her face, about 5'8" and probably 160 pounds. She seemed in a hurry and she was carrying a large stack of books and folders which she quickly dropped them down on her desk. She sighed in relief.
"Good morning class" she said brightly, only receiving a few good mornings back from the students.
"I'm going to pass this paper around the classroom and I want you to all put your name on it" he pulled out a paper and handed it to the first person in the first row of desks.
"She doesn't seem that bad" Jack said to Rian and Zack.
"Yeah, she can be really annoying though. She talks too much and tries to make stupid puns and she also has her really bitchy days. I don't know, just try to stay on her good side" Rian shrugged, Zack nodding in agreement as he looked at Jack.
"Stupid puns? That's cute I guess" Jack shrugged. The paper slowly made its way around the room and finally made it to Jack. He wrote down his name in his usual sloppy hand writing then passed it to Zack, who wrote down his name quite fancily, not what Jack was expecting but whatever. The paper then went to Rian and then off to the next random person. Once the paper was handed back to the teacher she began to talk again.
"Okay I'm just going to talk about a few rules in here; please be respectful to one another. I don't like you guys sharing homework answers. I don't care if you eat in here or listen to your iPods, but no texting." She continued blabbing on. After that she started passing out English text books, having everyone tell her which book number they got so at the end of the semester she could see who kept up with theirs and who has to pay to buy another one, even though no one really ever had to. As soon as Zack and Rian got their books they began drawing inappropriate things in them like a couple of immature 9 year olds. Jack had to admit it was pretty funny though. All the penises and stupid insults like 'ur a fag', and his personal favorite: 'butt sniffer'.
"You guys are so stupid" he laughed. Rian and Zack smiled widely at the comment.
"Yeah but we're fucking hilarious" Rian said confidently.
"You just keep telling yourself that" Jack teased.
"Listen here you little shit" he joked, Zack laughing at the two of them. The teacher hushed the class so she could go on to talk about the week's lesson.
"Now that it's already been almost an hour I kind of want to go home now" Jack said to the two even though he wasn't looking at the teacher.
"Me too" Rian agreed. Almost another hour later after mindlessly turning through a text book and listening to the teacher talk about boring English stuff it was already almost time to move on to second period.
"What class do you have next?" Zack asked. Jack began shuffling through his pockets for his schedule paper and pulled it out.
"Algebra 2" he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Damn, I have U.S. History" he replied.
"-and I have Spanish" said Rian.
"Oh well. I can show you where you'll next class will be though" he offered.
"Okay" Jack let out a small sigh. 'Looks like algebra class is going to be pretty boring' he thought. Soon after, the bell rang and everyone began frantically packing their things away. Jack threw his back pack over his shoulder again and waited on Rian to show him the way to his next class. On their way out along with the rest of the students the teacher called out to them.
"See you tomorrow" she said, getting no replies. Thankfully his algebra class wasn't that far of a walk. Jack and Rian said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. He stepped in the room and found himself a desk to sit in as he watched the classroom fill quickly. The teacher for this class arrived a little bit earlier than the first one from his English class. Her name was Mrs. Averill, or so he assumed because it was written on the board in front of the entire class. She was short and stocky, short black hair that rested on her shoulders, and thing golden rimmed glasses. She couldn't of been younger than 35. She announced that there would be assigned seats and a loud irritated groan echoed throughout the whole room. Jack never had a problem with assigned seats, considering he didn't have any friends. Except for when he was placed between to friends who constantly talked to one another over him. After waiting patiently for his seat to be called, the teacher pointed to a desk sitting in the far left corner and said "Jack Barakat". He made his way over there and sat down. He was soon disappointed to find that everyone sitting around him was a girl, but not just any kind of girl, the annoying preppy kind who always talked about cute boys and obsessed over their hair and usually talked a load of bullshit about other girls that they didn't like.
So far things were going fine. The teacher had handed out a worksheet to everyone to work on and he sat there quietly, not even really caring about his work but still answering a few questions, until a couple of girls tried to flirt with him. Their voices were so high pitched; their skin looked as if they went to the tanning bed at least 8 times a week and their hair were bleached beyond healthy. They wouldn't stop commenting on how 'cute' he was. Eventually though they got the hint that he wasn't interested when he wouldn't compliment them back so they left him alone. He heard them whispering things like "so lame" and "boring". He didn't care though. He was never interested in girls like that.
After a long and painful hour it was finally time to go on to study hall. It was only for 30 minutes so he just sat there and doodled in his notebook and listened to some music. Once that was over it was time to go to first lunch. He wasn't worried about not having someone to sit with, but more worried about not having a table to sit at. Tons of students were gathered in the hallway making their way to the cafeteria. He just made his way through the crowd like everyone else. He walked in there and stood there, feeling awkward that he didn't know where to sit. He looked left and right but the place was so big. Suddenly he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He turned around and was pleased to see it was Rian.
"You have first lunch? Cool." He smiled
"Obviously" he smiled back. Rian motioned him to follow him to a table that he and Zack were sitting at with a couple of their other friends. They walked over and sat down across from each other, Zack sitting to Jack's right. He was already stuffing his face with french fries.
"You going to eat?" Rian asked.
"Nah, I hate school food" he replied.
"What do you expect? This isn't a 5 star restaurant" said Zack.
"I expect fucking lobster" Jack banged his hand down on the table earning a laugh from them.
"So how was algebra?" Rian asked.
"It wasn't that bad until these annoying girls named Shayna and Allison tried to flirt with me" he said.
"Do you know how many guys would love to bang them?" said Zack in disbelief.
"Yeah, well, I'll pass" Jack said looking slightly disgusted.
"What class do you have next?" Rian asked.
"Band, I think" he replied.
"So do we!" Zack said.
"Cool" Jack smiled.
"What instrument do you play?" Rian asked.
"Guitar" he replied.
"Me too!" Zack high fived him.
"I play drums" Rian butted in.
"Nice" Jack said in response. Rian and Zack managed to finish their lunches before it was time to go to band class. Jack was a little excited to finally start that class. He never got to before and now that he was going to he was also going to have some friends to talk to. The trio made their way to the band room which was much further from the rest of the classrooms, probably so the noise wouldn't disturb other classes, though it took them a few minutes to get there. As they got closer Jack noticed a man standing in front of the door. He was a charming young man, couldn't of been older than 25. He had sandy brown hair and a little bit of stubble on his face. He was wearing a dark red dress shirt and the sleeves were rolled up past his elbows. He was wearing black trousers and accessorized with a black tie. As soon as they got to the door the bell had rung and it was time to start class.
"Good to see you boneheads could make it" he said with a friendly smirk. Then his eyes met Jack's.
"I see you guys have finally made a friend, wow" he teased.
"I know, aren't you proud of us!" Zack joked.
"Yup, it's going in the scrap book. Now get in so I can teach" he said in a playfully serious tone. They walked inside, the teacher following behind them, closing the door. The boys took their seats among their classmates as the teacher walked up to the board.
"I am going to be your guys' teacher this year. For those of you who don't know, my name is Mr. Gaskarth" he picked up a blue marker.
"Alex Gaskarth. That's Gas-K-A-R-T-H" he wrote his name out on the board for everyone to see.
"Now let's go over some rules" he put down the marker.
"So let's say Rian here just decides that 'Hey, screw you, Mr. Gaskarth I don't have to listen to you' and it puts me in a bad mood. When I'm in a bad mood, no one is in a good mood. Then I have to go home and smack my wife around and yell at the kids. Then the cops have to come and take me away" he said as all the students started laughing.
"Nah, I'm just kidding. But don't piss me off guys" he smiled.
"I don't have a wife" he said in a way that meant 'I would if I had one though'.
"Now, I don't care if you guys cuss just as long as I don't hear it. Also, if you're going to chew gum in here you'd better share with me." He said.
"And no texting, I swear to god I will sell your phones on eBay." he added.
"Now I want any new students to come up to me and tell me what instrument they will be learning this year" he said as he walked over to his desk. Jack and a couple of other students stood up and made their way over to his desk. Jack was the last in line so he waited patiently as the two girls in front of him told the teacher about what instrument they would be playing. Soon enough it was his turn to tell him so he walked up to him, only a couple feet away. He finished up what he was writing and looked up at the multicolored haired boy. He made a small smile when their eyes met.
"Ah, hello their mr…."
"Jack" he smiled back.
"Ah, Mr. Jack. What will you be practicing this year?" he asked with his pen ready.
"Guitar" he replied.
"ooh" he he cooed with interest.
"Looks like Zack has some competition" he made a devilish laugh causing Jack to laugh a little at the hilarity of the sound.
"Oh, and I like your shirt" he said before Jack turned away.
"Thanks" he nodded before returning to his seat. As soon as he sat down Mr. Gaskarth stood back up.
"Well since we still have an hour and twenty minutes left" he said looking down at his wrist watch"
"-and I'm stuck with you morons, let's just go around the room and say a little about ourselves, shall we? Who would like to go first?" he raised his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together to seem as if he were anticipated. Zack raised his hand first.
"Zack we already know you're gay. You don't have to say anything" Mr. Gaskarth teased, giggles filling the room.
"Haha, very funny" he said sarcastically, smiling and rolling his eyes.
"Well then, go ahead and tell the class what you were really going to say" he gave him a sharp nod. Zack turned to the rest of the class.
"Most of you already know me but my name is Zack and I really like food" he announced.
"Is food some kind of slang for men?" the teacher smiled mischievously. Zack rolled his eyes again and sat back down as Rian stood up next.
"Hi guys, my name is Rian and Zack is my lover" he looked to Zack with a cheeky smile, who was giving him the 'fuck you' look. More giggles filled the room.
"You guys have been in this class since your freshman year, we all know this" said Mr. Gaskarth. Rian sat back down, looking at Zack, pleased with himself. Zack was just giving him the 'go fuck yourself' look, Jack just laughing at the two.
"What about you, Mr. Jack?" the teacher turned to him, a half smile on his face.
"Uhm, that's confidential information. You already know my name and that's too much" he said jokingly.
"Is the government going to take you away?" he chuckled.
"Yep" Jack nodded.
"Alright, fair enough then" he smiled back. The rest of the class got a chance to say something about themselves, wasting an hour of the class.
"Okay, well, it seems we're almost out of time" Mr. Gaskarth looked down at his wrist watch again.
"Thank god" he whispered but still loud enough for the class to hear.
"I'll see you all tomorrow, agreed?" he looked around the class who either said "yep" or "Agreed". He walked back over to his desk and sat down on his chair and began typing on his computer.
"You likin' band so far?" Rian turned to Jack.
"Yeah, the teacher's pretty cool" he said.
"Dude, everyone likes him. Almost every girl in this school thinks he's hot." said Zack. The teacher looked up to the ceiling as the belly went off. Everyone began getting up and leaving out the classroom. Gaskarth got up just as the last few students were leaving.
"Ah, Mr. Jack" he said as he stepped closer to him. Jack turned around to him.
"You can start bringing your instrument tomorrow" he said, holding the door open to him.
"Okay, cool." He smiled.
"Can't wait to hear you play." He grinned politely. Jack just gave him a small nod then turned to leave. Mr. Gaskarth watched the students leave until they were out of sight before returning to his room.
-
Later that day Jack drove back home once school had ended. He had't realized how tired he was until he sat back in his car. He knew he'd had to try his best to stay awake this afternoon so he wouldn't fall asleep and be awake all night. He pulled into his driveway and got out of his car. He grabbed his backpack and walked up to his front door, opening it then walking in. His mom was sitting on the couch with her laptop but she looked up from the screen to Jack. He walked over and sat down on the recliner, dropping his backpack on the ground next to it.
"How was school today?" she asked cheerfully.
"It was good" he replied sounding pleasant.
"Really? Did you make any friends?" she asked.
"Actually, yeah, I did" Jack smiled softly. Her jaw dropped as if she were surprised.
"Really?" she sounded excited. Jack just nodded and smiled a little bigger.
"That's great! Maybe now you can go out and do things on the weekend!" she exclaimed happily
"Okay mom, I know you want to get rid of me-" he started to joke.
"Oh, hush, that's not what i meant. You just stay cooped up in your room all the time. It's about time you started bringing friends over and going out and doing stuff" she explained.
"Most moms don't like their kids going out so much" Jack said. She just shrugged. He felt really good now, knowing he made his mom happy today.
"What are we having for dinner tonight?" he turned to her again. She just looked at him and put her hands on her hips.
"You just came through the door and you're already asking about food?" she raised an eyebrow. He just shrugged and chuckled. She just let out a small sigh and looked back to her computer.
"I'll look up something to make here in a minute." she said. Jack replied with an 'Okay' and got up to leave to his bedroom. He opened the door and plopped down on the bed. He pulled out his cell phone and began listening to music. The first song to started playing was Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne. He hummed to the lyrics as he started going through his Myspace. Not too many messages. So he pulled out his homework assignments that were handed out today. Not much, just a couple of really easy sheets. One of them was from Algebra and the other was from Spanish. He began working on the Spanish work sheet, now humming the lyrics to The Anthem by Good Charlotte.
Jack had suddenly found himself doodling all over a sheet of paper, writing song lyrics and drawing random and inappropriate things. He sighed and cursed when he saw that he barely finished any of his homework. He usually got distracted from work very easily. This was the main reason why he would fail classes at school. He always had to come up with bullshit excuses why he didn't have his homework to turn in the next day. Then he'd get 30 points taken off for turning them in 5 days late. He ran his fingers roughly through his hair and looked over to his phone. He pressed the 'home button' and the clock read 6:14 pm. He figured his dad would be home soon and his mom was probably about to start making dinner. He realized his sister hadn't come home that day. He just shrugged and assumed that she was out with her friends like she always was. He closed his notebook and stood up from his bed and stretched. He walked out and he could smell food being cooked. He followed the smell into the kitchen and saw his mom making what looked like stir fry.
"Ugh, mom! I'm so hungry!" he groaned throwing his arms around her.
"It's almost done!" he said trying to push him off.
"Okay, mom" he smiled and let her go. He decided to waste time by taking a shower now, in hopes his hair would be dry later before he went to bed. Also, when he got out,more than likely the food would be ready. He made his way to the bathroom which was down the hallway. He walked in and closed the door behind him, locking it. He turned on the shower to the desired temperature and stripped down of his clothing. He stepped in and instantly developed chill bumps on his skin as the warm water ran down his body. It was really relaxing. He let is soak his hair before shampooing and conditioning. Shower time was usually the time of day where Jack did a lot of thinking. He got ideas and would sometimes over-think in the shower. He was thinking about his day at school today, wondering about how his friendship with Rian and Zack would end up like. Then he thought about how hard school work was going to get. He then began thinking about band class and how it was going to probably really fun. Probably not, but hey, it's something new. Not to mention the teacher, Mr. Gaskarth. He was really funny and sarcastic. Definitely someone Jack could get used to. He never really liked his teachers before except maybe a few in his whole life. Though if he had to chose, he'd rather talk to other teachers than other classmates. At least they were more mature and not so, well, stupid.
He turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing the towel he placed on the toilet, which was waiting for him. He put it over his head first and tried drying off his hair. Then he wrapped it around his waist. He took a quick glance in the mirror before leaving to his room. He continued to dry off and put back on some clothes. He just put on some boxers and a T-shirt, deciding it was late and no need to wear pants in his own home. He looked out the window and saw that his dad's car was home, meaning he would be here to eat dinner with him and his mom. Yet May, his sister, was still not home. He just shrugged, knowing he wouldn't miss her anyways.
After a slightly awkward dinner just talking to his parents about his day, and for some reason his dad telling him he needed to start thinking about a job, he decided it was time to call it a day and headed to bed. He told his mom goodnight while his dad just went out to the garage to chill, so no point in bothering him. Jack walked his sleepy head to his room and laid back down on the bed. He set an alarm on his phone, hoping he would actually wake up to it this time. His eyes closed as he slowly drifted into a deep sleep, thinking if this next week of school would turn out to be better than expected.
Okay, sorry if the ending seemed kind of rushed! (because it was...). im really going to try my hardest to do the best i can! i hope you continue to read
-xoxo