The boy by the window - Jalex

7

Jack got the results of his exams the following week, and he had indeed failed maths. His parents shouted at him, saying he hadn't studied enough and that he was grounded until the day he had passed that damn exam, which was in two weeks time. Jack stayed dull and steady, already expecting the yelling and humiliation from this parents. He had been raised to succeed, and that meant being the one who got the best grades until he had finished his education.

He locked himself in his room, laid down and stared at the ceiling above him.

Something hit his window and he rolled his eyes knowing it was Alex being annoying again. He wasn't in the mood, so he got up, looked at the other boy who was staring back at him with the same dullness that was covering the younger's face, and shut the curtain.

He felt guilty for a second but relaxation washed over him as he thought of what a huge of an asshole Alex really was.

Half an hour later, his dad stood by his door telling him that they were off to go grocery shopping, anger still on his face. Jack only nodded and let his dad leave without uttering a word.

Once they left the house, Jack made himself some mac and cheese and sat by the TV in the living room.

"Wanna hang out?" He got a text from Zack.

"Sure. Come over?"

"Be there in 15"

He quickly did the dishes and tidied his room so it wouldn't look so much of a mess. Zack had been his friends for years and he knew Jack wasn't all that messy, but when it came to those days when Jack felt like utter shit, oh boy, the younger could be a mess quite literally. 

"Hey man" Zack greeted and walked himself to the living room to make himself at home.

"How were your results?" He asked once he was comfortable all laid out on the sofa. 

"I've failed maths" He admitted and shrugged, as if it didn't matter. 

"Awesome. I've failed geometry, maths and physics"

"Yeah well, I'm grounded until I take the test again and pass it"

"Woah, harsh parents"

"You know them"

They watched TV and chatted until Jack's parents got home about an hour later. 

"Jack, I told you you're grounded" His father growled when he saw Zack on the sofa. 

"Right. Erm, I'll see you tomorrow Zack"

"Yeah, bye everyone"

Jack's parents were arguing about him so he thought going up to his room would be the best idea.

His curtain was still shut, so he opened it to let the evening light come into his room. Alex's lights were off but his window was open and gray smoke came out of the room. He rolled his eyes and went to sleep.

-

Saturday rolled around and Jack found himself at the grocery store with a bag of crisps and candy under his arm.

He walked slowly through the aisles, not really looking for anything in particular, when he walked into a familiar blonde guy. He stared at him for a second until Alex turned around to face him.

"Oh, hi Jack" He said as he picked up toasted bread.

"Hi. Why aren't you at work?" The younger asked furrowing his eyebrows and looking at Alex up and down.

"I technically am. We've run out of bread and milk" Alex showed him the milk that was in his basket and pointed at it. 

"Oh, fun. I'll see you around" Jack turned around and started to leave.