How to Fall in Love in Three Easy Steps

Chapter 6

Days passed, and the complete failure of a party was in the past. With each new day, Jack thought of Alex more and more, like a child thinks of candy or carnivals. Everyday, Jack would become excited for third period English, where he sat with Alex each day. Alex was making a home in his brain, where Jack got comfortable with thoughts of kissing him and holding him. All of these thoughts were frightening to Jack, and the fact that he was becoming more at home with them terrified him.

Physics was one of those classes that Jack could never pay attention to. It was like someone shut off his brain for those forty five minutes, just so he wouldn't understand a single piece of the information. He was really trying to stay concentrated, but as he stared at the board, he felt all his confusion rush back in.

Jack squeezed the bridge of his nose gently, trying to concentrate on the board once more, but only to be defeated by his thoughts.

"Where is Alex right now?" he wondered.

Suddenly Jack got an urge he hadn't felt in many weeks: to skip class. He raised his hand and the teacher, Miss Bartoletta, stopped teaching all together to stare at Jack.

"Yes?" she spit sharply.

"May I use the restroom?"

She gave a slight gesture of her hand towards the door, giving Jack the ok. He bolted out of his chair, grabbing the pass and running out the door, not unlike someone who was frantic to use the toilet. As he walked towards the bathroom, he glanced into each classroom, hoping to find Alex's flawless profile staring blankly at the board.

The door to the boy's bathrooms was locked shut, which perplexed Jack. How the hell was he supposed to hide from physics now? Then he noticed the small sign on the door that read "out of order." Silently, he swore and kicked the door softly.

He began to wander the halls aimlessly, unsure of where to go and what to do. Slowly, his thoughts drifted towards English. The idea of being near Alex caused the giddiness to raise in Jack's chest, but it was repressed by the reminder that he would have to present his project today. Although Alex would be right there next to him, he wasn't sure of how well he was going to do. The book still confused him, with it's intricate symbols and deep themes causing his brain to freeze up. This was not something he wanted to fuck up for Alex, and for himself as well. Jack's grades weren't a huge concern to him, but if he ruined some part of Alex's life, whether it big or small, he would hate himself more than anything in the world.

Just as he began to argue with himself, Jack walked straight into someone.

"Shit!" Jack yelled.

"Sorry, Jack. Didn't see you there."

Jack lifted his eyes up to find no one other than Alex. His stomach tied up in knots almost as quickly as he'd ran out of physics class. As usual, Alex looked absolutely perfect, with his hair swept across his forehead, his sculpted arms surrounded by a white, cotton long-sleeved shirt. Jack pulled his eyes away from Alex and focused on a poster on the wall behind Alex promoting the school's various extracurriculars.

"Why aren't you in class?" Alex asked with a sly grin plastered on his face.

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. Didn't feel like it, I guess."

"Wanna go out?"

Jack's heart dropped to his stomach, where it beat faster than ever before.

What had he just said?

"W-What?"

Alex pointed to the side door, almost invisible due to all the ads plastered on it's wood panels.