How To Tame The Beasts -- Alex Gaskarth Fan Fic

Chapter One

"I'm so pumped for tonight!" Jack exclaimed, pumping his hand into the air enthusiastically and ignoring the glances from the few people that walked past my locker.  It was the end of the day, and even though it was a new semester and our schedules changed, Jack and Jaime still made it a routine to meet at my lockers after school.  I now only had one class with each of them, but they weren't together.  And Jack always convinced me to skip the one with him in it since it was the first class of the day.

"I can't believe you actually saved up enough money for that guitar," Jaime remarked in disbelief.  In fact, all of us were a bit shocked by it.  He was usually one to go off and spend all his money right away instead of saving it.

"You better believe it because I'm going to be shredding on it all day and night from now on," he declared.

I felt a pair of arms hug me from behind my back as I was pressed up against someone. "You'll probably end up busting it right away," Alex said, pecking my cheek.  I blushed, looking at the ground.  I always got embarrassed when he did things like that in front of the boys.

"No way, I saved up way too much money to just bust it like that," Jack argued, ignoring the kiss.  The rest of the Trouble-Makers were all getting used to little things like that, except maybe Zack even though he isn't an official Trouble-Maker.

"Whatever you say," Alex said, and I felt him shrug his shoulders.

I opened my mouth to say something but Mike interrupted me as he came running down the hallway.  He pounded his fist into the locker right beside mine, and the boys all jumped and turned to look at him.  "Mike?"

"There's a new kid that goes to our school," he said slowly, catching his breath. He rolled his shoulders up, regaining his composure.

"So?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"It's Tony Perry."

Jack's jaw dropped open and Alex tightened his grip on me, and then Jaime began to shift uncomfortably, balling his hands into fists. 

I shifted uneasily on my feet, taking in all of the Trouble-Makers expressions.  "Who's Tony Perry?" I asked, breaking the silence and gently rubbing my arm up and down Alex's lower arm.

Jack shook his head slowly, rolling his shoulders back and regaining his 'I don't care' posture.  "Just an old friend we used to hang out with."

"That's it?"

"Look, don't worry about it," Jack snapped and I felt Alex tense up again.

"Watch it," Alex growled from above me, directing the comment towards Jack.  For the most part they always got along well - they were best friends, after all - but when something came up involving me they butted heads about it.  Mostly because Alex refused to back down when it came to defending me, which always made my heart flutter a little.

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair.  "We'll explain later," he said now, his voice lighter towards me.  "We should go," he said, turning.

"Wait," Mike said now, causing Jack to stop and turn back around.  "You'll never believe who's his best buddy right now."

I bit down on my lip and Jack blinked.  

"It's Kellin."

Jaime cracked his knuckles, looking indignant, and Jack set one of his hands on his shoulder.  "He doesn't know any better," he murmured, but Jaime didn't seem to relax in the slightest at that.

"Where's Rian and Zack?" Alex asked now.

Mike frowned.  "I already told them...they're probably out in the parking lot by now." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's go," Alex said, intertwining my fingers with his as we started walking towards the back of the school building.  "I don't want anyone starting anything with Tony, you hear me? What's in the past stays in the past."

"Easier said than done," Jaime muttered.

Alex let out a sharp breath, turning his head to shoot a glare at Jaime whom looked away quickly. "I'm serious."

"You got it, boss," Mike said, and I small smile warmed my face.  At least one of the Trouble-Makers wasn't ready to stir problems.

"Suck up," Jack teased and the group's mood lightened just by that joke.  

I leaned in Alex as we walked outside and the boys broke apart; Jaime heading towards Rian's car where Zack and him would be while Jack and Mike came with Alex and I towards our own car. "What's the deal with this Tony guy?"

Alex shook his head. "He's just an old friend that we used to hang out a lot with in our freshmen and sophomore year."

"This is how you react when old friends come to school?" I asked, ignoring the glance Jack gave me to shut my mouth.

Alex bit his lip.  "The last time we saw him..." He stopped walking when we got to his car and turned towards me.  "Things just didn't turn out right last time we saw him."  He looked down at me, his dark eyes willing me to not ask anymore.  "I'll explain later, okay?"

I nodded my head, chewing the inside of my cheek.  "Okay."

He leaned down and gave me a small peck before walking towards the drivers' door.

"Shotgun!" Jack hollered and I punched his arm.

"Only in your dreams, Barakat," I said, slipping into the passenger seat before he could stop me.

"She's mean," he pouted, taking the seat behind me. 

***

"God, this guitar is my most prized position," Jack said as he laid the guitar case on the ground beside his bed.  After the mall we ended up going to Jack's house - the first time I've ever been here, I might add - so he could plug his guitar into his amp.  When we walked in his mom was sitting at the table and didn't even give us a second glance when we walked in, so I figured she was used to Jack having the gang over.

Alex and Jaime flopped onto Jack's bed and soon Mike and Zack did the same.  Alex grabbed a hold of my hand, pulling me closer to him and sitting me down on his lap, which I did so with a blush.  He chuckled at me and I pressed my back into his chest, trying to hide in him as he wrapped his arms around my stomach to keep me close.

"Okay, you guys ready?" Jack asked, as he plugged in his guitar into a small amp in his room. 

"Yeah, I've been wanting to see if you're actually as good as you say you are," I challenged.

"Fine, name a song and I'll play it," he replied, wrapping the guitar strap around his shoulder.  "But it's got to be by Green Day...and in the album Dookie...and it has to start with 'basket' and end with 'case.'"

The boys all chuckled at that and I rolled my eyes.  "Would you by chance know how to play Basket Case by Green Day?" I mocked.

"How funny of you to ask that because that just so happens to be my best song to play," he replied, a big grin spreading across his face and I couldn't help but chuckle at that.  This was the Jack that I loved being friends with. "You want to sing Alex?" My eyes instantly brightened.  Once I found out Alex could sing, I always tried getting him to sing something in front of me but he always refused to.

"You brought the mic over here?" he asked.

"No, but I can keep the amp quieter so we can hear your voice," Jack said, already leaning down and toggling with the volume.

"All right," Alex agreed, moving me off of him and back onto the bed where he had been sitting.  A bright smile was on my face when he looked at me, and he knew why.  He stuck his tongue out at me before Jack stood back up.

"1...2...3..." Jack murmured quietly before both him and Alex started at the same time.

My eyes widened at both their abilities; of course, I always knew they had to be good if they were in a band altogether, but I never expected this good.  Alex's voice was probably the greatest thing she'd ever heard, and she would've never guessed Jack wasn't joking around when he said he was good at playing the guitar.

It was in the moment that I realized the boys were going to make it big one day.