How To Tame The Beasts -- Alex Gaskarth Fan Fic

Chapter Five

I sat quietly in the courtyard, twirling a pencil in my hands. I was supposed to be in my final class for the day, but it was one of the final nice days of fall before winter would set in and I didn't want it to go to waste by sitting inside. Plus, Jack and Jaime had gotten me into the habit of skipping my last class of the day.

I flicked through my journal that was laying on my lap. I often wrote about things, but one of my new favorite pass times was writing stories. Plus, having it with me was a good cover up to a teacher saying I was allowed out of class to find a place to motivate me to write...that was, if I got a naive teacher to ever catch me.

"Hey." I snapped my head up at that, seeing Tony standing in front of me. I sat stiff for a moment, not sure what to really do. I know Alex told me to flee any situation dealing with Tony, but what commotion could actually be caused, really?

"O-Oh, hi," I stammered out, staying in my seat.

Tony smiled at me, and as much as I wanted to believe it was genuine, I forced myself to view him as just another one of Kellin's friends...just one that used to be friends with the boys.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked, motioning to the oak I was leaning my back against.

I shrugged my shoulders, returning my eyes back to my journal.

"I guess you were told to not talk to me, huh?" He sat himself down beside me, thankfully not too close. "I guess I don't blame them. I did some gnarly stuff back in the day."

I still stayed quiet, trying to seem as uninterested as possible.

"To be completely honest, when I first met you I would've never guessed you'd be a Trouble-Maker. You must be the first girl Trouble-Maker ever," he went on. He was attempting to egg me into the conversation, but I still refused. I mean, I guess I could walk away from the situation but there were still things I needed to figure out from this Tony card.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I finally asked and he seemed slightly startled that I spoke.

"Yeah, but to put it simply, I was a Trouble-Maker. I guess old habits die hard." He shrugged his shoulders. "I kind of did the same thing in my last school, too."

"Why did you switch schools to begin with?"

"My mom lives here and my dad lives off in San Diego. I was living with my mom until the...uh...fall out," he stumbled over his words, scratching the back of his head. "But Kellin convinced me to move back here."

I stiffened at that. "You're friends with Kellin?"

"He's more like a brother, actually. Our moms are best friends so ever since we were born we've just always been around each other." He shrugged his shoulders. He didn't seem fazed by all my questions at all.

I nodded my head slowly.

"I see you're not a fan of him," he noted. "I don't blame you, he's a little unbearable sometimes."

I scoffed. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

Tony chuckled at that. "Yeah, well...he's the only friend here I have and-"

"Stella?"

I cringed and slowly looked up to see the owner of the voice, even though I didn't even have to bother to know who it was.

"What are you doing?" Jaime asked, walking over quickly causing both Tony and I to both stumble to our feet.

"Jaime, look-"

"It's my fault," Tony cut in, holding his hands up. "I'm sorry, I went up to her first."

Jaime grabbed my arm and pulled me into his arms protectively, and shot a glare at Tony. "What'd you tell her?"

"Nothing," I cut in now.

"We just talked, dude." Tony shrugged. "I'm sorry, I'll just go," he said, turning away and walking back from where he came from.

Jaime continue to stare down Tony until he disappeared and then he dropped his arms from me and took a step away. He must have been so caught up in Tony he hadn't realized I was still pressed up against him.

He coughed and looked away. "Sorry about that."

I waved it off. "Why did you react like that? He wasn't doing anything wrong."

"There's just something's that need to stay in the past."

"But-"

"Stella," Jaime warned, shooting a glance in my direction.

I looked at the ground. "Fine," I grumbled.

Jaime chuckled and reached forward to ruffle my hair. "Don't pout, Alex will tell you sooner or later...probably."

I swatted his hand away from my hair and stuck my tongue out at him. "Yeah? I hope so."

The bell rang signaling the end of the school day. "Let's go, Kent," Jaime said, walking back towards the courtyard's entry into the school.

***

"Why weren't you in class, anyways?" I asked as I opened up my locker and deposited my journal. I hardly ever brought any school material home anymore.

Jaime shrugged. "Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?"

I nodded my head. "Touché."

"What's up, nerds?" Jack asked as he appeared by Jaime's side with Alex.

"At least we get good grades," I teased right back at Jack and Jaime snickered.

"Geez," Jack said, placing a hand on his heart.

"My girl's got claws," Alex said through a chuckle, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him.

I pecked his cheek in greeting.

"Yeah, your girl has also got guts," Jaime said, forcing his gaze on the ground because he knew I was glaring at him right now.

The group went quiet for a moment. Even Mike did as he arrived, already noting the tension forming around Alex. "Uh...what?"

Jaime shrugged his shoulders. "Talk to your girl about that one." He shot a look at Mike and Jack before walking away and the two boys followed after him.

Alex frowned, turning towards me. "What is he talking about?"

I bit down on my lip, turning away from him to close my locker door but he spun me around to face me again. "I might have maybe talked to someone..." I trailed off, tangling my hands together.

Alex just stared at me for a moment before it clicked. His jaw tensed and he forced out a sigh. "Stella..."

"To be fair, he was the one who came up to me first."

"And what did I tell you to do if he came over to you?"

I rolled my eyes, forcing myself to keep my voice even. "If you won't tell me what's up with him, how else am I supposed to find out?"

Alex started cracking his knuckles - something he started doing after I got him to agree to try not to fighting - and I could tell his frustration with me was growing. "I'll tell you when the time is right, okay?" His voice came out through gritted teeth; I really was pushing it right now.

I nodded my head slowly, reaching my hand out and caressing his face. He closed his eyes under my touch, releasing a gentle sigh. "Okay," I said quietly.

He placed his hand over mine, opening his eyes up and gazing down at me with his intense stare. "Do you realize what you do to me?"

I felt a blush peaking on my cheeks. "Hm?"

Instead of answering, he simply pushed himself forward and connected our lips.