Southern Constellations (Fuenciado)

Chapter Four

"Jaime!" I froze when I heard someone calling my name, earning an annoyed look from the kid who was walking behind me in the crowded hallway. "That is your name, isn't it?"

​​​"Yeah, it is," I said, turning around to find one of Alex's friends staring at me. "You're...Jake, right?"

​​​He snaked his way past a cluster of students so that he was directly in front of me. "It's Jack, but close enough."

​​​"Fuck, sorry, I'm awful with names."

​​​"Nah, it's cool," he replied, interlacing his fingers in front of him and loudly cracking his knuckles. 

​​​"As long as you know I'm the one with the biggest dick, it doesn't really matter what you call me."

​​​"Oh, uh, okay," I mumbled, looking down in hopes that he wouldn't notice me blushing.

​​​"Anyways, Alex is looking for you," he said, hiking his backpack up higher on his shoulder. 

​

​​​​​"C'mon, if I stand here any longer I think all the Axe in the air will suffocate me."

​​​"You're got a point there," I replied, following him down the hall.

​​​He stopped outside of a small door, grinning at me before twisting the knob and going inside. I caught the door from the half-assed effort to hold it open for me, slipping in behind him. I found myself in some sort of closet, the shelves on both of the walls stocked with...cleaning supplies?

​​​"Are we in the janitor's closet?"

​​​"Hell yeah we are," came a voice from deeper within the closet, which I recognized to be Alex's.

​​​I followed Jack further into the dingy closet, which was only lit by a naked bulb that seemed to be in its last days. Alex and the two others that had been at the lunch table (shit, what were their names?) sat in the back corner, leaning up against the tight walls. Alex patted that ground next to him, and I slid off my bag to sit down, hugging my knees in towards my chest somewhat self-consciously. Even though they'd invited me here, I felt like an outsider intruding in their private space.

​​​"We found this place a while ago," Alex explained, noticing my confused expression. "Best place to hide from the sea of idiots out there."

​​​I was a little skeptical. "Don't other people come in here?"

​​​"Nah, I'm pretty sure even the janitor doesn't know this place exists," Alex said with a smirk. ​​​"We're the only ones."

​​​"Well, we were the only ones," a dark-haired kid in the corner said coolly.

​​​"Oh, c'mon Zack," Alex groaned. "Give him a break."

​​​Zack rolled his eyes, turning away.

​​​"Whatever," he muttered under his breath.

​​​"Drama queen," Jack teased, earning him a high-five from Alex and a dirty look from Zack.

​​​"Listen, if you don't want me to be here, I can leave," I offered, my face turning slightly red.

​​​"Don't worry about it," Alex said, his permanent grin still on his face. "Zack just gets a little sentimental sometimes."

​​​"I get it, I'm the same way," I said, trying to meet Zack's eyes as if to convince him that I wasn't trying to threaten their secret club or whatever this was.

​​​His eyes remained averted from mine.

​​​"Anyways," Alex said, trying to ease some of the tension that had seeped into the air. "Did you guys see who's back from school?"