The Dark Side of His Room ~ #Jalex (boxboy)

3. 6 Feet Under The Stars

*** JACK'S POV ***

A bang from downstairs awoke me, and I rubbed my eyes as I turned on my phone, ignoring the brightness that assaulted my pupils, to see that the time was 10:30, Sunday morning. What did that mean? Church. I groaned at the realization, as I raked my brain trying to come up with excuses to not go, like being sick, but I knew it would never get past my mom. Church was church.

I showered Friday, so I'm gonna pass today. Maybe if I was going somewhere important I would have thought longer about the decision, but church was something I cared very little about. Religion was never something I believed in, as it just didn't make sense to me that this all loving, all powerful and all knowing thing called God, could cause so much pain to the world. Besides, religion only caused quarrels.

I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a plain black, button up shirt. My mom insisted I dress smart for church, and this is as smart as my clothes would ever get. I didn't care to spike my hair up like I always did, I just left it flopping down over my eyes. The intense and delicious scent of waffles hit me as I strolled into the kitchen to find my mom washing up. She appeared to have heard the wooden door creak open, as she immediately turned around, grinning.

"Hi honey! Waffles are on the counter, I didn't know how many you would want so I made quite a lot," she giggled to herself. I wasn't hungry but I knew she would be upset if I didn't eat any, so I sighed and grabbed a plate from one of our cupboards and placed 2 waffles on my plate. Upsetting the fragile woman was something I didn't ever want to do.

I sat on the chair under the counter, pulling it under with me and digging into the sugary, strawberry waffles. I could tell these weren't bought, she made the best waffles in the world. A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts, as I savored the taste. I cocked my head and furrowed my eyebrows, as I made eye contact with my mom, confused about who could be knocking on our door so early on a Sunday. Well, early for me.

"I'll get it," she smiled at me, turning off the tap and wiping her hands on her apron. Maybe religion wasn't as bad as I make it out to be. She was extra cheerful on a Sunday, simply because we had church. I didn't have a clue what in that ritual made her so over the moon, but I was glad she was happy. I chewed on my waffles as I noticed her walking back into the kitchen, that grin not leaving her face. Alex and Isobel emerged from behind her, causing me to cock my eyebrow. Why were they here? Alex looked at me awkwardly, however he dropped his glance to his dirty, worn out, maroon converse the minute our eyes met.

"So, I was wondering if you could do us a favour?" she questioned with a smile, continuing after receiving a nod from my mom in response. "I'm off to church in a little while, and Alex is afraid of being alone, and to be very honest I'm also afraid of leaving him alone, as he can be very stupid sometimes and we've only just moved. Since we don't know anyone else here, I was wondering if he could stay over? Just for an hour until I'm back?" A frown appeared on my moms face.

"I'd love to let him stay over, but were actually going to church too.. Why don't we go together? Why isn't Alex going with you?" She questioned, frowning a little more at the last part of that sentence.

Isobel's eyes were overcome with an emotion I've not seen in her yet, worry? she squeezed Alex's shoulder to catch his attention, and a pair of questioning eyes met with the short, caramel haired boy's eyes, and he let go of the breath I didn't seem to notice him holding. He nodded silently and returned his gaze to those shoes of his, which must have been fascinating in his eyes, since he couldn't take them away from them for longer than a few seconds.

"He has pretty bad anxiety and church always makes him extra paranoid. He has school in a few weeks and the anxiety of the move was bad enough. I just want him to have a rest before he starts at a new school," she replied, softly, as she looked in my moms direction.

"Im sorry Alex. However,-"

"Mom, I'll stay," I quickly interrupted her. She was about to protest, when she saw Isobel's face light up at the response.

"Okay.. Just pray tonight," she said sighing. "You can stay here Isobel until we need to go, I'll drive us. Alex honey, help yourself to some waffles." I could see a smile return to her face as she led Isobel to our back room, to engulf her in yet another boring chat.

I noticed that Alex was still glued to where he initially stood, sleeves over his hands, and gaze still fixed upon those dirty shoes of his. I didn't know this boy very much, but I regretted my initial opinion of him, and actually started to feel a little sorry for the shy little boy stood in the centre of my kitchen, looking as if he wanted to be buried 6 feet under the stars.

"Hey, Alex, are you okay? You can come sit down," I said smiling at him and pulling a chair out for him. He silently obliged and sunk down into the leather seat. I decided to get him some waffles, as I don't think he was going to do it himself any time soon. So I got up and took out another plate and piled some waffles on for him, stealing glances at him every few seconds. I hadn't had a chance to properly take a look at my new neighbor the last time we met. He had eyes the colour of burnt caramel, covered by choppy bangs of the same colour. He was wearing an oversized sweater with black and white horizontal stripes, long sleeves pulled over his hands. I noticed earlier that he was also wearing a pair of black skinnies with quite a few shredded rips up and down his legs, paired with the converse shoes I've mentioned, multiple times. The boy was rather beautiful.

I placed the plate in front of him and smiled, as he took the fork and slowly began to cut up the sugary food and chew on it. He looked full of worry, however I noticed some of that fade away as the taste of my moms amazing waffles met his tastebuds.

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I honestly am so critical of my writing so if you guys could comment your opinions that would be greatly appreciated, I'm also very self conscious about chapter lengths, I hope this wasn't too long oof. Other than that I hope you're enjoying it so far :)
Also in the picture at the top that's the sweater I was describing if you didn't initially picture it :)

- Cam xo