New Boy (A Javid Story)

Ex

The word "ex" left a sour taste in Jack's mouth. He hated the prefix, and he hated the fact that the term ex would now be associated with Katherine. Ex meant something that wasn't there anymore, something that used to be. And Jack absolutely hated that. 

The first person Jack told about the breakup was Race. He would have told Crutchie first, he was his brother after all, but he didn't want the slightly younger boy to worry. So, he went to who he considered his second brother. After all, Race had just been broken up with too. They could deal with the pain together. 

About an hour after school ended the day after Katherine broke up with him, Jack knocked on the door to Race's house. It was his grandmother who opened the door, though. 

"Hi, Mrs. Esposito. How are you?" Jack smiled a little at the elderly woman. 

"I'm good Jack. I haven't seen you in awhile, how are you?" She opened the door a little wider, letting him inside. 

"I'm okay." Jack nodded. "Is Race home?" 

She nodded and walked over to the staircase. "Tony! Your friend is here!" She yelled up. "He's upstairs in his room." Jack nodded and ran up the stairs, making his way to Race's room. The door was shut, so he knocked quickly. 

"Come on in, Jack." Race said from inside. Jack opened the door, walking into the other boy's room. 

"How'd ya know it was me?" Jack asked, walking over to sit on Race's desk chair. He spun around in it a little before settling down. 

"The only people who would just drop by my house is you an' Albert. Al doesn't knock, he just comes right in." Race shrugged, pausing the movie that was playing on his laptop. 

"What're you watchin'?" Jack asked, looking over at the screen. 

"Thor: Ragnarok. It's funny." He put the computer aside, shifting on his bed to face Jack. "What's up?" 

Jack took a deep breath, getting right to the point. "Kath broke up with me." He admitted. 

"What?" Race raised an eyebrow. 

"Katherine broke up with me. We went out on a walk last night and she told me she wanted to break up." Jack put his head in his hands. "I don't know what I did wrong, Race." 

"Jack, I'm sure it wasn't you. You know Katherine. She would tell ya if it was." Race pointed out, walking over to two bags in the corner of his room. "Do ya want a candy cane or a Twizzler?" He asked. 

"What kind of candy canes do you have?" Jack looked up. 

"Mint, cherry, and rotisserie chicken." Race said, holding up one of each. 

"Cherry please." Jack nodded, and Race walked over and handed him the candy cane before he sat back down on his bed. "Where'd ya get the rotisserie chicken one?" 

"Albert gave em to me for Christmas. So did Elmer." Race shrugged, unwrapping his own candy cane. "Listen, Jack, you know Kath better than any of us. Maybe you guys'll go back to bein' friends." He suggested. 

"Maybe." Jack shrugged. "Speakin' of friends, how're things with you and Albert these days?" 

"Ah, we is fine. We went back to the way things were." Race said dismissively. "It's great."

"That's good." Jack nodded. "It was rough, seein' the two of you not talkin' to each other. 'Specially after you've been friends so long."

"Yeah, well, we is over that now." Race shrugged. 

"You is, but is Albert?" Jack asked. Race stared down at his bed for a moment before looking up.

"I dunno." He admitted. "But he's talkin' to me and takin' my food again, so that's a start." 

"It's a start." Jack repeated, nodding a little. 

"I'm assumin' you told Crutchie about Katherine." Race said, pulling the candy cane out of his mouth. 

"Uh, actually, I didn't." Jack admitted.

"What? Jack, he's your brother!" Race pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want him to worry! You know him! He doesn't trust relationships to begin with, and Kath and I were startin' to get through to him that not every relationship ends badly. I don't want to ruin that." Jack bit his lip. "I know I should tell him. I'd rather have him hear it from me instead of havin' him hear it from someone else."

"You're gonna have to tell him eventually." Race pointed out.

"I just said I knew that ya nitwit!" Jack looked up at him. 

"Woah, nitwit. New word." Race teased. 

"I know it's big for you. Ya need me to explain it to ya?" Jack felt a grin spread across his face. 

"Are ya sure you know what it means?" Race challenged. 

"Ah, shut up." Jack laughed. 

"So ya don't know!" Race pointed at him.

"Yes I do! You is a nitwit. An' stop pointin' at me, it's rude."

"Since when do you know manners?" The blonde crossed his arms. 

"I used to have em. Then I met you." Jack stuck his tongue out. 

"Ay, that's rude too!" Race smirked. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out, reading the message quickly. Jack watched as a look of confusion spread across the boy's face, then a smile. 

"Who's that?" Jack asked, leaning forward on the chair a little. 

"It's nobody. But I gotta go, so get outta my house." Race demanded, standing up and grabbing his old, beat up converse. 

"Oh, so it is somebody." Jack smirked, standing up nonetheless. "Is it Spot?" 

"Ah, shut it." Race rolled his eyes. 

"Oh, so it is Spot!" Jack grinned. 

"You know Spot an' I broke up." Race shot back. 

"That don't mean it ain't him textin' ya." Jack responded as the two made their way downstairs. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Race brushed it off, grabbing his coat as Jack did the same. They walked outside and down the steps together, before each boy walked off in a different direction. Before Race got too far though, Jack turned around and yelled one last comment at him. 

"Ay! Ain't that the direction that leads to Brooklyn?" He teased. 

"Shut up!" Race yelled back, not turning around. Jack laughed as Race flipped him off and continued on his way home, planning on  finally telling Crutchie what had happened.