Alone, Together - A Julian Casablancas fanfic

Chapter 2 - Hard to Explain

Among the crowd of familiar faces, a lone stranger sat on the curb. He took a drag of his cigarette, which was allowed at Harrison High as long as it was not in the building or during school hours. His white Converse shoes were dirty by years of wear and tear. He wore gray skinny jeans and a denim vest with a "The Doors" band t-shirt. His messy dark-brown hair that complimented his olive skin bounced off his shoulders and he had large hazel-brown doe eyes to match.

There were rumors of a new student at Harrison High that circulated around the summer. Some said he was here because his mom's work brought him to Harrison. Others said he was kicked out of his last school in Manhattan from playing his music too loud on campus. His dad was a Spanish-American business mogel and his mom was a former model and once Miss Denmark. Both heritages came out in his combination of high cheek bones and olive brown skin.

His name was Julian, which was all people really knew about him for now.

Clem, Morgan, and Aleks approached the school together as they passed the new stranger. He looked up and smiled at them with the biggest smile possible. Clem and Morgan were flattered by the attention; Aleks, not so much.

Aleks stared at the stranger jealously, as if he would hurt him if he talked to his friends. The trio went to their lockers which were right next to each other and the girls finally noticed the sour look on their friend's face.

"What's up, Aleks?" Clem asked.

"I don't know about that guy, Clem. He seems... odd."

"Ooh, jealous much?" Morgan asked slyly.

"No!" Aleks quickly retorted. "No, I just... I have a lot of bad vibes about that guy."

Clem scoffed. "Really, Al? You get a passing glance of someone and suddenly you're ready to condemn them. You're going to make a great lawyer some day."

Aleks finally smiled to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I guess so. But why is he smoking on campus? He's like 16 or something like that."

"So? I kind of like them like that."

"Oh, you like bad boys? Well, I'll have you know I once pet a snake in my backyard."

The girls laughed at Aleks' attempt at being funny. They both knew he was just a big teddy bear. Er, a little teddy bear, Aleks was kind of small.

The friends hung out for a little while longer. A few minutes later, the bell for homeroom rang and the three went to their respective rooms. Clem sat down in her usual spot, the one she'd been sitting in for three years in a row. She pulled out her book and read to kill time because she got to her class before everyone else.

When she looked up, she could believe who walked in. The new kid, Julian.

He took the open spot next to Clem, the one Spencer Clines used to sit in before he moved to Tennessee. The homerooms at Harrison were grouped by last names of the same first letter with some exceptions. Julian sat down next to her and flashed the same goofy smile he did before.

"Hi, I'm Julian Casablancas," he said stretching out his hand to Clem.

"Clementine Decker, but my family and friends call me Clem. Nice to meet you."

"Say, you're the girl that walked by earlier, aren't you? With the other girl and the guy who gave me a death stare?"

"Yeah, that guy was my friend Aleks Harrington. We've all been friends since elementary school and he gets really jealous over me and Morgan."

Julian laughed softly. "It's okay. I understand. I'm sorry for staring, it's just I think you're very pretty."

Clem was kind of taken aback by this guy's remark, but she took it as a compliment. "Thanks, it's alright." Then she looked at his shirt. "Hey, cool shirt."