Suck It And See | A. Turner

[Chapter 7]

Alex turned to the mess in his garage and let out a disparaged sigh, "My parents are gonna kill me," he said. 

"Why they gonna kill yeh?" Glyn asked, "Yeh didn't do nofin,"

"I think he just means in general," Jade said.

Jamie shrugged and picked up the splintered guitar, "Let's start cleaning, then,"

They had done their best to clean the garage before Alex's parents had come home. Unfortunately, many of the instruments had become casualties and would have to be replaced. Matt was just happy that he had his own drum set at his house, but Alex's guitars were totaled. His dad was the first to come home, and he was no less than puzzled when he saw the boys and lone girl running around his garage.

Alex had to solemnly explain what had happened with his tail between his legs, fearful that his dad might yell at him for something he didn't do. But his father was an understanding man, and assured his son that everything was alright, and he did nothing wrong. Alex just felt guilty because it had gone on beneath his nose, and despite his best efforts to be brave, he did nothing to stop it. Jade was the one who had saved his ass.

After cleaning up as much as they could, Matt, Andy, and Jamie thought it'd be a good idea to take Jade out and around the town for the rest of the day as a means to lighten to tension. 

Alex meanwhile was sitting on the back porch, mulling to himself about Luke and his trash friends. In his hands he held the broken neck of his acoustic guitar. He had spent months, and saved up so much money from birthdays, odd jobs, and won bets in order to afford that guitar, and in a matter of ten minutes it was nothing more than a scrap of wood in a trash bag. Needless to say, the poor kid was heartbroken.

Jade took a seat next to him, not saying much as she basked in the silence with him. She could feel the nervous tension radiating off of him like a heat lamp, spreading to her and making her knees go all jittery. He was upset, but she wasn't sure as to why.

"Alex, I'm sorry," she told him, "They were just being idiots. And I mean -- Matt's also an idiot because he kind of started it last week, but they had no reason to take it out on you," she said.

Alex shrugged back and wiped his nose with his jumper sleeve, "I should'a punched 'im out or summat," he grumbled.

"Which would make you no better than him," she said, "And also, you'd probably find yourself upside at the bottom of a trashcan if you had,"

"Don' matter," Alex said, "Yeh know 'ow long I saved me money to buy this?" he held the guitar neck up to make his point, "And it's gone in less than five minutes,"

"So you'll get another one," Jade said, "A better one. Brand new and shiny and shit. You can't let some chav ruin your day like that,"

"But yeh didn't see the way 'e was lookin' at me, Jade," he said, "'E thinks I need a girl to fight me fights,"

Jade narrowed her eyes at him, teetering on his words, "So... you're upset with me, then?" she asked.

"Of course not," he told her, "What yeh did was bloodeh brilliant. I'm just saying tha' wished I'd done it. Show 'em I'm more than just skin and bones,"

"But you already are," Jade said, "You're a great student, and you're a talented musician. You have a fucking band, Alex. You're gonna do more in your life than Luke ever will, and he knows that. That's probably why he's such a prick,"

Alex hummed, not quite believe her words. Jade shifted closer to him as a means to console him, "Ya know, you're the only person in this town who's actually made me feel welcome," she said, "I can't even remember the last time I had a good laugh like I did today. I haven't felt so normal in months, and that's because of you. You and your friends are so much fun to be around and I couldn't ask for fuck else,"