Future Favorite Regret (Jalex)

3: My Friends are a Different Breed

Title: Vegas by All Time Low

"This is your free bell! You can do homework, you can quietly talk to people around you. You can do pretty much anything, as long as it is school appropriate. I assume as sophomores you understand that. If you must leave the room, simply tell me and why." The teacher says. "My name is Mr. Harris."

I look over to my right and see Jack sitting alone. I guess both of us are alone. Everyone else seems to have friends here. I only see people I know- but not as friends. Some of them bully me, and others just ignore me. Only a few of them ever talked to me.

Some people walk over to Jack, but they're obviously not friends. Jack rolls his eyes. Of course. Jack's popular. Seeing him alone would be weird.

The group walks away from Jack and he sighs.

I pull out my notebook and decide to write a little bit.

"Hi," Mr. Harris walks over. "Wow, did you draw that?" He points to the doodle I made a few days ago. I look up.

"Uh- yeah," I laugh nervously. Jack looks over at us. "It's nothing, just a little doodle." I try to act casual about it, hoping he'd drop it.

"Well, it's very nice. I'm not an art teacher, but I'm sure anyone would say it's amazing." He says proudly. "So, tell me, Alex, is there a reason you haven't talked to anyone yet?"

I feel my face go hot. "I-" I take a breath. "I don't know anyone here."

"Well, it's the first day. Go talk to people." He says. "It's okay if you don't want to, but you're going to have to talk to them eventually."

He walks off to talk to someone else.

I sigh and close my notebook. Mr. Harris has no idea, I can't hold him to a bad standard. He seems alright, just a bit... Bored, maybe.

Until someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn and look up.

My heart sinks as they sit next to me. "Mr. Harris said I looked lonely and that I should talk to you," Jack mumbles.

I glance over his shoulder and see Mr. Harris smiling.

I sigh and stare at the table. "Do we have to talk, or will he eventually stop staring?" I mutter.

"A little bit of a creep, not going to lie," Jack says back. "Look, I know you hate me, but can we just... Pretend we're talking to that he stops staring at you?"

"Me? He's staring at both of us," I look at him. I glance at Mr. Harris. Nope, definitely staring at me. "Creep."

"He needs to stop," Jack snaps and moves his seat to block Mr. Harris's line of sight to me. "There," he sighs and looks at me.

I feel my face go hot. "Thanks," I mumble.

"Sure," Jack says softly. "Creepy teachers are the worst."

I nod and clench my fist. I press my lips together.

"Are you okay? Alex?" Jack whispers softly. I nod slowly. "You're shaking." He points out.

"Fuck off, Jack," I whisper-shout. He expression doesn't change though. "Just- leave me alone."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know you hate me. That's fine. But if you're having a panic attack, let me help you," he whispers.

I scoot away from him, letting out a grunt in frustration. He sighs and stops trying.

Finally, the bell rings. I grab my bag and rush out of the door without another thought.

I see Rian and speed up my walking to catch up to him. I slow down once I'm next to him. He doesn't say anything, but he puts an arm around my shoulders. I turn my head slightly and see Jack watching us.

"You okay?" Rian asks once we're in a less crowded hallway. I nod. "Okay, well, we're meeting everyone at the park because we're lonely children with nothing better to do."

I nod and we go out to the tables to meet everyone before walking together. "How did your classes go?"

He sighs and dramatically sits down. "Well, you see, all of my classes did the same thing where you introduce yourself. It's so boring."

"Better than doing actual work," I shrug.

He nods. "Touché."

"GASKARTH." I look up and see Lisa rushing over.

"RUOCCO!" I shout back. She laughs and sits down.

"I saw Kellin and Vic talking, so they may take a while," she grins. "Those two are so cute."

"You literally ship everyone with everyone."

"To be fair, Kellin likes Vic. And Vic obviously likes Kellin." She shrugs.

"Said every shipper ever." I wiggle my eyebrows. She punches my shoulder and Justin slides into the seat next to Rian.

"So, here I am in English, and Mr. Hemmings tells Trace to, and I quote, 'find something better to do, for example, maybe you should try reading. I have a great story that my 10-year-old niece is reading that you'd enjoy.' It was fucking amazing." Everyone laughs at the thought.

"You're saying our English teacher roasted Trace?" Rian says, laughing. "That's gold."

We see Kellin and Vic walking together, talking. Vic pokes Kellin in the chest and Kellin laughs harder. Vic stops and whispers something into Kellin's ear. Kellin gives him a look before jumping onto Vic's back.

Vic runs toward us.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK, WHY WOULD I AGREE TO THIS?!" Kellin screams as Vic keeps running around in circles around the table.

"PARK TIME." Rian says, standing up. He helps me up and Lisa lets out a squeal. Everyone looks at her and her face goes a light shade of red.

"Wait, we need to make Vic eat vanilla ice cream," I say, stopping everyone. "He's never had it."

Justin yelps and fake faints. Kellin gasps and stares down in dismay. Lisa and Rian give each other a look before shaking their heads in shame.

"I didn't realize it was a tradition, jeez," Vic mumbles. Kellin hops off of Vic.

"Let's go," he says and grabs Vic's arm. He leads us to the nearest ice cream place and we sit down.

"I wanna throw a party," Lisa says. "My parents are out for the weekend, so I can throw a little sleepover for our group."

"Oooh, sleeping with multiple people!" Justin chants. People around us give us a weird look. "I like it."

Kellin smacks Justin on the arm. "Shut the fuck up, people are looking."

"I'd love to sleep with all of you in the same room, at the same time," Justin adds. More people turn and groan.

Kellin sinks into his seat in embarrassment. Vic just groans and buries his face in his hands.

"Shush," I snap.

"Yes, daddy," Justin answers.

I fake-gag and bury my face in Rian's shoulder. Rian shudders, which feels weird because my face is against his shoulder.

Lisa just sighs. "I'll uninvite you, Hills." She threatens.

"Sorry, mom," Justin says. All of us groan in disgust.

"Can I take your order?" A lady asks.

"Vanilla ice cream," all of us say at the same time. She blinks. "Plain," all of us add- at the same time. Her eyes widen and she slowly walks away, glancing back at us, giving us a look like we're aliens or something.

"Nice job, Vic." Rian and Vic high-five.

"See, you fit in perfectly," Justin says. "You were the missing piece in our heart, and now we are full."

"Actually, no, not really." A voice says. All of us look and we gasp- well everyone except Vic.

"TAY!"