50.

Elimination, 3/50.

"It's a fun game I made up," Lisa Ruocco explained with a wide grin that made her face look sore. How could she be so smiley all the time? It made Jack's head hurt to think about. Jack didn't know what he was doing at Lisa Ruocco's house on a Saturday night, either. Lisa Ruocco was one of the most popular girls in school. Sure, Jack and Lisa got along just swimmingly! They could be considered friends, even. Lisa invited Jack over because it was her birthday and because yes, they were friends, and because they were friends, Jack had a right to be at her party. Of course, he didn't agree just because it was her birthday. He agreed because Alexander Gaskarth was going to be attending.

"It's called Elimination," Lisa elaborated. Alex leaned up against Jack and was playing with a piece of his overgrown fringe. Adorable fuck, Jack thought. "Basically, we all sit in a circle and take turns saying names. When people's names are said, they back out of the circle. When it gets down to there being only two people left in the circle, they have to kiss. Regardless of relationship status or sexuality. And if they don't kiss, then they have to jump in the pool. No clothes.... and cameras rolling." Lisa was absolutely smitten about the game she had created. The few people in the room, Alex included, chattered positively of the game, while Jack only nodded to show his approval.

This couldn't be bad, Jack though. He was the least desirable person in the room, so surely, he'd be among the first few people to be named out of the game. It was like a twisted version of Spin the Bottle, he thought.

"Cassadee," Zack started off the list of names. Cassadee was Rian's girlfriend. Rian was stuck at work tonight, and Zack promised Rian he would get Cassadee out of any kissing games. Rian was a great guy, and he loved his girlfriend. And Zack was a good guy, too, Jack knew. Zack and Rian were two people Jack knew that always kept their word.

Lisa spoke next. Of course, she was going to pick Alex, or another boy that she had called 'dibs,' on. "Matt," she snickered as she caught sight of Vinny pouting on the far side of the circle (it was these things that made it so obvious that Vinny liked Matt. Jack thought it was cute, if not endearing).

It was Alex's turn now, and there were a few people left in the circle. Only two had been eliminated so far. "Lisa," Alex smiled, teeth showing. His voice was uplifting, but at the same time, sarcastic and teasing. It was no secret that Alex was a flaming homosexual, and he had no shame of it, either. It was also no secret that, despite sexuality, Lisa liked Alex.

It was Jack's turn and there were four people left in the circle, himself among the four. He head Alex, Vinny, and Zack to pick from. "Um," he vocalized to kill time while he was really just admiring Alex, "Vinny."

Suddenly, it dawned on Jack that he was one of the three remaining players. He had to get eliminated. Alex had to eliminate him!

Alex bit his lip as he decided who he would rather kiss. There was Zack, who was used goods (Matt and Vinny had both had their with the muscular boy prior to this date), and there was also Jack, who'd never been kissed, and didn't even have a school reputation. Alex opened his mouth.

Seconds were flying by and even though it had only been maybe thirty, half a minute seemed to be hours to Jack. It was taking Alex hours (in Jack-time) to decide. While Alex worked his mind-cogs on the pros and cons of both boys, Jack's heart pumped mercilessly in Jack's chest.

"Zack."

Jack felt his entire body freeze. He was going to kiss Alex, or jump in a freezing pool ass-naked while cameras filmed. The pool was ice water and there would be filming. He'd surely either drown to death, or hypothermia would bite him before he could even have a sense of what was going on. It wasn't that Jack didn't want to kiss Alex, it was that he had never kissed anyone before, and he was terrified beyond belief. Jack wanted to kiss Alex. He'd liked Alex for so long. What was Jack going to do if this kiss wasn't good enough for the older boy?

The few others in the room had their phone cameras out, and that was when Jack began to shake. If he was going to humiliate himself, he really didn't wasn't it to be on camera. It was bad enough that five other people were going to watch his first kiss.

Alex noticed the way Jack was shaking. He could tell that the younger boy was nervous to no end, and really, he found it to be a little cute. "Put the cameras away," the Gaskarth boy spoke sternly. His eyes had a threatening look about them. As phones were put away, so were Jack's nerves. That was until Alex, oh, beautiful Alex, was scooting closer to the younger boy.

"Just a kiss," the elder spoke down to the still slightly nervous younger. Jack was rendered to only nodding as he tried his best to not look terrified.

Alex leaned in and placed his fingers underneath Jack's chin to tilt his head up. Alex had quite a bit of height on Jack, especially when they were sitting down, Alex on his knees, and Jack flat on his bottom. As soon as Jack could count to three, Alex's lips were on his, and they were moving.

Jack was stunned. Alex's lips were the softest pair of lips, though the only pair of lips, that Jack had ever felt. Jack only ever dared to dream of kissing Alex, but now, here he was, on Lisa Ruocco's floor, kissing the boy he's had a crush on since the eight grade.

Alex puckered and repuckered his lips before Jack caught up, and when he finally did catch up, Alex was pulling away with a smile.

"You did good, kid," Alex's husky voice whispered into jack's ear, and then he pulled away. Jack just hoped that the heat he could feel in his cheeks wasn't visible on the surface of his skin.

Lisa pursed her lips as everyone else in the room clapped (why were they clapping? It didn't make sense to Jack). "Congratulations, boys! You survived the Elimination Game!" Lisa cheered as if Alex and Jack had just won the fucking Hunger Games, or something.

Even though the kiss probably meant absolutely nothing to Alexander Gaskarth, it meant everything to Jack Barakat. But the kiss happened, and that was all that mattered.

And Jack Barakat was okay with it not mattering.