*Alex's POV*
Kathryn and I climb onto the bus together and head to our seats from the day before. Zack and Rian greet us as Kathryn sits next to me.
"We heard about your escape, Kathryn. Have you already had enough of Alex?" Rian jokes with Kat. She blushes and bites her lip shyly, avoiding eye contact. "It was an accident... I didn't mean to lose him." She mumbles, embarrassed. I chuckle and ruffle her hair a little. "Eh, Rian. Leave her alone." I laugh, punching Rian's arm playfully. "Don't worry about Rian. He's on his period." I joke, turning back to Kat. She giggles a little and nods.
"Hey, Barakat!" Zack shouts suddenly, standing up. I flick my head towards the direction of the doors and notice that familiar blonde streak. He walks over, waving at us before stopping in front of Kat. "You guys replaced me already? With a girl?" He gasps, pretending to be offended. Zack laughs at his stupid question. "She's better looking than you." Rian says. Kat suddenly realizes she's in Jack's seat and stands up. "Oh! I'm sorry! Here, you sit." she says in an apologetic tone. Jack chuckles and shakes his head. "It's cool. Take a seat, Little Red." he says, making her blush a little. Zack and Rian smirk a little. "I'm sure she can sit in your lap, Jack." Rian laughs. Kathryn turns completely pink, but Jack just laughs. "I don't have a problem with that." He jokes. "But seriously, take a seat. I'll just sit on Rian." Jack says. And surely enough, Jack took a seat in Rian's lap. Kat giggles a little and sits back down.
"Oh! Jack, I forgot." I say, remembering they've never met. "Jack, this is my cousin, Kathryn. She moved here from England a couple of weeks ago. Kat, this is Jack. The one we told you about." I say. Kat waves at Jack shyly, making eye contact for a few seconds. "Wow Alex. Your cousin got all the looks and what did she leave you with?" Jack jokes. I laugh and watch Kathryn bite her lip again. "Sheer sexiness." I respond with a smirk. Zack rolls his eyes at our antics. "More like queer sexiness." Jack replies. I roll my eyes and flip him off. "I'm still sexy, aren't I?" I reply in a sassy tone. Rian rolls his eyes just as Zack did. "Now people will think we're homophobic. Would you like that?" he says. We laugh at Rian, who always brings the logical side of things into our jokes. "Shut up, Rian." I say, still laughing. Kathryn is trying to sustain her giggles. "Yeah, shut up, Rian." Jack joins in.
When we arrive at school, Jack and I head to our lockers which happen to be beside each other. "Your cousin's hot." Is the first thing Jack says. I chuckle and shake my head. "You've already got your hands full with Stacey. She was looking for you, so deal with that before you go for my little cousin." I remind him. He looks confused for a moment before his eyes light up with realization. "Oh, Blondy-Bitchy Stacey?" He asks, just to confirm. I smirk at him and nod. "Yeah, forget her. She was expecting some fancy restaurant or dinner at my place, just the two of us." he says, as if that's too much to expect. And of course, from Jack, it is too much to expect. "Well Jack, what do you think a date is?" I say. I stand upright and close my locker, taking my books from it. "Well, I only took her to McDonalds." he says with a shrug, as if getting the chance to take one of the hottest girls in school on a date and then taking her to a fast food restaurant is nothing. I laugh and shake my head at him. "C'mon. I don't wanna be late because of you." I chuckle as he stands upright and closes his locker. "But seriously. Your cousin's hot." he says. I just roll my eyes at him. Typical Jack.
At lunch, I notice Kathryn is already at our table with Rian and Zack. Jack and I make our way over. "Hey princess." he says sweetly. Kathryn blushes and looks up at him.
"U-Um..." she stammers, obviously uncomfortable and unsure of how to respond. "Oh, not you, Little Red. I was talking to Rian." he clarifies. Kathryn takes a sigh of relief but Rian bites his lip and glares at Jack. He laughs and sits down, putting his lunch on the table. I do the same. "So what's been going on? What've we been missing?" I ask, looking around at the cafeteria. "Not much. Coach what's-his-face and one if the biology teachers got fired. Apparently Coach had been cheating with her for about 4 months and nobody said anything until a student walked in on them-" Zack is cut off mid-sentence by Jack suddenly. "Woah! Okay that's enough! We get it they got fired for cheating!" He says, obviously not wanting to know what went down next. Rian and I laugh at Jack and his childishness. "How've you been doing, Kat? You liking it?" I ask my little cousin who is not very talkative. "Alex, nobody likes this hell hole. That's the stupidest question ever." Jack answers for her. I roll my eyes and elbow Jack in the ribs. Kat giggles a little and looks back to me. "It's okay. A lot of the teachers expect me to be louder and a troublemaker." She explains. We all burst into laughter, leaving Kathryn confused. "B-Because you're a Gaskarth!" Rian manages to say. She's still confused. "Alex and Jack are two of the biggest troublemakers in school. Since you've got Alex's last name, you've also got his reputation." Zack explains. Kathryn finally understands, smiling a little.
"Oh Kat! I forgot!" I say smirking cheekily. I look at Jack from the corner of my eye. "Jack has the hots for you." I say. Jack's laughter ceases immediately as he runs his head and glares at me. "Ooh!"Rian and Zack coo. Poor Kathryn is sitting directly in front of Jack and right in between Zack and Rian. "I do not!" Jack shouts, slamming his hands on the table. His cheeks are nearly as pink as Kathryn's. "Alright, Jack! Calm down princess! You're nearly as red as Kathryn's hair!" Zack laughs. Jack scrunched up his nose in frustration and flips Zack off, causing us all to laugh more.
The bell rings throughout the cafeteria and everyone stands up. Kathryn is still a little flustered. I grab her arm before she can disappear into the crowd. "Hey, you alright?" I say, more seriously. She nods, flashing me her cheerful grin. "We were only kidding. Jack's just an idiot, that's all." Rian says, standing next to me. Kat smiles a little more and nods. "I know. He seems nice." she says.
Out if nowhere, Jack comes crashing down on Kat from behind. She lets out a little yelp before their books are scattered across the floor. "Sorry!" Jack cries out, scrambling to his knees to clear up his books once more, Kathryn does the same. "Jack, watch where you're going!" I say, helping Kathryn up as Rian collects her books for her. Zack stands there laughing. "You guys treat the poor girl like a princess." he says. Kat blushes a little. Rian laughs and hands Kathryn her books. "He's right, Alex." he says. Jack stands up with his books. "We found a new princess. Sorry, Jack." He says. Jack shoves him a little and looks back to Kathryn. "Sorry, Little Red. I uh... I didn't see where I was going" He apologizes. She smiles a little, her sweet little smile lighting up our circle. "It's okay. I'm fine." She reassures him. She's so optimistic and willing to help others first. "C'mon. Lets get to class, guys." Zack says, ushering us all out finally. Jack sneaks a final glimpse at Kathryn, who smiles and mouths to him, "I'm fine."
I honestly think there's something between those two.
Jack walks with me between classes until we head home. Today, Kathryn is not late for the bus, so we all climb on and take the bus home. I decide to take Kathryn home before I head to band practice with the boys, just to make sure she gets home okay. Kat sits with her headphones in before I tug them out. "Hey, you." I say to her. She looks up with her big brown eyes. "What?" She responds rather innocently. Jack chuckles at her as he turns around in his seat to face Kathryn again. "I was expecting some creepy emo girl but you're not what I expected, Little Red." Jack says with his big grin on his face. Kathryn smile and I nod. "She destroys all stereotypes." I say and she rolls her eyes. I examine the way Jack looks at her. That little awkward smile. A twinkle in his eye. Light pink cheeks.
The bus stops at our stop. Kathryn and I climb off the bus and begin walking home. I make sure to keep an extra close eye on Kathryn today. I don't want a repeat of yesterday. "Have a good day?" I ask her. She grins widely and nods at me, pulling her back up and over her shoulders. "Jack seems nice. Rian is really nice too." she says, kicking a stone along the sidewalk. I smile at her. I'm glad she's liking the guys. "That's good. I'm glad you like it, Kat." I say, pulling my little cousin in for a hug. "You're so cute." I chuckle when she lets out a surprised little yelp as a response to my sudden embrace. She smiles and hugs me back and we continue walking.
"Alex?" She says, breaking the short but peaceful silence.
"Kathryn?" I reply.
"Can I ask you something?"
"I don't know, can you?" She's obviously amused by me being a smart ass.
"What happened last night?"
I go silent.
"Alex?" she repeats. I shake my head and look away, not wanting to talk about it. "I-It was nothing." I mumble. She cocks her head to the side, trying to see my face again. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I understand." She says sweetly.
I honestly appreciate how sympathetic and understanding Kathryn can be. It actually reminds me of Jack. He can be like that when he wants and needs to be. It's really rare so nobody really sees that side of Jack.
I shake my head. "It's nothing. Sometimes I have anxiety attacks...like last night and when I lost you the other day." I explain quickly. Kat looks up at me, and I don't dare to make eye contact. It's something I keep private. Only the boys know about it. "Alex... Oh my gosh Alex, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to..." She apologizes, obviously guilty. I rub her shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay Kathryn. It wasn't a serious one. Not like last night." I say. She nods and tightens her grip around my waist.
Although I've only known her a few weeks, Kathryn is someone I trust more than anyone. She's like a little sister to me, and being her older cousin, I feel like it's my responsibility to look out for her. Especially since she doesn't know anyone else, and trouble comes easily here in Baltimore. I'd hate for her to get wrapped up in too much.
"Alex?" she says softly. "What triggered it last night?"
I sort of zone out for a moment, debating on whether to tell her the full story. "Th-That song... I should've showed you another... it's just... when I wrote that something had happened... and someone sort of-" I find myself stuttering and stammering nervously when Kathryn cuts me off. "It's alright, Alex. You don't have to." She says softly. I take a shaky breath and hug her closer to me. "Thank you, Kathryn." I whisper. She digs her head into my side a little, the way I've seen her do with her pillow at night.
We don't say a word the rest of the way home.