The One and Only Alec | bxb

6: The Bridge

*Alec*

I learned many things about Jake throughout the rest of PE on that Wednesday afternoon.

His favorite color was red. His favorite song was Don't Rain on my Parade by Barbra Streisand. His favorite musical was The Prom. He has no siblings, as do his parents, but his pet cat called Mushroom is regarded as his younger brother in their home. He is deathly terrified of moths and scorpions but Mushroom the cat eats any that attempt to harass him.

I had no idea what to talk about so those are just a few of the random facts I ended up discovering.

In turn, he asked me what my favorite musical was. I said Grease because it was the only one I could think of.

"What's your favorite food?"

"Pizza."

"Oh, how original," he drawled.

The conversation went on like this for the entire hour, and when the bell rang I followed him to the auditorium where he met up with Vivian, his friend from lunch, and they went off together somewhere to put their bags down. I took the same seat I did last time a few rows away from the stage.

Lily was here already. Somebody was taping a microphone of sorts to her cheek. She tested it with a few random lines of dialogue and then turned it off for the time being.

Jake walked back onto the stage, saying hello to the other students who were milling around. He didn't get a microphone taped to his face, nor did Vivian. He did have a whistle around his neck that wasn't there before, though. He kept putting it in his mouth and pretending to blow which made some of the other kids jump.

Lily smiled at Jake. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not from my position. Jake waved back, turning his attention to his phone which he plugged into a box that was connected to the speakers. Viv told him to play something specific, presumably showtunes, and a hiphop-esque rap mess came on.

Jake hopped off the stage, leaving his phone behind, and came to sit beside me.

"What am I listening to?" I asked.

He seemed very offended. "Guns and Ships."

"Which is...?"

"Hamilton."

I nodded slowly. "Like, the constitution guy?"

"Exactly," he said. "He didn't write the constitution, though. He, alongside two others, wrote the federalist papers."

"Interesting," I muttered, turning my attention back to Lily. She was looking at us through narrowed eyes. "I'll be right back," I told Jake, standing.

I walked to the edge of the stage and gestured for Lily to come talk to me. She complied.

"Have you come to watch me sing?"

"No," I responded. "Why'd you text Jake earlier without telling me?"

She rolled her eyes. "I had to make sure he wouldn't go telling all his friends about what he saw. You told him the truth, afterall. Why did you?

"Because I want him to like me." Her damned abilities at work.

"Do you?"

"Very much so."

She stood up straighter, glancing over my shoulder at Jake. "So he's your newest crush?"

"I suppose." I need to stop talking.

"He's very plain."

"No he isn't," I snapped.

"How so?"