We're Not Cheating | Lams High School AU

Chapter 4: Texting

A/N: I'm literally writing this right after I finished chapter 3. I'm dead rip me. Also, I just drew the cover! Do you guys like it?

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Alex sat on his bead holding the piece of paper with John's number on it. It didn't only have the number on it though, it had a small heart at the end of the number. His face flushed just thinking about him. The way his eyes sparkled when he saw Alex, his smile, just him. But it could never happen because he was dating Peggy... Right? What did the heart mean then? Alex fell back on his bed and sighed. "It's never going to happen, Alex," He said out loud to himself. He was at his house, well, mansion if you call it that, with the Washingtons. He was recently adopted by them, but he couldn't figure out who would want to adopt a 16-year-old kid. He was pretty useless anyway.

"What's never going to happen, son?" Mr. Washington knocked on the door and asked permission to enter. Alex said "sure" so Mr. Washington came and sat on the desk chair that he had. He was grateful that he was being welcomed into their family, but hesitant nonetheless.

"Don't call me son." He mumbled. He grabbed a pillow and held it over his head, and screamed into it. He really didn't like talking about his feelings, but something about him... made him seem trustworthy. "Two of my friends are in a relationship together, and don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for them, but..." He rambled again. "I think I love her." He lied. Alex didn't know yet if he could trust Washington with his sexuality, but he felt this was enough. "What should I do?" Alex asked.

"Well, if I were you, I would move on. Find someone else who will love you the same way you love her." Washington replied as if he gives love advise daily. Alex pondered this. Then he remembered Peggy, she's popular, and she could definitely find him a girl to get to know! But Alex would be giving up on John. John made him feel so much lighter like a weight was being lifted off of his shoulders. He made him happy. But moving on was his best bet, even if he was breaking his own heart.

"Thank you, Mr. Washington, I'll try that!" Alex said happily, with sadness behind him.

"Anytime s- Alex," He left the room leaving Alex alone with his thoughts. He picked up the slip of paper with John's number on it. Well, there's only one way to talk to Peggy since it's the weekend, Alex thought. I can get her number from John. He quickly punched in the number on his phone and texted it.

A.Ham: Hey, it's Alex.

TurtleBoi: Hey Alex! What's up?

A.Ham: Nothing, I was wondering if I could get Peggy's number from you? If it's not too much trouble.

TurtleBoi: Sure let me add you to the group chat and then I'll get it to u

Alex waited a minute before he got another notification.

A.Ham has been added to The Real Housewives of Shit Town.

A.Ham: Creative group chat name.

AndPeggy: i came up with it lol

HERCULESMULLIGAN: finally we have Alex in this

Baguette: WHO WOKE ME UP

A.Ham: Sorry.

Baguette: its ok now that we have you in this gc

TurtleBoi: dude its 5pm why were you asleep

Baguette: i was tired leave me alone

A.Ham: Your lack of punctuation frightens me.

Alex left the group chat (Like my last 2 brain cells) and went to privately text Peggy.

A.Ham: I have a question.

AndPeggy: ok shoot

A.Ham: Can you hook me up with someone? I'm trying to get over someone.

Peggy hesitated. Why would Alex need to get over someone the first week he was here? It had to be someone he was close to because he didn't have any friends outside of their little group. He also must have had spent a lot of time with this person, in classes, at lunch- then it hit her. John gave him his number. John and Alex had all of their classes together.

John likes Alex.

Alex likes John. But why would he need to get over him?

Peggy gasped.

It was her. It was all her. She was the thing stopping Alex and John from being truly happy. But what could she do? Break up publically with John, and then John be with Alex? And then have a Samual Seabury incident? She could not allow that to happen. Peggy cared too much. Even though it hurt, he wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with John.

AndPeggy: yeah i know someone. it's my sister Eliza, and you'll never find anyone as trusting or as kind. her number is 555-789-1791 and treat her well i'll know if you hurt her.

Peggy knew that it would kill John if he ever found out about this. She loved John so much and wanted him to be happy, but if she followed through with this it would make them all safe.

A.Ham: Thank you, Peggy, I really appreciate it. I'll see you on Monday.

AndPeggy: anytime sport

Alex put down his phone. He was happy that he could finally get over John, even if they were never together. He sat up from his bed and went to his personal bathroom, and looked in the mirror. In all honesty, he hated what he saw. He saw a useless, ugly, fat, bastard, orphan, son of a whore looking back at him. He was disgusted with everything that he saw and wanted to end it all so he wouldn't bother the world with his stupidity. Deciding to postpone his previous thought, he opened the drawer and pulled out a razor blade. He had recently bought new ones so he wouldn't be in more pain than necessary. Alex sat on the closed toilet seat and rolled up his sleeves to reveal white lines on his arms, from previous cutting sessions. He found an open spot where there were no scars and cut. He loved the pain of the razor blade cutting through his skin, feeling friction as he dove deeper into his skin. After about ten cuts, he decided to call it a day and bandaged up his arms. Once he was all cleaned up, he went back into his room and laid on his bed to text the number he was given.

A.Ham: Hey, this is Eliza, right? I'm friends with Peggy.

ELIza: Yup that's me! Who's this?

A.Ham: I'm Alexander, but you can call me Alex. I was wondering, do you maybe want to get to know each other more and maybe go out for a cup of coffee sometime?

ELIza: I'm all for it! I think we should actually meet in person first though, don't you think? Maybe at school?

A.Ham: That works! I'll come early and I'll see you then.

ELIza: Ok!

Alex was so excited. He finally had it all! A good house, good friends, and a date! He thought he should probably tell someone, but couldn't figure out who. The logical part of his head thought he should probably tell Peggy, but his heart thudded John, John, John. If he wanted to get over his crush, he needed to face it head-on. Plus, he was his best friend. He pulled up John's number and began to text.

A.Ham: Guess what! I got a date!

A "read" sign showed up under his text but didn't see a reply coming through. On the other side of the screen, in a different house across town, John was crying. He cried, and cried, and cried. Of course, Alex didn't like him, of course, he couldn't be happy, of course, he couldn't be with the person he wanted most in the world. But he was the happy kid, right? Always smiling even if the world was ending. Keep the smile up and no one will notice something is wrong. Make sure to lie to your friends that you're ok so they don't ask why. Keep on the mask John, he said to himself.

TurtleBoi: i'm so happy for you!

Tears hit the phone as the screen went black.

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A/N: Sad boi hours over here. I don't even know why I'm sad but I guess it shows at the end of the chapter.

Published: 6/03/2020

Word count: 1,352