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callsign-bunnie · 1 year

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Gaz - Chapter 4 - An Academic Achievement

Kyle Gaz Garrick. One of the few business majors at their university who was not a member of Alpha Lambda. Member of the freethinkers club and third best friend to Soap and Rodolfo. Orphan. Gaz has been friends with the freethinkers since Price introduced him to Farah and Alex in his freshman year of highschool and when Price introduced Roach their sophomore year.

The freethinkers club was his family. He considered Roach his little brother, and Farah to be his best friend. And Alex was... Alex. Gaz wasn't going to jeopardize his family for anything. Even his own feelings.

Gaz had been friends with Rodolfo and Soap since the second quarter of the first year of college. He’d come to this college because it was a really good one and both of his best friends had made it in. Also, his adopted Dad, Price, was Coach of the football team.

Adopted was… a big word. It wasn’t legal. For all intents and purposes, Gaz was still an orphan. This had been something he and Soap bonded over. But, Price had basically become his dad. He also coached football in the high school, and he’d taken a bit of a fatherly role for Gaz.

Farah was basically his sister, too, and Price had taken the same role for her and Alex. Granted, they had parents, well Alex had a mom, but neither had great relationships with their parents. Actually, this was how Gaz had met the other two. Price had introduced them all, and later Roach.

And so, they’d formed the Freethinkers club. Yeah, he didn’t get the name, either. Farah named them but he didn’t think she knew why, either. Roach, Gaz, and Alex had just gone along with the name.

But, anyway, Gaz had been friends with Rodolfo and Soap since the second quarter of the first year. They had shared an English class that Gaz hated. The teacher had, for whatever reason, singled him out.

So, he’d been super quiet and kept to himself. Soap had seemed to pick up on that and dragged Rodolfo over after a class and just started a conversation. Gaz wasn’t sure how it escalated from there, but then they’d started to hang out every Saturday and occasionally he dragged them to meetings with his other friends.

He really liked hanging out with Soap and Rodolfo. Rodolfo was very down to earth, and Soap was fun. They were a nice balance. Reminded him of Alex and Farah.

Farah could be chaotic, constantly finding ways for them to get into trouble. Once, she’d had them break into construction to dump sugar in concrete, hoping to sabotage the building of a golf course and country club. They’d almost gotten caught but Farah had managed to get them away in time.

Alex had been against the idea from the start. He’d only gone to make sure they didn’t get arrested. They’d bickered for hours afterwards. Gaz remembered that argument vividly. They’d almost stopped being friends over it, and Gaz had been in the middle. He’d been pretty desperate to not lose either of his friends. They were his family, basically.

Yeah, maybe it hadn’t been so fun, after all.

Roach had joined them a week later, and he’d ended up fixing the friendship. They couldn’t exactly break up a club so soon after a new member, one Price had all but begged them to take in.

Roach had been… quiet. Autistic, apparently. He only spoke sign and he jumped at every noise. Gaz had decided to suggest to Alex and Farah they take sign lessons, both to make Roach feel more welcome, and in hopes it would make them bond again.

And, it had worked. Roach became a completely fourth member of their group, and Alex and Valeria could stand to be in the same room again. Gaz would be eternally grateful to Roach for pulling his family back together. And giving him another brother, basically.

However, being so desperate to not lose his family was the reason he kept ignoring Alex’s feelings towards him. And… his own towards Alex. He knew Alex liked him. It was… fairly obvious. Not to mention, Farah, Soap, and Rudy all pointed it out to him whenever they got a chance.

Gaz had been tempted to just say fuck it and go for it but then… he’d start to worry about what would happen if they broke up. Roach and Farah would either have to be the mediator between them or they’d pick sides and Gaz’s only family would fall apart.

He couldn’t let that happen. So, he’d just ignore his own feelings, and hope Alex’s went away. Life wasn’t that easy, though, was it?

Gaz shrugged as he worked on unscrewing the bolts keeping Soap’s and Rudy’s beds together. “I’m not too upset. I know Rodolfo’s been struggling with his advisor.”

“Struggling so much.” Soap agreed. “She’s a bitch.” He’d been apologizing to Gaz on Rodolfo’s behalf for not being there.

Gaz chuckled. “I’ve heard from Rudy, already. I hope his scholarship doesn’t get revoked for the school’s mistake.”

“They’d be revoking a pre-law student’s scholarship for a dumb reason. A pre-law student who happens to be one of the best damn lawyer’s favorite students. No, they would not be so dumb.” Soap shook his head, on his bed and also unscrewing bolts.

Gaz relaxed, glad Rodolfo’s education wasn’t being fucked up over something stupid. “Good.” He nodded. He finished with his bolts and watched Soap finish his.

“Alright, I’ll lift from this side, you lift from that one. If we do it, together, we can hopefully not break anything.” Soap nodded to Gaz’s side, pushing his hands against his side.

Gaz quickly lifted his own side, and they both pushed. However, very quickly there came a loud cracking noise and they both quickly stopped. “Um… what was that??” Gaz frowned, deeply, now very anxious.

Soap quickly checked the leg the noise had came from and winced. “I… may have forgotten to take a bolt out of this one. The leg is split clean up the side.”

“Fuck.” Gaz winced. “So… what do we do about that?”

“Rudy’s gonna fucking kill me….” Soap groaned.

Gaz winced, praying that would only happen to Soap. Rodolfo was already stressed as it was, a broken bed leg might tip him over the edge to beyond stressed. He considered. “Hey, couldn’t we just… move your bed to this side? Rodolfo’s stuff won’t be here until this evening, anyway. And it’s closer to the window seat.”

“You’re a genius, Gaz.” Soap grinned. “Help me lift this side.”

Gaz did as asked and they put the bed on its side at the foot of Soap’s bed. It was not that heavy, thankfully, though Soap and Gaz both worked out a fair bit. Soap gestured and Gaz and him quickly shoved it against the other wall.

Then, as carefully as possible, in order to not break the leg further, they lowered Rodolfo’s bed down. “Hopefully, it doesn’t break.” Gaz panted. Okay, it was heavy enough that that had been a decent amount of work.

“Poor Rodolfo if it does.” Soap chuckled. “One of these weekends, I’ll get under there and ziptie it so it stays together.”

Gaz wasn’t sure that would work. “Maybe you should go back on your meds, Soap.”

“Nah, I work out. That’s enough. Dopamine and shit.” Soap shrugged.

Gaz was not convinced, but he knew Soap wouldn’t take his advice on the matter. “Alright, I guess.”

“Hey, so when are you, Farah, and Alex meetin up?” Soap asked, plopping down on his beanbag chair. Gaz sat in the one next to him. You’d think that one would be Rodolfo’s but no, it was Gaz’s. Rodolfo usually sat in the window seat when they hung out. Soap had gotten a set, and so Gaz had taken over it.

“Um, 6? I think. She texted me. It’s somewhere around that time. We’re showing Roach around.”

“Roach?” Soap tilted his head.

“Oh, right!” Gaz winced. He’d forgotten to tell Soap and Rodolfo about Roach. “He’s the fourth member of the Freethinkers club. He’s a year under us, and he’s entering this year. We were friends in High School.”

“Oh, nice!” Soap grinned. “I guess we’ll have to meet him.”

Gaz nodded. “You definitely should. He’s super cool. Mute, though. Well… he’s cool and he’s mute. The muteness doesn’t negate any coolness.”

“I get it.” Soap laughed. “Can I ask why?”

“He’s autistic, like Rudy.” Gaz nodded. “Selectively mute, I think is what he called it.”

“Oh yeah, Rodolfo talks about that, sometimes.” Soap nodded. “Ironically.”

Gaz smiled. “Yeah! I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak, at all, though. I think he said he can’t at this point because he’d need to go to speech therapy.”

“Ah, makes sense.” Soap nodded, leaning back in his bean bag chair.

“He’s an orphan, like us.” Gaz smiled. “Different foster home than me, though.”

Soap chuckled. “We need to make a club, at this rate.”

“Oh joy, another.” Gaz laughed. “What would we call it?”

“Fatherless, then Alex can join!” Soap grinned.

Gaz shook his head, chuckling. “You’re horrible, Gaz. But, sadly, you’d be alone. Price is our dad.”

“Lucky.” Soap sighed. “All my coach did was- anyway, maybe Fatherless isn’t the best idea. How about, Our Bio Dads are dead?”

Gaz frowned, definitely having caught Soap’s first part of his statement. But, he didn’t push on it. He knew Soap. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. “Still wouldn’t work. Roach’s is alive, just a deadbeat.”

“Fuck.” Soap shook his head. “Damn, maybe we won’t start a club.”

Gaz smiled. “It was a good effort, mate.”

“Thanks.” Soap grinned. “Well, you wanna hang out with me until you gotta meet them? We can play a video game. I got enough from my orphan grant left over to buy a system this year.”

“Hell yeah,” Gaz sat up as Soap got up. Soap took a small moment to set up the system. It looked fairly expensive.

Gaz owned his own, but Price had bought it for him for Christmas the year before. “You know, you should come to one of my practices, meet Coach Price. I swear, that man looks for an excuse to adopt.”

“Maybe. I dunno. I’ve… gotten used to being an orphan. I don’t… need a dad.” Soap handed him a controller and sat down.

“What about Laswell? She basically treats you and Rudy as her sons. Her and Dr Jen.”

“That’s a mom, not a dad. Everyone needs a mom.” Soap shrugged.

That was another thing the three had bonded over. Price had been best friends with Laswell, and Laswell had basically become their mom figure. Dr Jen, Laswell’s wife, had especially taken to Soap and Farah, Gaz knew. And Laswell had taken to Rudy and Alex. Which was fine, because even though he denied it, they all knew Gaz and Roach were Price’s favorites.

“Yeah, that’s fair. Hey, we have two.” Gaz pointed out. “Dr Jen, and Professor Laswell.”

“You’re right.” Soap grinned and nodded. “Damn, so you four have like… three parents. Three good parents, anyway.” He winced. Gaz had kind of told him about Farah’s relationship with her parents and Alex’s with his mom, so he understood.

“Yeah, I guess.” Gaz nodded, smiling.

“What game do you wanna play?”

Gaz considered, watching Soap go over the games he had. “Got anything racing wise?”

“Mariokart?” Soap offered, already setting it up. “You know, Rudy won’t play with me, anymore, because I beat his ass at it.”

“Yeah, when you play a game, you’d like a chance at winning.” Gaz shook his head, amused. “Yeah, sure.” He and Farah used to play all the time in high school, so he was pretty good at it.

“Awesome.” Soap grinned and set it up for them to play.

Gaz ended up getting to the meeting a little early. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone. Alex, who had the keys to the club room they rented out, was there already. Probably so he could get the door unlocked. “Alex! Hey!” Gaz smiled as he came over.

Alex looked over and then gave him a bright smile, back. “Hey, sorry. I’m trying to jam the key into this lock. It’s… not working.”

“Here,” Gaz offered, taking the keys from him. Their skin brushed for a quick moment and Gaz tried not to focus on the way it tingled, afterwards. He shimmied the key in and then wiggled it. It finally twisted and Gaz pushed the door open.

“You are a man of many talents.” Alex chuckled, going in. “I wasn’t expecting you to be early, I thought you were with Soap and Rudy.”

“No, I was with Soap, and Rudy came back from his advisors’ around an hour ago. But, I couldn’t remember if it was 6 or 6:30. I’m… guessing it was 6:30?” Gaz went to the small couch they’d shoved into the room. Small couch for a small room. There were also two chairs, a coffee table, and some various decor they’d put around it. And a poster that said “Freethinkers” with their handprints on it. They’d made it in grade 11, so it even had Roach’s hand on it.

Farah had painted a bunch of random stuff on it and Gaz and Alex had written their names on it. They’d splashed each other with paint and it’d devolved into a full on paint war. Somehow, Gaz had ended up on the floor with Alex looking down at him and… Gaz had been so worried they’d kiss that he’d sprayed a bottle of paint in Alex’s face.

It’d worked but poor Alex had had to go to the doctor to make sure his eyes were fine. They were and, despite Alex reassuring Gaz over and over that it was fine and him laughing about it, Gaz had felt so horrible.

“Yeah, it was 6:30. I think Farah and Roach are still at their dorm. She’s getting Roach set up.” Alex nodded, sitting on his chair, which was sunflower yellow. That was Alex’s favorite color.

“I hope Roach’s chronically early balances with Farah’s chronically late and they end up on time.” Gaz chuckled. “How’s Alpha Lambda?”

“So fun,” Alex rolled his eyes. “The first party is set up this weekend. It’s not even rush week.”

“When are you guys doing rush week?” Gaz tilted his head. Honestly, he didn’t know much about Alpha Lambda, just that it was the fraternity of the college and it was a business frat. Oh, and they threw a themed party every week.

“In two weeks, so it’s not too far away but…” Alex sighed, sinking a little in his chair. “Graves wants us to make a good first impression on the new students.”

Gaz nodded a little. “I see. I’m guessing this has nothing to do with the sororities?”

Alex looked at Gaz for a moment before laughing. “Graves is gay, Gaz.”

Gaz went bright red. He had not known that. “Oh. I… didn’t know that. Are any of you guys straight?” He asked, realizing that all of the members he knew of were gay or bi.

“Some.” Alex chuckled. “Alpha Lambda used to be… fairly discriminatory but the upper members are all gay or bi or trans, now, so… that kind of got fazed out. They’re still douchey, don’t get me wrong, but… pretty diverse.”

“Progressive,” Gaz snorted, being sarcastic. “You guys still haze, though.”

“Ironic, right?” Alex laughed. “It’s… not too bad. Some of the other frats do worse.”

Gaz shook his head. “I’m not sure I believe you. They had you in nothing but boxers wearing a sign that said “hunk for hire” at four separate parties.”

“That was the better part of it.” Alex winced. “I made a pretty good hunk, though.” He half grinned.

“You did,” Gaz admitted, without thinking, and then immediately looked away from Alex, not wanting to see whatever reaction that caused. “Anyway, what was the worst of it?”

“Um…” Alex seemed to think. “They kidnapped us from our beds and took us to the woods and made us search for a bottle with a note in it, wearing nothing but our boxers. The worst part is, the bottle had to be in our name, and if we didn’t find it, we could either stay out there all night or drop out of the frat. Some poor kid had an asthma attack.”

“Jesus.” Gaz’s mouth dropped. “Why didn’t you tell us about that??”

“I knew Farah would kill someone.” Alex winced. “Besides, I… need the networking that Alpha Lambda provides. So many successful businessmen have been in Alpha Lambda. It’s almost guaranteed to provide you a career at this rate.”

“That’s gotta be illegal.” Gaz shook his head, hardly able to believe it. He believed Alex, of course, but it seemed so ridiculous.

“It is. But… who’s gonna stop them?”

Gaz shook his head. “I guess.” That sounded horrible. He couldn’t imagine doing that. He was now super grateful he’d decided not to rush. Well, actually, Alex had convinced him not to. He was gonna rush in the Spring but Alex said it wasn’t worth it. “Is… that why you stopped me from rushing Alpha Lambda?”

“Partially. I also… didn’t think you’d enjoy it.” Alex winced. “Also, I think if you went through that and Farah found out I let you… I’d be taken to the woods, but it wouldn’t be to search for a bottle. She’d shoot me. Like a lame horse.”

Gaz snorted. That was true. Farah was not a… chill person. “I’ll accept that. I’m glad I didn’t now.”

Alex smiled at him, soft. Gaz flushed, his heart fluttering. Like butterflies. He quickly stomped on them, though. Nuh uh, not happening.

Thankfully, Farah and Roach arrived a minute later. “Welcome to the clubroom, Roach!” Farah grinned as they burst in. Alex and Gaz clapped.

Wow! You guys made it so cozy! Roach signed as he stepped in, looking around. Our sign! He went to it, touching his own handprint.

Gaz smiled. “Hey, since all four of us are here, maybe we should make a new one? You know, a way to show we’ve been reunited!”

“That’s a great idea, Gaz!” Farah bounced. “We’ll do that on our first official meeting this Saturday!”

Gaz smiled wide. “If Alex isn’t too hungover from the party.”

“Oh yeah, are you coming, Farah?” Alex turned to Farah.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Roach tilted his head. Party??

“Yeah, Alex is part of a frat.” Gaz nodded. “Alpha Lambda. They throw a weekly party.”

Roach seemed surprised. I didn’t think you’d be a frat boy. He signed to Alex, who shrugged.

“Business majors make due.” Alex shrugged.

Farah snorted. “Yeah, business majors. Anyway, the forensics club is better than a frat.” She threw her arm over Roach’s shoulder. “We’re the cool kids.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone calls you guys nerds. The only thing keeping you guys on the social ladder, is the fact that everyone wants to sleep with the leader.” Alex joked.

Farah rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him, Roach. We’re the cool kids.”

We’re the cool kids. Roach signed, grinning. I met Ghost, he’s cool. Kind of scary. Huge.

“6’4.” Farah nodded. “That’s like… 7 inches taller than you?”

Yeah. But he’s cool. I showed him how I can climb into the ceiling and he laughed.

“Damn, Ghost never laughs.” Alex chuckled. “He’s the most serious person I know.”

Gaz nodded in agreement. He and Ghost hadn’t talked much but… He was a pretty intimidating dude. “It’s good he likes you. He’s better on your good side.”

“I’d hate to see him on my bad side.” Alex agreed. “Though… he hates Alpha Lambda. Specifically Vargas.”

Gaz recognized Vargas as the center midfielder on his team. Basically the star of the team, though not officially. Gaz was a sweeper, due to being able to throw himself in front of the ball. In high school, he’d been labeled a “ball magnet” because he kept getting hit by them.

“Why Vargas?” Gaz frowned.

“Because he’s a fucking douchebag.” Farah scoffed. “He thinks he’s so fucking cool because he’s center middle or whatever. And because he gets pussy and ass thrown at him left and right. He acts like some celebrity.”

“Center midfielder.” Gaz corrected. “And he’s… okay. He’s pretty nice to the team. Regularly buys us all dinner after games.” He liked Alejandro Vargas.

“Yeah, so he looks good.” Farah shook her head. “He acts like he’s a gift, brought to us, by… the heaven above.” She stammered.

“He is catholic,” Alex chuckled, “but, he’s really not that bad. He just… doesn’t take anything seriously.”

“Even worse.” Farah muttered.

Roach shook his head. Well, that answers why Farah hates him. Why does Ghost?

“From what I’ve heard, I think they used to be best friends. But… Ghost hates Alpha Lambda. Thinks it’s a “frat of shitheads”, to quote him. Except me, of course.” Alex shrugged. “I dunno if I believe him on that last bit. But… anyway, Vargas joined and… I dunno, I think they fell out from there.”

Oh. That sucks. Roach frowned.

“Vargas is a shithead. It tracks.” Farah shook her head.

All three of the others rolled their eyes in time.

“Hey, while we’re… adjacent to the subject, my anxiety meds got switched last week. They might go… haywire if I exert myself, can you come to my practice, Farah?” Gaz looked to Farah.

Farah winced. “No… remember, I set up that introduction meeting for the Forensics club…”

“Damn, so that throws Roach out, too.” Gaz winced.

“I’m free on Tuesday.” Alex offered. “I can come.”

Gaz hesitated. He knew he’d be nervous with Alex watching him. Alex made him so flustered… But he didn’t feel comfortable asking any of his team members to watch him. “Okay. I’m sure Price won’t mind.”

“Nah, he won’t.” Alex nodded and smiled.

Farah suddenly grinned. “Alright, alright. Come on, guys. Let’s go show Roach around. The freethinkers are reunited!!”

Gaz laughed and got up with Alex. “Oh no, what crimes will we commit now?”

“Devious, evil ones!” Farah danced a little and then dragged them all out, barely waiting for Alex to lock the door again.

Gaz looked up, a little surprised to see Alex coming over. He was holding two gigantic cupcakes. He perked up, having been kind of bored. No one came to the club fair for the sports teams. And even if they did, they didn’t want to see some newbie. They wanted Vargas or Garza.

“Hey, Gaz.” Alex grinned, offering one of the cupcakes. “Mary from the Etiquette club brought them to the Forensics club. Said they made too many.”

“No, she brought them to you.” Gaz snorted. Mary had… been a bit of a problem. She kept flirting with Alex, even though Alex had made it clear he wasn’t interested.

Alex flushed. “Maybe.” He shrugged. “But… I brought them to you, now. Are you gonna take it?”

“She didn’t know you’d bring one to me, right? I’d be worried she might poison it.” Gaz snorted, but accepted it. Mary hated Gaz. One, she was homophobic. Two, she thought Alex was being brainwashed by Gaz into being gay and not being with her, a “real woman.”

Farah had… had some choice words to say after that confrontation.

“No, she didn’t. She even mentioned you weren’t there. Left before Farah could get a word in, too.” Alex shrugged.

“Isn’t… Isn’t Mary into divine femininity?” Gaz realized, looking at his cupcake. “Like, I thought she ran a blog about witchcraft and incorporating it into a traditional feminine lifestyle.”

Alex looked at his cupcake and seemed to have the same horror dawn on his face. “Oh fuck.”

Both immediately dropped the cupcakes and Gaz dove over the table, running after Alex to get to the forensics table.

Gaz managed to make it there first, panting from having sprinted. He knocked the cupcake Farah was about to eat out of her hand. “Don’t eat them!!”

Farah jumped back, looking almost offended. “Why not??”

Alex managed to catch up, hunched over and panting. “Mary… might have… put something in them…”

“What?!” Ghost stood, immediately. “Roach and I just had one.”

“Alex mentioned she left rather quickly after giving them to him.” Gaz explained, taking deep breaths to slow his heart, which had just had quite the jolt.

Alex took deep breaths as well and then finally straightened. “She’s into divine femininity and witchcraft. The weird stuff. Now that I think about it, she did put a lot of effort into saying they were for me…”

“Gross.” Farah made a face. “Oh…” She turned to Roach and Ghost who looked downright horrified.

“What the fuck did we eat??” Ghost stared at them.

Gaz winced. “Uhhh… I mean, you have access to Dr Jen’s lab, right? We could test them?” He asked Ghost, who nodded.

Roach seemed to be out of it, touching all over his own chest.

“Roach, buddy, you good?” Farah frowned.

I feel funny. Roach signed. He was blushed bright red, they could see it peeking out of his mask.

“We’re testing those fucking cupcakes. Look, the fair is about over. Let’s just close the table and go.” Ghost started to gather everything up.

“I can help you close the football table.” Alex offered. Gaz nodded, glad he wouldn’t have to close it, alone.

“We’ll meet you guys at the outside door to her lab.” Farah spoke up.

Gaz quickly nodded and he and Alex rushed back to the table.

They packed it up as quick as possible and Gaz dumped everything on Price. Neither explained why, just immediately ran to Dr Jen’s lab.

Farah, Ghost, and Roach were already inside. They were at a lab table, in lab gear, surrounding a cupcake. Gaz quickly went over, Alex following behind.

“Ghost is testing for whatever is available for us to test for.” Farah explained when they came over. “Drugs, first, but those are unlikely.”

Ghost was focused, looking at a tiny tube. “No drugs, well no bad ones…” He frowned and seemed to think for a moment. Poor Roach was hugging himself, looking deeply upset. Ghost looked at him for a moment and narrowed his eyes before suddenly going to the cabinet and coming back with some stuff.

Gaz had dealt with him enough to know better than to ask questions. He just shared a glance with Alex, who looked very concerned.

Ghost tested another part of the cupcake and sighed. “That explains it. Roach, you’re high as hell.”

“On what?!” Farah shrieked as Roach looked kind of panicked. “Hopefully just marijuana, right??”

“Amphetamines.” Ghost sighed. “Like… Adderall.”

“Adderall. Soap takes that.” Gaz frowned, remembering Soap talking about that. “Rodolfo took some to stay awake during finals week. Rodolfo didn’t look like Roach.”

“I’m guessing she threw something like ashwagandha in it.” Ghost shrugged. “Psycho bitch.”

Alex seemed to go pale. “The horny weed???”

“The-” Farah whipped around to look at him. “How the actual fuck do you know what that is??”

All four turned to face Alex. Gaz was also very confused, because he had no idea what ashwagandha is.

Alex flushed. “I’m in Alpha Lambda. It’s passed out like candy.”

“Gross.” Farah made a face. “Wait, Ghost, how would you know enough to know that’s causing it?”

They turned to look at Ghost, who just kind of stood there, before shrugging. “Anyway, Roach will be fine. He’s… probably not gonna feel fine. But… He should be fine.”

Farah narrowed her eyes at Ghost before sighing. “Are you okay, Roach?”

No, I can feel my brain vibrating… Roach held his head.

“How are you completely fine, though?” Gaz frowned, looking at Ghost again. “You had a cupcake, too.” Okay, maybe he wasn’t that smart.

Ghost, thankfully, didn’t glare at Gaz like he used to. “I used to take them a lot in high school. My best friend and I would take them with alcohol and do stupid shit. Fucked up my kidney but my tolerance is sky high.”

Gaz… decided that checked out. “I didn’t know Vargas did drugs in high school.” He frowned at Alex immediately making a “shut up” motion across his neck.

Ghost narrowed his eyes at Alex, picking up on it, clearly. “How do you guys know that Vargas and I used to be friends?”

Alex smiled, sheepishly. Gaz hated how his brain immediately picked up on how cute that was. “Um… Vargas talks about it, sometimes.”

“Of course he does. Yes, Vargas and I used to do a lot of drugs.” Ghost shook his head.

Gaz frowned. Funny. He’d always considered Alejandro Vargas to be a bit of a straight edge outside of partying. Maybe Farah was right… “Rudy has him as his math partner.”

“Tell Parra to stay away from him outside of math.” Ghost huffed. “He’s an asshole.”

Gaz quickly nodded, having no problem doing that. He didn’t want his friend to get hurt by a douchebag.

“What are we gonna do about Mary?” Alex spoke up.

Farah shook her head. “She tried to drug you. Something has to be done.”

Gaz nodded in agreement. He was not happy about that. Mary was bad enough, before, but she’d just drugged Roach, and Ghost, and intended to drug Alex! That was horrible, and she needed to be dealt with.

“Why would she even… do that?” Alex frowned.

“She probably wanted to get you addicted to being around her. You ate her cupcakes, you feel good for a bit, horny probably, and then you want that feeling again. So, you go back to her over and over again, slowly getting completely addicted. When she’s away, you’ll feel empty. Your hands will shake, you’ll throw up, you’ll have migraines. You’ll feel completely awful. So, you start to crave her again. What she gives you.” Ghost frowned, seeming to notice them all staring. “Anyway, she’s a psycho bitch, you should probably stay away from her.”

“Are you okay?” Farah asked, clearly genuinely concerned. Gaz felt the same. That was a clearly coming from a place of knowledge.

Ghost immediately seemed defensive. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He glared at them. “Anyway, Roach text me in the morning so I know you’re okay.” Ghost grabbed the box of cupcakes and left, all but storming out.

Farah frowned. “I… think we may have unlocked some backstory, guys.”

Gaz and Alex had both stared at Ghost as he left. Alex shook his head. “That man is… an enigma. Anyway, what do we do about Mary?”

Gaz nodded in agreement. “Should we tell a teacher?”

“No.” Farah shook her head. “No, I think she should get the freethinkers special. Roach and I will handle it, right Roach?” She turned to Roach, who was now almost vibrating.

I wanna make her fucking bleed. Roach shakily signed. This is awful.

Gaz frowned. He’d stop them but… no. She’d tried to drug Alex, presumably to get him addicted to her. Alex didn’t deserve that. And poor Roach was clearly miserable after the drug. “Just… don’t kill her.”

“She deserves worse than that.” Farah shook her head. “Alex, are you fine with it?”

Alex had been dazed off. Gaz frowned. He looked shaken. “Hmm? Yeah, yeah, do whatever. I think… I think I’m gonna go to bed. See you, tomorrow, Gaz.”

Gaz frowned more. “Okay… Goodnight, Alex.”

“Goodnight.” Alex nodded, waving bye to all three of them and leaving.

Farah seemed to soften as Alex left. “I’m gonna make that bitch suffer.” She muttered. “Poor Alex… oh, I hope he doesn’t feel guilty since the cupcakes were meant for him.”

Gaz winced. That sounded exactly like the route Alex would take himself down. “I’ll… spend more time with him. Try to make sure he’s okay.”

“Thank you, Gaz.” Farah relaxed. “I think Roach and I are gonna go back to our dorm as well, so he can sleep this off. Goodnight, Gaz.”

“Goodnight.” Gaz nodded. That was probably a good idea. “Night, Roach.”

Roach shakily signed a goodnight.

“If you need to work anything off, please go to the bathroom,” Farah joked as they left.

Roach punched her shoulder and huffed.

Gaz shook his head, watching them.

Thankfully, Alex didn’t seem too shaken, anymore, when Gaz saw him next. He was already in his gear to practice when Alex showed up. “Hey!” Alex called, seeing him.

Gaz jogged over, grinning. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, I guess I was just a little shaken up last night.” Alex nodded. “How are you?”

“Pretty okay.” Gaz nodded. “All points considered. I saw Roach this morning. He looked perfectly fine.” Had been excitedly rambling about a bug he’d seen.

“Good,” Alex relaxed and nodded. “I’m really glad he’s okay. I gotta apologize, he shouldn’t have had to deal with that. I should have been smarter.”

“Nonsense.” Gaz snorted. So Alex did feel guilty. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. He’s fine, Ghost was obviously fine. Well… Ghost was not fine but is Ghost ever fine?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Alex laughed.

“Anyway, Price is gonna have us do a practice game to get back to working together, so luckily, the stress should be minimal. He knows about my meds. And he knows to get you if I collapse.” Gaz explained.

“Awesome.” Alex nodded and sat on the bench. “I’ll make sure to watch closely.”

Gaz flushed. Great. Gaz was gonna suck that day, he already knew it. Alex made him so distracted. Gaz turned and jogged back to the field where Price was telling them what they were gonna do. It was meant to be for fun, just a game to remind them all how to play. No guidance, just a soccer game.

Gaz could do this. Even if Alex was watching. He took his usual role of sweeper. They were split up half and half. Alejandro Vargas was on their team, thankfully. So, they would likely win.

Gaz got hit with a ball within the first ten minutes. His skin may have been toughened by then, but that still fucking hurt. So the bruises begin. He shook it off, glancing to Alex, who gave him a thumbs up. He flushed and half melted, before he was getting barreled into.

“Damnit, Garrick! Pay attention!” Valeria Garza yelled at him from the other side of the field.

Gaz shrank back a little. “My bad!” He ducked out of the way. She was the most aggressive player so she was the attacking midfielder, though she was playing center for the other team.

“His fucking boyfriend is watching, he’s a little preoccupied.” A fellow player, Nova, called. She wasn’t usually mean, but she had no patience.

Gaz’s face went bright red. He decided to just let it roll off him, but he glared at her. She was so fucking lucky he was just a sweeper, or he’d kick the ball hard enough to knock her head off. He dived in front of the next ball and just tried to not glance at Alex. Pretend he’s not there.

Thankfully, he managed to go the rest of practice with no incident. Once Price finally decided they were done, he noticed Vargas seemed on edge. Gaz went to Alex, watching Vargas irritatedly talk to Price.

Price seemed apologetic, waving his hand. Gaz tried to read his lips. He could pick up “Parra” and “I’m sorry” and then Price gave Alejandro a cookie. Gaz frowned. Alejandro must have been meeting up with Rodolfo. But… why?

He sat by Alex, panting a little.

“You good?” Alex frowned.

“Yeah,” Gaz nodded. “Vargas doesn’t seem to be, though. He looks pissed.”

“Yeah, he found out I knew Rodolfo this morning. Asked me about him.” Alex nodded.

“Did you tell him anything?” Gaz looked at Alex, frowning. His mind went immediately to what Ghost said.

“Only things everyone else would know. That he’s on the debate team with Valeria. I was honest, said I didn’t know much about him. Anyway, he’s meeting up with him to discuss their assignment.” Alex nodded. “Probably is worried Rodolfo will be upset.”

Gaz nodded a bit. “I guess…” He got his water bottle and got a drink. “Anyway, I feel fine, my heart doesn’t hurt or anything.”

“Good!” Alex relaxed and nodded. “You wanna get some dinner?”

Gaz frowned. “Oh, um-”

“It’ll be with Farah and Roach.” Alex quickly said.

Gaz relaxed. Good, not a date. Then… he felt disappointed. He internally rolled his eyes at himself. “Oh, okay. Yeah, sure! Their club meeting should be done soon, right?”

“They’re apparently already done.” Alex nodded. “What restaurant?”

“Um… Oh, we could show Roach that diner!”

“Hell yeah,” Alex nodded and immediately texted the groupchat. Gaz knew because he got a notification a second later.

“Wanna head over? Let me get a shower and we’ll go.” Gaz nodded.

“Yeah, sure. Hey, what did Nova say?” Alex hummed. “It seemed to piss you off.”

“Oh… nothing. Just told me to get my head out of my ass.” Gaz lied.

Alex frowned. “Alright.” He nodded.

Gaz relaxed and then headed in to shower and change. Thankfully, it was without incident. He was not inviting Alex to any more practices, though. That was embarrassing. And he didn’t need Nova saying some shit even louder and risking him hearing.

God, Gaz needed to get it together.

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#an acadamic achievement #Kyle Gaz Garrick #Gaz Cod #Alex Keller #Alex COD #Gaz x Alex #Alex x Gaz #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare II #gazalex #the gazalex agenda #John Price #farah karim #gary roach sanderson

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