Character Analysis
From the first moment we meet Alex, we can tell this guy is a major turd:
Alex could shoot a football across the field like a bullet and down twelve double cheeseburgers in one sitting. This was the extent of his talents. Although once, when we were thirteen, he did flatten fifty empty soda cans on his forehead. His mental abilities had seemed to deteriorate from that point. We'd
been growing apart since junior high. Alex just hadn't figured it out yet. His father was chief of the Raynesville Police Force which sounded like a big deal but really wasn't considering the force consisted of three deputies and one clerk. Being the son of a policeman seemed to make Alex look for trouble. (1.10)
So in Jake's eyes, Alex is obnoxious, empty-headed, and looking for trouble. That's a nasty combination. And Jake's assessment isn't all wrong. Alex isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and he does do all kinds of illegal things, like drink underage and buy drugs from sketchy characters. And he's the first one to jump aboard anytime anyone suggests a bad idea. He's also pretty smarmy with the ladies. You might want to try dialing down the sexual harassment about a thousand notches, Alex.
Alex isn't all bad, though. Once he figures out that his weed-dealer, Chuck, is a major bad guy, he drops him like a bag of garbage. Good for you, Alex. He also encourages his dad to look into Amy's suicide again when Dani requests help. So Alex isn't totally useless—he's just mostly useless. But, hey, we'll give him points for trying.