They Found Him In A Cadillac..., chapter 2
A fist slams into the side of Simon's head and he relinqueshes his vice-like grip. I look around to see Jakob rubbing his knuckles and glaring at Jason, who's now lying on the floor, clutching his head.
Shit.
Simon's friends step forward, but then a teacher comes past, and as the guys pause in their menacing approach, I grab Jakob's wrist and pull him down the corridor, past the maths rooms and into Maths 4. I let go of his arm, and quickly walk to my seat in the back corner. I don't want him to become a loser just because of me, he doesn't have to sit with me... But he does.
We sit in silence through the entire double period. In the last ten minutes, the teacher hands out the last class tests. When she gives me mine, I glance at it, and then try and hide the mark, written in red pen and circled at the top, but Jakob sees, and I blush. I glance at it again. 32 percent. Worst I've ever gotten. But who cares? I'm so far behind, it won't make any difference.
The final bell goes, and I grab my bag, making for the door, eager to get away and into the weekend of guitar playing and screwing around waiting for me at home. I dash into the corridor and pelt down the hallway, carefully jumping over any tripping legs and dodging any outstretched arms. I make it to the doors before anyone else, and sprint onto the pavement, quickly walking away.
"Hey! Hey, Sophia, wait up!" I stop and turn around, and there's Jakob, running after me, red faced and dark hair flopping everywhere. Wow, he actually came after me...
"Hey," I say quietly, as he jogs up, "What're you doing?"
"Walking home," he says, with a laugh, "Same as you, huh?"
"Uh, yeah."
"So what was with the marathon there?"
"I... I like to get home."
"Understandable. Me too." We walk for a little way in silence, when Jakob pipes up.
"So, tell me a little more about yourself, Soph." Soph. A nickname I hadn't had since about year 6, when everyone started to hate me.
"Um... Ok... I was born in Australia, in Sydney... I'm 15. I have a little brother... Uh... That's basically it."
JAKOB'S POV
That's it? Oh for christ's sake... I look at her for a moment. She's actually quite pretty, in fact I'm surprised she doesn't have a boyfriend. Then again, with what happened in the corridor on the way to maths... Maybe I shouldn't be. She has light brown hair, with un-even, natural looking streaks running through it. Hazel eyes glint out from behind the hair hanging over them. She's quite short, but not unnaturally so.
"Ok then... Well... I'm Jakob. Born in California. I'm 15 too. I have one big brother... I just moved here from America, as you know... Umm... I have one friend in Australia- I don't know anyone else, really. My dad has some friends here, but I've hardly met 'em. I like punk music, a little metal, nothing too heavy, and rock... I hate people like that guy who grabbed you before..."
"You didn't have to do that," she says quietly.
"But I wanted to. And," I add, looking around, "I have no fucking clue how to get home." Crap.
SOPHIA'S POV
I stop, and stare at him.
"Are you serious?" I ask incredulously.
"Yup." He replies glumly, still looking around.
"Oh, for fuck's sake. Do you remember your street name?"
"Uh... No..."
"Christ. Do you remember what it LOOKS like?"
"Uh... Yeah. A load of big houses with green lawns... Um... Our house has a load of weird flowers out the front... Opposite is a really shitty old lady who has a problem with my music..."
"Oh!" I say, with some surprise, "That's Blacksland street!"
"Yeah, that's it!" Wow, he must be rich, the houses there are pretty expensive.
"Ok, follow me. Hey, you're about two streets over from me."
"Really? Cool!" We walk into his street, and we walk down to where his house is. Christ. It's like, three times the size of my home.
"Y'wanna come in?" asks Jakob, gesturing to the front door, "Dad's doing something with some friends, and Mom said she's taken my big brother shopping or some shit."
"Uh, ok..." I haven't been invited to someone's house for ages. He gets out his keys, and opens the door.
Fuck.
I feel like a vagrant. Everything's spotless, with a carpeted floor and carefully placed stuff... The exact opposite of my house. He leads me up the stairs to his room, which is already covered in posters. There's a fucking huuuuge cd rack, filled with at least 50 CDs. He sees me looking at it.
"Yeah, there's a few, aren't there?" he says proudly.
"Fuck all, I have like, twenty CDs. And half of them are second-hand or scratched or something."
"Nothing wrong with that. So, what bands do you like?"
"Uh... Well, my favourites are, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, The Living End, The Clash, um..." he nods, smiling as I recite the list, "And Green Day." He looks away, smiling slightly, but not in a way that says 'Cool, she likes a band that I like.' But in a more... Sort of proud way. Wha?
I glance down at my watch.
JAKOB'S POV
"Ah, shit," she says, looking at her watch, "I have to fucking go. Jack will have torn the place down if I don't leave now."
"Your little brother?" I ask curiously.
"Yeah, he's 8, and an absolute terror. I should feed him to the next-door-neighbour's german shepherd, and do the world a favour." We laugh, and go downstairs.
"Bye," she says, "See you tomorrow." And she walks out the door. When she reaches the sidewalk she starts sprinting down the street, and runs across the road.
SOPHIA'S POV
I run down the pavement, careening around rubbish bins left outside houses. I turn left and run across the road just as a black BMW turns the corner, heading straight for me. Shit! It's about 3 metres away! I throw myself forward, just missing the car and skidding on my stomach into the gutter. Owh... Shit... Agh... I've got dirt in my eyes... Agh... I hear a car door slam behind me, and a guy comes into view.
"Hey, kid you okay?" I sit up, rubbing my eyes. I glance down at my palms, where a trickle of blood is leaking out from a load of scraped skin and gravel. I wince.
"I'll live." They guy looks at my hands.
"You've gotta get those cleaned. Y'wanna come inside?" That is the most fucking FREAKY question I have ever fucking been asked. I look up at him shocked. And I see bright green eyes, and spiky black hair.
Oh. My. God.
My jaw drops. It's Billie Joe fucking Armstrong. Just then, Jakob runs up, looking worried.
"Shit, Dad! What did you do?"
Dad?
Shit.
Simon's friends step forward, but then a teacher comes past, and as the guys pause in their menacing approach, I grab Jakob's wrist and pull him down the corridor, past the maths rooms and into Maths 4. I let go of his arm, and quickly walk to my seat in the back corner. I don't want him to become a loser just because of me, he doesn't have to sit with me... But he does.
We sit in silence through the entire double period. In the last ten minutes, the teacher hands out the last class tests. When she gives me mine, I glance at it, and then try and hide the mark, written in red pen and circled at the top, but Jakob sees, and I blush. I glance at it again. 32 percent. Worst I've ever gotten. But who cares? I'm so far behind, it won't make any difference.
The final bell goes, and I grab my bag, making for the door, eager to get away and into the weekend of guitar playing and screwing around waiting for me at home. I dash into the corridor and pelt down the hallway, carefully jumping over any tripping legs and dodging any outstretched arms. I make it to the doors before anyone else, and sprint onto the pavement, quickly walking away.
"Hey! Hey, Sophia, wait up!" I stop and turn around, and there's Jakob, running after me, red faced and dark hair flopping everywhere. Wow, he actually came after me...
"Hey," I say quietly, as he jogs up, "What're you doing?"
"Walking home," he says, with a laugh, "Same as you, huh?"
"Uh, yeah."
"So what was with the marathon there?"
"I... I like to get home."
"Understandable. Me too." We walk for a little way in silence, when Jakob pipes up.
"So, tell me a little more about yourself, Soph." Soph. A nickname I hadn't had since about year 6, when everyone started to hate me.
"Um... Ok... I was born in Australia, in Sydney... I'm 15. I have a little brother... Uh... That's basically it."
JAKOB'S POV
That's it? Oh for christ's sake... I look at her for a moment. She's actually quite pretty, in fact I'm surprised she doesn't have a boyfriend. Then again, with what happened in the corridor on the way to maths... Maybe I shouldn't be. She has light brown hair, with un-even, natural looking streaks running through it. Hazel eyes glint out from behind the hair hanging over them. She's quite short, but not unnaturally so.
"Ok then... Well... I'm Jakob. Born in California. I'm 15 too. I have one big brother... I just moved here from America, as you know... Umm... I have one friend in Australia- I don't know anyone else, really. My dad has some friends here, but I've hardly met 'em. I like punk music, a little metal, nothing too heavy, and rock... I hate people like that guy who grabbed you before..."
"You didn't have to do that," she says quietly.
"But I wanted to. And," I add, looking around, "I have no fucking clue how to get home." Crap.
SOPHIA'S POV
I stop, and stare at him.
"Are you serious?" I ask incredulously.
"Yup." He replies glumly, still looking around.
"Oh, for fuck's sake. Do you remember your street name?"
"Uh... No..."
"Christ. Do you remember what it LOOKS like?"
"Uh... Yeah. A load of big houses with green lawns... Um... Our house has a load of weird flowers out the front... Opposite is a really shitty old lady who has a problem with my music..."
"Oh!" I say, with some surprise, "That's Blacksland street!"
"Yeah, that's it!" Wow, he must be rich, the houses there are pretty expensive.
"Ok, follow me. Hey, you're about two streets over from me."
"Really? Cool!" We walk into his street, and we walk down to where his house is. Christ. It's like, three times the size of my home.
"Y'wanna come in?" asks Jakob, gesturing to the front door, "Dad's doing something with some friends, and Mom said she's taken my big brother shopping or some shit."
"Uh, ok..." I haven't been invited to someone's house for ages. He gets out his keys, and opens the door.
Fuck.
I feel like a vagrant. Everything's spotless, with a carpeted floor and carefully placed stuff... The exact opposite of my house. He leads me up the stairs to his room, which is already covered in posters. There's a fucking huuuuge cd rack, filled with at least 50 CDs. He sees me looking at it.
"Yeah, there's a few, aren't there?" he says proudly.
"Fuck all, I have like, twenty CDs. And half of them are second-hand or scratched or something."
"Nothing wrong with that. So, what bands do you like?"
"Uh... Well, my favourites are, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, The Living End, The Clash, um..." he nods, smiling as I recite the list, "And Green Day." He looks away, smiling slightly, but not in a way that says 'Cool, she likes a band that I like.' But in a more... Sort of proud way. Wha?
I glance down at my watch.
JAKOB'S POV
"Ah, shit," she says, looking at her watch, "I have to fucking go. Jack will have torn the place down if I don't leave now."
"Your little brother?" I ask curiously.
"Yeah, he's 8, and an absolute terror. I should feed him to the next-door-neighbour's german shepherd, and do the world a favour." We laugh, and go downstairs.
"Bye," she says, "See you tomorrow." And she walks out the door. When she reaches the sidewalk she starts sprinting down the street, and runs across the road.
SOPHIA'S POV
I run down the pavement, careening around rubbish bins left outside houses. I turn left and run across the road just as a black BMW turns the corner, heading straight for me. Shit! It's about 3 metres away! I throw myself forward, just missing the car and skidding on my stomach into the gutter. Owh... Shit... Agh... I've got dirt in my eyes... Agh... I hear a car door slam behind me, and a guy comes into view.
"Hey, kid you okay?" I sit up, rubbing my eyes. I glance down at my palms, where a trickle of blood is leaking out from a load of scraped skin and gravel. I wince.
"I'll live." They guy looks at my hands.
"You've gotta get those cleaned. Y'wanna come inside?" That is the most fucking FREAKY question I have ever fucking been asked. I look up at him shocked. And I see bright green eyes, and spiky black hair.
Oh. My. God.
My jaw drops. It's Billie Joe fucking Armstrong. Just then, Jakob runs up, looking worried.
"Shit, Dad! What did you do?"
Dad?
