A Joyride to Remember, chapter 2
The next few weeks went by slowly, much slower than what I would have liked, and my mind never stopped thinking about the upcoming concert. Sadly, there weren't very many Green Day fans in my school. Actually, a lot of them were Green Day haters. This is one reason that Caitlin, Caitlyn and I were considered "loners" to everyone, and why we were so unpopular in general. We got picked on a lot about how we acted and what we liked, but due to our overly shy nature, we all just took it together. But one day I just lost my patience.
"Hey, look! It's those Gay Day lovers, all dressed up in their "Amewican Idioot" shirts!" Samantha Crawly jeered, as she and her gang of teenie-bopper friends stopped Caitlin, Caitlyn and I in the hall. "Caitlyn, I think you forgot your Billie Joe doll at home!"
We all just glared at them, trying to escape, but were backed into a corner by the seriously tall girl in their group, Amanda Frank.
"Ooh, what's this?" Samantha said in a baby voice, snatching my binder from my hands. It was plastered, back and front, with various pictures of Tré, and a few of Green Day. I tried to grab it back but was shoved against the wall by Amanda's large arm.
"Awww, look, it's Mr. Cool Dude! He's so rad, hmm?" Samantha mocked, opening it and flipping through the pages. After all of the girls had finished laughing and pointing at the contents of my binder, Samantha started ripping pages out.
"I hope you wouldn't mind if I used these at my bonfire party tonight, would'ja Erin? I don't want to have to waste some perfectly good newspapers keeping the flames going. Oh, and sorry, you're not invited. Fourteen is too young to go to a party with boys!" Samantha sneered, ripping up the papers that were in my binder and handing them to one of her friends.
"Hey, you retard, stop tha—" Caitlin tried to stand up for me, but was shoved against the wall by Amanda, and then pushed to the ground by Amanda's abnormally large foot.
"What's your problem?!" I yelled, leaping forward and catching Amanda by surprise. We landed on the ground, I was on top of her and punching the crap out of her face. But, as I had learned in the past, there is safety in numbers, and one of the girls kicked me in the stomach, giving Amanda a chance to get up as I curled into a ball on the ground, groaning quietly in pain. Caitlyn kicked the girl's knees, sending to her to the ground along with another girl she had been standing in front of.
Caitlin got up and slapped Samantha in the face, which wasn't too smart, as she and Samantha had now started a slap fight. Looking up I noticed a crowd was growing around us, a group of boys chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" from the left of me. Amanda punched Caitlyn square in the nose, sending her to the floor with blood streaming out of her nose and tears in her eyes. Filled with rage, I immediately recovered and flew at Amanda, sending her back on the floor, and scratching her face as much as I could. She shot out her arm and grabbed my hair, pulling as hard as she could while I scratched at her eyes. I yelped in pain, but after a punch in the stomach Amanda let go of my hair, and curled into a ball, writhing with pain. I jumped up, just in time to receive a high-heeled kick in the face from Samantha, who I could see had beaten Caitlin in the slap fight. I fell to the ground, grabbing my face in reaction to the horrible pain, just in time to hear Mrs. Johnson, the principal, stomping up to the large fight and screeching for everyone to stop.
"That's enough!!! You girls," she screamed, pointing to each girl in Samantha's group, "Up to my office, NOW!"
They all did as they were told, except for Amanda who was still crying in pain on the ground.
"As for you four, I'll go get the nurse, but you had better not expect to get out of this in one piece!!!" she snarled at us, marching the other way to get the school nurse. Eventually she came back, shoving her way through the now enormous crowd, the nurse behind her. She pointed to all of us as if we were a pile of garbage on the floor, and then stomped off in the direction of her office.
"Come now, girls," Mrs. Bowman, the nurse, snapped at us as she helped Caitlyn up. Caitlin, Amanda and I slowly got to our feet, following Mrs. Bowman as she led us, Caitlyn under her arm, to her office.
We weren't as hurt as I had expected. Caitlyn was given tissue to help stop her nosebleed, Caitlin was given an icepack to stop the redness on her cheeks from the slap fight, Amanda was told to simply sit on a chair until her stomach recovered, and I was lain down on a cot while Mrs. Bowman cleaned up my face from being kicked.
Once we were all okay to walk, she led us to the principal's office where a fuming Mrs. Johnson was pacing up and down the room. To the left of the room was a row of chairs, where Samantha and the other three uninjured members of her "posse" were seated. We were directed to sit down, Amanda sitting beside Samantha, and Caitlin, Caitlyn and I sitting on the last available chairs, one empty seat between Amanda and Caitlyn.
After Mrs. Bowman left the room, and Mrs. Johnson had had a few moments of pacing, she turned to all of us, the angriest I had ever seen her.
"You eight should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves!" she hissed, sitting down in her chair behind her desk. "Do you realize how disruptive you have been?"
None of us made a sound, although I noticed Caitlin shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Since I have no other choice, you are all suspended for today and tomorrow, and will have detention from Wednesday to Friday," she snapped, opening a large portfolio and scribbling something into it. Samantha and her gang let out gasps of protest, looking at each other helplessly. Caitlin, Caitlyn and I just sat there, exchanging worried glances, but staying quiet.
"But Mrs. Johnson, you must understand, we were—"
"I understand quite enough, Ms. Crawly! You were breaking several school rules, and therefore your punishment is final," she interrupted, sounding a lot like a court judge. Samantha shut up then and there, but glared at the principal with heated disgust.
"Now I am phoning your parents, and you will all go home as soon as possible," Mrs. Johnson said angrily, picking up the phone and starting with Amanda's parents.
I sat there quietly, twiddling my thumbs, when a horrible thought came into my head. What if my parents took away the tickets?!
---
I had been grounded, obviously, for two weeks. My parents took it rather well, surprisingly, and hadn't taken away my tickets.
"Those cost a lot of money, and I'm not wasting them now... " My dad had told me, to my extreme relief. I silently counted down the days till the concert while I did my extra chores, until it was so soon I couldn't keep quiet about it. At school, the only place I could see my friends while I was grounded, Caitlin, Caitlyn and I spent all of our free time talking about the concert.
"I'm so damned excited," Caitlin exclaimed at lunch, "I'm gonna see Billie Joe again! On stage! In front of me!"
"Maybe since we're in the most pit I can catch on of Tré's drumsticks!!!" I squealed with delight, remembering how he had dumped a box of drumsticks on the crowd at the first concert I had gone to.
"I wish we had backstage passes... " Caitlyn sighed longingly, finishing her sandwich and stroking the pictures of Billie that were glued on to her binder. Caitlin and I agreed sadly, fantasizing about how amazing it would be to meet them.
"Hey, look! It's those Gay Day lovers, all dressed up in their "Amewican Idioot" shirts!" Samantha Crawly jeered, as she and her gang of teenie-bopper friends stopped Caitlin, Caitlyn and I in the hall. "Caitlyn, I think you forgot your Billie Joe doll at home!"
We all just glared at them, trying to escape, but were backed into a corner by the seriously tall girl in their group, Amanda Frank.
"Ooh, what's this?" Samantha said in a baby voice, snatching my binder from my hands. It was plastered, back and front, with various pictures of Tré, and a few of Green Day. I tried to grab it back but was shoved against the wall by Amanda's large arm.
"Awww, look, it's Mr. Cool Dude! He's so rad, hmm?" Samantha mocked, opening it and flipping through the pages. After all of the girls had finished laughing and pointing at the contents of my binder, Samantha started ripping pages out.
"I hope you wouldn't mind if I used these at my bonfire party tonight, would'ja Erin? I don't want to have to waste some perfectly good newspapers keeping the flames going. Oh, and sorry, you're not invited. Fourteen is too young to go to a party with boys!" Samantha sneered, ripping up the papers that were in my binder and handing them to one of her friends.
"Hey, you retard, stop tha—" Caitlin tried to stand up for me, but was shoved against the wall by Amanda, and then pushed to the ground by Amanda's abnormally large foot.
"What's your problem?!" I yelled, leaping forward and catching Amanda by surprise. We landed on the ground, I was on top of her and punching the crap out of her face. But, as I had learned in the past, there is safety in numbers, and one of the girls kicked me in the stomach, giving Amanda a chance to get up as I curled into a ball on the ground, groaning quietly in pain. Caitlyn kicked the girl's knees, sending to her to the ground along with another girl she had been standing in front of.
Caitlin got up and slapped Samantha in the face, which wasn't too smart, as she and Samantha had now started a slap fight. Looking up I noticed a crowd was growing around us, a group of boys chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" from the left of me. Amanda punched Caitlyn square in the nose, sending her to the floor with blood streaming out of her nose and tears in her eyes. Filled with rage, I immediately recovered and flew at Amanda, sending her back on the floor, and scratching her face as much as I could. She shot out her arm and grabbed my hair, pulling as hard as she could while I scratched at her eyes. I yelped in pain, but after a punch in the stomach Amanda let go of my hair, and curled into a ball, writhing with pain. I jumped up, just in time to receive a high-heeled kick in the face from Samantha, who I could see had beaten Caitlin in the slap fight. I fell to the ground, grabbing my face in reaction to the horrible pain, just in time to hear Mrs. Johnson, the principal, stomping up to the large fight and screeching for everyone to stop.
"That's enough!!! You girls," she screamed, pointing to each girl in Samantha's group, "Up to my office, NOW!"
They all did as they were told, except for Amanda who was still crying in pain on the ground.
"As for you four, I'll go get the nurse, but you had better not expect to get out of this in one piece!!!" she snarled at us, marching the other way to get the school nurse. Eventually she came back, shoving her way through the now enormous crowd, the nurse behind her. She pointed to all of us as if we were a pile of garbage on the floor, and then stomped off in the direction of her office.
"Come now, girls," Mrs. Bowman, the nurse, snapped at us as she helped Caitlyn up. Caitlin, Amanda and I slowly got to our feet, following Mrs. Bowman as she led us, Caitlyn under her arm, to her office.
We weren't as hurt as I had expected. Caitlyn was given tissue to help stop her nosebleed, Caitlin was given an icepack to stop the redness on her cheeks from the slap fight, Amanda was told to simply sit on a chair until her stomach recovered, and I was lain down on a cot while Mrs. Bowman cleaned up my face from being kicked.
Once we were all okay to walk, she led us to the principal's office where a fuming Mrs. Johnson was pacing up and down the room. To the left of the room was a row of chairs, where Samantha and the other three uninjured members of her "posse" were seated. We were directed to sit down, Amanda sitting beside Samantha, and Caitlin, Caitlyn and I sitting on the last available chairs, one empty seat between Amanda and Caitlyn.
After Mrs. Bowman left the room, and Mrs. Johnson had had a few moments of pacing, she turned to all of us, the angriest I had ever seen her.
"You eight should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves!" she hissed, sitting down in her chair behind her desk. "Do you realize how disruptive you have been?"
None of us made a sound, although I noticed Caitlin shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Since I have no other choice, you are all suspended for today and tomorrow, and will have detention from Wednesday to Friday," she snapped, opening a large portfolio and scribbling something into it. Samantha and her gang let out gasps of protest, looking at each other helplessly. Caitlin, Caitlyn and I just sat there, exchanging worried glances, but staying quiet.
"But Mrs. Johnson, you must understand, we were—"
"I understand quite enough, Ms. Crawly! You were breaking several school rules, and therefore your punishment is final," she interrupted, sounding a lot like a court judge. Samantha shut up then and there, but glared at the principal with heated disgust.
"Now I am phoning your parents, and you will all go home as soon as possible," Mrs. Johnson said angrily, picking up the phone and starting with Amanda's parents.
I sat there quietly, twiddling my thumbs, when a horrible thought came into my head. What if my parents took away the tickets?!
---
I had been grounded, obviously, for two weeks. My parents took it rather well, surprisingly, and hadn't taken away my tickets.
"Those cost a lot of money, and I'm not wasting them now... " My dad had told me, to my extreme relief. I silently counted down the days till the concert while I did my extra chores, until it was so soon I couldn't keep quiet about it. At school, the only place I could see my friends while I was grounded, Caitlin, Caitlyn and I spent all of our free time talking about the concert.
"I'm so damned excited," Caitlin exclaimed at lunch, "I'm gonna see Billie Joe again! On stage! In front of me!"
"Maybe since we're in the most pit I can catch on of Tré's drumsticks!!!" I squealed with delight, remembering how he had dumped a box of drumsticks on the crowd at the first concert I had gone to.
"I wish we had backstage passes... " Caitlyn sighed longingly, finishing her sandwich and stroking the pictures of Billie that were glued on to her binder. Caitlin and I agreed sadly, fantasizing about how amazing it would be to meet them.
