16, chapter 10
The first day at school finally finished and I was making my way down to the front of the school where Alex said she would pick me up when I heard someone call my name. I stopped, turned around and saw Joey running up to me.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi," I said back, unsure of what he wanted and all the while hoping to be able to get away quickly to go and get coffee with Alex.
"Yeah so... " He began. "I just want to say that I know we really didn't get off on the right foot and I suppose that was mostly my fault-"
"I'd say it was all your fault as you basically called me a fame and money hungry bitch." I said, folding my arms across my chest.
He looked down sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck in a nervous way.
"Yeah, sorry about that." He said.
I didn't say anything and waited for him to continue with what he was saying about starting on the wrong foot.
"So what I'm trying to say is," he finally continues. "I don't want us to not get along, Bob and Wensdai both like you, so I just want you to know that you've got a group of friends if you want it."
At that point, Wensdai ran past us with Bob. The two of them were holding hands as they ran and they turned and yelled at us.
"I'm late for work." Wensdai yelled. "C'ya later Dani. Oh and you too Joey." She poked her tongue out.
"Bye guys." Bob added, laughing as the pair disappeared out of sight.
I smiled at them and then turned back to Joey. "Are they together?"
He nodded and silence fell over us. I could tell he was waiting for my response to what he had said before Bob and Wensdai ran past.
I took a deep breath and swallowed the small lump in my throat that I hadn't realized was there. "Thanks Joey." I said quietly. "It kind of means a lot to me that someone here's being nice to me. Look I've got to go, my friend Alex is picking me up and I don't want to keep her waiting for too long."
He nodded.
"I'll see you." I turned around and ran down the stairs behind me.
I rounded a corner and spotted my run down old car. I climbed in and whacked Alex on the arm because she had pretended to fall asleep.
"Wha- Who's there?" She twisted and turned as though she had just been aroused from a light slumber.
"Oh shut up." I said.
"What?" she said innocently as she turned the keys in the ignition. "You took so long that I fell asleep."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the car seat, placing my feet on the dashboard as we pulled out of the car park.
"So how was your day?" Alex asked me, both of us forgetting her supposed sleep.
"It was... pretty crap actually."
"Wow." Alex said. I had just finished telling her exactly what happened in my day as we pulled into the car park of the nearest Starbucks. "So, you and Joey are friends now?"
"I think so." I said as the engine turned of and we climbed out of the car. "I'm not sure what's going to happen but his friends, Wensdai and Bob, seem pretty cool so I might hang out with them."
We walked into the Starbucks, ordered our drinks and sat down at a table in the corner. "Oh I didn't get a chance to tell you before." Alex said. "Guess what?"
"What?" I said taking a sip of my caramel latte.
"No seriously, you have to guess."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Alex, I'm not guessing, just tell me already."
"Fine." She said. "Your dad gave me/got me a job."
I almost choked on my drink. "He what? Where? When?"
"Today, I was sitting around watching T.V." She said. "And your Dad came in and asked me what I was doing with myself 'cause, you know, he's happy to have me living there but he doesn't want me to hang around their mooching off him forever. So I told him that all I want to do is make music but I can't at that exact moment 'cause you and James are in school and stuff. I said that I should probably get a job and then I can give him some money to let me stay in the house and buy extra stuff etc, etc. And then, to make a long story short-"
"Too late." I cut it.
"I now have a job at Rudy's."
"Wow. That's really cool." I said and she grinned at me. I looked down at my drink. I guess it felt kind of weird for my best friend to be helped out so much by my Dad when I myself was only just starting to get things from him.
***
I woke up early on Saturday morning to see Alex standing over me.
"Wake up!" She said. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" She kind of disturbed me.
"You're scaring me." I mumbled and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow.
"Get up! We got to go home." She said and I was suddenly met with a chill as she ripped the blankets from me.
'God damn!" I yelled, curling up to try and keep the little amount of heat in.
She began to tug at my arm.
"Jesus, I'm coming. If I didn't know better I'd say you were dying to see James and snog him senseless."
Alex stopped trying to pull me to the door and suddenly turned very serious. "I do not like James."
I laughed as I walked past her, out the door making my way to the bathroom. "Yeah, sure you don't."
Ten minutes later we were sitting in the kitchen with Sam eating breakfast when Mike entered the room and walked straight to the coffee machine; Estelle was still asleep.
"Helloooo?" We heard a voice coming from the front of the house.
"I'm in the kitchen." Mike called out and we heard a couple of pairs of feet heading towards us.
"Good morning." Billie Joe said as he entered the kitchen with Joey behind him. Over the last few days at school I could suppose you could say we had become friends and I spent my time at school with them. At least I wasn't a complete loner. I had introduced Alex to Joey, Bob and Wensdai the day before so they knew each other.
"'Morning." We all said and I took another sip of my coffee.
Billie and Mike were having some random conversation and Joey was just kind of standing there. I spotted the look on Alex's face, the look that said 'come on, let's get ready and go.' I drained the rest of my coffee and put the cup into the dishwasher.
"We're gonna go get ready and then were gonna head off."
Mike nodded and Joey said. "Where are you's going?"
'We're going back home for the day to see our old friends and jam with James and stuff." I said.
"Cool... can I come?" he said.
"Well that was subtle." Alex said.
Billie and Mike, who had stopped talking to listen to us, both laughed and went back to their conversation with Sam.
"If you want." I said through my kind of frightened and shocked laughter. "We'll be back in a bit."
We left the room and raced up stairs where we got dressed and did our hair and stuff. Fifteen minutes later and we were back down in the kitchen, dressed and ready, me carrying my canvas bag and Alex holding onto the case with her bass inside.
"Ok we're ready to go." I said. "Bye Sam, Mike, Billie." I said, waving to each of them in turn.
"Take care." Sam said.
"Yeah, be careful." Mike added.
"Call me later Joe," Billie Joe said. "To let me know when you'll be home and don't do anything stupid or your Mum will skin me alive."
"Yeah, yeah." Joey muttered and the three of us walked down the hall and out the front door.
"Shut gun!" Alex called out as she sped up and jumped in the passenger side of my car after placing her bass in the back.
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" Alex yelled. "We're here! We're here!"
I pulled the car into the apartment complex car park and sighed. Looking up at the familiar building, it was hard to be back there but at the same time, I felt a smile creep onto my face when I noticed James sitting on the curb waiting for us. He stood up as I turned the engine off and Alex got out of the car as quickly as possible and ran over to him, practically jumping on his thin frame. I walked over to him as well and gave him a hug.
"It's so good to see you!" I said, pulling away from the hug. "This is Joey by the way." I added, gesturing to Joey who was now standing beside me. "Joey, this is James."
The two guys shook hands.
"Let's get down to the basement. Now!" Alex said. "Oh, just let me grab Jebus." She added, speaking of her bass, which she quickly went and got from the car.
When we got to the basement my eyes went straight to the corner of the room, where my drum kit still stood on the small stage. I had left it there when I moved into Mike's, knowing that I would still have a kit to play, and that a couple of other kids in the building liked to use my kit and I didn't want to take it away from them.
"I missed you!" I said as I ran over to it, sitting on the stool, I wrapped my arms around the snare. I was vaguely aware that James, Alex and Joey were all laughing at me but I ignored that and pulled my sticks from out of my bag and began to drum the first beat that came into my head.
That beat happened to be Armatage Shanks and for the first time since I met Mike, I was quite comfortable playing Green Day. I looked up when I heard Alex and James playing along with me. Joey was sitting on the arm of a couch, looking at us all with a curious look on his face. We played through the whole song and it felt great to be back playing with James again. When we finished the song we all noticed the door of the Basement open and some familiar faces and their bodies started to walk down the stairs. I got up from the drum stool and went over to hug my friends that had just entered the room.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi," I said back, unsure of what he wanted and all the while hoping to be able to get away quickly to go and get coffee with Alex.
"Yeah so... " He began. "I just want to say that I know we really didn't get off on the right foot and I suppose that was mostly my fault-"
"I'd say it was all your fault as you basically called me a fame and money hungry bitch." I said, folding my arms across my chest.
He looked down sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck in a nervous way.
"Yeah, sorry about that." He said.
I didn't say anything and waited for him to continue with what he was saying about starting on the wrong foot.
"So what I'm trying to say is," he finally continues. "I don't want us to not get along, Bob and Wensdai both like you, so I just want you to know that you've got a group of friends if you want it."
At that point, Wensdai ran past us with Bob. The two of them were holding hands as they ran and they turned and yelled at us.
"I'm late for work." Wensdai yelled. "C'ya later Dani. Oh and you too Joey." She poked her tongue out.
"Bye guys." Bob added, laughing as the pair disappeared out of sight.
I smiled at them and then turned back to Joey. "Are they together?"
He nodded and silence fell over us. I could tell he was waiting for my response to what he had said before Bob and Wensdai ran past.
I took a deep breath and swallowed the small lump in my throat that I hadn't realized was there. "Thanks Joey." I said quietly. "It kind of means a lot to me that someone here's being nice to me. Look I've got to go, my friend Alex is picking me up and I don't want to keep her waiting for too long."
He nodded.
"I'll see you." I turned around and ran down the stairs behind me.
I rounded a corner and spotted my run down old car. I climbed in and whacked Alex on the arm because she had pretended to fall asleep.
"Wha- Who's there?" She twisted and turned as though she had just been aroused from a light slumber.
"Oh shut up." I said.
"What?" she said innocently as she turned the keys in the ignition. "You took so long that I fell asleep."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the car seat, placing my feet on the dashboard as we pulled out of the car park.
"So how was your day?" Alex asked me, both of us forgetting her supposed sleep.
"It was... pretty crap actually."
"Wow." Alex said. I had just finished telling her exactly what happened in my day as we pulled into the car park of the nearest Starbucks. "So, you and Joey are friends now?"
"I think so." I said as the engine turned of and we climbed out of the car. "I'm not sure what's going to happen but his friends, Wensdai and Bob, seem pretty cool so I might hang out with them."
We walked into the Starbucks, ordered our drinks and sat down at a table in the corner. "Oh I didn't get a chance to tell you before." Alex said. "Guess what?"
"What?" I said taking a sip of my caramel latte.
"No seriously, you have to guess."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Alex, I'm not guessing, just tell me already."
"Fine." She said. "Your dad gave me/got me a job."
I almost choked on my drink. "He what? Where? When?"
"Today, I was sitting around watching T.V." She said. "And your Dad came in and asked me what I was doing with myself 'cause, you know, he's happy to have me living there but he doesn't want me to hang around their mooching off him forever. So I told him that all I want to do is make music but I can't at that exact moment 'cause you and James are in school and stuff. I said that I should probably get a job and then I can give him some money to let me stay in the house and buy extra stuff etc, etc. And then, to make a long story short-"
"Too late." I cut it.
"I now have a job at Rudy's."
"Wow. That's really cool." I said and she grinned at me. I looked down at my drink. I guess it felt kind of weird for my best friend to be helped out so much by my Dad when I myself was only just starting to get things from him.
***
I woke up early on Saturday morning to see Alex standing over me.
"Wake up!" She said. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" She kind of disturbed me.
"You're scaring me." I mumbled and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow.
"Get up! We got to go home." She said and I was suddenly met with a chill as she ripped the blankets from me.
'God damn!" I yelled, curling up to try and keep the little amount of heat in.
She began to tug at my arm.
"Jesus, I'm coming. If I didn't know better I'd say you were dying to see James and snog him senseless."
Alex stopped trying to pull me to the door and suddenly turned very serious. "I do not like James."
I laughed as I walked past her, out the door making my way to the bathroom. "Yeah, sure you don't."
Ten minutes later we were sitting in the kitchen with Sam eating breakfast when Mike entered the room and walked straight to the coffee machine; Estelle was still asleep.
"Helloooo?" We heard a voice coming from the front of the house.
"I'm in the kitchen." Mike called out and we heard a couple of pairs of feet heading towards us.
"Good morning." Billie Joe said as he entered the kitchen with Joey behind him. Over the last few days at school I could suppose you could say we had become friends and I spent my time at school with them. At least I wasn't a complete loner. I had introduced Alex to Joey, Bob and Wensdai the day before so they knew each other.
"'Morning." We all said and I took another sip of my coffee.
Billie and Mike were having some random conversation and Joey was just kind of standing there. I spotted the look on Alex's face, the look that said 'come on, let's get ready and go.' I drained the rest of my coffee and put the cup into the dishwasher.
"We're gonna go get ready and then were gonna head off."
Mike nodded and Joey said. "Where are you's going?"
'We're going back home for the day to see our old friends and jam with James and stuff." I said.
"Cool... can I come?" he said.
"Well that was subtle." Alex said.
Billie and Mike, who had stopped talking to listen to us, both laughed and went back to their conversation with Sam.
"If you want." I said through my kind of frightened and shocked laughter. "We'll be back in a bit."
We left the room and raced up stairs where we got dressed and did our hair and stuff. Fifteen minutes later and we were back down in the kitchen, dressed and ready, me carrying my canvas bag and Alex holding onto the case with her bass inside.
"Ok we're ready to go." I said. "Bye Sam, Mike, Billie." I said, waving to each of them in turn.
"Take care." Sam said.
"Yeah, be careful." Mike added.
"Call me later Joe," Billie Joe said. "To let me know when you'll be home and don't do anything stupid or your Mum will skin me alive."
"Yeah, yeah." Joey muttered and the three of us walked down the hall and out the front door.
"Shut gun!" Alex called out as she sped up and jumped in the passenger side of my car after placing her bass in the back.
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" Alex yelled. "We're here! We're here!"
I pulled the car into the apartment complex car park and sighed. Looking up at the familiar building, it was hard to be back there but at the same time, I felt a smile creep onto my face when I noticed James sitting on the curb waiting for us. He stood up as I turned the engine off and Alex got out of the car as quickly as possible and ran over to him, practically jumping on his thin frame. I walked over to him as well and gave him a hug.
"It's so good to see you!" I said, pulling away from the hug. "This is Joey by the way." I added, gesturing to Joey who was now standing beside me. "Joey, this is James."
The two guys shook hands.
"Let's get down to the basement. Now!" Alex said. "Oh, just let me grab Jebus." She added, speaking of her bass, which she quickly went and got from the car.
When we got to the basement my eyes went straight to the corner of the room, where my drum kit still stood on the small stage. I had left it there when I moved into Mike's, knowing that I would still have a kit to play, and that a couple of other kids in the building liked to use my kit and I didn't want to take it away from them.
"I missed you!" I said as I ran over to it, sitting on the stool, I wrapped my arms around the snare. I was vaguely aware that James, Alex and Joey were all laughing at me but I ignored that and pulled my sticks from out of my bag and began to drum the first beat that came into my head.
That beat happened to be Armatage Shanks and for the first time since I met Mike, I was quite comfortable playing Green Day. I looked up when I heard Alex and James playing along with me. Joey was sitting on the arm of a couch, looking at us all with a curious look on his face. We played through the whole song and it felt great to be back playing with James again. When we finished the song we all noticed the door of the Basement open and some familiar faces and their bodies started to walk down the stairs. I got up from the drum stool and went over to hug my friends that had just entered the room.
