Cool By Name, Not So Much By Association..., chapter 3
I jumped as Claudia, Frankito, Billie Joe, Adrienne, Joey, Jakob and Mike all popped out from various places around the pool.
"Holy fuck!" I shouted. I ran and hugged as many people as possible. I picked up Frankito and swung him around.
"Let me down!" he screamed. I put down the heavier-than-I-expected nine-year-old. Then I hugged Billie, Mike, Claudia and Adrienne separately before turning to look at Joey. In the 4/5 years I hadn't seen him, he had definitely grown up! He changed from a chubby cheeked pre-teen to a tall, skinny teenager. He was the spitting image of Billie with a bit of Adie thrown in.
"Hey kid!" I said, hugging him. The guys sniggered; I guess Joey didn't expect me to be so friendly.
"Hey grandma!" He laughed. I raised my eyebrows at him but laughed too.
"Where's my hug?" Jakob asked. I ran over and squeezed him until he begged me to stop.
We all talked. Everyone wondering how I was after the trip, etc...
Claudia manned the barbecue dishing out delicious burgers every now and again. I sat on a lounge chair while everyone laughed and joked. I was wrecked! Mike came over and sat in the chair next to me.
"Glad to be here, huh?"
"Yip, that city gets boring easily. Out here has actual sun and not hot, sticky crap..."
He laughed.
"You have the same attention span as your Dad, so?"
"Ya... Hey look! A dog!" I said, pointing to Billie. Mike laughed more and Billie looked over at us.
"Was that remark directed at me?"
"Ya, what you going to do about it? Bitch!" I joked. He came over and threw me over his shoulder.
"FUCK!!! Let me down, Billie!! I don't wanna get wet!" I screamed. Everyone was in stitches around us.
"JAKOB! FRANKITO!! ATTACK HIM!!!" I screamed as he threw me into the pool. There was a loud splash next to me. My loyal minions had done their job. I surfaced to looks of horror around me. Mike was still laughing but Joey's eyes were fixed on my chest. I looked down to see my white Clash tee had gone see-through, revealing my assets to the world. I squealed and ran into the house, cursing Billie's name. I was even more embarrassed when I realised that I'd left my bag outside. I wandered around the house until I found Dad's room. I got a towel from his bathroom and threw on an old Green Day t-shirt from his drawer. I looked at my reflection in the long mirror in his room. My cheeks were burning red, my wet hair was matted to my face. I tied it up with a go-go around my wrist. I looked a little more reasonable. I saw another person reflected in the mirror.
"Jesus, Joey, you gave me a heart attack!" I turned to face him. He had an evil smirk on his face. My cheeks turned a deep crimson.
"Joseph Armstrong! I never thought you were one of those sort of boys." I laughed, trying to sound calm. Inside, my heart was pounding.
"Well you certainly make a strange first impression!" he said, walking towards me.
"It's not the first time we've met..." I said, confused.
"Well, I'll always think of that as our first meeting..." he said, leaning into my lips. I burst out laughing and pushed him away.
"Sorry, Joey boy! You're not exactly my 'type'... " he looked at me and laughed.
"You passed!"
"What the fuck?" I said, yet again confused.
"I wanted to tell what kid of girl you were..."
"Ok... you're scaring me now..."
"Well you passed now, so you're deem able for being my friend."
I gave him a funny look, but decided that if I was going to get along here, ok, I'd have to embrace the weird.
"Good! I have one friend here so." I smiled.
"Ready to go back outside?" he asked.
"No, but I'll never be, so I might as well go now," I said, walking past him.
"You're not quiet well in the head, are you?" he said, trying to keep up with me.
"No, not really. But with a Dad like mine, who would be?" I laughed.
When we went back outside everyone stopped to look at us.
Billie came over straight away.
"I'm so sorry, Ramona! Can you forgive me?" he said, trying not to laugh.
"Eummmmmm... I dunno. I guess so. But I'll get you back. When you least expect it. I'll be there, getting you back," I said with my evilest look and walked off. Tré and Mike were pissing themselves laughing. I went over to Adrienne.
"Hey! So how's the boyfriend, Alan is it?" she smiled.
Yes... Alan, the causer of all my anxiety in New York, was my ex. We only went out for three weeks when he started spreading rumours that I was a slut who put out. I dumped him straight away and told everyone that his dick was the size of a cocktail sausage, that's when he started bullying me.
I rolled my eyes at her.
"I dumped him ages ago! He was a Fucktard, with a capital F." She laughed.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Joey. He was really starting to be a stalker.
"I'm heading to meet up with some friends, want to come?" he asked.
"Ok, why not. I want to see what the people around here are like anyway, check out the talent and stuff..." I laughed at the look he gave me.
"Joke! God, do ya have a sense of humour?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he joked.
"Oh! Burn! I'm beginning to warm to you, kid."
I looked over at Dad but he just nodded. I followed Joey down the street.
It turned out that Joey only had one friend, Matt. He was pretty cool. Didn't say much, though. Just kept this straight face on him the whole time we hung out. He had black hair that had purple-y and reddish streaks through it. His lip was pierced in the center, and looked like it had had many infections. There was something very intriguing about Matt; he always looked like he was thinking something, but that it wasn't important enough to share with us. He'd only ever waved at me. I spent the rest of the week off hanging out with them in the excuse of a park. Soon it was the day before going back to school.
"You nervous about tomorrow?" Joey asked, leaning on the wall.
"Nope... people will either love me or hate me. And as you said yourself, I make interesting first impressions..." I giggled to which he kind of blushed. That boy was more screwed up than Billie.
"Fuck!! I have to baby sit. See ya in the morning? You better be early! I wait for no man," I said, getting up.
"Trust me, I'll be waiting for you..." He laughed.
"Is that a challenge? Well it's on, bitch!"
"See ya, Matt!" I said, ruffling his hair, hoping to get a reaction. As usual, he just nodded. I sighed and walked home.
"Holy fuck!" I shouted. I ran and hugged as many people as possible. I picked up Frankito and swung him around.
"Let me down!" he screamed. I put down the heavier-than-I-expected nine-year-old. Then I hugged Billie, Mike, Claudia and Adrienne separately before turning to look at Joey. In the 4/5 years I hadn't seen him, he had definitely grown up! He changed from a chubby cheeked pre-teen to a tall, skinny teenager. He was the spitting image of Billie with a bit of Adie thrown in.
"Hey kid!" I said, hugging him. The guys sniggered; I guess Joey didn't expect me to be so friendly.
"Hey grandma!" He laughed. I raised my eyebrows at him but laughed too.
"Where's my hug?" Jakob asked. I ran over and squeezed him until he begged me to stop.
We all talked. Everyone wondering how I was after the trip, etc...
Claudia manned the barbecue dishing out delicious burgers every now and again. I sat on a lounge chair while everyone laughed and joked. I was wrecked! Mike came over and sat in the chair next to me.
"Glad to be here, huh?"
"Yip, that city gets boring easily. Out here has actual sun and not hot, sticky crap..."
He laughed.
"You have the same attention span as your Dad, so?"
"Ya... Hey look! A dog!" I said, pointing to Billie. Mike laughed more and Billie looked over at us.
"Was that remark directed at me?"
"Ya, what you going to do about it? Bitch!" I joked. He came over and threw me over his shoulder.
"FUCK!!! Let me down, Billie!! I don't wanna get wet!" I screamed. Everyone was in stitches around us.
"JAKOB! FRANKITO!! ATTACK HIM!!!" I screamed as he threw me into the pool. There was a loud splash next to me. My loyal minions had done their job. I surfaced to looks of horror around me. Mike was still laughing but Joey's eyes were fixed on my chest. I looked down to see my white Clash tee had gone see-through, revealing my assets to the world. I squealed and ran into the house, cursing Billie's name. I was even more embarrassed when I realised that I'd left my bag outside. I wandered around the house until I found Dad's room. I got a towel from his bathroom and threw on an old Green Day t-shirt from his drawer. I looked at my reflection in the long mirror in his room. My cheeks were burning red, my wet hair was matted to my face. I tied it up with a go-go around my wrist. I looked a little more reasonable. I saw another person reflected in the mirror.
"Jesus, Joey, you gave me a heart attack!" I turned to face him. He had an evil smirk on his face. My cheeks turned a deep crimson.
"Joseph Armstrong! I never thought you were one of those sort of boys." I laughed, trying to sound calm. Inside, my heart was pounding.
"Well you certainly make a strange first impression!" he said, walking towards me.
"It's not the first time we've met..." I said, confused.
"Well, I'll always think of that as our first meeting..." he said, leaning into my lips. I burst out laughing and pushed him away.
"Sorry, Joey boy! You're not exactly my 'type'... " he looked at me and laughed.
"You passed!"
"What the fuck?" I said, yet again confused.
"I wanted to tell what kid of girl you were..."
"Ok... you're scaring me now..."
"Well you passed now, so you're deem able for being my friend."
I gave him a funny look, but decided that if I was going to get along here, ok, I'd have to embrace the weird.
"Good! I have one friend here so." I smiled.
"Ready to go back outside?" he asked.
"No, but I'll never be, so I might as well go now," I said, walking past him.
"You're not quiet well in the head, are you?" he said, trying to keep up with me.
"No, not really. But with a Dad like mine, who would be?" I laughed.
When we went back outside everyone stopped to look at us.
Billie came over straight away.
"I'm so sorry, Ramona! Can you forgive me?" he said, trying not to laugh.
"Eummmmmm... I dunno. I guess so. But I'll get you back. When you least expect it. I'll be there, getting you back," I said with my evilest look and walked off. Tré and Mike were pissing themselves laughing. I went over to Adrienne.
"Hey! So how's the boyfriend, Alan is it?" she smiled.
Yes... Alan, the causer of all my anxiety in New York, was my ex. We only went out for three weeks when he started spreading rumours that I was a slut who put out. I dumped him straight away and told everyone that his dick was the size of a cocktail sausage, that's when he started bullying me.
I rolled my eyes at her.
"I dumped him ages ago! He was a Fucktard, with a capital F." She laughed.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Joey. He was really starting to be a stalker.
"I'm heading to meet up with some friends, want to come?" he asked.
"Ok, why not. I want to see what the people around here are like anyway, check out the talent and stuff..." I laughed at the look he gave me.
"Joke! God, do ya have a sense of humour?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he joked.
"Oh! Burn! I'm beginning to warm to you, kid."
I looked over at Dad but he just nodded. I followed Joey down the street.
It turned out that Joey only had one friend, Matt. He was pretty cool. Didn't say much, though. Just kept this straight face on him the whole time we hung out. He had black hair that had purple-y and reddish streaks through it. His lip was pierced in the center, and looked like it had had many infections. There was something very intriguing about Matt; he always looked like he was thinking something, but that it wasn't important enough to share with us. He'd only ever waved at me. I spent the rest of the week off hanging out with them in the excuse of a park. Soon it was the day before going back to school.
"You nervous about tomorrow?" Joey asked, leaning on the wall.
"Nope... people will either love me or hate me. And as you said yourself, I make interesting first impressions..." I giggled to which he kind of blushed. That boy was more screwed up than Billie.
"Fuck!! I have to baby sit. See ya in the morning? You better be early! I wait for no man," I said, getting up.
"Trust me, I'll be waiting for you..." He laughed.
"Is that a challenge? Well it's on, bitch!"
"See ya, Matt!" I said, ruffling his hair, hoping to get a reaction. As usual, he just nodded. I sighed and walked home.
