Reject, chapter 2
The next months felt as though they passed by quickly and all three members of Green Day were home spending rare quality time with their families now that the American Idiot tour was officially over. Before long, spring had arrived with the longing for freedom from nights of homework and days spent locked up in a classroom. Jakob was sick of schoolwork and he was counting down the days until the start of summer; only 20 days remained. Jake was getting less and less homework while, to Joey's displeasure, the amount of Joey's homework had doubled.
One day Jakob's teacher, Ms. Miller, began class by introducing the last project of the year. Everyone in the room knew what was coming, including Jake; she was going to assign them all roles for the dreaded annual second grade spring play. Jakob was not at all exhilarated to have to be in the play.
"Now class, settle down," Ms. Miller said to her rowdy students. It was quite obvious the feeling of summer was in the air due to the behavior of the children. They all sat down in their seats and stopped talking to their friends and passing notes. Jake was sitting in the first row and in the second seat from the front, he sat behind his best friend Dan, who like Jakob was very shy and quiet in school.
"Now students, we have one more project to do before the school year is over, the second grade play!" she said enthusiastically. The whole class was silent; Ms. Miller frowned at their reaction. "Oh come on then, this will be fun. I promise," she told her class. When she realized the students weren't about to believe her she moved on and decided it was time to assign them all roles.
"Alright, now lets see," Ms. Miller said to herself. "Oh yes, we are going to be preforming Romeo and Juliet girls and boys. Now aren't you just excited!" Ms. Miller said. Again the reaction was silent.
"Okay, as you all know we are going to be doing this play with Ms. Nader's class so together Ms. Nader and I decided it is only fair if one student from each class are assigned the roles of Romeo and Juliet. That means, Romeo will be a boy from my class, and Juliet will be a girl from Ms. Nader's class," Ms. Miller said and immediately all the girls let out a sigh of relief while the boys, including Jakob, began to sweat.
Jakob began to fear the worst; he hoped that he would get a very short role, one where he wouldn't have to be on the stage very long. He didn't want to have to speak in front of all those people; what if he messed up his lines, what if he embarrassed himself?
"Alright, we'll just get this out of the way; I will first assign the role of Romeo," Ms. Miller said. All the boys held their breath and all the girls waited in anticipation. "Jakob Armstrong, you will be Romeo," Ms. Miller said smiling over the assigned role sheet at Jakob. Jake's mouth dropped open in shock and Dan turned around to see his friend's reaction to the bad news. Dan felt bad for his friend, but he had to admit he was glad he wasn't picked to be Romeo. The rest of the school day went by rather quickly and in a haze, Jakob couldn't believe this was happening to him.
*
On Jakob's walk home from school he was accompanied by Dan, who had received the role of Friar Laurence. Dan was reading over his lines and already practicing on his speaking. Dan was the nicest kid but when he spoke to a large group of people he got nervous and stuttered through his words. Jakob thought it was a good thing Dan wasn't assigned Romeo, he probably would have had a huge breakdown. Jake said goodbye to Dan once they reach the Armstrong household; Jake watched his friend walk on down the sidewalk reading his script and saying his lines aloud. Jake shook his head at his friend's actions before walking up the path to his house and entering into the house. When he first stepped foot into the cool house, that was air conditioned, he could smell the scent of fresh baked cookies and hear the television sounding from the living room. Jakob wandered to the living room where he found his mother sitting on the couch watching some cooking show. Jakob went over to the couch and sat near his mother. Adrienne jumped a little when she realized her son had snuck into the room.
"Hey honey," Adrienne said to her young son. Jake tried to smile but ended up frowning due to his bad day. Adrienne noticed her son's lack of usual happiness and knew that something was wrong.
"What's the matter baby?" she asked Jake. Jake looked up at his mom and sighed; he might as well tell his mother that he got the worst news of his entire life today, maybe she could help him anyway.
"Today in school Ms. Miller assigned us roles for the spring play, and I got one of the main characters. I have to be Romeo from Romeo and Juliet," Jake said. Adrienne knew that Jakob was a shy kid, at least at school anyway, and she understood what he was feeling.
"You know, when I was your age I was shy like you too Jake," Adrienne said trying to consol her saddened and worried son. Jake just looked at her as if he didn't believe her. But it was true; Adrienne knew that feeling of being terrified of giving an verbal presentation and having butterflies in your stomach. She was sure Jakob felt the same way.
"Well, if you'd like I'll help you with your lines. We could practice them every night together, alright?" she proposed to her son. Jakob smiled for the first time since he had been assigned his role.
Jakob bounded up the stairs after talking more with his mother and went to his room to relax and do his homework. Adrienne remained sitting in front of the television lost in thought. She was thinking that second graders were a little young to be acting out Romeo and Juliet. Adrienne clearly remembered there was a kissing scene at the end of the play; she wondered how her son would react when he found that out.
She snapped out of her thoughts about ten minutes later when she heard the front door open. Joey appeared in the doorway of the living room; he was sweaty and a bit dirty. "What have you been up to?" Adrienne asked her son curiously. Joey shrugged and went up the staircase without saying a word. Adrienne watched him disappear and began worrying about her oldest son; Joey was becoming quite distant lately and his already poor grades in school were sinking even lower. Adrienne knew it was the end of the year but she was fearful Joey might not even get out of fifth grade; she wondered what was going on with him and decided it was probably Billie Joe's department to figure out Joey's problem.
*
"I'm home everybody. Adie?" Billie called into the house once he got home from spending the day at Mike's house. He sniffed the air and could smell something cooking; considering his wife was the only one who could cook he figured Adrienne was in the kitchen.
"I'm in the kitchen," he heard her call back to him. He smiled and made his way to the kitchen, when he entered her back was to him and she was standing over the stove stirring a pot of stew. "Hey baby," she said. Damn thought Billie, he wanted to surprise her. He walked over to her anyway and wrapped his arms around her waist, he rest his chin on her shoulder and looked into the steaming pot.
"Mmm.. Smells good," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and blushed but tried to act modest.
"Oh, I really didn't know what to make so I just made something easy," she said. Billie smiled and kissed his wife's cheek. Adie blushed even more and turned away from the stew to kiss her husband back on the lips causing his face to turn a light shade of pink. Goodness, they had been married for eleven years and they still made each other blush, now that's love.
One day Jakob's teacher, Ms. Miller, began class by introducing the last project of the year. Everyone in the room knew what was coming, including Jake; she was going to assign them all roles for the dreaded annual second grade spring play. Jakob was not at all exhilarated to have to be in the play.
"Now class, settle down," Ms. Miller said to her rowdy students. It was quite obvious the feeling of summer was in the air due to the behavior of the children. They all sat down in their seats and stopped talking to their friends and passing notes. Jake was sitting in the first row and in the second seat from the front, he sat behind his best friend Dan, who like Jakob was very shy and quiet in school.
"Now students, we have one more project to do before the school year is over, the second grade play!" she said enthusiastically. The whole class was silent; Ms. Miller frowned at their reaction. "Oh come on then, this will be fun. I promise," she told her class. When she realized the students weren't about to believe her she moved on and decided it was time to assign them all roles.
"Alright, now lets see," Ms. Miller said to herself. "Oh yes, we are going to be preforming Romeo and Juliet girls and boys. Now aren't you just excited!" Ms. Miller said. Again the reaction was silent.
"Okay, as you all know we are going to be doing this play with Ms. Nader's class so together Ms. Nader and I decided it is only fair if one student from each class are assigned the roles of Romeo and Juliet. That means, Romeo will be a boy from my class, and Juliet will be a girl from Ms. Nader's class," Ms. Miller said and immediately all the girls let out a sigh of relief while the boys, including Jakob, began to sweat.
Jakob began to fear the worst; he hoped that he would get a very short role, one where he wouldn't have to be on the stage very long. He didn't want to have to speak in front of all those people; what if he messed up his lines, what if he embarrassed himself?
"Alright, we'll just get this out of the way; I will first assign the role of Romeo," Ms. Miller said. All the boys held their breath and all the girls waited in anticipation. "Jakob Armstrong, you will be Romeo," Ms. Miller said smiling over the assigned role sheet at Jakob. Jake's mouth dropped open in shock and Dan turned around to see his friend's reaction to the bad news. Dan felt bad for his friend, but he had to admit he was glad he wasn't picked to be Romeo. The rest of the school day went by rather quickly and in a haze, Jakob couldn't believe this was happening to him.
*
On Jakob's walk home from school he was accompanied by Dan, who had received the role of Friar Laurence. Dan was reading over his lines and already practicing on his speaking. Dan was the nicest kid but when he spoke to a large group of people he got nervous and stuttered through his words. Jakob thought it was a good thing Dan wasn't assigned Romeo, he probably would have had a huge breakdown. Jake said goodbye to Dan once they reach the Armstrong household; Jake watched his friend walk on down the sidewalk reading his script and saying his lines aloud. Jake shook his head at his friend's actions before walking up the path to his house and entering into the house. When he first stepped foot into the cool house, that was air conditioned, he could smell the scent of fresh baked cookies and hear the television sounding from the living room. Jakob wandered to the living room where he found his mother sitting on the couch watching some cooking show. Jakob went over to the couch and sat near his mother. Adrienne jumped a little when she realized her son had snuck into the room.
"Hey honey," Adrienne said to her young son. Jake tried to smile but ended up frowning due to his bad day. Adrienne noticed her son's lack of usual happiness and knew that something was wrong.
"What's the matter baby?" she asked Jake. Jake looked up at his mom and sighed; he might as well tell his mother that he got the worst news of his entire life today, maybe she could help him anyway.
"Today in school Ms. Miller assigned us roles for the spring play, and I got one of the main characters. I have to be Romeo from Romeo and Juliet," Jake said. Adrienne knew that Jakob was a shy kid, at least at school anyway, and she understood what he was feeling.
"You know, when I was your age I was shy like you too Jake," Adrienne said trying to consol her saddened and worried son. Jake just looked at her as if he didn't believe her. But it was true; Adrienne knew that feeling of being terrified of giving an verbal presentation and having butterflies in your stomach. She was sure Jakob felt the same way.
"Well, if you'd like I'll help you with your lines. We could practice them every night together, alright?" she proposed to her son. Jakob smiled for the first time since he had been assigned his role.
Jakob bounded up the stairs after talking more with his mother and went to his room to relax and do his homework. Adrienne remained sitting in front of the television lost in thought. She was thinking that second graders were a little young to be acting out Romeo and Juliet. Adrienne clearly remembered there was a kissing scene at the end of the play; she wondered how her son would react when he found that out.
She snapped out of her thoughts about ten minutes later when she heard the front door open. Joey appeared in the doorway of the living room; he was sweaty and a bit dirty. "What have you been up to?" Adrienne asked her son curiously. Joey shrugged and went up the staircase without saying a word. Adrienne watched him disappear and began worrying about her oldest son; Joey was becoming quite distant lately and his already poor grades in school were sinking even lower. Adrienne knew it was the end of the year but she was fearful Joey might not even get out of fifth grade; she wondered what was going on with him and decided it was probably Billie Joe's department to figure out Joey's problem.
*
"I'm home everybody. Adie?" Billie called into the house once he got home from spending the day at Mike's house. He sniffed the air and could smell something cooking; considering his wife was the only one who could cook he figured Adrienne was in the kitchen.
"I'm in the kitchen," he heard her call back to him. He smiled and made his way to the kitchen, when he entered her back was to him and she was standing over the stove stirring a pot of stew. "Hey baby," she said. Damn thought Billie, he wanted to surprise her. He walked over to her anyway and wrapped his arms around her waist, he rest his chin on her shoulder and looked into the steaming pot.
"Mmm.. Smells good," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and blushed but tried to act modest.
"Oh, I really didn't know what to make so I just made something easy," she said. Billie smiled and kissed his wife's cheek. Adie blushed even more and turned away from the stew to kiss her husband back on the lips causing his face to turn a light shade of pink. Goodness, they had been married for eleven years and they still made each other blush, now that's love.
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