John. The sound of his name sliding off the tip of my tongue was so smooth and solemn. How I wanted to scream it into his ear as he pushed me up against a wall with all his might. Many kings of ancient times shared the same name, and it really suited a person like him. Even if he was just John Lennon, a typical freak that demanded blowjobs from birds and shouted obscenities at the worst times. Underneath all the ridiculousness, I knew he had a soft side to him that could charm the pants off of anyone. I heard it when I eavesdropped on his phone conversation with one of his 'friends' who he called Cyn. He comforted her in a way I'd never seen as she freed her emotions through the mere phone line, and I admit, I was jealous. "McCartney!" The sound of the loud metal ruler clashing against my old desk forced my train of thought to derail and my head to snap back around from his direction. The pencil stopped moving and I was quickly reminded that we were friends. Just friends.
"W-Wha!?" I jumped out of my seat and the room echoed with laughter. "Pay attention, boy!" The old spinster pierced me with her eyes, and looked down at my notebook where I kept my doodles. "What's this, James? Wouldn't mind sharing it with the class, would ye now?" A sharp pang of fear radiated through my stomach. That notebook was where I let my mind pour all of its contents out - everything. Poems about life, sketches of my idols like Buddy Holly, and lastly, doodles of my crushes. I had no one else to talk to, so I figured it was the best way to set myself free without other people knowing. I guess I thought wrong. "Lookie here, class! James' drawings, up for show!" She flailed the notebook around, revealing my embarrassing drawing to everybody and their brother. "Oh, God..." I heard one girl manage to say between giggles.
"Is that you, John!?" Cynthia hissed, throwing a pencil at John who was squinting to see what was so amazing about my notebook. Oh, what's the magical thing that James drew? Oh, is that me? Golly, I have a secret admirer! I could just hear it echo through my head. And Jesus, I really wished they would stop calling me 'James'. It reminded me of my poor excuse for a father. I wanted to be the complete opposite of him. Me? I actually wanted to help my brother out and live my life the way I wanted to, no strings attached. But maybe that was just part of my rebellious teddyboy nature. "Paul, what the fuck?" He mouthed to me, glaring. I hid my red-as-a-tomato face out of pure embarrassment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him scribbling something on a piece of paper.
Meanwhile, I tried my hardest to pretend that I was somewhere else. On a peaceful island, sipping tea and puffing on ciggies, when something yet again interrupted me from my nervous trance. A paper airplane hit me in the ear and fell to the floor. I quickly kicked it under my desk with my leather boots that were too big for my feet, not wanting to make another scene. Bending over to retrieve it, I unfolded the piece of paper and read it under my desk. Glad I have an admirer. Meet me in the bathroom after class. I glanced back at him and mouthed the word "What?" The older boy just smirked at me once and continued to pay attention to Miss Rigby, which was very unlike him. "Hope your little doodle here was worth our class time, Mr. McCartney." She scoffed and carelessly threw it on my desk. "Why, are you jealous that I stole your spotlight for a few minutes, Miss?" I smirked, putting my feet up on my desk.
She continued to glare at me while I heard a storm of whispers behind me. "He's the quiet one, right? I wonder if he'll get sent home for back-talking..." The gray-haired teacher turned around and pretended to ignore my smart-assed remarks and the racket in the back of the class. "Whatcha gonna do about it, teacher? They're still focused on me. I'm gonna be a broadway star!" I posed dramatically. "That's it. Go to the principal's office and have him deal with you, because I'm certainly not." Ooooohhh, he's in trouble. "Wait, Miss Rigby!" A familiar voice interrupted. It was John. "I'm technically an accomplice. Can I get sent out too?" I refused to turn around and look at him out of shame. "Lennon, you didn't do anything wrong."
"But I'll do something. Like this." He got up, grabbed the teacher's lesson book, and heaved it out the window. Her eyes went wide and her face turned red. "I spent my hard-earned income on that! You'll pay for this! Both of you, out!" She growled, frantically looking out the window like a nervous wreck. "Farewell, friends." John saluted the class, and I was hesitant to follow him. "C'mon." He made a come-closer gesture with his fingers, but I was still in complete shock. He snapped his fingers in front of my face and tugged on my arm, leaving me with no choice but to follow his lead.