"Mel, you're going to be late!" Matt called up the stairs.
"Shut up, I said I'm going!" I yelled back, as I unzipped my suitcase, which I still hadn't unpacked. My tote bag was folded up inside, so I just pulled it out and tossed in my wallet and my set of house keys. I speed-walked over to Matt's pig sty of a room and swipped a couple of pens from his desk, and a notebook.
"Alright, let's go," I told him as I bounced down the stairs, sneakers still in hand. He was already halfway out the door.
xxx
"Melanie, please take a seat next to Sean. Sean, raise your hand," said the bird-like English teacher. A boy with black swooshy hair raised his hand, and I made my way to the empty desk next to his.
"Hey," he said, once I tossed my bag onto the desk.
"Hey," I replied, not even looking up. I fished in my bag and check my phone; two new texts. One from my brother, one from an unknown number. Ms. Finnlayson clapped her hands for attention, so I didn't get to check my messsages.
"Class, I want you each to look to the person next to you. This is going to be your partner for the next project. You are to write a series of poems in the form of a brief biography of your partner's life." She slapped a stack of papers on a girl's desk, and the girl took one and passed the pile around. Looking over the paper, I realized she had majorly understated the assingment. She was basically asking us to write an encyclopedia.
"Amy, you're going to be working with Samantha," she said to two girls in the front. She began pairing people off, even though we could all figure it out on our on. "Jackson with Kyle, Caleb with Jenna, Anthony and Isabelle ..." Sean was my partner. He seemed intresting enough, so it wouldn't be too hard.
"So, should we like get together after school?" he asked, once the teacher was finished.
"What?" I asked, not really catching his statement. I was still holding my phone inside my bag.
"Like for the project. We should get started. Do you want to do something after school?" He clarified. I watched his lip ring bob with each word he spoke.
"Sure, that sounds good. Where?"
"We can go over to Betty's. It's a burger place like, five minutes away," he informed me. I honestly was in no mood to start a project that forced me to get to know someone, but I promised my mom I'd try in school over here.
"Ohkay, cool," I answered with a slight smile, so he wouldn't think I was a total bitch. I mean, I was, but... whatever. I redirected my attention to my phone.
Matt: Mel, I can't pick you up from school today, I need to be somewhere. I'm sending one of the guys, because Dad wouldn't let me let you walk home alone.
Unknown: Hey Melanie! It's Jack. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to pick you up from school today. I have a surprise for you. :D
I texted Matt back that it was fine, and only saved Jack's number. What a weirdo.
"Hey, Sean?"
His head lifted from whatever he was scribbling down. "Yea, Melanie?"
"I'm sorry, I can't work on the project today after school. Something's up. Maybe we can work on it later tonight, or tomorrow?"
He nodded in understanding. "Sure. Here, take my number, and just let me know when's a good time." He took the liberty of writing his phone number on my assisgment sheet.
xxx
My tote bag was heavy compared to the near-empty sack it was when I left the house that morning. Now, it was holding two textbooks and I was not a happy camper.
Walking out the main doors, I had my phone in hand, ready to text Jack about where I should meet him, when I heard a screeching noise from the front of the school. My head whipped up and I saw a black old-school convertible completly swerve around to be next to the sidewalk. The car started beeping furiously. "Meeeeeeelanie!" I heard, in an undeniable voice. Of course. Kids were looking at the car, and the screaming, beeping driver. I bounded over to the car and sheilded my face.
"Jack, do you even have a liscense?" I asked him before opening the door.
"You worry too much. Get in. We've got things to do," he told me, motioning for me to get in. I reluctantly hopped in the car, and definatly strapped in my seat belt. After a cranking up the music to an old Blink-182 song, Jack got the car going again at a reckless speed.
Soon enough, we showed up at a nice house. Not too grand, but big and cozy-looking. I was desperate to get out of that car, so I basically jumped out. Jack didn't bother locking the convertible, and he walked right up to the front door and opened it. I followed behind.
"Hey, Mrs. Dawson!" He called into the house. Before even getting a response, he opened a white door that looked like a closet in the front hall. It actually led down to the basement, where a whole lot of noise was being made.
I went down the stairs, and the noise stopped. Alex had a guitar strapped to his body, and so did Zack. Rian was holding drumsticks mid-air.
"Jack, did you drive her here?" Alex asked, concerned.
"Yea," he responded casually, and picked up a guitar that was lying by the worn-in couch.
"Melanie, are you alright?" Alex questioned, concerned.
"Does he even have a liscence?" I replied.
Rian laughed. "It got suspended in November. He drives like a fucking maniac. We never let him drive the van."
"Van?" I picked up.
"We're kind of a band." Jack said, like it was no big deal. I connected the dots and it seemed to make sense.
"Wait, so Matt's like your manager?" I said, mostly to myself. I never really asked what he did, but I knew he worked for a record company. He loved music, but he didn't really have any talent himself.
"Yup," Jack said, popping the 'p.'
"Thanks for telling me," I told them, and went to go sit on the couch. "Why am I here?"
Zack took this one. "Matt had to go to some meeting over at the record company. He knew you didn't have a car yet, and he asked us to pick you up. Rian was supposed to be the one driving," he explained, with a little bit of a glare at Rian.
"Hey! Jack said he was going that way anyway, so he could pick you up on his way over," Rian defended himself.
"Of course I could pick her up! I always have time for Mel," Jack said, ginning like an idiot. My face expression was definatly of the 'Are you kidding me?' variety.
They got back to practicing, and I opened up one of my text books to start math homework. From what I heard, they were pretty good.
