A/N-I DO NOT OWN THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND!
Hey guys!
I'm glad everyone is liking this story! (: It really means a lot to me when you guys review and stuff. I am working on the oneshot that I mentioned and I'm also working on other possible story for you guys but I'm not positive on whether or not I'll post the story. But we'll see.
Enjoy the chapter!
It's been a few days since I found out Matt was talking about me behind my back. I was secretly trying to work up the courage to say something to Juanita, not just about Matt but about everything. So far, I've had no luck. On the brighter side, the band has had practices all week, so it helped me get my mind off of things. Plus, Dad had come home, but he'd been staying at Crazy Betty's house because they were practicing for shows at local restaurants. Anyway, our concert was in four days now, and there was nothing around school about it. Usually when the band has some type of performance everyone gets really excited for it, but right now, at least to my knowledge, no one seems that happy about it at all. It was probably because everyone thought I was a jerk or something. Don't think about that! You're not the jerk here, I reminded myself. That's Matt. I walked into lunch, trying to build my confidence as I made my way over to Juanita's lunch table. I walked over and stood next to her at the table. Matt was the first to see me.
"Oh look everyone, it's the backstabber."
The table, besides Juanita, laughed.
Juanita's reaction was the worst of all. She only stared at me with this blank expression, her eyes were unreadable and the frown on her face practically stabbed me in the gut.
"Juanita, can I talk to you, in private?" I asked, trying to keep eye contact with her.
She only stared at me, until Matt stood up.
"Look, Little Drummer Boy," He said, as the rest of the table laughed. "Juanita doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't need you in her life anymore."
"Stop talking for her. She's not stupid; she's a real live person. If she doesn't want to talk to me, she can tell me herself."
Matt stepped close to me, probably as close as we could get without touching. "Stay away from her." He turned to walk away but stopped when I spoke up.
"What if I don't want to?"
He turned back around and punched me in the jaw.
I stumbled backward from the impact and held my jaw. I refused to show pain though, that would only give him satisfaction. I didn't, however, hold my back my shock. I hated Matt, with everything I had but I never thought he would hurt anyone. I quickly turned my shocked expression into a glare, and glanced at Juanita.
She looked just as shocked as I was, but when she saw me looking she returned to her seemingly permanent frown.
I got this disgusting taste in my mouth. I hope I don't throw up here. Not now. Not again.
"You want another one?" He asked, staring me in the eye.
"When Juanita tells me she doesn't want me to be around her, I'll leave her alone." I glanced at Juanita, and walked away, out of the cafeteria and into the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom it was then that I realized I was tasting blood in my mouth. I leaned on the sink and stared at my reflection. The spot on my jaw where Matt punched me was red, and it would probably turn into a small bruise. Great, another thing for Nat to question me about. I was trying to rinse out some blood in my mouth when the door opened. I hurried into one of the stalls as someone walked inside.
"All I'm saying is you shouldn't have punched him. You could've gotten suspended," One voice said.
"You know if you think he's such a good person, why don't you go be his only friend?" The other voice, who I guessed was Matt said.
"Maybe I will, I think he deserves it."
Suddenly there was a long silence. I peered through the crack in the stall door.
Matt walked over to the sink where I was rinsing out my mouth. He glanced into it and then looked around the bathroom.
I backed into the stall and stood on the toilet so he wouldn't be able to see my feet.
"Let's get out of here," The other voice said.
Matt didn't respond, but they both walked out of the bathroom.
I stepped off the toilet and peeked out of the stall. They were both gone. I walked out of the stall and sighed. This was going to be a long school year.
~NBB~
Later that day when I walked out of school, Nat stopped me by grabbing my shoulders. "Alex, what happened?" He asked, trying to look at my bruise.
"Nothing happened I just, uh–ran into something," I mumbled, turning my head so he couldn't see the bruise.
"We'll talk about this when we get home, c'mon." He grabbed my shoulder and guided me to Rosalina's car.
"Alex, what did you do?" She asked, the minute we got into the car.
"I ran into something." I said, looking away again.
She drove us home, and we all walked inside. I tried to make a break for my room, but Nat grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the kitchen. "It's time to explain, Alex. What happened today?"
"I learned some new stuff today. You know, Algebra, Social Studies, Science–"
"Nice try," He cut me off. "How did you get that bruise?"
"I told you I ran into something," I said.
Nat sighed and looked at Rosalina over his shoulder, who crossed her arms over her chest and returned the look.
"Can I go now?"
"Not until you tell me what happened."
I rolled my eyes. "Nothing happened! I'm fine aren't I? Why does it matter?"
"Alex, if someone is physically hurting you, something needs to be done about it," Rosalina spoke up.
"Can you guys please just drop it? It won't happen again."
"Would you let us look at the bruise?" Rosalina asked, looking at me.
I shook my head.
"Alex, please. Can we at least look at it?" Nat begged.
I sighed.
Nat patted the counter. "C'mon."
I rolled my eyes again and hopped up on the counter. I turned my head so he could see the bruise.
"You ran into something, huh?" He asked, examining the bruise.
"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention."
"Are you sure you won't tell me?" Nat asked, looking me in the eye.
I wanted to tell him. He was my brother. But I couldn't, because I knew it would just cause me more problems in the end. "I already told you."
"Alright fine, go do your homework."
I hopped off the counter and walked into our room to do homework. I actually felt kind of guilty for not telling Nat, but I couldn't. Like I said, it would just cause more problems. Plus, I could handle Matt. He'd probably never dare to punch me again. And who was that with him in the bathroom today? It's someone who keeps standing up for me, that's for sure. I have to be honest and say I'm surprised. I thought after everything that's happened this week that I wouldn't have one friend left in the whole school. At least, my grade. I suddenly began to have faith in my so called "classmates."
~NBB~
"That's great guys!" Cooper said to us, as we finished yet another rehearsal.
I was on cloud nine again, as I had been whenever we were having practices, but when we were all getting ready to leave I remembered how there was no talk about the concert at school. It's not that I like hearing people talk about me and the band, it's just that it makes me realize how much people must really not like me.
"So remember, the show is in four days. We're all going to meet at Nat and Alex's house before the show and we'll take our bus from there," Cooper told us for what was probably the millionth time.
"We know, Cooper. Just relax, everything will be fine," Nat assured him.
"You always freak out over nothing," Thomas said.
"We'll rock it like we always do," I said, shrugging.
Everyone laughed.
"I know you guys will do fine, but if you guys are all goofing off, there's gotta be someone to worry about the technical stuff. It's my job," Cooper said.
"Just don't stress yourself out too much, Coop," Nat said.
"And you said so yourself, we were doing great," Rosalina added.
"So you don't have to worry," Nat said.
"Yeah, because we've already been there, rocked that," I joked.
A/N-That last quote was from a TV special that NBB had called "Been There Rocked That" by the way.
Review please?
~NatalinaFanForever~
