Chapter Two: Suffocation, No Breathing
Freddy and Stevie were sitting together in an unknown shop downtown. Freddy was unsure at first of this strange new place, but he saw people that started to stare and him and whisper until a guy came up to him.
"Yo, my name's Spider. Aren't you the drummer for the school of rock?" Spider asked him.
"Yeah, that's me. Freddy Jones." Freddy said with a grin. He felt like a rock star with everyone staring at him including Stevie.
"This may seem kind of weird since you're like 10, can I have your autograph?" the guy called Spider asked him.
"Sure, man!" Freddy said smiling. Suddenly he and Stevie were rushing to a table where a man came to take their order.
"I'll have two cappuccinos." Stevie said not bothering to ask Freddy what he wanted.
"Hold on." Stevie said. She went and got up with her change and dropped it. "Oops." She said. She bent over and then she showed off her red thong that Freddy practically had to cock his head to see. But he was delighted by this surprise. And then one of his favorite songs came on, "One" by Metallica.
"Sorry. I just love this band. I had to put it on." Stevie said.
"No way. Metallica is one of my favorite bands!" Freddy said smiling.
"Oh, really Jones? Guess you aren't so prep after all. What are some of your other favorite bands?" Stevie said, leaning over with interest.
Freddy and Stevie spent over an hour discussing their favorite bands. From grunge, to heavy metal, to glam rock whatever band Stevie liked Freddy was sure to like. The more bands they liked, the more interested they seemed to get into each other. And both of their favorite bands were Metallica, Foo Fighters, and Nirvana.
"Our band is practicing "Smells like Teen Spirit"" Freddy said, trying to impress Stevie.
"Oh really? Maybe I should check them out sometime." Stevie said, strongly hinting she wanted to do more than talk to Freddy.
"We have practice tonight at 5." Freddy said. "Shit, I can't." Stevie's smile instantly went into a frown. "I have detention today. Can you believe Mullins is still mad at me for smoking last week?"
"Oh. I have detention today too." Freddy said. Stevie's frown instantly was made into a grin again.
"That is really funny, Freddy, because every single day that I have been in detention, I see you there. Either Mullins hates both of our asses or, you're trying to get into detention."
"A little bit of both." Freddy said with a smile. "But you could always come with me to practice. If it's okay with your parents."
"Trust me my parents don't care if I come home or not." Stevie said lighting a cigarette. "They'd be surprised if I even showed up to the kitchen table."
Freddy gazed into Stevie's green eyes and then looked at this watch.
"Shit, we should go now. School is almost out and Mullins is expecting us to be there at detention."
"Relax Jones; we can always skip a detention."
"Stevie, you don't know Mullins like I do. She'll turn a warning into a detention, a detention into a referral, and a referral into a suspension."
"What kind of crazy ass school does she think she's running?"
"Welcome to Horace Green Prep, Stevie Hallowell."
Eventually, Stevie and Freddy made it to school right on time for their detentions. They just sat there staring and laughing at each other for the time they had spent together skipping school. Even though Stevie started as snot nosed punk rocker, she was actually kind of cool other than cute. Soon detention was over an hour later, and Freddy was ready to go to band practice. He brought Stevie with him and Stevie offered to let him ride the moped. Eventually they got there and Dewey opened the door.
"Well Spazzy McGee it was about time you got here! Now let's start rocking the kids are in their waiting for you!" Dewey said.
"Spazzy McGee?" Stevie asked Freddy with a laugh.
"It's an old nick name. Dewey, this is my friend Stevie. Stevie, Dewey." Freddy introduced them.
"Pleasure to meet you. So Freddy I'm assuming this is Mrs. McGee right here?" Dewey said kissing her hand.
"Um, no. "Spazzy" and I aren't going out. I just came here to check out this band you guys have. One more thing, when you assume it kind of makes an ass out of you and me Dewey." Stevie said to Dewey while walking in.
As soon as Dewey and Freddy walked in Zack came up to him and went "I finally asked out Alisha. We're going to see that new movie The Malibu Rednecks this Friday. Thinking about asking Stevie?" Zack started nudging Freddy,
"I don't know. She is pretty cool though." Freddy said this while taking another good look at her. She was over talking to Tamika and Marta. She had let her blonde hair down and she swashed it away from her angel face.
"Damn she looks so hot talking to Tamika and Marta." Freddy said practically drooling.
"Face it man, you've got it bad." Zack said with a hand on Freddy's shoulder. "Now come on, let's impress her with our awesome band."
Dewey turned on the microphone and faced Stevie who was sitting on the couch.
"Hello, we are the school of rock. We will now begin our venue with a song originally by Nirvana that started a revolution of grunge. We will be doing a revolution tonight by covering smells like teen spirit!"
They got through with Smells like Teen Sprit and Stevie was highly impressed. She watched the whole practice of the band eyeing mostly Freddy's drum solos smiling at him while he grinned at her back. After practice everybody had finished packing up. Dewey had seen Stevie talking to Freddy.
"That was really great Freddy. I love the way you played the drums. It motivates me to be like, you know, Dave Grohl?" Stevie said smiling.
"Yeah," Freddy smiled back "to play both guitar and drums. Or maybe even bass to make a one man album."
"Well I have to go. Are you having practice tomorrow?" Stevie asked.
Dewey cut in, "Yes we are. We're having practice every day this week and you are welcome to hang out and experience the magic of the school of rock. See you tomorrow Stevie."
As soon as Stevie walked out the door Dewey gave Freddy a smile.
"Well looks like Spazzy McGee is in love."
"No I'm not."
"Oh please, Freddy." Summer said. "It was so obvious when you kept drumming and staring at her with your smile."
Freddy knew that the band was serious. If Summer, the band manager and all around know it all said something, it was bound to be the truth.
"So you guys really think I should ask her out?" Freddy asked sheepishly.
"Sure why not? Now anybody can get a date these days." Alisha said staring at Zack smiling.
The next day at school Freddy came to homeroom with a smile on his face. Behind that smile of course was fear and confidence as he sat down, waiting for Stevie to come in. Freddy soon had a smile upon his face as he saw Stevie come in. But she didn't look too good. Her hair was incredibly messy and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked like she had done a lot of crying but Freddy didn't want to ask, so he just sat there staring at her.
During classes Stevie and Freddy barely said a thing to each other. All they did was smile at each other. But every time they had stared at each other, Freddy was an inch away to asking her what was wrong.
After school he had planned to meet up with Stevie and ask her to go to the movies with him, Zack and Alisha. But he turned the corner and saw her talking to a boy.
"Stevie what the fuck is your problem?" the guy asked.
"Go away, Kemper." Stevie said crying.
Of course. Freddy thought. It was Kemper Lewis. A really popular guy during middle school but a year older than Freddy.
"I can stay with you as long as I want. You're MY girlfriend. Got that bitch?"
GIRLFRIEND?!?!? Freddy's heart was suddenly stomped on. He couldn't believe that Stevie had a boyfriend. More importantly, why didn't Stevie tell Freddy that she was going out with Kemper? They were friends after all and she knew that she could tell Freddy a secret without it being on the Horace Green school newspaper.
"You............are a psycho. We're through." Stevie said trying to get away. But Kemper grabbed her by the wrist.
"It's that Freddy Jones kid isn't it?" Kemper asked. "You've been screwing him haven't you?"
Freddy turned around the sound of his name.
"No! It's not Freddy. Its just I need my space you're suffocating me, Kemp!" and at that moment Kemper slapped Stevie so hard, she fell to the ground and started crying.
"Hey asshole!" Freddy yelled out to Kemper. "If you're gonna fight with someone fight with a guy at least." He said this when he pushed Kemper to the fence. Stevie got up and tried to break up the fight.
"No, Freddy you don't have to do this. We're already broken up." Stevie said.
"No, we're not, baby."
"Another thing," Freddy said pounding him more. "If you ever say that Stevie is your girlfriend again I'll give you a bruise. If you grab her by the wrist I'll kick you in the fucking shins. If you slap her I give you a black eye. If I find any bruises on her body so help me God I will fucking make it BLEED. God that?"
Kemper just stopped talking and Freddy took Stevie's hand.
"Are you alright, Stevie?" Freddy said softly.
"Yeah, I'm alright now." Stevie said smiling.
"What do you say I drop you off to your place?" Freddy said grinning.
"That'd be cool."
So Freddy took the moped and had Stevie sit on the back of him as they rode off to Stevie's house. Not knowing how much he had helped Stevie that day.
Freddy and Stevie were sitting together in an unknown shop downtown. Freddy was unsure at first of this strange new place, but he saw people that started to stare and him and whisper until a guy came up to him.
"Yo, my name's Spider. Aren't you the drummer for the school of rock?" Spider asked him.
"Yeah, that's me. Freddy Jones." Freddy said with a grin. He felt like a rock star with everyone staring at him including Stevie.
"This may seem kind of weird since you're like 10, can I have your autograph?" the guy called Spider asked him.
"Sure, man!" Freddy said smiling. Suddenly he and Stevie were rushing to a table where a man came to take their order.
"I'll have two cappuccinos." Stevie said not bothering to ask Freddy what he wanted.
"Hold on." Stevie said. She went and got up with her change and dropped it. "Oops." She said. She bent over and then she showed off her red thong that Freddy practically had to cock his head to see. But he was delighted by this surprise. And then one of his favorite songs came on, "One" by Metallica.
"Sorry. I just love this band. I had to put it on." Stevie said.
"No way. Metallica is one of my favorite bands!" Freddy said smiling.
"Oh, really Jones? Guess you aren't so prep after all. What are some of your other favorite bands?" Stevie said, leaning over with interest.
Freddy and Stevie spent over an hour discussing their favorite bands. From grunge, to heavy metal, to glam rock whatever band Stevie liked Freddy was sure to like. The more bands they liked, the more interested they seemed to get into each other. And both of their favorite bands were Metallica, Foo Fighters, and Nirvana.
"Our band is practicing "Smells like Teen Spirit"" Freddy said, trying to impress Stevie.
"Oh really? Maybe I should check them out sometime." Stevie said, strongly hinting she wanted to do more than talk to Freddy.
"We have practice tonight at 5." Freddy said. "Shit, I can't." Stevie's smile instantly went into a frown. "I have detention today. Can you believe Mullins is still mad at me for smoking last week?"
"Oh. I have detention today too." Freddy said. Stevie's frown instantly was made into a grin again.
"That is really funny, Freddy, because every single day that I have been in detention, I see you there. Either Mullins hates both of our asses or, you're trying to get into detention."
"A little bit of both." Freddy said with a smile. "But you could always come with me to practice. If it's okay with your parents."
"Trust me my parents don't care if I come home or not." Stevie said lighting a cigarette. "They'd be surprised if I even showed up to the kitchen table."
Freddy gazed into Stevie's green eyes and then looked at this watch.
"Shit, we should go now. School is almost out and Mullins is expecting us to be there at detention."
"Relax Jones; we can always skip a detention."
"Stevie, you don't know Mullins like I do. She'll turn a warning into a detention, a detention into a referral, and a referral into a suspension."
"What kind of crazy ass school does she think she's running?"
"Welcome to Horace Green Prep, Stevie Hallowell."
Eventually, Stevie and Freddy made it to school right on time for their detentions. They just sat there staring and laughing at each other for the time they had spent together skipping school. Even though Stevie started as snot nosed punk rocker, she was actually kind of cool other than cute. Soon detention was over an hour later, and Freddy was ready to go to band practice. He brought Stevie with him and Stevie offered to let him ride the moped. Eventually they got there and Dewey opened the door.
"Well Spazzy McGee it was about time you got here! Now let's start rocking the kids are in their waiting for you!" Dewey said.
"Spazzy McGee?" Stevie asked Freddy with a laugh.
"It's an old nick name. Dewey, this is my friend Stevie. Stevie, Dewey." Freddy introduced them.
"Pleasure to meet you. So Freddy I'm assuming this is Mrs. McGee right here?" Dewey said kissing her hand.
"Um, no. "Spazzy" and I aren't going out. I just came here to check out this band you guys have. One more thing, when you assume it kind of makes an ass out of you and me Dewey." Stevie said to Dewey while walking in.
As soon as Dewey and Freddy walked in Zack came up to him and went "I finally asked out Alisha. We're going to see that new movie The Malibu Rednecks this Friday. Thinking about asking Stevie?" Zack started nudging Freddy,
"I don't know. She is pretty cool though." Freddy said this while taking another good look at her. She was over talking to Tamika and Marta. She had let her blonde hair down and she swashed it away from her angel face.
"Damn she looks so hot talking to Tamika and Marta." Freddy said practically drooling.
"Face it man, you've got it bad." Zack said with a hand on Freddy's shoulder. "Now come on, let's impress her with our awesome band."
Dewey turned on the microphone and faced Stevie who was sitting on the couch.
"Hello, we are the school of rock. We will now begin our venue with a song originally by Nirvana that started a revolution of grunge. We will be doing a revolution tonight by covering smells like teen spirit!"
They got through with Smells like Teen Sprit and Stevie was highly impressed. She watched the whole practice of the band eyeing mostly Freddy's drum solos smiling at him while he grinned at her back. After practice everybody had finished packing up. Dewey had seen Stevie talking to Freddy.
"That was really great Freddy. I love the way you played the drums. It motivates me to be like, you know, Dave Grohl?" Stevie said smiling.
"Yeah," Freddy smiled back "to play both guitar and drums. Or maybe even bass to make a one man album."
"Well I have to go. Are you having practice tomorrow?" Stevie asked.
Dewey cut in, "Yes we are. We're having practice every day this week and you are welcome to hang out and experience the magic of the school of rock. See you tomorrow Stevie."
As soon as Stevie walked out the door Dewey gave Freddy a smile.
"Well looks like Spazzy McGee is in love."
"No I'm not."
"Oh please, Freddy." Summer said. "It was so obvious when you kept drumming and staring at her with your smile."
Freddy knew that the band was serious. If Summer, the band manager and all around know it all said something, it was bound to be the truth.
"So you guys really think I should ask her out?" Freddy asked sheepishly.
"Sure why not? Now anybody can get a date these days." Alisha said staring at Zack smiling.
The next day at school Freddy came to homeroom with a smile on his face. Behind that smile of course was fear and confidence as he sat down, waiting for Stevie to come in. Freddy soon had a smile upon his face as he saw Stevie come in. But she didn't look too good. Her hair was incredibly messy and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked like she had done a lot of crying but Freddy didn't want to ask, so he just sat there staring at her.
During classes Stevie and Freddy barely said a thing to each other. All they did was smile at each other. But every time they had stared at each other, Freddy was an inch away to asking her what was wrong.
After school he had planned to meet up with Stevie and ask her to go to the movies with him, Zack and Alisha. But he turned the corner and saw her talking to a boy.
"Stevie what the fuck is your problem?" the guy asked.
"Go away, Kemper." Stevie said crying.
Of course. Freddy thought. It was Kemper Lewis. A really popular guy during middle school but a year older than Freddy.
"I can stay with you as long as I want. You're MY girlfriend. Got that bitch?"
GIRLFRIEND?!?!? Freddy's heart was suddenly stomped on. He couldn't believe that Stevie had a boyfriend. More importantly, why didn't Stevie tell Freddy that she was going out with Kemper? They were friends after all and she knew that she could tell Freddy a secret without it being on the Horace Green school newspaper.
"You............are a psycho. We're through." Stevie said trying to get away. But Kemper grabbed her by the wrist.
"It's that Freddy Jones kid isn't it?" Kemper asked. "You've been screwing him haven't you?"
Freddy turned around the sound of his name.
"No! It's not Freddy. Its just I need my space you're suffocating me, Kemp!" and at that moment Kemper slapped Stevie so hard, she fell to the ground and started crying.
"Hey asshole!" Freddy yelled out to Kemper. "If you're gonna fight with someone fight with a guy at least." He said this when he pushed Kemper to the fence. Stevie got up and tried to break up the fight.
"No, Freddy you don't have to do this. We're already broken up." Stevie said.
"No, we're not, baby."
"Another thing," Freddy said pounding him more. "If you ever say that Stevie is your girlfriend again I'll give you a bruise. If you grab her by the wrist I'll kick you in the fucking shins. If you slap her I give you a black eye. If I find any bruises on her body so help me God I will fucking make it BLEED. God that?"
Kemper just stopped talking and Freddy took Stevie's hand.
"Are you alright, Stevie?" Freddy said softly.
"Yeah, I'm alright now." Stevie said smiling.
"What do you say I drop you off to your place?" Freddy said grinning.
"That'd be cool."
So Freddy took the moped and had Stevie sit on the back of him as they rode off to Stevie's house. Not knowing how much he had helped Stevie that day.