The next morning I was woken by Red voice booming up the stairs. It was the warning that I had over slept, knowing he only gave one I got dressed as quickly as I could and raced into the bathroom get ready. Which was where I found Eric starring blankly into the mirror.
'What are you doing?' I asked annoyed. I had to be at Andrew Kelso's house in 20 minutes or I would miss my lift to school.
'Do you think my face is maturing?' he asked stroking his chin
I went to laugh but then realized he was being serious. 'Eric your body will decide when its time. Don't rush it.' I tried not to sound patronizing, but all I really cared about was cleaning my teeth.
'I'm serious, I think my jaw bone is becoming more defined'
'Yep, it is for sure'. I lied. The poor guy was delusional at times. I put my toothbrush back in its color coordinated holder Kitty had made especially made for me. Mine was purple and labeled 'Lovely Lisa'. It sat right in between 'Super Steven' and 'Excellent Eric'. Sometimes I wondered when she had the time.
'I gotta go Eric; I'll miss my lift. See ya tonight.' I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. He called something after me but I was thinking too hard to hear and running too late to care.
'Morning' I grabbed my lunch and made for the door. Hoping no one would stop me.
'Lisa, Honey, Breakfast! You forgot Breakfast!' Kitty called out the door. I cursed myself for not being far enough away to pretend I couldn't hear her.
'Yeah I know Mrs. Forman, but I'm late. I'll miss my lift with Andrew and have to walk to school so I have to leave, like, now.' I said frantically walking back toward the door.
'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.' The amount of times I've heard that since moved in here. Before then I never ate breakfast and nothings changed dramatically since I started.
'Sit down and eat'. I knew I had lost when Red joined in.
'But Red…' its amazing what the thought of walking to school does to a person. I was talking back to Red at 7:30 in the morning. 'I'm late, I have to be at the Kelso's…'
'Sit down and eat.' His eyes remained on the paper. His tone the same.
'But…I'll have to...' I tired again
'Sit. Now. Last time I'll tell you'. He was giving me his evil glare by this stage. Daring me to challenge him again. Steven sat beside him; I could tell he was enjoying this.
I gave up and sat down.
'If you miss your lift, it will teach you a lesson. Get up earlier. It's that simple' He was back to his paper. He was heartless at times. But he had a soft spot for me, which he tired to hide.
I took some toast and decided seeing I was going to be late I might as well be late enough to miss something good; biology first period would do nicely. I ate breakfast in silence, making my irritation evident. I sat there until Mrs. Forman rushed me off for school telling me I would be late 'unless you leave now'. I bit my tongue. She meant well.
'Say hey to Mini Kelso for me' Steven never knew where the line was, it seemed he never understood when it wasn't the right time to open his big mouth. I DO NOT want Robert Kelso. Sure he is sweet and sensitive and smart but that doesn't mean I want him. We have been friends forever, it just wasn't right. Robert Kelso, apart from looking exactly like his brothers; is in no other way anything like them. He is one of the smartest people I've ever known; he is shy, modest and mature. The complete opposite of his older brother Andrew, who just so happens to be another one of my closest friends. He is a year older than Robert and I, which doesn't mean anything else to us than he has his license. He certainly doesn't have it over us maturity or intelligence wise. He is good fun though.
My walk to school was the most boring walk ever. Point Place is such a dreary town. I've lived here all my life and nothing in the least bit interesting has ever happened. I kicked a rock along and planned my excuse for being late. I would probably have to stay after school to make up for lost time. I arrived half way into Biology; I got my books and walked as slowly as I could into the class. It is my most detested subject and teacher.
'Your late Miss Hyde'. Mr. Peterson hates me.
'Oh really?' I hate him more.
'Half an hour late Miss Hyde. Why do you bother turning up?' God he was an asshole
'I only come for the captivating and inspirational lessons of yours sir.' I couldn't live without sarcasm
'See me after class'. It's going to be a great day I thought to myself.
I took a seat next to Heman, who had his face buried in his arms, asleep probably. Robert Kelso turned around from in front of me and flashed an understanding smile. Wow. He looked hot today. The rest of the class I spent glaring at Mr. Peterson while he tired to convince himself and the class of the importance of Punnett squares. The bell rang and I prayed he forgot.
'Miss Hyde' He didn't.
'Yes Sir. Great class today, riveting stuff.' I could try
'Don't be smart Miss Hyde, it doesn't suit you'.
'Oh c'mon sir! I'm sorry I was late, what do you want from me? It won't happen again'. I lied.
'Well for starters I'd like you to turn up on time. Listening would be good too and attempting to do some work would also help.' I hated being talked down to.
'Ok, I'll take that on board. Can I go now?' I'd had enough
'I would like an essay from you Miss Hyde, on my desk by the end of the day. Giving me an explanation why you don't take school seriously. Believe it or not you have definite potential. But you're just like your brother.' He was so condescending it made me sick. He meant that last remark as an insult, as they all do, but as always I took it as a compliment.
I left the room. Why did I bother coming? The next periods up to lunchtime were just normal boring classes; I stayed pretty quiet and just did what I was asked to do. I didn't need any more trouble. The bell for lunch rung and I've never heard a sweeter sound. I went and sat with my friends. Being with them always made me feel better. Andrew and Heman were having some stupid argument over who was a better guitarist Hendrix or Page. I thought it was obvious but couldn't be bothered getting involved. Robert also watched in amusement while Sarah, the other girl who rounded out our group, rolled her eyes in disgust.
'So I take it your not doing Mr. Petersons assignment then?' Robert asked when he got bored of dumb and dumber.
'Oh shit!' I had totally forgotten. 'I'll do it now; I already know what I'm writing. Can I have some paper and a pen?' Heman didn't have a locker. He had one book and one blue biro and always carried them around with him. I ripped out a page and titled my paper 'Why I don't take school seriously'. I then proceeded to scribble Pink Floyd lyrics down my page:
We don't need no education.
We don't need
no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher,
leave those kids alone.
Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone!
ALL
IN ALL YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
ALL IN ALL YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL.
We don't need no education.
We don't
need no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the
classroom.
Teachers, leave those kids alone.
Hey, teacher,
leave those kids alone!
ALL IN ALL YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN
THE WALL
ALL IN ALL YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL.
The last two lines of each stanza were in capitals. I wrote in huge letters down the bottom: By Lisa Hyde. Just in case he wouldn't know. I looked up to discover four faces expressing totally different positions to my paper.
'Don't Lisa! It's not worth it!' Sarah was the conservative one.
'Red will kill you!' Heman stated more amused than concerned.
Andrew just did his goofy laugh Robert didn't say anything. Although I knew he would recommend I didn't hand it in, he knows me well enough to know telling me not to do something; makes me want to do it more.
I handed it in at the end of the day. Well close enough, I put in on Mr. Petersons desk because he wasn't there. Andrew and Robert were waiting in the car park for me. I jumped him and we went back to their house. The Kelso house is like nothing I've ever seen before. But if I had to compare it to something, it would probably be a zoo. Kids everywhere, yelling, fighting and throwing things. It's a mad house! The boys and I usually just hang out in the driveway shooting hoops to keep out of everyone's way; especially Mrs. Kelso, she's a little insane but who could blame the poor woman?
'Remember when we use to almost count down the days until they finished school so they'd go off to college and we'd get the basement?' I brought up randomly in the middle of our fourth game of horse. 'They' being my brother and his friends.
'That was wishful thinking. Not one of the bums went off to college'. Robert made an impossible shot.
'Its not so bad here, our driveway is an all right place just to hang out'. Andrew was always the optimist.
Just as he finished his sentence an irate Mrs. Kelso stuck her head out of the kitchen window and screamed 'You boys better be watching little Megan on her bike!' Andrew ran out into the street to find his little sister while Robert and I looked at each other and laughed. He returned carrying a four-year-old girl who was covered in dirt.
'What were you saying Andrew?' I giggled
We all heard a door slam and looked to the house, Michael Kelso was storming towards us; 'Will you please just do what Mom says guys!' he seemed irritated. 'I'm going to Forman's and I don't want to have to come home to more yelling'. He took Megan and put her in the house and then jumped in his Kombi Van and backed out of the driveway.
'Do you want a lift home Lisa?' He asked me impatiently
'Yeah actually that would be good, I've done enough walking today' I hopped in the front.
'You bailing on us?' Andrew pretended to be hurt.
'Yeah sorry guys, I'll see you tomorrow'.
'Good luck!' Robert called out as we sped off down the road.
Michael looked at me with his goofy grin. 'Good luck with what? What did you do now?'
I had forgotten all about my paper. Damn I wish I didn't hand that in, I'm not in the mood for its consequences. 'Oh nothing much, just handed in Pink Floyd lyrics as a paper'.
He laughed. 'I use to hand in lyrics all the time in English; I pretended I wrote them when we were doing poetry. 'Stairway to Heaven' got me my best mark all year!'
I laughed. I couldn't be bothered explaining. As we pulled up at my house Michael looked at me really seriously. I got a little scared. 'So…'he started 'Which one of my brothers do you want?'
'Shut up Michael' I laughed and slammed his van door. 'Thanks for the lift.' I made my way down to the basement and was happy to discover Jackie sitting by herself watching TV.
'Hey Jackie'
'Hey' She was preoccupied with Starsky and Hutch.
'Where's Steven?' I whispered
She looked at me interested and hesitantly answered 'Upstairs, getting something to eat. Why?'
'What is Red like? Like is he in a bad mood?'
'He has other moods?' She was serious.
'Has the school rang?'
'No…. why? What did you do?' She now had full attention on me.
'Nothing' I ran upstairs.
I spent the rest of the evening upstairs listening to records. It was almost 7 when I got the call from upstairs that dinner was ready. I took my place at the table next to Eric. Mrs. Forman had made Lasagna, which was my favorite. I kept to myself only talking when I was spoken to. I was enjoying my dinner too much.
Then the phone rang. My heart sank.
'Oh, Dammit! Who rings now? Its tea time!' Red got up to answer the phone in the kitchen. I took it as an opportunity to scoff as much lasagna in as possible. I couldn't hear what was being said in the kitchen but I just had a gut feeling it was Mr. Peterson. I was right.
'Well' Red came back into the dining room with the knowing look on his face. 'Lisa. Anything you want to tell us about your day at school?'
'That was Mr. Peterson huh?'
'Oh you bet your ass it was'
'Well before we take sides I think you should know he hates me and gets satisfaction out of making my life difficult.'
'Oh cut the crap!' Red wasn't happy. 'First you were late, then you were a smart mouth and then you had the nerve to hand in an anti establishment hippie song as an essay! The man was particularly upset with you writing he was as thick as a brick in capital letters!'
'I didn't say that! It was Pink Floyd, not Jethro Tull!' I had to defend myself. That part just wasn't true.
'What! Don't try and blame other kids, he said it was your handwriting. Now, go upstairs and I'll deal with you after dinner.' He picked up his fork and I knew it wasn't worth disputing. I looked to Steven for support but he shook his head at me. Mrs. Forman looked concerned and Eric tried to hide a smile. I went upstairs defeated.
I lay on my bed and awaited my condemnation. I didn't have to wait to long.
'Lisa! Get down here now!'
I sat on the couch and just took whatever he gave out. The whole lecture wouldn't have gone for much longer than 5 minutes but it seemed longer. I needed an attitude adjustment lately. I need to show some respect. I lack discipline. I need to know when to keep my smart mouth closed. Just the usual. Red tries to act like a real hard ass but he is a softie. He does have a soft spot for me. I promise.
It finished with me being told I wasn't leaving the house for 2 weeks except to go to school. Not too bad. I pretended to be really disappointed with myself and went upstairs. I put on a Pink Floyd record and thought of how angry Mr. Peterson would have been when he read my paper. Two weeks was totally worth it. It couldn't have been five minutes before there was an urgent knock on my door. I thought Red was back for another round, or even better to apologize for being to hard on me. Yeah, Right.
It was Steven. I knew what he wanted.
'Steven, I'm not in the mood' I whined
'Bad luck.' He sat next to me on the bed
'I don't wanna do this now, we'll do it another time' I stood up
'Since when do I have to make an appointment to talk to you?' he was annoyed.
'But it won't be a talk Steven, it will be a one sided lecture.' I drone
'Don't make me out to be like that, you know that's not the case. I'm your big brother, it's my job to keep you in check.' He was serious. 'Now sit back down'
I hesitated but he took his sunglasses off, I knew he meant business so I sat back down.
'I don't want to be one of those…. annoying adults that think they know what's best, because I hated them myself, when I was your age I hated being told what to do, …by anyone…. I don't want to be like that...I...' He seemed really uncomfortable. It was like a battle within himself between the 'Cool' Steven who he was and who would have laughed at my latest offense and the 'Responsible' Steven who he was trying really hard to be.
'It's just the Forman's don't need more stress at the moment. I don't either.' He paused, pulled a confused face and stood up. 'You know what? This is crap. Just pull your head in!' He turned to walk out the door. 'It was clever though' he said without turning around. I laughed silently. He had me worried for a minute there.