Author's Note: urrgh. Okay. So I rated this one T for teen, because I think reading a diary isn't THAT bad, right...?
Tell me what you think guys---I've had the suggestion to make this like a romance story between Jimmy and Petey...should I do something like that, or something that strengthens their friendship...?
oh, thanks for reading. :)
(EDITED: 9/15/07) Just minor type-o's and such. I re-worded some of the stuff, too. :)
In the not-so-perfect town of Bullsworth, was a school under the name of Bullsworth Academy. And on those very school grounds, in the boys' dorm room just around the corner, lies a room that belongs to a boy, who left his door wide open, so that anybody could casually walk in and read the diary that was left wide open on his desk.
On that particular day, which happened to mark the first day of summer, a timid young boy dressed in pink tried to navigate through the boy's dorm undetected, as to avoid physical or verbal abuse. However, his only 'friend' happened to spot him.
"Hey Pete!" Jimmy casually said, slapping his friend on the back, hard, in Petey's opinion.
"Hey, Jimmy," came the boy's mumbled response, instantly feeling inferior.
"So whaddya do in a hell hole like this, all summer?" He asked, kicking the soda machine to receive a free drink.
"Uh, well, you could uh, go to class, uh, spend time with friends, uh-"
"Anything worth doing?"
"Uh, you could uh, get a tattoo…?"
"Hey, that's not half bad," the bully said standing up nodding carelessly in satisfaction. "I guess you can come up with a good idea every now and then."
Petey just returned the nodding jesture with a nod himself, and silently watched his friend strut towards the door.
"We're not gonna get there if you just sit there like that," Jimmy called back over his shoulder.
"O-oh, well, uh…I'm not going this time. I've got stuff I gotta do."
"Whatever," Jimmy said, waving his hand downward as he turned and left.
The bell rang once more, signaling the start of summer classes, for the students that either wanted to further their education, or the students that had to go, in order to graduate.
After a few minutes of mindlessly staring at the channel-less TV, Petey returned to reality, and realized nobody was around the Boys Dorm. They were all either in class, outside committing crimes, or inside sleeping the day away. It was normal for everyone to close their door when they weren't in the dorm, that way nobody would go snooping through anybody's belongings. However, Jimmy, being in one of his usual careless moods, had left his door open, again.
But this time was different. This time, there was a thought, clawing at Petey's mind, begging him to do something he knew was wrong.
No. I am NOT doing to sink so low as to do something like that.
But the more he thought about it, the sweeter the idea became. What's the worst that could happen? Was it really that bad?
After rationalizing that this wasn't any worse than beating some kids up, and stealing from others (since that's all he ever did with Jimmy), the bad consequences seemed almost outweighed by the good, if not, they had completely disappeared altogether.
Not to mention, curiosity had gotten the better of him because before he knew it, he was sneaking across the dorm slipping silently into Jimmy's room, softly shutting the door behind him.
After looking around the room for a bit, taking in the wall decorations, and other various bric-a-brac lying around, Petey realized that he never really had gotten a chance to get a good look at Jimmy's room before. The only time he'd been allowed in, he'd been scared for his life that Jimmy would turn on him, and pummel him to the ground. As his eyes scanned the room for a third time, taking in even more details than the previous two examinations, he spotted an open book lying on the tattered desk.
"I don't think I've ever seen Jimmy with a book!" Petey laughed to himself. But he then remembered Jimmy stealing a book that some nerd was carrying. He stole not to read, of course. But only to throw at his next unsuspecting victim. The boy in pink quickly clasped his hands over his mouth to suppress the muffled laughes he had been trying to choke back. He couldn't afford to get caught snooping.
Pulling the chair out from underneath the desk, careful to life the chair slighly off the ground to prevent any screetching noises the legs of the chair dragging across the floor might cause, the curious boy promptly sat down, and began to mercilessly flip through the pages of the book, absorbing its contents.
His initial reaction was the involuntary movement of his eyes rolling in disbelief, but then a much better idea had floated into his head.
This looked like a diary. This looks like Jimmy's handwriting. Putting two and two together, Petey came to the startling conclusion: This looks like Jimmy's diary!
He anxiously flipped to the first page to read Jimmy's first entry.
"…yeah, I knew Gary was a lying, cheating son of a bitch all along, and nobody believed me. So, I had to knock him off a building for everybody to believe me. And it was glorious. He didn't get any punches in, because he never stood a chance…"
"My mom married some fat, bald loser, who's probably as old as my grandfather, if not older. And my mom dumps me off in this loserville, just so she can go on her fifth honeymoon.
Petey's heart sank when he read about Jimmy forgetting his name, and calling him frilly, but those feelings were short-lived, because the doorknob had begun to turn. Quickly, he flipped the diary back open to the bookmarked page he had found it open to, and leapt out of the chair just in time.
Jimmy stumbled in, mumbling under his breath, until he saw the boy in pink. "Petey! What the hell are you doing in my room?"
"S-sorry," Petey responded, looking at the ground for help, nervously walking aimlessly.
"Yeah, you better be," Jimmy said advancing on Petey, making a fist with his dominant hand.
And then he saw it. The chemistry set! That was a great excuse! "I-I just wanted to make some firecrackers..., because one of the nerds was giving me a hard time again."
"Oh, which one? I'll take him out. Let him know not to mess with people that are better than him."
"Uh-um…The…the…one kid that never zips his pants up…"
"Algie?"
"Um…yeah."
After a short pause, Jimmy broke the silence. "I'll get him."
And with that, he turned around and left the room.
Petey felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. Relieved that he wasn't caught snooping, and disappointed that he didn't get to read more of the book. And guilt was beginning to flood into his thoughts as well, because he just got Algie a free punch-in-the-face for nothing. He thought it be best to leave Jimmy's room, and did so, only to be available for the taunts and insults that were thrown at him at a daily basis. The boy sought shelter in his own dorm room, which was the only place in Bullsworth he truly felt safe.
Trying to reflect on positive thoughts, the young boy decided to lay down on his pillow, and think about the endless possibilities summer brings. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but remember the diary. And at that time, he had finally understood why everyone had called it an 'endless summer', before drifting off to sleep.