Author's Note: So Jerry might be a little ooc compared to how he is in the show. That's because I never liked the dumb character trope. For reasons I can't explain, that always irked me. Also Jerry is my favorite character so I wanted to give him more depth. He may not be book smart but he's street smart. I'm a keep the core of him intact meaning he's slow on the uptake, a bit oblivious and can't read a room.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin it
Now onto the story
Seaford High, Corridor
Monday, November, 5, 2012
Eddie entered the school still on cloud nine. Ring Heart managed to come together and pull off a stellar performance. Maybe stellar was a bit of a reach but they managed to not suck which was all that mattered to Eddie. Despite still feeling a bit guilty for bailing on the mall he accepted that his band was all in favor of performing for Ember. He informed the band that if they wanted to perform for Ember then they needed to bring their A game and not mess around. He wasn't about to be embarrassed by them in front of the Elite, especially in front of Grace. Eddie never managed to actually put his Homecoming plan into action and chickened out. He spent most of the dance watching the brunette beauty and wishing he had enough nerves to ask her to dance.
The band actually listened and took the audition performance seriously. Maybe a big reason was because Ana was being more unbearable and telling them multiple times not to screw it up for her. They probably decided just to get her to shut up they were going to focus on improving. It was times like these that Eddie wished Kim agreed to join his band, her good voice didn't come with Ana's diva antics. Anyway by the time they auditioned Eddie decided that if they were chosen, they were going to perform cover songs. Halloween themed cover songs to be exact because they were still in the process of writing their own that were actually good.
Honestly Eddie doesn't remember much about his audition because he was so full of nerves. He remembers getting dropped off at the Civic Center by his dad and entering the huge building. He remembers meeting up with his band and practicing and seeing two others bands there. After that everything was a blur. Despite being pants shitting terrified he managed to go on stage in front of Ember and two of her friends that he can't remember the faces of and sing. Two days later when they were getting for another practice at Milton's house Ana arrived running into their room. She happily spilled the good news; they were chosen to perform.
From then on they practiced harder than before and Ana became even more unbearable than usual. She was scarily similar to Rachel Berry and the yellow belt once again wished Kim agreed. When he informed Kim this in their Algebra class she just laughed and assured him she knew how he felt. With Kim being assistant stage manager for the play she has witnessed Ana's divaness first hand.
Just as Eddie turned the corner into the hall that led to the cafeteria he heard a familiar voice call out his name, "Hey Eddie!"
"Crap." Eddie muttered to himself, knowing that voice, dreading seeing the person that owned that voice; Kelsey.
He turned around to see the eccentric girl jogging up to him with yet another pair of cat ears on top of her head. This time they were white and matched her outfit; a white shirt with butterfly on it paired with multicolored pants, mustard yellow socks and white shoes. Eddie couldn't gaped at her pants, they were an eye sore, a combination of purple, yellow, red, and blue. Who would wear something like that? It's like she was asking to be made fun of.
Once he was able to tear his eyes aware from the monstrosity that was her pants he gave her a forced smile when she was next to him, "Hey Kelsey."
"Hi," she brightly greets him, "how are you?"
He started walking again, "Good."
She of course started walking with him, "Where are you heading too?"
"Breakfast in the cafeteria."
"Oh me too!"
Eddie wished that the girl got over him already. He was tired of this crush and her constantly 'coincidentally' running into him and just bothering him. Can't she take a hint? He thought he made it obvious that he wasn't into her like that and honestly not really even as a friend. He tries to be respectful and nice about it because he was raised right and his mom would slap the black off of him if she caught him being rude to a girl. Still the sentiment was there was she just blind or ignores it?
She carries on the conversation as they enter the cafeteria, "So you did like totally amazing at Ember's party. You have a really good voice."
"Thanks."
"I can see your band becoming really popular. Do you plan on making it into something long term? Like a career out of high school?"
Eddie shrugs, "I don't know yet I haven't thought about it." he says while grabbing a tray
"Oh, well if you ever plan on doing that, I can see that happening. If you don't kill Ana first of course." She jokes
The yellow belt nods, "Yeah." he says disinterestedly as he places a chocolate milk on his tray
Milk chosen, he surveys his breakfast options; cereal, muffins, or bagged waffles or pancake bites. Despite what Kim and Milton says he thinks the bagged waffles and pancakes were good. Of course not even near as amazing as his mom's homemade pancakes and waffles but not terrible.
"So do you want to sit with me?" Kelsey asked feigning nonchalance but he could still hear the nervousness
Eddie scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Um I think I'll just eat outside," he says eyes trained on the food bar not wanting to see the Kelsey's disappointment
"Oh, okay." But he unfortunately could still hear it. Eddie was more than happy when the student in front of him finished paying for their food. He needed to get out of this situation ASAP
He felt guilty for hurting Kelsey but also felt annoyed that he felt guilty for hurting her. She brings this on herself. If she just finally accepts the fact that he doesn't like her and leaves him alone then he won't have to hurt her. It's her fault he doesn't have anything to feel guilty about.
After he paid for his breakfast he hightailed out of there, "Yeah, see you later."
After he was a good feet away from the breakfast line he slowed his pace and looked for tables to sit at. Milton had a student council meeting, Jack and Jerry haven't arrived yet, but he thinks Kim is here. He's not sure if she'll be outside or in the cafeteria only she will definitely be sitting with Donna and Kelsey. So it looks like he'll be sitting alone.
Awesome.
He turns around to head towards the courtyard when an unfamiliar stops him.
"Hey Eddie!" The boy in call looks around, eyes sweeping over a few tables until he located the owner of the voice.
It was none other than Lyndsey Pryce. The same Lyndsey Pryce that insulted him a little over a month ago and laughed when Frank tripped him. Who never failed to look at him like he was gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. That Lyndsey Pryce was staring at him with a warm smile on her face as she beckoned him over.
"C'mere." She called
Eddie looked behind him to see if there was another person she was talking to. Seeing no one he looked to both sides of him but he still saw no one. He faced frontwards again and dumbly pointed to himself for clarification.
Lyndsey rolled her eyes good naturedly and nodded.
No way, Lyndsey Pryce was beckoning him- Edward Jones- over to her table. Was this a joke? Is he dreaming? Is he sure he woke up today? Nonetheless his feet started moving on their own accord towards Lyndsey's table. The same table where the love of his life Grace Overland sat. As well as Seaford Dirty Laundry creator, Tj Nixon and varsity football player Ethan Love.
"Hi?" he nervously greeted Lyndsey when he reached their table his eyes darting to look at all the occupants before settling on Lyndsey
Lyndsey flashed him another smile, a complete contrast to her usual icy exterior, "Sit down Eddie." She urged, patting the place next to her
Edie's eyes widened, pretty sure he was mishearing her, "Are you serious?"
"Yes I'm serious, sit."
"O-okay," Eddie slowly says then obeyed, he turned to face Lyndsey, "You know my name?"
The girl in question laughed, "Of course I do, we have choir together." she tells him as if that was a silly question
Right in choir, when Grace and her ignore his existence but if Lyndey can't she throws looks of disgust at him.
"You know Ethan, Grace, and Tj, right?" She continued, gesturing to said people across from them
Eddie barely stopped himself from blurting who doesn't know them? Anyone that goes to Seaford High knows who they are. Ethan Love, sophomore running back on the varsity football team and known womanizer. Tj Nixon, creator of the school's gossip blog, Seaford Dirty Laundry. Everyone who means anyone in the school is posted on the blog. To Eddie that's how you know you've made it.
If he says all that he might creep them out so he just smiled and nodded, "I know of them," is what he settled for
"Hey Eddie." Grace greets him with a smile that mirrored sunshine and rainbows and everything good in the world
"I can't believe you know my name." Eddie spoke in awe, her emerald green eyes were even prettier up close
Grace laughed, it was like wind chimes to the yellow belt. "Like Lyndsey said we have choir together. It's not hard to miss you considering there's like a handful of boys in the class."
He can't believe the most beautiful girl in the entire school was smiling at him and talking to him. Her glossy brown hair was pulled to her left side in a messy braid. She wore a baby blue cardigan over a white flower print cami top and finished the look off with a white skirt.
Eddie nods in a daze, not really hearing what his crush was saying, "Right."
"You did really well at Emmy's Halloween party last Saturday." Grace praised him, still smiling warmly at him.
The boy blinked, "Really?"
Grace nodded, "Yeah, really."
Grace Overland just told him he performed well at Ember's Halloween party. That was his main goal when he started the band. He accomplished his main goal in his first performance, "Thank-thank you. That really means a lot."
"Your welcome." How could Kim ever say she was mean? The girl was sweeter than cotton candy. If Eddie was being honest, nicer than Kim was. He loves the girl but she was a bit prickly around the edges.
"Seriously dude you didn't suck. Which is surprising." Ethan added, then reached over to steal one of Lyndsey's french toast sticks. She scowled at him.
Eddie was jealous that Lyndsey was able to get the French toast sticks. That was his favorite breakfast food but when he made it to the food bar they were all out.
Ethan elicited both fear and envy from the yellow belt. Envy because Ethan was who he strived to be; a player, good looking, athletic, and confident. Fear because puberty hit him good making him a muscular jock that could knock him out without even trying.
Eddie shifted nervously on his seat, "Thanks, I think."
"Don't worry, that's a compliment in douche talk." Lyndsey assures him
"Yeah he doesn't know how to say nice things like a normal person." Grace added with a conspiratorial wink to him. He can't believe Grace just winked at him
Ethan just rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
The yellow belt can't believe he's sitting at the Elite table as they joke around with him as if this was normal. "If this is a dream please do not pinch me." He muttered
Lyndsey laughs, "You're funny."
Eddie's eyes widened again out of shock that he said that out loud. He's pretty sure if he was a lighter complexion he would be blushing.
"So how long have you been singing?" Tj asks, speaking up for the first time now that he tore his gaze away from his phone
"Ever since I was ten. My mom thought I had a great voice and encouraged me to join our church's choir." Eddie nervously explained
He glanced up but saw no look of mocking or heard always laughed whenever he brought up being a choir boy. Grace and Tj were listening attentively and a quick glance to his left showed Lyndsey was too. Ethan was more focused on eating his breakfast.
Eddie opened his milk carton and took a long slip to prolong sharing more, "Ever since then I got into singing but none of my friends thought much of it."
Tj brow furrowed in confusion, "Why not?" he questioned
The boy in question shrugged, "I don't know, I guess they didn't believe me when I said I was a good singer? Thought it was just in my head I guess? That my mom was just trying to spare my feelings."
His friends had a habit of underestimating him and brushing him off. He understands though because why wouldn't they? Out of all of them he was the odd one out, the average one. Jack and Kim were the most popular and attractive members of the group as well as the best at karate. Of the five of them anyway. Jerry was the third most popular of them but the best dancer and was making time with Falafel's Phil hot niece. Milton was the most wealthy and intelligent one and was a prep-in-training and was actually a really good kicker for football.
Then there was him, Eddie. He was just the normal one; not the best at karate, dance, or school or even remotely popular.
"I'm so sorry." Grace sympathised her hand over her heart and face contorted in pity
"That's messed up." Ethan added around a mouth full of food drawing matching looks of disgust from Tj and Lyndsey
"No it's fine, they didn't mean anything by it. That's just," he faltered trying to find the right words, "I'm not really the best at well anything and sometimes I-I pretend that I am. After a while they kinda stopped believing when I said I was great at something."
That brought back a memory in seventh grade when Jack and Kim were fairly new to the gang. Jack was still new to Seaford and he could've easily joined the Elite who were scoping him out. Kim intimidated Eddie more than she does now since she was a fresh ex Black Dragon and previously ignored their existence. Eddie was still in shock that someone on their popularity status wanted to be friends with him.
Eddie was still in the mindset of wanting to impress the duo in hopes of them joining the group permanently. Jack and Kim were gushing about this skateboard legend, Luke Sampson, and this cool trick that they wanted to learn to do. WIthout really thinking Eddie joined in the conversation and said he was able to copy the move fairly well. That of course led to them wanting to see him perform it. Eddie being the idiot that he was didn't tell them he was lying his butt off and led to him attempting it. Long story short, the outcome was one fractured wrist and one major bruised ego.
When Jack and Kim asked him why he lied he admitted that he wanted to impress them. He never fully explained why he wanted to because he knew they wouldn't get it. The desire to basically prove yourself to people in hopes that they'll think you're worthy enough to have around. The fear that they'll see you for the loser you are and drop you in favor of other attractive and popular people on the same level as them. They wouldn't understand that because they never spent all night worrying about that. Even now after two years Eddie still fears that one day they'll ditch him and see him as some leech. Matter of fact, especially now since they're in high school and labels mean everything.
"If they were really your friends they would believe you and not dismiss you like that." Tj said
Eddie shook his head, his words were coming out wrong and they were taking it the wrong way. "It's not like that. They just are used to me embellishing."
It was always Jack's the best at something or Kim or Milton.
"Whatever you say but that doesn't sound like real friendship to me." Grace notes with a shrug
Eddie didn't reply, instead opening his bagged pancakes but he couldn't get Grace's words out of his head.
3rd Period English
"-and if you guys finish all your work and are good then we will watch the movie this Friday." His teacher informed the class
There were a few excited murmurs from the class but Jerry couldn't care less. The book was so boring and the only reason he passed most of his quizzes and homework assignments was because he cheated off Kim's or Jack's papers. Lucky for him their class is reading the same book as his.
"Moving on we are entering our new unit; Shakespeare." The teacher got up from his chair to pull down the projector screen above the whhite board
That earned a few groans mostly from the guys this time Jerry included. He was leaning his head against his hand with his elbow propped on the desk. He was so bored that he was seconds from nodding off.
"I know I know Shakespeare isn't everyone's cup of tea but stay with me. William Shakespeare is arguably the most popular playwright in history. My goal by the end of this unit is for you guys to see that he's actually pretty interesting."
"I highly doubt it." Jerry heard Brett mumble. The Columbian snickered and nodded his agreement.
Brett was his desk neighbor and the two got along surprisingly well. They swapped jokes about their teacher and fellow students as well as answers when needed. Plus Brett was a Zompyre fan and owned all the films which was swawesome.
The teacher walked back behind his desk to load the Shakespeare presentation on the projector, "We're going to learn a little bit about William before diving into his most popular play."
"Don't say it." Brett begged
"Romeo and Juliet." The teacher announced with a smile earning more groans and Jerry dropped his head face first on the desk
"Oh kill me now." Jerry muttered miserably into the desk
Before the teacher could begin his presentation there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." The adult called
"Hi I don't mean to intrude," A familiar voice began causing Jerry to whip his head up so fast he felt a rush of dizziness. Brett shot him a look of bemusement.
There was Mika standing in the front of his class in all her hot glory. What was she doing here?
"but the counselor wants to see Jerry," the girl informed his teacher, "she sent me because I was in her office."
"Can I see the note?"
She passed the note to the male with a sweet smile, "Of course."
The teacher read the note, eyeing it with skepticism for a few seconds before shrugging. He looked up from it to look at Jerry, "Hm, okay. Well Jerry go see the counselor."
Jerry started packing his things into his backpack as his mind raced with questions. Why would the counselor want to see him? That was a new one, usually it was the principal but he hasn't pulled any pranks lately. Or any pranks that got him caught.
"You're so lucky." Brett whispered to him
Jerry grinned at his spiky haired neighbor, "I know right?" he whispered back before he swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to the front of the room
He was handed the note then left the room with Mika. As soon as the door closed he turned towards the girl and flashed her a smirk, "What a do girl?"
Mika giggled and latched onto his wrist, "Hello Jerry."
As the weeks went on Jerry continued to fall harder for Mika as time went on. He seriously thinks he can see himself with this girl long term. She was hot, fun, foreign, and had a wild child. Everything Jerry ever wanted in a girl. He thinks he finally understands how Jack feels about Kim.
He's just not sure how to get Mika to become his girlfriend. They have fun together, the kissing is awesome and she even lets him touch his boobs. While that's really nice and all he still wishes that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. That he's the only one that Mika kisses and fools around with. He gets jealous hearing Randy gush about making out with her or when Mika can't hang out because she has plans with other guys.
The Columbian frowns when he realizes the direction Mika was leading them, "This isn't the way to the counselors."
"No it's not." Mika agrees calmly but nevertheless continued walking in the direction
Jerry shot her a confused look, "Well aren't we supposed to go in the right direction?" he asked but Mika didn't reply
He'd really like to continue his streak of not getting in trouble. He learned that apparently as well as keeping his grades up he can't get suspended or else he might get kicked off the dance team. That's not to say he won't pull any pranks because hello he's Jerry he just needs to be more sneaky about it.
Mika finally stopped when they were in front of the janitor's closet. Jerry turned to her again, "Why are we in front of the janitor's closet?"
Mika rolled her eyes in exasperation, opening the door and taking a few steps in then turned around and beckoned Jerry to follow after her, "Just come in. And close the door behind you."
"The counselor wants to meet me in the janitor's closet?" The boy asked as he entered the small space
Mika stepped closer to him, draping her arms over his shoulders, an indulgent look on her face, "She doesn't want to see you. I made that up to get you out of class."
"Oh, why?"
Mika smirked at him as if she was waiting for the question, "So I can do this." she stretched her neck up to kiss him
The Columbian was taken aback by the action but quickly kissed her back and rest his hands on her petite waist. When they broke for air he stared down at her with a dazed look, "You are one devious girl."
Mika grinned deviously at him, "Is that a good or bad thing?" she whispered, face inches from his
"Definitely good."
Mika giggled again then leaned in to kiss him again. Any other thoughts besides the girl he was holding vanished from his mind. She was an excellent kisser, definitely more experienced than Heather. It rendered his brain to mush, he didn't know a kiss could do that. A part of him wondered how she got that good at kissing but a bigger part of him doesn't wanna know.
When they broke again for air Mika trailed kisses down to his neck. Whenever she did that Jerry had to silently calm himself down before anything embarrassing happened, like popping a boner.
"Hey would you wanna do something tonight?" Jerry hesitantly asked, feigning a casual tone or trying to at least
"Like what?" Mika asks in between kisses, her left hand snuck underneath his shirt and Jerry willed himself to not react
"I don't know, like catch a movie together? And maybe a meal after or before. Both works for me."
That had Mika pausing mid kiss, "That sounds like a date."
Jerry shook his head, "No, no it's not a date. Just two people hanging out."
She pulled away from him to give him an unimpressed look, "Jerry," she began, "I thought I made it clear I do not want relationship right now. I want to have fun."
The boy nodded, trying to keep the disappointment off his face, it was worth a shot even though he knew her answer, "Yeah I know. I get it."
Due to the look on Mika's face, he knew he didn't do a good job of hiding his sadness, "I do like you Jerry," She swears, "I like you a lot." She kisses him, "I just want to keep things uncomplicated and easy. You understand, right?"
Jerry nodded, he understood just fine. Mika doesn't wanna be his girl and he'll just have to deal with that crushing pain. It rivaled the pain he felt with his breakup with Heather and that was a dark period. At least he gets to kiss her just so do different guys. Maybe he just needs to start kissing other girls.
Sensing the mood was now ruined Mika wanted to fix it, "You wanna get out of here?"
"The closet?"
"No, the school."
"Oh you mean like ditching?"
Mika shot him an adorably confused look, "Is that what's it called? Then yes I would like to do the ditching."
Jerry couldn't stop the fond smile that crossed his lips. Whenever she says stuff like that it never stopped being adorable, "Cool! Lead the way mamacita!"
Any thoughts of kissing other girls was wiped from his mind. Mika was the one he wanted, he just needs to wait until she sees it too.
Lunch
Amphitheatre
"-can you believe that?" Eddie exclaimed to Milton after finishing retelling what happened at breakfast this morning.
"I can not." Milton replied in a dull tone as he rubbed a grape between his fingers
"Grace looked at me and talked to me willingly on her own account and I didn't embarrass myself! My dream finally came true and it happened way sooner than I thought it would." Eddie spilled, practically vibrating in his seat with his excitement
"Awesome." Milton retorted in the same dull tone then smashed the grape between his fingers and dropped it
"I totally wowed her with my performance and now I think she wants me. She's finally over Brad and recognized my awesomeness."
"Uh huh."
Eddie finally caught on to Milton's lack of enthusiasm and looked at his friend. The Scottish teen was still down in the dumps over his breakup with Julie. Eddie doesn't think he'd ever seen his friend so depressed before and that was saying something because Milton was devastated when his team lost at a Science Olympiad competition. Milton's been watching Golden Girls non-stop and rotating between stuffing his face with sticky toffee pudding. Then on top of that he lost the sweater vests and cardigan in exchange for plain tees.
Milton Krupnick in plain tees.
That's how you know it's really bad.
Kim told the group Milton called her in tears about the breakup a few days after it happened. She sheepishly admitted to putting the phone in the sock drawer and going to the movies after an hour and a half of nonstop crying. The group of course tried to find ways to cheer up the ginger haired boy and swapped ideas in their group chat. Jerry suggested finding him a rebound girl, Kim taking him to the science museum, and Jack- with much reluctance -joining him in another LARP thing again.
Eddie cleared his throat, feeling ashamed that he was so caught up in his excitement that he forgot about Milton's current state of misery. He turned to face his friend, "So anyways though, how you holding up?"
Milton straightened his posture, "Well my mom banned me from eating anymore sticky toffee pudding," he shared as he picked at his lunch, "Julie blocked my number due to my constant texting and calling."
Eddie's heart ached in sympathy as he stared at his friend in pity. He looked like a shell of his former self. It was disconcerting.
"But I finally made it through the night without crying myself to sleep so small victories." Milton glanced at him when he finished the last sentence, his lips forming a rip off of a smile before returning his gaze to his lunch
"I'm really sorry Milton." That was all Eddie could think of saying, he was completely out of his depth here
Milton waved the apology off, "I should've seen it coming. All the signs were there I guess I just didn't want to believe it."
"We're here for you Milton, whenever and whatever you need." Eddie vowed, placing a hand on the ginger haired boy's bony shoulder
"I know, thanks." Milton tried to smile again and it was slightly better than the other one
"But enough about me, this is a happy day for you and I don't want to ruin this with my sadness."
Eddie still eyed his friend warily, "You sure?"
The boy in question nodded his confirmation, "Completely. It helps take my mind off Julie."
"Well in that case, this is the best day ever!"
"In Spanish Grace paired up with me! She chose me over Lorie!" Eddie exclaimed, "we got so close that I could smell her. She smells like flowers."
Eddie's usual partner in Spanish was Jerry but the boy was absent from the class. Considering he saw Jerry in the hallway he knew that he knew his friend attended school today. Jerry didn't usually miss Spanish since it was the only class he excels in his absence was unusual. Their teacher keeps trying to push for Jerry to either join AP Spanish or choose a different foreign language but he stubbornly refuses.
With Jerry being absent, Eddie started to get anxious because he was his only friend in Spanish. With him being gone he had no one to partner with which always led to his teacher partnering him with the other leftover student. That leftover student was the nerd Jennie that Jerry went to Cotillion with. Thankfully before he would be forced to pair with her, Grace walked over to him and proposed they work together.
Milton cringed, "I hope you kept that observation to yourself."
Eddie shrugged, "I don't know, whenever I'm close to her my brain turns to mush."
"Well if you did, I'm so she found it cute," Milton assured him before a sorrowful look crossed his face, "Julie always found it cute when I said something like that."
The yellow belt panicked to change the subject, "Anyways, I've been thinking, the end of the semester is coming up and student council has yet to plan anything fun. As a student rep I can't have that so I propose we have a talent show."
That did the trick and Milton was snapped out of his downward spiral, "Come again?"
"A talent show. Now that RIng Heart had their first performance and we didn't suck I figured it's time we have some more exposure. Let the student body know just how awesome we are and what better way to do it than having a talent show?"
Milton's face scrunched up thoughtfully, "That's actually not a bad idea. But if you want Evelyn to agree to it then you're going to need to have a structured plan to show to her."
"That sounds like a lot of work, can I count on you to help me with it?"
Eddie could see the debate on his friend's face before he settled on his answer, "Sure."
"Awesome. This year everything's coming up Eddie."
Wolfe Memorial Garden
"This place is beautiful." Mika gushed as she took in the scenery,
He eyed the scenery; a vast green patch of land with flowers on both sides of a stone walkway that leads to a bench underneath a huge tree. Away from the bench there were two headstones belonging to the Wolfe parents. It was peaceful but Jerry can only stand silence for so long before losing it.
Jerry shrugs, "Yeah I guess."
After they left school they headed over to the boardwalk on the beach. Fortunately for Jerry, he stole money from Cami so they were able to buy food and go on a few rides. He wanted to make it special for Mika because she never went to a beach before, only saw it on TV. Once Jerry spent all his money he decided to take Mika to the memorial garden because it was romantic if you ignore the whole graves aspect.
Jerry sat on the bench, exhausted from walking because he forgot to save money for the bus fare. "So how're you liking Seaford so far?"
Mika sits next to him, so close their knees are touching, "I love it. It's very different from Hakmakistan."
"How so?" The Columbian was always curious about what Hakmakistan was like. From the stories Phil shares it sounded weirdly awesome.
"Well for one I can dress like this,' she gestured towards her outfit, "there we had traditional garments to wear at all times."
Frankly Jerry had no problem wearing the same clothes everyday. He would do that if his mom would allow it, "Well that must've sucked."
"It did," Mika agreed, "Hakmakistan had all these traditions and rules we had to follow whether we liked it or not. Especially for women."
A look crossed Mika's face. Jerry couldn't make out what it was, pain? Anger? Sadness? In Milton's words the girl was an enigma. He only knows what that means because he helped Milton with his spelling bee words.
Mika stood up and walked over to the flowers, turning her attention to them instead of looking at Jerry, "My parents obediently followed and believed in all the dumb rules and traditions. I was the only one that didn't."
There was barely contained anger in her voice. She tried to sound casual about it but he heard the bitterness and saw her left fist clench. Jerry related to her more than he thought he ever would
"Parents can be a disappointment, yo." he agreed, thoughts of his own parents creeping into his mind
Mika turned around to look at him again, "You have parent troubles too?"
"Yeah," Jerry admitted.
He figured since Mika shared it was his turn to even if he really didn't want to. "My parents are in the middle of a divorce but even before that they've been arguing all the time. It's like they spent more time picking fights and yelling at each other than paying attention to me and my sisters."
When his parents finally decided that they were divorcing at the end of his eighth grade year, Jerry was happy. No he was more than happy, he was ecstatic (another spelling bee word). It was about time, Paula, Cami, and him were starting to make bets if their parents were ever going to do that. The dancer was sick of hearing the constant yelling, slamming doors, and overall nastiness of them. They are so consumed with one upping each other that they stopped paying to their own children. Forgetting to pack Talia and Lia's lunches, to pick them up from playdates, no time to help with their homework. Ezra finally decided to just be their parent since it was a role she seems to love.
Sometimes he envies Izzy. She was the second oldest and escaped their parents by going to college in San Diego.
Jerry laughed humorlessly, "Who am I kidding even before the divorce my padres focused more on my sisters than me."
Jerry stares straight ahead, slowly becoming lost in head and forgetting that Mika was next to him. Compared to his sisters, Jerry wasn't treated the same by his parents, especially by his papa. It's always Talia and Lia who need something or Vale accomplished this and is so smart. When it comes to Jerry and his successes it's always overshadowed by his sisters or not as important.
So he started getting into trouble. A prank here, detention there, cheating on his tests and quizzes. That seemed to be the only time he had both his parents attention if only for a little bit. Only eventually their reactions became disappointed sighs and a head shake. They stopped caring as much and it became expected behavior.
Jerry lowered his gaze to the ground, "I feel like I could scream at the top of my lungs and they still won't pay attention to me."
Mika sits back down on the bench and grabs his hand. That snapped him out of his thoughts and he suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone, "I am sorry."
The boy was embarrassed at how emotional he got. He hasn't even told any of this to the gang, too proud too. "It is what it is right?" he rose his gaze to hers and flashed a too big smile
"That is why I do not want relationship. It's either fighting all the time or being a submissive slave to the husband like my mother."
"All relationships aren't like that." He thought of Jack and Kim's, Milton and Julie's, and Ezra and Jullian's relationships. They were all dopily in love. Or Milton and Julie used to be until she got rude and hot then dumped him.
Mika shook her head, eyes defiant and blazing, "In my country almost all relationships are like that. If that is love I do not want it."
"I don't think that's love," Jerry argued, "My oldest sister is married and her and her guy are disgustingly in love," Jullian was so whipped for his sister it was embarrassing to watch their interactions, "she wears the pants in their marriage." he added
Mika dismissed that, "Maybe they're the rare exceptions but all the women in my country are just slaves to their husbands. They're hopeless. I refused to be like that."
"Things are different in America." It made a lot more sense why she was dismissive of labels. Maybe all he has to do is convince Mika that not all relationships were like the ones in her home country then he can get her to be his girlfriend.
"Like your parents," She challenged
"Like my sister," He countered
"Maybe but I do not want to take chances." Jerry's shoulders slumped in defeat. This girl's stubbornness rivaled Kim's.
"Enough of this emotional talk." She reached into her purse and pulled out a ziploc bag with green stuff in it.
She smiled micheously at him, "Do you want to smoke?"
Jerry eyed the bag. He was feeling pretty crappy right now between thinking of the disasters that were his parents and Mika vowing that she'll never want to be his girlfriend. His usual feel good routine was pranking people, dancing, or blasting Kung Fu Lighting. Since he can't do any of that right now…
"Sure, why not?"
Freshman Select
8th Period Choir
"Don't forget this Thursday is our first choir competition. My duet people practice frequently with your partners. My soloist you guys continue practicing as well but make sure you guys don't over do it," Ms. Dane instructed the students
Unfortunately Eddie wasn't one of the soloists because he was too nervous to audition for it. He did have a duet with one of the girls in his class and they got along pretty well. He was confident that their duet was good and they didn't need any more practice.
" Also this week is the last week to audition for solos in our winter concert," Ms. Dane continued, "this is the last chance for any brave souls that want to participate."
Eddie wrestled if he wanted to sign up or not. As much as he loves his band he also loves choir and the two had a different distinct sound. Plus not to mention, Ana wasn't in there so the choir dynamic was more relaxed.
The bell rang signaling the end of their class. Eddie got off the bleachers along with the rest of his class to head over to the shelf to put his folder away.
Folder deposited, he grabbed his backpack and headed out of the class. He pulled out his phone to text Milton about meeting up at his place to come up with a presentation for the talent show idea. He was really excited about the talent show idea, it was the perfect way to show off his band and let the popular kids at Seaford know what's up. He can finally prove to his dad that he's just as cool as he was in high school. "Hey Eddie wait up!"
Eddie turned out eyes widening a little when he saw Grace and Lyndsey chasing after him, "Ladies?"
"Hey," Grace greeted him with her blinding smile once she caught up to him. She locked arms with his and Lyndsey did the same with his other.
"You know you should totally audition for a solo for the concert." Grace encouraged
It took a while before he comprehended what she said, mind rendered to mush that she was touching him. "You think?"
"Totally." The girl promised
"So what's the story with you and that weird girl?" Lyndsey prompted
Eddie's face scrunched on confusion, "Weird girl?" he raked his brain for what girl they were talking about
"You know the girl you were talking to at breakfast. The girl that's bold enough to wear cat ears in public." Grace elaborated
"Like who does that anymore this is high school." Lyndsey muttered
That was when the light bulb went off in his head, "Oh you mean Kelsey."
"Is that her name? Yeah her, are you guys dating?"
"NO! No no no. I promise you I'm free as a bird." Eddie vowed to Grace staring her dead in the eye
"Good to know." Grace says with an uncomfortable chuckle before exchanging a look with Lyndsey
"Well she seems totally into you." Lyndsey notes
Eddie nodded in resignation. Oh how he knows. "Yeah she has a crush on me but I don't feel the same way. Doesn't seem to matter because she won't leave me alone."
"Have you told her you don't feel the same and to leave you alone?" Grace questioned
"No, I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"That's sweet of you." His crushed simpered causing Eddie to giggle like a schoolgirl.
"If you want we can help you come up with a way to get that weirdo to leave you alone." Lyndsey offered
Eddie glanced between them in surprise, "You guys would do that?"
"Of course, what are friends for?" Grace added and Lyndsey nodded
Friends? Grace and Lyndsey want to be his friends?! Today really was coming up Eddie. Seriously what was Kim or Donna thinking? The two girls are the nicest. He grinned so hard his face hurt.
"Yeah, totally. I would like that a lot."
Lyndsey and Grace shared a secretive glance that the boy missed, "Perfect."
Author's Note: Before any of y'all come at me I'm not trying to bash the gang. I'm trying to see how an awkward teen would feel having friends that are better than them at things and seem to have it easier in life. That their friends don't have to worry about being accepted or well liked because they're conventionally attractive and popular.
With that being said please leave a review so I know this story is still being read
