Chapter 5
When I walked back inside my own house without Sam, everyone but Lincoln started hammering me with questions that I wasn't prepared to answer. Lincoln pulled out an air horn and blew it, startling everyone into silence.
"Guys, give Luna a chance to speak! Geez!" he said.
"Thanks, bro. Sam didn't come home with me because we found another place for him to stay. Apparently, he's related to the lady that owns the Burnt Bean. She'll pay for his school tuition, so we don't have to," I explained in as much detail as I could. "We cool now?" Everyone seemed satisfied with my explanation, so I left it at that.
...
The next time I saw Sam was right before school on Monday. He and Sandra had apparently taken the rest of the weekend to straighten things out with Principal Rivers and get him situated as an official student. I met him in front of the school and offered to take him to his homeroom, since he was in the same class as Leni. As we walked down the halls, people stopped, stared, and whispered because of his hairy arms and legs and his bare feet. He wore a black sleeveless T-shirt with the Metallica band logo tucked into slim denim jeans cut off just below the knees with a new belt from the Army surplus store. He was clean-shaven, and his shoulder-length blond hair was a few shades lighter now that it was clean and tangle-free. He had a dark purple backpack slung over one shoulder that was empty except for a plastic box full of pencils and pens. We met up with Leni in front of the door to the classroom, and she agreed to share textbooks with him if the teacher allowed it. I left them to go to my own class, and didn't see Sam again until lunch.
When lunch rolled around, Sam sat with Sully, Mazzy, and me. He surprised all of us when he accepted Sully's offer to join our band. We hung out outside for recess, because today wasn't our assigned day to clean the cafeteria. We were talking about life in general when one of the meatheaded jocks that only stayed in school for the sports walked up to the bench we were sitting on with his lackeys. His name was Bryce, and he was our school's Decathlon champion. He was also crushing on me hard, but he wasn't my type.
"Hey, new guy, what are you doing hanging around with my chick?" he demanded. He had lightly tanned skin, brown hair in a military flat-top, and wore our school's red, black, and white letterman jacket with black sweatpants and white sneakers.
"For the last time, Bryce, I'm not 'your chick'!" I groaned. "When will you take the hint that I'm not interested?"
"Oh, you're interested, alright. You just won't admit it," Bryce said with a smirk. Yes, he really was that stupid. Not to mention stubborn.
"Hey, back off, man! We're trying to have a conversation here," Sam said, glaring at Bryce.
"Is that so, pencil-neck? How about this: we race each other around the school, and the loser has to stay away from Luna for the rest of the school year?"
"Deal!" Sam said, and the two shook hands before the band and I grabbed Sam and dragged him to the side.
"Are you crazy?! Bryce is the fastest runner in the school!" Mazzy hissed, but Sam was undaunted.
"You obviously don't know me very well. I'll be fine, trust me!" he said, and we reluctantly let him go back to where Bryce had stripped down to a white T-shirt and running shorts and was limbering up. We elected Mazzy to be the one to start the race, so she stood in front of Sam and Bryce holding a handkerchief in the air.
"Runners, to your marks! Ready...set...GO!" she shouted, and both were off like rockets as soon as her handkerchief hit the ground. Most of the girls in the school (except for the cheerleaders) thought Bryce was a huge jerk, so almost everyone was cheering for Sam, with me and my sisters yelling the loudest.
Sam and Bryce were seemingly neck-and-neck at first, but then Sam started pulling ahead. Bryce was surprised by this and tried as hard as he could to catch up, but Sam was just too fast. By the time the race finished, Bryce was out of breath and Sam had hardly broken a sweat.
"Gotta hand it to ya, Bryce: out of all the things I've had to outrun over the years, you're one of the slowest!" Sam said with a wide grin. I couldn't help but start grinning myself, it felt so good to see Bryce finally get knocked down a few pegs. Before Bryce could retort, the bell rang to signal the end of recess.
"This isn't over, Sharp," he growled before trudging into the school.
"You did it! I don't have to put up with Bryce for the rest of the school year!" I found myself shouting excitedly. Before either of us realized what I was doing, I had jumped up and given Sam a peck on the cheek. Why did I just do that? I thought, my face suddenly feeling hot. Sam reached up and touched the spot where I kissed him, his own face turning red.
Mazzy cleared her throat uncomfortably and said, "We should probably get back to class." We all walked back into the building.
...
After school, Sam joined us in the empty classroom we always used for band practice. He helped the rest of us set up our instruments and amps with only a little difficulty, then set up his own sky-blue bass guitar that we had on hand in case we found someone willing to join our band and play it. He played a few notes while adjusting the tuning. When he was satisfied with the sound produced by the guitar, he played a short riff to demonstrate to us that he knew how to use it. Man, I've only heard professional band members play like that!
"Wow, Sam! You're rockin' it!" I told him when he finished the riff.
"Thanks. I'm a little out of practice, though," he said.
"No sweat, dude. The way you play, no one can tell," Sully replied. We slowly but steadily introduced Sam to some of our original songs, but mostly we practiced covers of songs by other bands. To be honest, we haven't written that many songs on our own yet. For the record, Sully was right: we DID sound better with a bass guitar. Sandra came to pick up Sam after a while, so we called it quits for the day.
...
After a week of school, it became obvious that the teachers had severely underestimated Sam's capabilities as a student purely based on his appearance. Me, Sully, and Mazzy met with Sam and Sandra at the Burnt Bean to celebrate Sam's good grades. I had a plan for Sam, and it was my chance to implement that plan. I was jittery as heck, which the others took notice of.
"Are you okay, Luna?" Sam had the decency to ask.
"Yeah, dude. C-can I ask you something, though?" I asked, the butterflies in my stomach fluttering even more madly.
"Sure."
"Would you like to come to the school's Halloween dance with me?" I blurted.
Cliffhanger!
