Chapter one – Band

Time tends to go by a lot slower when all you want is for it to speed up. Normally I enjoy going slow. Taking my time in whatever I do. There’s never really a reason for me to rush, pretty much. I’m always early and I’m organized so really, I usually have no reason to hurry. But when you’re sitting in Mr. McCartney’s Algebra 2 class. There is plenty of reason to wish time would speed up. Let me give you a list:

1: It is the most boring class you will ever experience in your life.

2: It is the rowdiest class you will ever be in. The students are crazy.

3: Vincent Devin.

Well, I guess Vincent isn’t really a reason. But at the same time he is. The two of us are rivals I guess you could say. I don’t exactly hate him, well scratch that, I don’t dislike him, its just he is aggravating and whenever we’re put together, we clash. But it’s in a good way? Well, it’s confusing. There are those constant good-natured insults and all the not-very-nice jokes we tell each other. Actually he is the only one with jokes, I just try to make up comebacks. Most of the time my comebacks don’t compare. He’ll say something that will make all the obnoxious people in our class go ‘oooh! Burn!’ and most of the time all I say is, ‘your mom’. It gives them a good laugh. But then there’s those other times when I’m on a role and I give comeback after comeback until he is out of jokes.

I like those days.

It’d been like this between Vincent and me ever since freshman year. We’ve had math together ever since.

Anyways, Mr. McCartney had pretty much given up on teaching us for the day he was in the back of the class at his desk grading papers. I was trying to work on the homework so I wouldn’t have any tonight, that way I could go home take a shower and then hop on the bus and go to my Youth Group at church. I had just about two problems left when Vincent decided to make a little trip over to my desk.

We used to sit next to each other but we fought too much so Mr. McCartney had to move him. And it was pretty bad, how many disruptions we caused or they were his entire fault but I was the one who disrupted the class by screeching or yelling his name at him. He would provoke me and eventually I’d have to say something.

My desk was shaken pretty violently, and no, it was not an earthquake, it was Vincent’s way of greeting me.

“Hi Vincent.” I said writing down the last equation. He closed my book very rudely before I finished the problem. Luckily I had remembered the last two numbers. I sighed very loudly and looked up at him.

“Yes, Vincent. You have my attention. Did you not hear me say hi?”

“I did.” He said pull up a chair and plopping down into it sloppily. I finished writing down the equation and put my paper away, knowing that Vincent would want my full attention.

I looked up at him again after I’d zipped my backpack up and put it on the side of my desk.

He was staring at me with his intense big brown eyes. There was always something in them I could never read.

“Noel.” He said.

“Vincent.” I replied. “What’s up?”

“Have you heard my band?” he asked. I was surprised he wasn’t insulting me, but I quirked my eyebrow in response.

“You have a band?” I asked. I knew that he played guitar and drums but I hadn’t known he’d been in band.

“Yes I do.” He said very smugly. I quirked an eyebrow. “What’s it called?” I was skeptical, sometimes he lied to impress me, but I had no clue why he needed to impress me. And plus, when I found out it was a lie I was always disappointed in him.

“Sticks and stones.” He said.

“Really? I haven’t heard of it.”

“Well you should have.” He said annoyed now.

“And why’s that?”

“There are flyers everywhere around school.”

“You think I pay attention to things like that?” I asked jokingly.

“True, I have seen you trip and stumble over things that aren’t there, and then there was that one time you walked in to that wall…”

“Shut up!” I laughed. So he was right, I didn’t exactly pay the most attention to where I was going or what objects might be in front of me.

“But, I wanted to ask you if you were going to the gig we have this Friday.”

“You have a gig this Friday?”

“Yes,” he sighed, “try to follow along now Noel.”

I narrowed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him; he rolled his eyes and continued to talk. “It’s this Friday at Stephen’s place.”

“Stephen Copper?”

“Yeah, he’s the singer.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Stephen could sing…” I pictured him in my head, Short, skinny, long black hair and a wannabe mustache. He made me laugh.

“Yeah, he’s okay, better than the rest of us anyway.”

The bell rang now and students were piling out the door, while I took my time putting on my backpack. Vincent was waiting for me. That was unusual as well as the no insults thing; I guess he really wanted me informed. He probably knew that if he insulted me I wouldn’t go. So he was trying to refrain from it.

“So anyways, you think you can go?” he asked as we walked slowly from the classroom. It was strange because when I looked up at his deep brown eyes it seemed like he really wanted me to go.

“I don’t know, I have to ask.” Well asking was just to ensure that it was okay, my parents had so much trust in me and my decisions it was kind of strange, they let me do basically anything even without asking, if I wasn’t home by midnight, they’d call and ask where I was if I hadn’t already told them, and then they’d just tell me to be careful and have a good time.

“What do you play?” I asked curiously.

“I’m the drummer.”

“Who plays guitar then?”

“Stephen plays rhythm guitar, and you know Erik? Erik Costa?”

“Oh he plays too?”

“Yep.” He said smiling. He walked a little bit further, we weren’t to the lunch lines yet, and apparently that’s where we were both headed.

“What about bass?” I asked.

He paused, hesitating for a moment, I wondered about what, and then he said, “You know Christian Bartley? Well, he plays bass.”

“Oh? Really? I thought he only played guitar?”

“Nope, he’s a musical genius. Plays guitar, bass, drums and he can sing pretty good too.”

“Oh wow.”

We were at the line now and I wondered if he was going to walk me to my group of friends, but then I saw his friends, everyone he had just mentioned I the band were standing over by the library leaning against the railing, and calling out to him.

“Later Vince.” I said. He smiled as he walked away.

I watched him walk over to his friends but then my eyes wouldn’t focus on Vincent, they were drawn to Christian. He was the most amazing thing to look at. I looked at him every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. He was the pastor’s son at my church, but don’t let that cover fool you. Sometimes the pastors kids are the worst even though they’re brought up the best, and Christian, he was bad. Very bad.

Even I stared at him I doubted he knew who I was or that I even went to the same church. I always hid from him. Always, he scared me, and amazed me at the same time, so I kept my distance, and whenever I absolutely had to walk past him, I’d keep my head down or look a different way, never made eye contact. I don’t know why I was so afraid of him, I just was. Maybe it was his bad boy edge, or maybe it was just because he was hot?

He was fair skinned, with big hazel eyes and long, curly eyelashes. He was tall, probably about 5’10 or 5’11. (Which is a good four or five inches taller than me.) His hair was kind of caramel colored, maybe a little darker, but it was long, coming close to shoulder length, he wore beanies or hats constantly, making his hair flip out at the bottom. He had the kind of v-shaped body that guys have, with broad shoulders, and nice abs. Trust me, he had nice abs, he took pride in walking around with his shirt off that was for sure.

“Hey, are you going to go?” So some said.

“Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah, sorry.” I realized that I was next in line and I wasn’t moving. So I went and got my lunch then made my way to my friends who sat at a table underneath two trees in the quad.

I sat at the table and tried to pick up on the topic my friends were currently talking about.

“So Vincent walked you all the way to the lunch line huh?” Kara said.

I shrugged, “Yep.”

“He’s so in love with you, its funny how oblivious you are to it, Noel.”

I shook my head, “Vincent isn’t in love with me.”

“Says you.” Colette added, “but what says he?”

“He says you’re dumb.” I took a bit of my sandwich.

My friends laughed and we pretty much dropped the subject.