Trey
Eric was talking to some tall, sandy-haired guy when I found him. I hovered a few feet away from them, not wanting to interrupt but barely able to contain my excitement. Finally, Eric glanced up and saw me standing there. He said goodbye to his friend, then came over to me.
"What are you so worked up about?" Eric asked, smiling slightly at my high spirits.
"I got invited to join a band!" The words nearly exploded out of my mouth.
"You what…?" Eric's expression told me that not only was he confused, but found my news to be somewhat of a letdown.
"A band. This guy in my art class asked me if I wanted to play bass for them," I explained.
"Just like that?" Now his voice was skeptical as well as confused.
"Well, I have to audition first, but hopefully I'll be accepted." The happiness I had felt a minute ago was gone, replaced by the annoyance that Eric wasn't sharing in my excitement. "I thought you would be happy for me."
"I am! It's just that, you know, if you join a band then you'll be busy with all the practices… I was hoping that this year we could hang out more." I didn't bother pointing out that once football season started, Eric would have a pretty full schedule, too. Besides, judging from the look on Eric's face, there was another reason, a real reason, why he was objecting to me joining a band. At that moment, however, Eric's brother Daniel came over, grinning broadly.
"Did you freshman enjoy your first day of high school?" he asked jokingly. I smiled at him, glad to have a distraction from my conversation with Eric.
"Yeah, it was wonderful," Eric replied sarcastically, seemingly as happy about the change of subject as I was.
"So then, are you two ready to go?" Dan pulled car keys out of his pocket and swung them invitingly between us. "I would rather not stay at school longer than necessary, if it's all the same to you."
Eric and I nodded and followed Dan to his car. The ride home seemed to last for ages. We sat mostly in silence, although Dan made a few attempts to start a conversation. Eric kept shooting me weird looks and I was still trying to figure out the real reason behind his reluctance to accept the fact that I might join a band.
When I was finally dropped off in front of my house, I waved goodbye and walked inside, feeling even more depressed than I had at the beginning of the day. All I had wanted as I was getting ready for school this morning had been to have more time to play my bass, and now that I was given that opportunity, Eric had shown he had objections to the idea. It was confusing and left me to fall into a fitful night's sleep.
The next morning dawned bright and, in my opinion, too early. I wasn't much of a morning person, and it took more effort than it should have to pull on jeans and a shirt. After wolfing down some breakfast, I dragged myself out to the street just in time to be picked up by Eric and Dan. The ride to school was just as quiet as it had been on the way home, but this time the silence was due more to the fact that both Dan and I hated mornings than because of any awkward conversations between Eric and me.
Once Dan had pulled into a parking spot near the back of school, we all went our separate ways. Just like yesterday, class seemed to drag by. I was desperate for lunch, and by the time third period, the last period before lunch, began, I was ready to hurt someone.
I walked into my math classroom and took a seat near the back of the room. Once the class had sat down, our teacher began to take roll. I tuned out most of the names, not really caring about who else was in my class, and only paid attention when my name was called.
"Trey Perry?"
"Here," I replied, bored. Next to me, a boy with curly brown hair looked at me, startled. As soon as the teacher turned away, he leaned in closer.
"You wouldn't happen to play the bass, would you?" he whispered. I stared at him in shock, wondering why he was asking and, more importantly, how he had known.
"Yeah, I do…" I replied slowly. The boy nodded, smiling a little.
"So you're the kid Chris wants to join the band. I'm Jesse, the drummer." Jesse offered his hand for me to shake. I took it, relaxing with the knowledge that he was Chris' friend.
"Chris told you about me?" I asked. Paranoid though it may be, I had been a little worried that Chris would forget he had offered to mention me to his band mates.
"Are you kidding? He wouldn't shut up about you," Jesse muttered, glancing at the teacher to make sure we wouldn't be overheard and get in trouble. "Come sit with us at lunch and we can talk some more about you joining."
I nodded and faced the front of the room again, even more eager for class to end than ever. Normally I didn't mind math, but that day I found it to be excruciatingly boring. Watching the clock only proved how slow time was passing, so when Jesse started counting down, I had no idea what he was doing. I glanced at him, eyebrows raised, and he shrugged.
"Thirty seconds left. Counting down's a habit," he explained. I nodded and joined him for the last ten seconds. Jesse and I were already halfway out of our seats when the bell rang and we bolted out the door as fast as we could.
We slowed down upon reaching the cafeteria and got in line to buy lunch. Carrying trays bearing greasy slices of pizza, Jesse and I scanned the room in search of his friends.
"There's Chris," Jesse nodded at a table in the corner, which was already crowded with people. I followed him to the table and squeezed into a small space between him and some kid I didn't recognize. Chris smiled at us from the seat across from where I was sitting.
"Hey, Trey, I didn't know you knew Jesse," Chris commented.
"Apparently we have math together," Jesse replied, before taking a bite of his lunch. I nodded in agreement.
"So I guess I should introduce you to some people, then." Chris looked up and down the long table, as though trying to decide who was important for me to know. "Well, starting with the band members, you know me, obviously, and Jesse. I do vocals and rhythm guitar. Jesse, as I'm sure he told you, is the drummer." Chris paused, then pointed at a guy with bleached blond hair, who was scowling at the people around him. "That's Brett. He's lead guitar. Anyone else I should mention?" Chris directed the last question at Jesse.
Jesse grinned and wrapped his arm around the dark-haired girl sitting next to him. "This is my girlfriend, Olivia." Chris rolled his eyes, but Jesse ignored him. Olivia leaned around her boyfriend to peer at me.
"You're the kid Chris wants in the band?" Olivia asked, and I nodded. "Good. Hopefully you can make up for their serious lack of talent." Jesse and Chris glared at her as I laughed nervously. I had only met Chris yesterday, and Jesse last period, so I wasn't entirely sure how to act around them. As the conversation turned into a discussion on good underground bands, however, I began to feel more comfortable. These were just guys who loved music as much as I did, maybe even more. They were certainly easier to talk to than Eric.
I was disappointed when the end of lunch bell rang. I had been enjoying getting to know Chris and his friends, and I wasn't looking forward to having a class with Eric after lunch. I waved goodbye to them, promising Chris we would talk more in art, and headed towards English.
Eric was already sitting in the corner of the room when I walked into the classroom. I made as though to sit on the other side of the room from him, but he caught my eye and waved me over. I sat down, careful not to meet his gaze. I didn't know what to say to him, especially after being in such a good mood from lunch.
"Where were you?" Eric asked. I couldn't tell from his voice whether he was accusing me of something or simply curious. "You didn't sit with us."
"I was eating with Chris and his friends." I hesitated, then said quietly, "he's the one that wants me to join their band."
"So you're serious about this band thing." Eric still sounded too guarded for me to be able to tell what he was thinking.
"I think it could be fun," I replied carefully.
"You've barely given this any thought. Are you sure you aren't making a rash decision?"
"I'm sure." In truth I had my doubts, but Eric's opposition only made me more determined to go through with it.
"I think you should give it some time, think it over."
"Eric, can you please just tell me why you don't want me to join?" I was becoming more than a little annoyed at Eric's resistance.
"I don't think it's a good idea," he said flatly.
"But why?" What was Eric's problem?
"You don't even know this guy, but you want to be in a band with him?" His skepticism did little to calm me.
"I told you, I sat with him at lunch. He seems really cool," I explained, fighting to keep my voice level. "Come on Eric, I know that's not your real reason."
"I just don't, okay?" He snapped. Before I could respond, our teacher came swooping down on us.
"Boys," she said sternly, glaring at the both of us. "Kindly do try and pay attention. I'm sure your conversation can wait till after class."
"Of course, I'm sorry," Eric apologized, becoming all wide-eyed and innocent – an act which unfortunately worked on all but his closest friends. As soon as the teacher turned her back, however, Eric hastily wrote me a note and slipped it to me discreetly.
I just want what's best for you, Trey, it read. I rolled my eyes.
I don't see how not joining is in my best interests, I wrote back. Eric scowled as he read my message.
Can't you trust my judgment? That was the last straw for me; I was sick of his flat-out refusals to let me so what I wanted and make my own choices, and as a result, my note come out harsher than intended.
You're fighting me doing what I love for no good reason, so no, of course I don't trust your judgment. At least not until you tell me what's going on. Best friends don't keep secrets.
Something seemed to snap as he read my response. "Damnit, Trey, just drop it!" he yelled, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"If you two can't stay quiet on your own, I'm afraid I'll have to separate you," our teacher growled fiercely. She ordered me to switch places with some girl on the other side of the room.
While I was gathering my things to carry to my new desk, Eric kept trying in vain to get my attention. I could tell he wanted to say something, maybe an apology or even an explanation, but I stubbornly ignored him. A quick glance over my shoulder as I walked across the room showed Eric fuming over my behavior, but by that point I didn't care anymore. I really didn't want to deal with him and his stupid opinions on joining the band.
Near the end of the period, the girl next to me passed me a slip of paper, quietly informing me that it was from Eric. I thanked her and glanced over to where Eric was sitting. He raised his eyebrows questioningly as though to say "what are you waiting for?" and motioned for me to read his note. Unfortunately for him, I was still too angry to care about what it said and, after making sure he was paying attention, tossed it into the recycle bin beside me. Eric glared and flipped me off. I just smirked and shrugged, then went back to ignoring him.
When the bell finally rang, I was the first one out of my seat and out the door. Art class had never sounded so appealing. At least there I knew I could count on Chris to be supportive.
Author's Note: Wow, I am really sorry about how long it has taken me to update this... I would blame it on writer's block, but in reality, all that is at fault is my own laziness. I promise to make an effort to update faster!