The Night You Took Away a Little More Than Just My Breath

Thursday came sooner than I thought it would. Yeah, today is the day Casey and Jamie move in. I was walking to my eighth period gym class with Garrett telling him about today. "I don't know if they'll already be moved in when I get home or what." I said. "Hopefully, they aren't. I would like to enjoy my house the way it is one last time."

"Yeah, cause that is a pretty permanent thing." He said. "You know, their marriage and them moving in together."

"Yeah." I sighed. "It's just like when my mom left. I didn't have that one last chance to enjoy the house with the whole family in it."

"Sucks man." Garrett said as he held open the locker room door for me.

"Thanks." I said as I walked past him and into the locker room. The smell of strong cologne and deodorant met my nose. The locker room was already filled with guys undressing and bragging about the last girl they had hooked up with. I got to my locker as I pushed past two guys just standing around and did my lock combination.

Garret started to unlock his locker that was next to mine and sighed. "I fucking hate gym."

"Yeah, me too." I agreed as I pulled down on my lock and took it off my locker. "Hopefully we aren't playing volleyball again."

"I think we're playing dodge ball." Some guy said as he walked past us with his uniform in hand.

"Ugh." Garrett groaned.

"Oh, come on." I told him as I slid my shirt over my head. "Dodge ball isn't that bad. You just get hit on purpose and sit out."

"I guess." Garrett said as he unbuttoned his pants.

We changed into our uniforms and headed into the gym. Mrs. Spencer was sitting down dodge balls on the line that split the gym in half. Then I noticed we were playing against her class that only appeared to be girls. "You're going down Mrs. Spencer." I told her as I walked past.

"I'm playing on your side!" She laughed. She was tall, but not taller than me. She was real skinny with long blonde hair. She was a real good looking young gym teacher.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"It's fun to hit my students." She laughed as she continued to put dodge balls on the line. "Shh."

I laughed and went to go stand by Garrett while Mr. Barrnet, our gym teacher, blew the whistle signaling that the game has started. Garrett and I just stood there waiting to get hit as everyone ran up to the line to get a ball.

From behind, a ball hit my back hard. I turned around quickly to see Mrs. Spencer laughing. "Start participating, now!" She joked. I just laughed at her, picked up the ball she threw at me and threw it at her. She ducked, missing it by a little inch. I pointed to her, laughing and shook my head.

"I'll get you next time." I smirked.

"Uh huh." She said in a sarcastic tone.

As I turned back to say something to Garrett, a ball came flying across the gym and hit me in the side of the face. "Agh, fuck." I winced. Garrett laughed and walked off the court with me. We sat down on the bleachers and I rubbed my face. "That fucking hurt."

"Well you shouldn't have been flirting with the gym teacher." He said.

I laughed and looked at him. "She's good looking and you know it."

Garrett and I sat on the bleachers for the rest of class until they called us out to go get changed. I got dressed as quick as I could so I could go stand outside and wait for the bell to ring. "Ugh, I gotta go ride the damn bus home cause you guys are lazy and didn't want to drive." Garrett complained.

"You complain too much." I laughed.

"Nah, it's this class man." He said as he locked his locker. "This class gets to me."

"Well I have to ride the bus too and I'm not complaining."

"You chose to not drive to school today so you don't want to complain because it was your decision." He said.

I shrugged and threw my uniform in my locker, then locked it. "Well, I'm off to go wait outside. It's too hot in here." I said as I grabbed my chemistry binder. "You still coming over for band practice tonight?"

"Yeah." Garrett said. "But what about Casey and Jamie? Aren't they moving in tonight?"

"Yeah, but I don't see why we'll have to cancel. We'll be in the basement anyways, they'll be upstairs." I said. "You'll get to meet Jamie too, if she's there by that time."

Garrett raised his eyebrows up and down. I rolled my eyes but laughed. "Yeah, well uh, I guess you'll call me if it's canceled?"

"Yeah, I won't call you if we still have it." I said. "Be there by six."

"Okay," Garrett said. "I'll let you go now." He chuckled. "See you tonight."

"Yeah, see you." I said goodbye to Garret and walked out of the building the gym was in. I stood against the building with a few other people and waited for the bell to ring. When it did, I headed off to my bus.

I stepped onto the bus I barely rode and sat down in the first few seats, quickly. I didn't know anyone that rode the bus so I sat alone. I stared out of the window the whole bus ride and we finally stopped at the end of my street. A few other people and I got off the bus and we all went it different directions. As I approached my house I saw a few boxes sitting in the driveway in front of my car. They're here, I thought and sighed.

I ran the rest of the way to my house and entered calmly to only see my dad standing in the kitchen. "Oh hey, Johno." He said.

I closed the front door behind me and walked into the kitchen. "Hey." I simply said.

"They went back to their house to get more boxes." He said. "They didn't need me to help this time, there were only a few."

"Oh." I said. "Well I have homework to do so I guess I'll be up in my room." I started to walk towards the stairs.

"Okay, but don't stay up there all night." He said.

"I won't." I said. "We have band practice today, remember?"

"Oh." My dad frowned. "I don't think this a good day for that."

"But dad," I said. "We've been planning to have it today ever since last week. If Casey and Jamie want to live here then they have to realize that I'm in a band and we need to practice. We'll be downstairs anyways."

My dad sighed, he didn't feel like putting up a fight. "Okay, but keep those monitors down and I want the guys out of here before dinner."

"Are you cooking tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. "Be at the table on time. It's our first family dinner."

"8 o'clock." I said as I ran up the stairs.

"8 o'clock." I heard my dad repeat as I reached the top of the stairs.

I went into the first door on the left, which was my room. I fell back on my bed and stared at the ceiling and enjoyed my quiet house. I left my window open in the morning so I felt a cool breeze spill into my room and hit my body. I closed my eyes and listened to the birds chirping outside as I thought about what was about to happen. This is the beginning of a permanent thing. A life changing thing. This house will never be the same again.

I always wanted a sister, but a younger one. By younger, I mean about 15 years younger than me. I always wanted a little baby sister. They seemed so cute. I don't know how to handle one the same age and one that I have never met though. I know how seventeen year old girls act. They're either slutty or innocent. Outgoing or shy. Bitchy or generous.

Ten minutes of laying on my bed thinking, I heard a car pull up in the drive way. I rushed to my window and saw Casey getting out of the car. Be yourself, Johno. I told myself. Be yourself. I laid back on my bed and relaxed my body one last time before my dad called me downstairs. I had no idea why is was so nervous. But first impressions last a lifetime.

I got up off my bed and walked down the steps slowly. There in front of the door stood Casey and Jamie. Jamie was slim and not as short as her mother was. She had long brown hair with side bangs that covered half of her left eye. She was wearing a light blue and brown flannel shirt with some dark blue skinny jeans. I looked down at her shoes and she was wearing the same pair that I had. Plain white vans.

I walked up to them and smiled. "Johno, this is Jamie." My dad introduced her. "Jamie, this is Johno." Jamie extended her hand to me and I took it.

"Hi." She said quietly as she shook my cold hand. Her eyes were more brown but hazel and her skin was even paler while seeing her up close.

"Might as well hug," My dad laughed. "You two are soon to be siblings."

I laughed nervously and embraced her into a warm hug. As I pulled away, I said hello to her and she smiled shyly.

"Why don't you show her to her room and help her with these boxes?" My dad said. I nodded to him and then turned to her.

"Which boxes are yours?" I smiled at her.

"Um, these few right here." She pointed to the ones in front of the door. "And those ones over there." She said once more while pointing to 5 that were stacked in the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and picked up 3 of the 5 boxes while she picked up 2 of four that were in front of the door.

"Follow me," I told her while I headed towards the stairs. "Be careful, they're steep."

"Thanks." She said while walking behind me.

"That's the bathroom." I said as we passed the first door on the right. "This is my room," I said as I pushed the first door to the left open with my foot. She examined my wall full with live photos of my band, and just photos of my friends and I.

"Nice wall." She said. "How long did that take?"

"About a month." I laughed and walked down the hallway some more. "This door is my dads room." I said as I nodded towards the second door on the right. "And here we are. You're room. Right next to mine." I smiled at her. She smiled back as we entered her room and I sat the boxes on the soon to be replaced bed.

"It's nice." She said.

"Yeah, It sucks when the guest room in your house is better than your own." I chuckled. She laughed slightly and agreed. "Need any help unpacking?" I asked.

"Um," She thought. "Not right now, maybe later. But thanks."

"Okay." I said as I backed up towards the door. "But if you need anything, I'll be in my room doing homework." I stopped in the door way. "And just tell me if my music is too loud."

She laughed. "Okay, thanks."

"No problem." I said and walked out of her room towards mine. I smiled at myself in the mirror thinking about how smoothly that ran. I hoped I gave a nice first impression. I walked over towards my stereo and looked through all my Cd's. The first one I spotted was Tokyo Police Club. I haven't listened to them in a while so I popped the CD in and turned up my stereo.

I sat on my bed and opened my chemistry binder. I read over the notes I took in class so I could answer a few questions on a sheet my teacher gave me. "Tokyo Police Club." A voice from the hallway said to me. I looked up, startled and saw Jamie standing in my door way. "They're one of my favorites."

I smirked. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." She said. "I saw them back in October when they came to the-"

"Marquee theater." I said as my eyes lit up. "I went to that same show." I was surprised. "What other bands do you like?"

"Death Cab, Ivory, Does it offend you, yeah? Miniature Tigers..." She continued naming all the bands I listened to.

"Dude, I love all those bands."

"Really? I've never even met anyone that has heard of them before."

"Me either." I said. "Except for my friends. You might meet them tonight, we're having band practice."

"You're in a band?" She asked.

"Yeah, I've been in one for a while now."

"That's rad." She smiled. The situation turned awkward as we both had nothing left to say. She looked down to the floor as she bit her lip and tapped the door frame with her finger. "Well, I have to- I better get back to my room."

- - - -

"Where is she dude?" Kennedy asked right when he walked into my front door.

"Unpacking. Now go down stairs, we really have to practice." I told him as I opened the door even more for the rest of the guys to come in. They all made their way to the basement with their instruments and I had to help Pat with his drum set.

"How is she?" He asked as he pulled the snare drum out of Jared's front seat.

"Jamie?" I asked. "She's nice. She even listens to the same music I do."

"You think she'll like our band?" Pat asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I should invite her to the show on Saturday."

"You should." Pat smiled.

We walked into the house with parts of pats drum set and Jared came to help us. As Pat set up his drums in the corner of the basement, I checked my mic and the guys tuned their guitars. "Ready?" I asked the guys when pat was finished with his drum set.

"Yeah, what song?" Jared said.

"Well the songs we practice tonight are the ones we'll be playing Saturday." I said.

"How many songs are we allowed to play?" Garrett asked.

"Five or Six." Kennedy said.

"Well then let's just play our whole EP." Pat said. "From Count 'em to Give me anything."

"Sounds good." I said. "Count 'em... one, two, three." I said and they started playing the song right when I said three.

I sang as loud as I could. I knew Jamie heard the music from upstairs but I wanted to sound good, in hopes of her liking our band so she'd say yes into coming to the show. Practice was over sooner than I thought. We played all of our songs but we had to play daisy twice because I kept messing up the words. Over all, we did pretty good and I think we're good for the show.

It was time for the guys to leave and time for us to have our 'first family dinner' as my dad calls it. The guys followed me upstairs and I saw Jamie helping my dad set the table. "Dinner's in five minutes." My dad told me. I nodded and turned to the guys.

"Don't act stupid." I said, mostly looking at Kennedy.

"Why'd you look at me?" Kennedy asked.

I laughed at him like he was stupid. "I'm not dumb, I know you." I walked towards the door and opened it for them, but before they left Kennedy said hey to Jamie.

"Hey." He said. "I'm Kennedy." He winked at her.

She laughed slightly as she walked over to us and said "I'm Jamie."

Kennedy gave her a hug and the rest of the guys introduced themselves. Jamie accepted each one of their hugs and said it was nice meeting each of them. "So we have a show on Saturday, I think you should come." Kennedy winked at her.

"I'm not sure if I'm free on Saturday." She said. "But I might come." She smiled.

"Great." Kennedy smiled bigger. It was time for the guys to leave so we could have dinner and I escorted them out of the house. I helped Pat put his drums away and Kennedy stopped me before I went back into my house. "You're sister," He said. "is gorgeous."

I rolled my eyes and smiled slightly. "I told you not to act stupid." I said.

"I'm not." Kennedy smirked and hopped into the car.

I walked back into my house as they pulled out of the drive way. I sat at the dining room table across from Jamie and my dad and Casey sat across from each other also. In front of me sat a plate of spaghetti and garlic bread and a glass of water. I smiled at my new 'family' and started to cut up my noodles. "So, Johno was that your band?" Casey asked.

"Yeah." I said. "We were practicing for the show thats coming up at the coconut club on Saturday."

"Oh, we should go." Casey said while looking at my dad.

"Yeah, we should all go." My dad agreed. I looked up at Jamie and she seemed interested. "So what'd you do at school today Johno?"

"Nothing really. Boring like always." I replied. It fell silent for a few moments and I took a few bites of my food.

"Where do you work?" Casey asked me.

I laughed slightly and looked up at her. "Johnny Rockets." I said. "You know, the restaurant?"

"Oh yeah." She laughed. "Seems like a fun place to work."

"Oh, it is." I laughed.

"Jamie, here, is a model." Casey said as she put a hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"Mom," Jamie complained.

"No, no." Casey said. "It's alright. You should be proud."

"I am, I guess." Jamie said. "I just don't like it when you tell people as if you're showing me off."

Jamie's mother didn't say anything to her which made the situation awkward, so I asked a question. "What do you model for?"

"Clothing lines, magazine ads." She said. "But I only do it if they ask me too. They usually pay a lot of money."

"Man, getting paid to stand around and look pretty." I said. "I wish I could do that."

Jamie laughed and smiled at me. "How's your school?" My dad asked her.

"It's nice, it sucks that I have to leave it though."

"Yeah. Jamie gets very good grades." Casey said.

"Johno does, and doesn't. He works when he wants to." My dad said.

"That's not true." I said. "I'm doing so well this year."

"Well maybe not last year." He laughed. "It seems like you two kids come from two different worlds." He looked over at me. "You're in a band, she models." He looked over at her, "You do well in school, he doesn't." He said.

But little did he know that we had the same taste in music. And that was a big part of my world, so I'm pretty sure we didn't come from two completely different worlds.

Dinner was soon over and Jamie and I were walking up to our rooms to go to bed. Before I walked into my room I asked her a question. "Are you starting to go to my school tomorrow or Monday?"

"Monday." She said. "I don't think I'm going to school tomorrow."

"Okay, I was just wondering." I said. "Well I'm going to sleep now, goodnight Jamie."

"Goodnight." she replied as we both walked into our rooms.

I undressed into my boxers and laid on my bed on top the covers, letting the cool breeze from my window hit my naked skin. I closed my eyes and rested my hands on my stomach. Thinking about what Kennedy had last mentioned to me, I fell asleep. He was right. She is gorgeous.