It Seems I'm Too Far Gone
One hell of a friend
"So it's important to all of you juniors to make sure you take each and every bit of this year of U.S. History into your notebook, and into your minds, as a majority of it will show up on your ACT," the teacher, Mrs. Hayworth, droned in a way that made you feel small and insignificant. It was very clear that she had lost her will and knack to teach a long time ago and simply did it now until she could retire.
Adrienne sat in the front row of this class, which was unfortunate for her, as she couldn't keep her eyes open. Her late night escapade with Billie Joe cost her sleepy mind dearly, even if it went unnoticed by her entire household. Luckily, this day was almost over. One more hour of introductions and rule sheets and stuck up, droning teachers and Adie could go home and nap.
The bell signaling the end of 6th period rang, knocking Adie out of her lazy-eyed stupor. She stood up, grabbed her books, and sluggishly went to her locker, which, darn it all, was downstairs, unlike 5 out of 7 of her classes.
"Hey, sleepy," the girl with the locker next to Adie said to her. They'd only met this morning, but every hour they came to their lockers, they made small talk, and seemed to get along very well. Her name was Juliette.
"He-" Adie started, when a yawn broke her speech. "Hey," she chuckled.
"One more hour, right?" she asked Adrienne as they put their books from last hour in their lockers. "What do you have?"
Adie had to look back at her schedule to remember.
"P.E."
"Really? Me too. I'll show you where the locker room is. What an easy way to end the day."
"Yah. Maybe it will keep me awake too."
"Adie, you never told me how you got to be so sleepy after all."
Adrienne hesitated. She didn't know everyone here, and she'd already found out that Juliette was interested in the underground punk scene here. She had to be careful not to leak too much to someone who might have connections back to Baily. This whole secrecy thing was hard...
"Oh... you know, just still used to staying up late and crashing till noon. Summer-itis," she grinned and tried her best to be convincing.
Juliette eyed her suspiciously.
"Right. Well, hopefully you'll be cured by the end of the week. You could join me and some friends this weekend at the beach, if you want. Sort of an ode to summer vacation," and she laughed. Adie smiled too.
"I think that'd be really cool. Thanks for the invite. I'll check with my parents."
Once they'd reached the locker rooms and picked out their gym lockers, they were all herded downstairs to the gym.
"Now," Mr. Smith started. "Just because it's your first day back, doesn't mean I'm cutting you a break. You still need to be doing some sort of physical work out. I don't care if it's walking or basketball- get moving! The storage room in the back is unlocked and the supplies in it are for you to use. Their use is a privilege- not a right, so take care of the equipment," and with that he looked back down on his clipboard, carefully marking off many things, even as a gym teacher.
"So," Juliette looked up at Adie- she was a bit on the shorter side- "Whatcha feel like doin'?"
Adie wrinkled her nose.
"No idea, I'm not really the athletic type."
"Same," and they both sighed, and quietly walked to the equipment room. The inside smelled like old gym shoes, rubber, and a wet dust mop. Most of the equipment had seen better days and was not worth the effort to try and deal with anymore, but there was a hefty supply of basketballs. Adie picked one up, looked at Juliette, who shrugged, and dribbled it out of the room. Juliette followed with one of her own.
"Wanna play a game?" Juliette asked, with a smirk.
Adie quirked an eyebrow.
"What kind of game?"
"A friendly game. Just to get to know each other better. I'll ask you a question- any question- and you throw a basket. If you make you, you can choose not to tell me the answer, and we move on. If you miss, you have to tell me. We can switch off every question. Sound fair?" she was smiling so much, it was hard to say no. That was the one thing Adie already liked about her most of all- she was always so happy. Even on the first day of school. Still, this game sounded a little worrisome...
"O c'mon Adrienne..." she begged. Adie sighed.
"Alright, fine. Ask away," and she rolled her eyes. Juliette grinned bigger.
"Ok. Hm... Let's start off safe," she began and thought for a moment. Adie wondered what counted as a "safe" question and what didn't. "What's the real reason you're so tired- and don't give me that 'summer-itis' crap, you're a bad liar," she said, and nudged Adie in the arm when Adie started to defend herself. Adrienne relinquished. But, really? The first question- a "safe" question at that, and it was maybe the most unsafe one she could think of.
"Fine," she said, and stood at the free throw line. A nice toss and... rim. She sighed.
"Alright, I was up all night at a rock show at the Gilman."
Juliette's eyes got big.
"You like Green Day? Oh dang, they've got to be the best band around here. That's a perfect reason to stay up before your first day back at school," and she laughed.
"Okay, you next."
And for the rest of that last half hour of the day, they shot back and forth, some questions dumb, some deep and personal, and most of them answered, while only a few baskets were made. Even then, they usually answered the questions after making the basket.
The bell was about to ring, and it was Adie's turn to ask the question. She'd run out a long time ago and was simply making up random ones about her favorite things and her spontaneous personality. As Juliette held the ball, Adie had noticed that there was a big, round, purple bruise a little above her elbow. It seemed like a solid subject for one last question.
"Oh, alright. Where did you get that bruise," and she pointed, but Juliette didn't even look at her arm, her eyes just stayed on Adie's face and got larger by the second. Even so, she shook it off and prepared to shoot, though she'd lost her concentration. For a split second Adie wondered if maybe she should have left the subject alone, but before she could change her question, Juliette had shot the ball and gained all but an air ball. It barely skimmed the back-board.
"It uh... it's..." she fumbled, and Adie furrowed her brow and became more and more confused by the second. Juliette looked up at Adie, but past her, to the bleachers. "My boyfriend."
Adie stopped breathing for a second, wondering if she'd heard her right. But that couldn't be what she'd said. No complete stranger, or about as close as you can get to one, would admit something so hard hitting and personal. Not just like that.
"What?" she asked, with no idea what else to say. Juliette fumbled with her jeans pocket and wouldn't answer her. "What the hell do you mean your boyfriend?" Adie asked, actually getting angry with having such a dramatic truth pushed onto her, without her even asking. "Why would you tell me that? I don't even freaking know you!" she half yelled, but was fortunately drowned out by the bell ringing, signaling the end of the day. Without a moment's thought, Adrienne marched right up to the storage closet and threw her ball inside without even glancing to see where it ended up.
"Adie, wait!" Juliette called after her, attempting to slow her down, but without avail. "I didn't mean to, you know, like scare you off!" but Adrienne marched to her locker in silence. Finally, when Juliette caught up with her there and refused to budge or be quiet, Adie broke.
"Why would you tell a random stranger that?! I didn't need to know. I-" she stopped, afraid of how to phrase this. "I didn't ask to know. I never wanted to be involved in something that personal. You don't just march up to people and tell them your boyfriend beats you!" she said, attempting to maintain quiet, but slipping up a bit.
"Hey- I never said he beat me! I just meant he grabbed me a little too hard Adie. And I'm sorry! You asked and you'd notice, which no one ever has," she said, and Adie stopped what she was doing and looked at her. "No one has noticed that kind of thing and so I've never actually had to lie. So, I figured it'd be best to just say it. I'm not afraid of him, you know. It was an accident. And that's all I'll say about it. I understand you don't want to be involved," she said, and started to walk off.
Adrienne stayed where she was and thought about what she'd said to Juliette. It didn't seem fair to treat her that way- after all, her boyfriend had bruised her. But at the same time, look at the position she'd just put Adie in. You don't just open up to someone you've known for 7 hours and tell them you're in an abusive relationship. But then again... maybe you did. Adie started to realize she had no idea how Juliette was feeling, and maybe it was a bit selfish of her to blame Juliette for creating such an awkward situation for her. After all, she must have really trusted Adie already, and that was very kind of her. And as she thought about it, Adie realized that she too found a really good friend in Juliette. She was, after all the only person who even wanted to talk to Adie all day. She was a friend.
***
That night, thoughts about her first day at school ran through Adrienne's head and barely any of them were actually about school itself. She, like Juliette, needed to talk to someone. He just wasn't here... yet.
It was 10:00 already and he was supposed to be at her window any moment. Adie had checked and double checked her door to make sure it was locked and she had tested just how sound proof her door was by playing "Sheena is a Punkrocker" by the Ramones louder and louder that night.
Finally, a small pebble hit Adie's window and she looked down to find a shadowy Billie Joe in an old dark blue jacket.
"Hey, 80," he said simply, like it was normal. And in a way, it was.
"Hi Billie Joe."
Soon, he was scaling the very tree Adie had climbed down the night before and was climbing through her bedroom window. Just realizing that they pulled it off made Adrienne feel great. Neither of them had understood just why they decide to have these nightly meetings up in Adie's room, but they just seemed necessary. And simply put- nice.
Billie Joe didn't ask why Adrienne wouldn't turn her bedroom light on- he figured it had to do with the close watch her parents were keeping on her, and he didn't really care or know what to say. He soon found himself just lying next to her in bed, his arm around her shoulders that were wrapped in the jacket he'd put back on her.
"You're quiet," he finally broke the silence. "Are you just tired, or is something on your mind?"
Adrienne's eyes were shut and she decided that in the darkness, there was no reason to open them, so she kept them that way.
"What if... what if you met someone one morning, and seven hours later, they tell you something life changing? For them- not for you."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed.
"This girl at school. I met her today. She's really nice and she's a lot of fun and everything. And then, she just randomly told me her boyfriend abused her. I mean... he bruised her."
"She just came up to you and said it? Who is this? Do I know him?" Billie Joe asked, already a bit upset at knowing that he might know one hell of a douchebag.
"Billie Joe, I don't want to tell you her name. And I don't even know his anyway, so don't ask. But this is her business, and... I guess mine too. Let's just keep it hypothetical, and confidential, ok?" she asked, keeping her patience, as she'd been thinking about how she would say all of this all night long.
"Ok.... so... How'd she do it? What did she say?"
"Well we were playing a game. A question/answer sort of thing. Just to get to know each other. The last thing I asked her was where the bruise on her arm came from. Thought it was a harmless question, but I guess not."
"Yah. Guess not," he hesitated and there was silence. "So... what are you asking me, exactly?"
"Well... what would you think if someone did that? Someone you just met told you that. That they randomly chose to trust you enough to let that go?"
Billie Joe pondered his response for a minute and finally answered.
"I'd think I'd have one hell of a friend, whether I like it or not."
Adie smiled and breathed the calmest she had all night. She understood what he meant and knew he was right. And she also knew that she did like having a friend like Juliette. She didn't know where she would even being when talking to her about this, but she trusted Adie, and Adie knew she could trust her.
"Yah," she said. "You're right," she said, and fell asleep against his chest.
Adrienne sat in the front row of this class, which was unfortunate for her, as she couldn't keep her eyes open. Her late night escapade with Billie Joe cost her sleepy mind dearly, even if it went unnoticed by her entire household. Luckily, this day was almost over. One more hour of introductions and rule sheets and stuck up, droning teachers and Adie could go home and nap.
The bell signaling the end of 6th period rang, knocking Adie out of her lazy-eyed stupor. She stood up, grabbed her books, and sluggishly went to her locker, which, darn it all, was downstairs, unlike 5 out of 7 of her classes.
"Hey, sleepy," the girl with the locker next to Adie said to her. They'd only met this morning, but every hour they came to their lockers, they made small talk, and seemed to get along very well. Her name was Juliette.
"He-" Adie started, when a yawn broke her speech. "Hey," she chuckled.
"One more hour, right?" she asked Adrienne as they put their books from last hour in their lockers. "What do you have?"
Adie had to look back at her schedule to remember.
"P.E."
"Really? Me too. I'll show you where the locker room is. What an easy way to end the day."
"Yah. Maybe it will keep me awake too."
"Adie, you never told me how you got to be so sleepy after all."
Adrienne hesitated. She didn't know everyone here, and she'd already found out that Juliette was interested in the underground punk scene here. She had to be careful not to leak too much to someone who might have connections back to Baily. This whole secrecy thing was hard...
"Oh... you know, just still used to staying up late and crashing till noon. Summer-itis," she grinned and tried her best to be convincing.
Juliette eyed her suspiciously.
"Right. Well, hopefully you'll be cured by the end of the week. You could join me and some friends this weekend at the beach, if you want. Sort of an ode to summer vacation," and she laughed. Adie smiled too.
"I think that'd be really cool. Thanks for the invite. I'll check with my parents."
Once they'd reached the locker rooms and picked out their gym lockers, they were all herded downstairs to the gym.
"Now," Mr. Smith started. "Just because it's your first day back, doesn't mean I'm cutting you a break. You still need to be doing some sort of physical work out. I don't care if it's walking or basketball- get moving! The storage room in the back is unlocked and the supplies in it are for you to use. Their use is a privilege- not a right, so take care of the equipment," and with that he looked back down on his clipboard, carefully marking off many things, even as a gym teacher.
"So," Juliette looked up at Adie- she was a bit on the shorter side- "Whatcha feel like doin'?"
Adie wrinkled her nose.
"No idea, I'm not really the athletic type."
"Same," and they both sighed, and quietly walked to the equipment room. The inside smelled like old gym shoes, rubber, and a wet dust mop. Most of the equipment had seen better days and was not worth the effort to try and deal with anymore, but there was a hefty supply of basketballs. Adie picked one up, looked at Juliette, who shrugged, and dribbled it out of the room. Juliette followed with one of her own.
"Wanna play a game?" Juliette asked, with a smirk.
Adie quirked an eyebrow.
"What kind of game?"
"A friendly game. Just to get to know each other better. I'll ask you a question- any question- and you throw a basket. If you make you, you can choose not to tell me the answer, and we move on. If you miss, you have to tell me. We can switch off every question. Sound fair?" she was smiling so much, it was hard to say no. That was the one thing Adie already liked about her most of all- she was always so happy. Even on the first day of school. Still, this game sounded a little worrisome...
"O c'mon Adrienne..." she begged. Adie sighed.
"Alright, fine. Ask away," and she rolled her eyes. Juliette grinned bigger.
"Ok. Hm... Let's start off safe," she began and thought for a moment. Adie wondered what counted as a "safe" question and what didn't. "What's the real reason you're so tired- and don't give me that 'summer-itis' crap, you're a bad liar," she said, and nudged Adie in the arm when Adie started to defend herself. Adrienne relinquished. But, really? The first question- a "safe" question at that, and it was maybe the most unsafe one she could think of.
"Fine," she said, and stood at the free throw line. A nice toss and... rim. She sighed.
"Alright, I was up all night at a rock show at the Gilman."
Juliette's eyes got big.
"You like Green Day? Oh dang, they've got to be the best band around here. That's a perfect reason to stay up before your first day back at school," and she laughed.
"Okay, you next."
And for the rest of that last half hour of the day, they shot back and forth, some questions dumb, some deep and personal, and most of them answered, while only a few baskets were made. Even then, they usually answered the questions after making the basket.
The bell was about to ring, and it was Adie's turn to ask the question. She'd run out a long time ago and was simply making up random ones about her favorite things and her spontaneous personality. As Juliette held the ball, Adie had noticed that there was a big, round, purple bruise a little above her elbow. It seemed like a solid subject for one last question.
"Oh, alright. Where did you get that bruise," and she pointed, but Juliette didn't even look at her arm, her eyes just stayed on Adie's face and got larger by the second. Even so, she shook it off and prepared to shoot, though she'd lost her concentration. For a split second Adie wondered if maybe she should have left the subject alone, but before she could change her question, Juliette had shot the ball and gained all but an air ball. It barely skimmed the back-board.
"It uh... it's..." she fumbled, and Adie furrowed her brow and became more and more confused by the second. Juliette looked up at Adie, but past her, to the bleachers. "My boyfriend."
Adie stopped breathing for a second, wondering if she'd heard her right. But that couldn't be what she'd said. No complete stranger, or about as close as you can get to one, would admit something so hard hitting and personal. Not just like that.
"What?" she asked, with no idea what else to say. Juliette fumbled with her jeans pocket and wouldn't answer her. "What the hell do you mean your boyfriend?" Adie asked, actually getting angry with having such a dramatic truth pushed onto her, without her even asking. "Why would you tell me that? I don't even freaking know you!" she half yelled, but was fortunately drowned out by the bell ringing, signaling the end of the day. Without a moment's thought, Adrienne marched right up to the storage closet and threw her ball inside without even glancing to see where it ended up.
"Adie, wait!" Juliette called after her, attempting to slow her down, but without avail. "I didn't mean to, you know, like scare you off!" but Adrienne marched to her locker in silence. Finally, when Juliette caught up with her there and refused to budge or be quiet, Adie broke.
"Why would you tell a random stranger that?! I didn't need to know. I-" she stopped, afraid of how to phrase this. "I didn't ask to know. I never wanted to be involved in something that personal. You don't just march up to people and tell them your boyfriend beats you!" she said, attempting to maintain quiet, but slipping up a bit.
"Hey- I never said he beat me! I just meant he grabbed me a little too hard Adie. And I'm sorry! You asked and you'd notice, which no one ever has," she said, and Adie stopped what she was doing and looked at her. "No one has noticed that kind of thing and so I've never actually had to lie. So, I figured it'd be best to just say it. I'm not afraid of him, you know. It was an accident. And that's all I'll say about it. I understand you don't want to be involved," she said, and started to walk off.
Adrienne stayed where she was and thought about what she'd said to Juliette. It didn't seem fair to treat her that way- after all, her boyfriend had bruised her. But at the same time, look at the position she'd just put Adie in. You don't just open up to someone you've known for 7 hours and tell them you're in an abusive relationship. But then again... maybe you did. Adie started to realize she had no idea how Juliette was feeling, and maybe it was a bit selfish of her to blame Juliette for creating such an awkward situation for her. After all, she must have really trusted Adie already, and that was very kind of her. And as she thought about it, Adie realized that she too found a really good friend in Juliette. She was, after all the only person who even wanted to talk to Adie all day. She was a friend.
***
That night, thoughts about her first day at school ran through Adrienne's head and barely any of them were actually about school itself. She, like Juliette, needed to talk to someone. He just wasn't here... yet.
It was 10:00 already and he was supposed to be at her window any moment. Adie had checked and double checked her door to make sure it was locked and she had tested just how sound proof her door was by playing "Sheena is a Punkrocker" by the Ramones louder and louder that night.
Finally, a small pebble hit Adie's window and she looked down to find a shadowy Billie Joe in an old dark blue jacket.
"Hey, 80," he said simply, like it was normal. And in a way, it was.
"Hi Billie Joe."
Soon, he was scaling the very tree Adie had climbed down the night before and was climbing through her bedroom window. Just realizing that they pulled it off made Adrienne feel great. Neither of them had understood just why they decide to have these nightly meetings up in Adie's room, but they just seemed necessary. And simply put- nice.
Billie Joe didn't ask why Adrienne wouldn't turn her bedroom light on- he figured it had to do with the close watch her parents were keeping on her, and he didn't really care or know what to say. He soon found himself just lying next to her in bed, his arm around her shoulders that were wrapped in the jacket he'd put back on her.
"You're quiet," he finally broke the silence. "Are you just tired, or is something on your mind?"
Adrienne's eyes were shut and she decided that in the darkness, there was no reason to open them, so she kept them that way.
"What if... what if you met someone one morning, and seven hours later, they tell you something life changing? For them- not for you."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed.
"This girl at school. I met her today. She's really nice and she's a lot of fun and everything. And then, she just randomly told me her boyfriend abused her. I mean... he bruised her."
"She just came up to you and said it? Who is this? Do I know him?" Billie Joe asked, already a bit upset at knowing that he might know one hell of a douchebag.
"Billie Joe, I don't want to tell you her name. And I don't even know his anyway, so don't ask. But this is her business, and... I guess mine too. Let's just keep it hypothetical, and confidential, ok?" she asked, keeping her patience, as she'd been thinking about how she would say all of this all night long.
"Ok.... so... How'd she do it? What did she say?"
"Well we were playing a game. A question/answer sort of thing. Just to get to know each other. The last thing I asked her was where the bruise on her arm came from. Thought it was a harmless question, but I guess not."
"Yah. Guess not," he hesitated and there was silence. "So... what are you asking me, exactly?"
"Well... what would you think if someone did that? Someone you just met told you that. That they randomly chose to trust you enough to let that go?"
Billie Joe pondered his response for a minute and finally answered.
"I'd think I'd have one hell of a friend, whether I like it or not."
Adie smiled and breathed the calmest she had all night. She understood what he meant and knew he was right. And she also knew that she did like having a friend like Juliette. She didn't know where she would even being when talking to her about this, but she trusted Adie, and Adie knew she could trust her.
"Yah," she said. "You're right," she said, and fell asleep against his chest.