Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

Bailey's POV

“It’s bitchin’ cold out dammit,” I heard someone yell down the hallway, shifting the books in my hand. Kaylie and I peered down the hallway and saw Alex and Jack entering from the outdoor portables where their class was being held.

“Party at Bailey’s locker!” Jack yelled down the hallway once he spotted me and started running towards us. I rolled my eyes and tried averting my glance to the text message I just received.

Good Morning :)

I smiled at Zack’s text while Jack darted toward us. No one joined the so called party, they just gawked at how stupid Jack looked. Alex reached us a while later, shaking his hair and trying to get the snow flakes that were starting to melt out.

“I can’t believe I’m friends with you, Jack,” Kaylie muttered, slipping her arms out of her backpack straps and tossing it in my locker so she didn’t have to go to her own locker. I quickly texted him back:

You’re just getting up?! Lazy ass.

I slipped my phone in my back pocket and pushed Kaylie out of the way so I could find the cold lunch I packed. As he waited, Alex leaned his head on Jack’s shoulder and pretended to sleep. After I was done rummaging, I slammed the door shut and Alex opened his eyes popped wide open, excitedly, “Let’s go to lunch!!”

Jack and Alex started walking more speedily than usual to get the lunch room looking absurd but Kaylie and I walked like actual normal people. Zack texted back:

Hey! Shut up. I skipped today.

Obviously. Haha

“Fuck you, Jack. I was eating that!” I heard Rian whine as I approached the table. I looked down at his food and saw a grilled cheese that was sandwiched punched in his tray. Before anyone else could react, Jack slammed his fist in to Jade and Kara’s sandwich as well.

“You’re such a dick,” Alex laughed as he swung his legs over the table benches to join everyone at the table, giving Jay a side hug when he sat down next to her.

“Oh but when Zack does it everyone is cool, thanks guys. I hate my friends!” Jack started to fake cry on my shoulder but I shoved him off of me. Usually Jack would protest my rejection, but as he opened his mouth to complain, he spotted the French fry line, so instead he scurried over to get his lunch and I took the opportunity to check my phone without Jack peering over my shoulder.

School is so boring. I wish you were here. Towson would be so much better with you in it.

I felt a blush creep to my cheeks, but before I could text back, Jade spoke up. “Hey Bailey? Can I borrow your jacket last period?” my sister asked overly sweet in her spot across the lunch table from me.

I started spooning at my applesauce, but without looking up applesauce I replied, “Hey Jade? No.”

“Plleeeaase?”

“Why didn’t you bring your own jacket, Jade.” At this point everyone started rolling their eyes, getting ready for another “Jay and Jazz” fight.

“Whatever, I know your locker combo anyways,” Jade said smugly. She then picked up her smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took a bite, thinking she had won. I glared at her. I didn’t care how immature it sounded. I was taking my coat to painting class.

“Guess what guys!” Jack came running towards us, a couple fries flying off his try as he did. “They have cookies today!”

“No way!” Rian and Alex yelled together with ridiculous smiles on their faces, getting up as fast as they could to go to the snack line to get the giant cookies that the lunch ladies rarely put out.

“Wait up, bitches!” Melanie yelled at the guys, jumping up to run and catch the boys.
We all chuckled as we watched them skid to a stop. Alex chose to budge in front of a bunch of guys from the football team, some over six inches taller than him and they all started yelling at him causing Alex to scurry to the end of the line before teachers came over. Jack, Rian and Mel laughed and pointed at him from their spot, where they made a smarter decision and budged in front of a couple of freshmen girls.

“So,” Kara started, bringing back our attention. “Ri’s birthday is coming up, and I don’t know what to get him.”

We all sat silently and pondered about Kara’s question. “What did you get him last year?” Jade asked.

“We hadn’t been going out that long, so it was just a crappy picture of us and a blanket that we could cuddle under with a couple cheap movies.” I smiled at the thought of the two of them. “But this time, I feel like it should be really special. You know?”

Kaylie nodded understandingly and opened her mouth to say something but instead the boys, and Mel, who most of the time could be considered one of the boys, came back.

“Dude! Look at all the cookies we got!” Alex shouted, holding up his handful of cookies. “Here Jay Bird,” he mumbled, handing her an M&M one.

Jack took his place next to me and handed me and Kaylie a cookie. “Here you go bestie!”

“Thanks, Jack-o,” I smiled and ruffled his hair, digging in to my cookie.

==========

“Baybay!” Jack yelled from his side of the table. “Shame on you.”

“Shut up, Jack,” I smirked and looked down past my wet canvas and paint pallet to the phone in my hands. I continued on rereading the text message I had gotten earlier. The words kept replaying in my head: School is so boring. I wish you were here. Towson would be so much better with you in it.

I felt my cheeks blush more as I skimmed over the message one last time before replying.

Oh whatever. I’m nothing special.

“Jack!” I laughed but tried to put on a serious face. “Stop! You’re getting me all wet.”

Jack took his paint brush out of the water and started cracking up. “I get you all wet huh? That’s hot.” I rolled my eyes and flicked the water off my brush back at him like he was doing to me. “I make Bailey wet!!” Jack screeched, getting the whole class to stare at me. My cheeks turned red and I distracted myself by flipping open my phone to read the text Zack sent back, with Jack giggling in the background.

You don’t know how special you are to me :)

After reading that I automatically smiled, like I usually did when I talked to Zack, but this time I felt something else. It was like the little pieces of chocolate chips from my cookie earlier were doing little summersaults in my stomach and the burn from this morning’s coffee returned to my cheeks.

It was a sensation I wasn’t used to feeling when I was with him. We were always laughing and joking but I never became flustered by the things he said. I pictured his smile and the dimples that formed when he laughed shyly and just thinking about it made me grin even more.

“Whatchya thinkin about, Baybay?” Jack said shoving his head in my face and boring his big brown eyes inches from mine.

I looked around the art room and noticed everyone had picked up their tables and were walking out the door since the bell had rung signaling the end of the day. I made up an excuse about daydreaming and Jack and I joked around as I put my stuff away.

We continued joking as we walked down the hallway and I heard someone yell my name. I looked around and spotted Kara and Jade’s face.

Kara ran up to me and tugged me out of Jack’s grasp. “We have to talk about very important girl stuff, Jack. Shoo-shoo…” she waved him off.

“I like girl stuff!” Jack exclaimed with a lisp.

“TAMPONS!!” Jade’s voice boomed down the hallway, making Jack’s big nose scrunch up.

He turned on his heels and made a bee-line towards some of his other guy friends. “See ya.”

Kara and Jade waited until Jack was farther away before talking. “So. Guess what! We’re throwing a surprise party for Rian and Alex!”

“Really?!”

“Yes. And this is the plan.” Kara said as we turned the corner and started walking towards the front door where the rest of our friends were gathered. “I have informed Jade here that Alex’s birthday is coming up as well, in fact, only four day’s before Rian. So we decided that if we have it Sunday the 13th, it’s a day before Alex’s and five days before Rian’s. That way, they’ll both be thrown off guard.”

“That sounds great you guys!” I said happily.

“What sounds great?” Alex quizzed us when we approached them.

I saw Jade’s eyes dart to the walls and land on a sports poster. “Nothing, uh, m-me…trying out for hockey?” Jade offered.

“We’ll plan this later,” Kara whispered in my ear so no one else would hear.

“Psh. You trying out for hockey?”

“Shut up, Gaskank,” Jade joked and smacked his chest.

“Ow my boob!” he whined and turned to his girlfriend to fake cry on her shoulder. Lisa rolled her eyes and pushed his head away from her.

All of us stood around the door everyday, most of the time blocking off half of the entrances and exits. Most kids were used to all of us obstructing the doors and walked around us so I was surprised when I heard someone knock on the glass door behind me. I saw Rian flash his smile and flick the person off, causing me to turn and look as well.

A smirk broke across my face and I quick opened the door for the boy that was standing outside. “Hey Zack.”

“Hey Bails. Hey everyone.”

“What the fuck are you doing here, bro?” Alex said slapping his friend’s back and swinging his arm around him with a smile.

Rian leaned in towards the guys. “Hey, since Zack’s here can we just go to Jack’s house now and practice so we don’t have to do it later tonight?”

All of us girls slumped our shoulders, knowing that Rian just opened up a conversation/battle that could go on for hours between the boys.

“No,” Alex said sternly. “It’s at six, dude. We’ve discussed this.”

“Yeah, but if you want a drummer at your practice tonight, we need to do it now, because I’m helping my grandma tonight.”

Jack laughed and Alex’s firm face broke slightly. “Fine. You fucker.”

“Can we please leave?” Jade asked impatiently. “now that we’ve avoided that catastrophe?”

I nodded along with the rest and everyone exited out the door and started heading to their cars. I felt an arm snake around my arms and grip my bicep as we walked and I looked up expecting to see Jack, but instead Zack smiled shyly at me.

“I didn’t drive here. I rode my bike,” he said, nodding over to his bike that was lying by Alex’s car as we fell behind the rest of them because of the slow pace we were walking at.

I pulled out the keys to me and Jade’s car that we had gotten back a while ago and dangled them in the air. “We can throw it in the back?”

“Nah. I’ll ride it. Can you ride pegs?”

I shrugged timidly. “I’ve never done it...”

“I’m an excellent teacher,” he said softly. He looked at me waiting for me to answer, so I nodded a quick “yes.”

“Hey Jade!” She turned around to face me about twenty paces ahead of me. “You drive home, Zack’s riding me home!”

“Yeah Zack!” Jack hollered back at us from his spot by Melanie. “Get some!”

I rolled my eyes, realizing what I just said. “Whatever you guys. See you later!” I threw the keys at Jade and I saw her give a nervous glance towards the car and then back at me. She hadn’t driven it since we got it back from the repair shop and I could tell she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. But after she looked back at Zack and I, she smiled and waved goodbye to us and gave a quick knowing wink to Zack.

“Okay Bails,” Zack said after he got seated on his bike. “Hop on.”

I nervously stepped on the back pegs, almost loosing my balance from the slipperiness of the fresh snow that was sprinkling down.

“Don’t forget to hold on,” Zack poked fun at me with a sarcastic tone. I stuck my tongue at him and wrapped my arms around his head jokingly, covering his eyes so he couldn’t see. In return, he laughed and grabbed my arms away from his eyes and placed them on his shoulders. That weird feeling of butterflies flew in to my stomach again and when I laughed my voice waivered. “Ready?!”

“…Yeah.”

“Really Bailey? Do we have to go through this again? I said, are you ready?!”

“Fuck yeah!”