Just Another Reason I Could Never Forget You

School was uneventful for the next few days, especially considering me and Zack had stuck to our pranking break. Or so I thought. I had just sat down at my desk in English class when I realized I needed to sharpen my pencil. Going to stand, I realized I couldn’t. My chair was stuck to me. I groaned and looked over at Zack, already knowing it was he that had done this dastardly deed. If he thought it was funny, he did a damn good job of keeping a straight face. Sighing unhappily, I turned to look at Rian.

“Could I borrow a pencil? Mine’s broken and I can’t get up…”

“Why can’t you get up?”

“I’m stuck in my seat.”

“No, really. Are you just too lazy?”

“No. I’m dead serious. Someone thought it would be funny to put superglue in my chair right before I walked in,” I hissed, glaring at Zack for a moment before looking back at Rian.

He laughed and shook his head, but handed me a pencil nonetheless.

“You might wanna wriggle in your seat as much as possible. It will make the glue loosen, I promise,” he said with a small smile.

I spent the rest of the class period wriggling around in my seat whenever the teacher wasn’t looking, and finally managed to loosen it enough to stand up. Thank god. Now…to figure out a way to get back at Merrick. I looked over at Alex and winked, making him give me a confused look. The bell rang, and I stood to hurry over to him.

“You, me, Amanda, tonight, my place, seven.”

I said the seven words quickly, before turning and going to my locker. I needed to get a hold of Amanda now. Opening my locker door, I checked the hallways and pulled out my phone, sending her a quick text.

You. Me. Gaskarth. Tonight. My place @ seven. We have plotting to do.

I then grabbed my books for the next class and headed towards the cafeteria for lunch. Food sounded absolutely delicious, and well, I hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning so my stomach was definitely agreeing with the smell of French fries and burgers. My books got dropped haphazardly in a pile on the table that all of us sat at before I raced towards the line with a crazy gleam to my eye. I mean, I didn’t get a glimpse of myself, but multiple people have told me that whenever I get really hungry and there is food nearby, my eyes have this wild look to them. It’s funny, at least to me, but apparently, I can be a really big bitch when I’m hungry. True story.

As usual, the lunch line moved at the pace of a snail, and the smell was making my stomach fight against me. When I say fight against me, I mean I felt like puking. That’s a horrible description, and kind of disgusting when you think about it, but I was so hungry that the smell alone made me sick. I was so happy when I made it through the line and sat down at the lunch table. Of course, I was one of the last of our group to make it to the table, but I’m pretty much used to that.

So, let me explain the usual lunch group a little more. All Time Low, plus me and Amanda of course sat here. Then there was Blake, who was like, in love with me, according to the guys. I didn’t pay as much attention to him as I should have, but it wasn’t like I wanted him to think I liked him. I didn’t like leading people on because it also made me sick. Alex’s current girlfriend sat with us from time to time, if she didn’t have plans with her friends. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and not another one of his usuals. I mean, this girl could keep up a conversation, and she was pretty. Alex wouldn’t settle for anything less than pretty though. The last person that sat with us was Marcus. Marcus is one of your typical dim witted jocks, aside from the fact that he hangs out with us. None of the other football players would dare come anywhere near us because apparently we’re too weird. I still think he just hangs out with us because he likes me. It’s not like I’m anything special. My mind was running a bit more than I would have liked it to, so I started shoveling the food into my mouth.

“Slow down, Jerri, you’re gonna choke!” Amanda said with a laugh.

I slowly chewed the bite I had in my mouth and swallowed before giving a half-hearted smile. From inside my pocket, my phone started to vibrate and I jumped as I pulled it out, wondering who it could be.

Jack Barakat : Are you okay? You look sad… Whose ass am I beating Jerri-Berri?

I’m fine Jack, just a long day. The prank treaty has been broken :/

Jack Barakat : So…I’m beating Zack’s ass? Awesome! But seriously, cheer up! Please?

I slid my phone back into my pocket and smiled at Jack, hoping he’d be at least a little bit convinced. All of them seemed convinced that I was happier, well, all of them except Zack. Go figure. How did I know he didn’t believe it? Because he kicked me from across the table and raised a questioning eyebrow. I shook my head and then ate the rest of my food before grabbing my bag and excusing myself. To be honest, I just wanted this day to be over. I still had band practice to go to, which meant dealing with Zack even more today. Maybe having Jack, Rian and Alex around would be a bonus for me. Prank planning…seven….jeebus, I think I sighed myself up for too much for one day.

The rest of the day was honestly just one big blur to me. I’d completely forgotten that I had a Calculus test, so I hadn’t studied, and as a result had probably failed it. Oh well, I’d make up for it later. Somehow. That’s the only thing that I really remembered past lunch. I was now sitting at my house with some fresh baked cookies, waiting on Amanda and Alex to get here. My eyes were drooping and I felt like I was about to pass out at any minute. Thankfully, the doorbell rang and I went to open it. There stood Alex and Amanda. They took one look at me and embraced me in a hug.

“No offense hun, but you look like absolute shit. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?” Alex asked as he pulled away.

“Uh…..not really. I’ve been staying up late trying to finish my homework. Maybe I should start bringing it to band practice…..anyway. We’ve got some planning to do. I need a way to get back at Zack. He super glued me to my chair today. It was embarrassing as hell. Any ideas?”

Amanda looked at Alex and the two grinned simultaneously. “Actually, we were discussing it on the way over and think we came up with the perfect plan. Our plan involves super glue as well. How amusing would it be to see Zack’s fingers stuck to the strings of his bass?”
I looked between the two of them and shook my head, even though the grin on my face betrayed me. “That would be hilarious as hell. So long as it doesn’t mess up the bass of course.”

The two of them looked at each other and nodded before we all high-fived. I stood up, and all of us went to band practice with the two of them. I spent the majority of band practice with my head on Amanda’s shoulder with my eyes half shut. Something about today had me completely worn out, and I didn’t like it. Thankfully, the prank went off without a hitch, and I was too tired to care about the angry looks Zack was giving me.

Amanda laughed at me as I let out a huge sigh. “You should just go to sleep, love. You look like complete shit,” she said, her accent making her voice lilt at the end of the phrase. It was enough to earn a smile from me.

“Nice to know I can count on you to tell me when I look like complete shit,” I said with a small smile before I let my eyes close. I knew that no matter where I was, as long as Jack was nearby, I’d be safe.