Please Don't Stop the Music

Point Of View: Jonathan Ross Bishop

Another boring day in school. I wish Landon was here. It would give me someone to talk to, instead of looking like an idiot the way I feel. He told me he dropped out halfway through his Freshmen year. I didn’t ask why. It was none of my business anyway. Probably to help his mom, I guess.

I should really start thinking of her as Aunt Natalya, but I just can’t. I don’t know why. Probably because its so weird. I’ve grown up without any family, and now, suddenly, I have an aunt and a cousin who live right next door. Pretty trippy if you ask me. But no one did ask me, so I’ll just keep my opinions to myself, I guess.

Oops, got in trouble again for spacing. Not my fault this class is so boring. I’ve been drawing in this stupid notebook for the last ten minutes. The lectures are boring. I guess you could consider me pretty smart. All I have to do is read the chapter and I’ve got it memorized. I breeze through all the work packets. Maybe that’s why I don’t get into more trouble than I already have. Mr. Wong understands, I guess. All this stuff is way too easy anyway. I’ve almost fallen asleep seven times.

Dennis- that annoying red-haired jock, he’s the captain of the football team and the basketball team, I think. He’s over there snickering again. He’s looking straight at me, and although I only see him out of the corner of my eye, I know he’s making fun of me. I lick my lips and slowly turn my head to pin him with a cold glare. He blinks in surprise and suddenly looks away, trying to cover for himself. Suddenly, I’m called on, and I feel the anger simmer inside of me, but I calmly look up at Mr. Wong when he repeats my name.

“Mr. Bishop, do you and Mr. Perkins have a problem that you need to discuss?”

I calmly smooth my lips into a thin line, leaning heavily on my desk. “I think we do. Dennis over there seems to think its quite hilarious to snicker to himself because somebody’s different. But what he doesn’t realize, is that he’s got a brain the size of a pea, and wouldn’t know what a bazooka was if it hit him in the face.”

Several kids in the class are roaring with laugher now. But I can feel the glare on my face. A few people are staring at me in surprise. Of course I expected that. I’m the quiet kid after all. And I know that a beating will be waiting for me after school. Oh well, I get those all the time, so some teen’s fist probably won’t be much worse than my dad’s when he’s drunk.

By the time Mr. Wong gets the class settled back down, we have five minutes until the bell. Homework. Which is exactly what I don’t have time for. With a sigh, I gather my books together when the bell rings. And when I get out in the hall, Dennis is standing there with his buddies, trying to look all tough and cool.

“Hey, Bishop! You and me after school. Parking lot out back, be there or we’ll come hunting for you.”

I roll my eyes in boredom and stalk past him. His threats really mean nothing to me. I see that Bianca girl, looking at me with a quirked eyebrow. She’s in my history class. She’s leaning up against her locker, waiting for that other blond she hangs out with, I think. My thoughts are proved correct when the other blond walks out of her class and the two girls start to talk, before walking off.

Two books get shoved into the metal locker, and two more get pulled out. I go on to Biology and Chemistry, then break for lunch. Its all uneventful. I never have money to buy my lunch, and I never get to bring anything, so I just go outside, sit at the same boring table.

The rest of the day goes by uneventful. And I don’t want to go to the back parking lot, but I know that if I don’t, I’ll just be dragged there unwillingly. The moment I step foot out there, my bag is jerked away and I’m thrown into a ring of guys. I get a few punches in on Dennis, but not very many. They’ve got me outnumbered- the dirty way of fighting. By the time they disappear, I’m left on the cement, bleeding and wincing.

Once I’m sure that everyone is gone, I push into a sitting position. When I breath in, I feel a sharp pain in my side, and I know that my ribs have been popped out of place. But that’s not the most important thing. I stand up, testing if I can actually walk, and am relived that I can. I have to have some way to get away from my dad after all. Suddenly, there’s a pair of hands in front of me, handing me my bag. I peek up, seeing Bianca there. She has a worried look on her face, but smiles some when she sees me looking at her.

“Thanks.” The word is muttered and comes out a little awkward. She tells me I’m welcome and helps me pick up my other things.

She starts walking with me, and she’s the one who brings up conversation first. “I’m Bianca Hewitt. Then again, you probably know me.” She giggles a little uneasily. I can tell she’s not used to talking first- if at all. But her smile is really warm, and nice.

“Jonathan Bishop.” I have to clear my throat a few times before it works properly. “But you probably already know that.” She cracks a smile at that, and I feel myself smile in response.

“Dennis is a jerk. He’ll get over it though.”

I laugh. “Right. For the time being. Now if I can only avoid him for the rest of forever, I’ll be great.” I shake my head with a sigh and shove my fingers through my shaggy, brown hair. When we get to my house, I can already hear yelling, and I shake my head, feeling uneasily. “Um, nice to meet you, Bianca. I’ll catch ya later.” She nods.

I watch as she continues walking further down the street. She knocks on a door and I watch as she steps inside. I think that’s that Rain girl’s house. I don’t know for sure, though. I try not to pay any attention. As soon as I push the door open, I’m jerked inside, and so my night starts.