It Feels Like I'm Falling In Love Alone

Raven Hills High School. The crappiest school this town has to offer. Full of your standard jocks, band kids, geeks, etc. A school built on top of stereotypes and cliques. Where the slutty cheer leaders have straight A’s and even the most desperate of librarians will hit on the hunky quarter back. None of us wanted to live by the label placed on us, but my friends and I had no choice. We were the emo kids freshman year, the punk kids sophomore year, the Goth kids last year, now we’re known as the freaks. I don’t care what they think, because I know that someday I’ll find a way to leave this two bit pissant town while they’re stuck here scrubbing toilets at McDonalds.
“Happy Birthday Andy!” Jinxx smiled as Ash and I entered the back stairwell. This is where we hang out. Before school, after school, in between class periods, during classes we decide to skip. The back stairwell was our home, sort of. No one ever came down this way because it’s next to the library and leads directly to the physics labs (which were shut down a couple of years ago because some dumb ass decided to mix together some bad chemicals and set the whole lab area on fire).
I smiled back to him. “Thanks Jinxx” Jinxx has been one of my best friends since about 4th grade. He adopted the nick name Jinxx when we entered high school, but to us, he’ll forever be little Jeremy Ferguson, the little boy who wanted to be in little league, but couldn’t hit or throw a ball to save his life.
“Are your parent’s still giving you parties now that you’re 18?” He asked.
“They said small get together with just the guys this Saturday. You in?”
“You know it!”
“When were you gonna tell me about all of this Andy?” Ash chimed in, clearing his throat.
“Well, you spend weekends at my house anyway; I didn’t think it would be necessary to tell you.” I smiled sitting down on the stairs. “Where’s Sammi? Home sick still?” I asked Jinxx as he sat next to me. Ash took his place on the floor in front of us.
“Yeah. She wanted me to tell you she’s sorry and that she’d make it up to you somehow.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Here; this is from me.” He smiled handing me twenty bucks.
“Thanks Jinxx.” I smiled hugging him tight. I pulled my wallet out of my backpack and slid the twenty in with the rest of my money. My wallet barely closed anymore, so I had to bind it with a rubber band.
“You’re still saving up that money?” Ash asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah. I need to buy a drum kit. It’s the last thing we need.”
“That and a drummer.” Jinxx sighed.
“We’re gonna hold auditions. As soon as we get the drum kit.” I tucked the wallet back into my bag. Yeah. Just like every other group of teenagers, Ash, Jinxx, our friend Jake and I were all in a band together. We didn’t have a name, or any music, but we had instruments, we knew how to play them, we just needed a drummer. Speaking of which-
“Where’s Jake?” Ash asked, breaking my train of thought and reading my mind.
“I have no idea, but he’s probably off somewhere with Evan.” Jinxx ran a hand through his hair.
“For your information,” We heard Jake’s voice come from above us. We all looked up to see Jake and his boyfriend Evan smiling down at us. “We’ve been here the entire time.” Jake laughed. I’ve always liked their relationship. Jake was bi, but his eyes never strayed away from his boyfriend. They had something I wanted; an honest and loving relationship.
“Well then, get your asses down here.” Ashley laughed. They gathered up their stuff and walked down the stairs hand in hand.
“What were you guys doing up there anyway?” I asked.
“You wanna see?” Jake smiled kissing Evan.
“Jake, stop it. It’s embarrassing.” Evan smiled with a blush filling his face.
“But you’re so amazing, why can’t I kiss you in front of everyone?” He smiled.
“That’s enough!” Jinxx almost yelled.
“Whatever. Happy Birthday Andy.” Jake smiled slipping me five bucks. Evan gave me six.
“Happy Birthday.” Evan smiled at me. I’ll have to admit that he had a cute smile; I can see why Jake loved him so much.
“Thanks guys.” I smiled shoving the money in my wallet.
“How much do you still need until you get the drum kit?” Jake asked sitting down behind us with Evan.
“I don’t know. I haven’t counted it in a few months. I’ll count it when I get home.” I smiled patting the pocket I kept it in.
“You gonna pick me up after school?” Ash asked.
“I can take you home and wait for you to get your shit for this weekend.” I loved when Ash stayed at my house on the weekends. We had so much fun together, playing guitar, Ash is beast at bass, I was OK, but not as good as him. That’s why he played bass in our band. I was better at singing and song writing, so I was chosen as the lead singer.
“What do you mean by ‘I can take you home’?” Jinxx asked.
“Mom and Dad bought me a car for my birthday.” I smiled.
“Let’s ditch last period!” Jake smiled.
“No. I actually like my last period.” Jinxx grumbled.
“Band geek.” Ash laughed. Jinxx played violin in the schools orchestra. He enjoyed what he did. I wonder if there is a way to incorporate that into the band… The bell rang really loud, breaking my train of thought.
“C’mon Jake. You can walk me to class.” Evan smiled standing up and walking past us. Jake ran over to him and grabbed his hand. “Bye guys.”
“Bye guys.” Jake smiled walking out.
“Bye!” we called back. Jinxx stood up, grabbing his bag and violin case.
“See ya at lunch guys.” He called leaving. Now Ash and I are alone. My heart started to race. I’ve had a bunch of dreams like this. All of our friends would leave the stairwell, Ash would admit to having secret feelings for me, then we would kiss passionately.
“Hey Andy.” Ash said looking up at me.
“Yeah?” Oh god, is it finally happening?
“You’re blushing again.” He smiled at me. I knew I was, it was impossible to ignore the burning heat in my face. “It’s really cute you know.” The heat rose. He called me cute. He never calls me cute.
“Uh, we better get to class.” I almost ran from the stairwell. Yeah, I’m super smooth. I let out a sigh as Ash ran to catch up to me. Why can’t I be better with this kind of thing?