The Fast Times At Clairemont High

“Kellin, I know you are at practice. Please text me or call me back when you get out. We need to talk about what happened earlier. Just call me back.”

Kellin heard the message from Vic and debated whether he should call him back. He decided to wait until he got home because it isn’t the right time with Julianna with him.

“Kells, do you wanna come over? My parents aren’t going to be home til late so we’ll have the whole house to ourselves.” Julianna asked Kellin in a mischievous voice.
“Sorry Jules. Not tonight. I have a lot of homework and I’m going out to dinner with my parents and sister tonight. I’ll still drive you home though of course.” Kellin sounded almost sympathetic.
“No it’s okay. You don’t have to. I’ll Amber come get me. It’s fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

Kellin kissed Julianna goodbye and headed to his car. He hated lying to Julianna but it was something he had to do at this moment. As he got into his car, Kellin dialed Vic’s number and put the phone on speaker so he could drive. After a few rings, Vic finally answered, almost sounding excited to have Kellin call him back.

“Hey Kellin! What’s up?”
“Nothing Vic, driving home. Listen I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t know wh-” Vic cut Kellin off before he could even finish his thought.
“Kellin, it’s fine. Listen. I know I said we would talk about it, but I’m not sure if I want to. I mean. Yea what you did was fucking awkward but I’m not going to judge. We can really sit here and argue about it for hours, but why I really called was to tell you that Mike’s friends, Jaime and Tony are throwing a party Friday night. I thought maybe we could just have a guys night and chill...”
Vic trailed off after mentioning the party. Kellin got a little bit happier knowing Vic wasn’t completely mad at him, but he realized he stilll hadn’t responded to Vic’s question.

“Yea, Vic. Obviously I want to go to the first party of the school year. You know I never turn down a party, whether it’s thrown by juniors or not. Amber and Jules can have their own movie night or some shit since they haven’t hung out by themselves in a while.”
“Okay great. And don’t worry about what happened earlier. But I got to go finish my homework. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, in school.” Vic answered Kellin in such an enthusiastic way. It made Kellin almost scared for this party. But he said his farewell over the phone and drove the rest of his way home blasting A Day To Remember from his car speakers.

After about twenty minutes, Kellin pulled into his driveway. As he entered his house, there were banners hanging everywhere. He completely had forgotten it was his father’s birthday. Before anybody had noticed he ran back out the door. He forgot to get his dad a birthday present. So he called Julianna and asked if she wanted to go to the mall with him. Of course she didn’t turn down the offer. Kellin drove directly to her house. Just as he pulled up, she was walking down her front steps.

“Hey babe,” she said in a childish tone as she got into his little black Toyota.
“Hey Jules. So I completely forgot it was my dad’s birthday. I need your help picking out a gift for him.”
“Of course. So what are you guys doing for his birthday?”
“Well like I said, we are going out to dinner tonight, but I just didn’t realize why.”
“Oh well, I guess after the mall, you can drop me off at home.” Julianna uttered in such a sad voice. It made Kellin feel bad, especially since she was going home to an empty house.
“Babe, do you want to come to dinner with us? I know your parents won’t be home and I don’t want you to be alone.”
Julianna’s ears perked up, but obviously she was not going to decline his sincere offer.

They arrived at the mall and went straight to Modell’s. Kellin knew his dad wanted a new Giants jersey, so he picked it up and him and Julianna drove back to his house.

On the way back, Kellin told Julianna about the party on Friday. She was a little leary about Kellin going with just Vic, but she had trust in her boyfriend. If only she knew what had happened earleir that day..

Once Kellin and Julianna got back to the house, they wished his father a happy birthday. Dinner seemed like a blur to Kellin, but after he drove Julianna back home. They said their goodbyes and he went home. He said goodnight and happy birthday to his father again. Kellin trudged up the stairs to his room. He stripped down into his boxers and laid down staring at the ceiling. He thought about everything that happened in just one day and how he was excited for the party on Friday. But he was also worried about what was going to Vic. Kellin’s worries finally left his head as he drifted into a deep sleep, which is what he needed after today.