Sequel: But Now They Must Hide In the Shadows ›
Status: Updating either spontaneously or randomly with no actual consistency because life
The Moon Can Shine Brighter Than the Sun
Feeling a little left out.
Mr Gregory strode towards the front of the jam packed hall, lifting his head up slightly and looking down his nose; He did it because he knew he wasn't the tallest of male teachers in the school, and if he was being honest, it made him feel a little insecure.
He walked up to the microphone as most of the students in the hall quietened down and glued their eyes on the little man. He cleared his throat and began to talk.
" It's been a good year for Pinhole Valley , with 75% of last year's Sophomores coming back to further their education. It has only been 3 months since you all started your last few terms of school, but from what I have heard you all seem to be coping with the new lesson structures just fine-"
Jess closed her eyes and sighed, contemplating dozing off on Billie shoulder who was sat to the left of her. They had shuffled their way to the back of the hall when everyone squeezed into it because of this exact reason. Jess had done it before, when Mr Gregory had been lecturing them on behaviour in freshmen year. But it earned her an hour's detention, due to Mr Gregory's eagle eyes.
She leaned over to Billie's ear, her eyes still droopily glancing towards the front of the hall.
"Can I sleep on your shoulder for a little bit?"
She turned her head to face him and smiled when he nodded, lowering her head onto the raven haired boy. She proceeded to close her tired eyes, and let her mind wander a little.
It was December 16th. The day the school broke up for the Christmas holidays. And after when Mr Gregory would shut the fuck up, she was going to sprint out of the shithole along with Billie and Mike; The guys had a gig at Gilman, and they wanted to practice. Jess of course, wasn't involved in Billie's band, but she desperately wanted to listen to them playing live.
She had only ever heard muffled songs coming from Billie's garage. And even though they were muffled, they sounded amazing.
And of course she wanted a fun night out which would mostly consist of listening to good music, and drinking her own weight times two in alcohol.
Or not.
She just wanted to have a good time.
"-Just before I let you all loose for the Christmas holidays, I have a very sad announcement to make."
Jess opened one eye lazily, sighing as she reluctantly took her head from Billie's shoulder.
"Mrs Edwards has made the decision to retire early, and all psychology further classes will be taken by a new appointed member of staff next term."
Jess glanced around the room as hundreds of heads turned to one another and grinned.
Simultaneously, herself and Billie slowly turned their own heads, huge smiles tugging at the corners of their lips.
Oh fucking yes.
"And on that note, I wish you all a very happy Christmas, and I hope to see you all in the New Year."
Mr Gregory dismissed everyone at once, causing a continuous scraping sound to echo throughout the hall for a few seconds. Billie and Jess didn't get up though, as they knew that if they even attempted to squeeze through the small doors just behind them, they'd probably end up dead; when everyone wanted to get outside as quick as they could, it was absolute chaos.
As people began to filter their way out of the hall, Jess noticed that Mike too, had waited behind for the crowds to dissipate.
"Mike!"
The blonde haired bassist turned his head around instantly, grinning as he recognised his two friends. He quickly threw his backpack onto his shoulder and plodded over to Jess and Billie. They began to put their backs on too.
"Hey dude and dude...tte."
Jess hauled on her Husker Du backpack and enveloped the taller boy with a hug; She hadn't seen him for a couple of days because she'd been so busy with art and photography. But at least the Christmas holidays meant she could spend more time with him and Billie. And maybe, she could get them to help her with her art project.
But before she could ask, she'd need some weed to bribe them with...
She pulled back and looked over her shoulder for Billie, who was smiling awkwardly behind her. Mike led the way as they all stepped down the aisles and through the doors at the back of the hall. They all then proceeded to sprint down the corridors and down the stairs, crashing through the doors at the bottom of the school and into literal freedom.
The three of them slowed down as they reached the steps, carefully ascending as they caught their breath back. At the top of the stairs though, they all stopped. Billie and Jess turned to look at each other, each of them biting their lips to hold in the hurricane of laughter that was brewing inside.
"What the fuck is wrong with you two? You look fucking constipated or some shit."
That did it.
Both Jess and Billie clutched at their stomachs as Mike looked on, dumfounded by the two hysterical teens who were literally dying of laughter.
They calmed down slightly before smacking their palms together in a high 5, both teens grinning from ear to ear.
"Am I missing something? Or?"
Mike frowned, seriously confused this time.
"Me and Billie may be kinda the reason Mrs Edwards is leaving."
Mike's frown and pouted lips instantly disappeared, and a goofy grin replaced the expression. He shook his head from side to side as they begun to walk up the school drive.
"You still alright to come to Gilman with us Jess?"
She placed her hands in the pockets of her black skinny jeans.
"It depends Mike. I don't think I'll be able to get back at what my dad calls 'A reasonable hour' so if I did come to see you guys, I'd need to stay over somewhere."
Billie reached out to touch her shoulder glancing into her eyes as she turned her head.
"You can just stay over at mine. Either me or Mike can go sleep downstairs on the sofa. Or with each other."
Billie's bushy eyebrows moved up and down, as Mike smacked a hand to his face and Jess snorted quite loudly. She rolled her eyes and grasped his hand on her shoulder, pulling it down and holding it with him whilst they walked.
"Yeah that would be awesome. I've really wanted to hear you guys play for AGGGGGEEEES now."
Both boys chuckled, glancing over to each other to exchange a small grin. Never would they have known that in the last year, they would've been signed to a small label and released a EP. And also, they would have never have known that they would meet Jess.
And secretly deep down, both of them thought that meeting the friendly girl was probably the best thing that had happened to them.
So far.
Mike gasped as he felt something warm and fleshy move around his fingers. He looked down, to find that Jess had wrapped her hand around his. As they turned the corner at the top of the drive, he gave her a 'totally weirded out' look.
"What?"
He smiled weakly, grasping her hand so that he could curl his fingers around hers.
"Why did you suddenly want to hold my hand?"
Jess giggled before raising up her other hand, which was entwined with Billie's to show him.
"Didn't want you to feel left out, Mikey."
"Oh."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, the three teens along with drummer 'John' were congregated in Billie's garage, discussing set lists for Gilman. Jess was sat cross legged on the floor, listening in on the other band members debate on whether to play 'Only of You' or 'I Was There' first. Mike too, was sat on the cold concrete, his chin resting in the palms of his hands and with blonde hair swept over his forehead.
He sighed deeply, before getting up from the hard ground.
"Guys, if you're gonna take so long, I'll just take Jess upstairs until you can sort something out. I mean, you've been spewing at each other for like fifteen whole minutes."
Billie frowned as Mike held his hand out for Jess to take, carefully pulling her up from the floor and leading her through the door at the back of the garage.
"Okay John, I Was There could be first. But, you gotta promise me that I can play the new one we've been working on tonight. At some point I mean."
The drummer grumbled but nodded, creating a small smile on the small guitarists lips.
Meanwhile, Jess and Mike were lying on the bed in Mike's room, quietly listening to a random vinyl that was already placed in the player. Jess broke the comfortable silence by sitting up, and looking down at the sleeping bassist.
"Mikkkkkkkeeeeeeee?"
He opened his right eye, revealing a piercing Blue and a dilated pupil.
"What do you want?"
He opened his other eye and frowned.
" Is it pot?"
Jess laughed as she swivelled herself around on Mike's small bed, crossing her legs over and budging slightly closer to his body.
She stuck out a finger and placed it on his torso.
He let out a small squeal, frowning at the girl above him.
"Could you model for my art project? I mean, all you gotta do is like kinda um..."
She calmed herself down for a second, taking in a deep breath.
"Be-kinda-almost-naked-so-that-I-can-paint-onto-you."
Mike instantly sat up, his eyes shooting wide open instantly.
"Whhhhhaaaaat?"
"It's for my art project."
Mike clenched his jaw and brought one of his palms to his forehead.
"You mean paint my skin, right? Or like a portrait thing ."
Jess opened her mouth, stunned that he was actually considering her idea; She was doing self image for her art project, and she had taken in influences from Picasso and such as inspiration. She liked the way these artists used shapes to represent the human figure, and for the last few weeks, had played around in her sketchbook with ideas. Jess had come up with a few good ones, but loved the idea of a 'living' canvas. And she had realised for it all to work, she needed to paint lots of coloured shapes onto an actual person and photograph the finished product.
"Yeah, on your skin."
Mike draped his long arms around her, pulling her closer as she giggled.
"Yeah sure, anything for you Jess."
She hugged him tighter and sighed, closing her eyes in relief due to the fact that she had an actual chance to pass her art exam.
A low grumble at the door stopped the hugging session though, causing both Mike and Jess to pull away from each other's arms.
"We've done a set list. You guys wanna come back down?"
Mike leapt up from his bed, sprinting out of the door and past Billie who was about to set off back down the stairs. Jess flung herself off the agonisingly comfortable mattress, and jogged to the door.
Herself and Billie began to walk down the stairs one behind the other, Jess smiling weakly as she reached out to touch his shoulder.
She placed her hand on him as a sign that she wanted to talk to him, but Billie immediately shrugged it off.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and before she could even speak out, he had whizzed off into the garage.
Oh.
She frowned as she walked back into the jamming room, smiling over at Mike first. Her eyes glanced over to Billie who was evidently trying his hardest not to look at her ; His eyes were staring at the floor, but his body language was obviously directed at Jess.
She felt a small amount of anger and frustration brewing in the pit of her stomach, sighing just loud enough for him to lift his head and acknowledge her.
Except he just turned around, leaving Jess with the back of Billie's body in her sight.
She ground her teeth a little, sitting down on the cold floor as the three boys started to play the introduction to what sounded like 1000 hours. She kept a eye on Billie for the next few minutes, shaking her head a little when Mike stopped the song and Billie gave him an obscure look; It looked like as if Mike had told Billie that he had killed someone, not stopped the song to ask him how many times to repeat the chorus.
Jess sighed once again, not really caring if the raven haired boy heard or not.
What the fuck is his problem?
He walked up to the microphone as most of the students in the hall quietened down and glued their eyes on the little man. He cleared his throat and began to talk.
" It's been a good year for Pinhole Valley , with 75% of last year's Sophomores coming back to further their education. It has only been 3 months since you all started your last few terms of school, but from what I have heard you all seem to be coping with the new lesson structures just fine-"
Jess closed her eyes and sighed, contemplating dozing off on Billie shoulder who was sat to the left of her. They had shuffled their way to the back of the hall when everyone squeezed into it because of this exact reason. Jess had done it before, when Mr Gregory had been lecturing them on behaviour in freshmen year. But it earned her an hour's detention, due to Mr Gregory's eagle eyes.
She leaned over to Billie's ear, her eyes still droopily glancing towards the front of the hall.
"Can I sleep on your shoulder for a little bit?"
She turned her head to face him and smiled when he nodded, lowering her head onto the raven haired boy. She proceeded to close her tired eyes, and let her mind wander a little.
It was December 16th. The day the school broke up for the Christmas holidays. And after when Mr Gregory would shut the fuck up, she was going to sprint out of the shithole along with Billie and Mike; The guys had a gig at Gilman, and they wanted to practice. Jess of course, wasn't involved in Billie's band, but she desperately wanted to listen to them playing live.
She had only ever heard muffled songs coming from Billie's garage. And even though they were muffled, they sounded amazing.
And of course she wanted a fun night out which would mostly consist of listening to good music, and drinking her own weight times two in alcohol.
Or not.
She just wanted to have a good time.
"-Just before I let you all loose for the Christmas holidays, I have a very sad announcement to make."
Jess opened one eye lazily, sighing as she reluctantly took her head from Billie's shoulder.
"Mrs Edwards has made the decision to retire early, and all psychology further classes will be taken by a new appointed member of staff next term."
Jess glanced around the room as hundreds of heads turned to one another and grinned.
Simultaneously, herself and Billie slowly turned their own heads, huge smiles tugging at the corners of their lips.
Oh fucking yes.
"And on that note, I wish you all a very happy Christmas, and I hope to see you all in the New Year."
Mr Gregory dismissed everyone at once, causing a continuous scraping sound to echo throughout the hall for a few seconds. Billie and Jess didn't get up though, as they knew that if they even attempted to squeeze through the small doors just behind them, they'd probably end up dead; when everyone wanted to get outside as quick as they could, it was absolute chaos.
As people began to filter their way out of the hall, Jess noticed that Mike too, had waited behind for the crowds to dissipate.
"Mike!"
The blonde haired bassist turned his head around instantly, grinning as he recognised his two friends. He quickly threw his backpack onto his shoulder and plodded over to Jess and Billie. They began to put their backs on too.
"Hey dude and dude...tte."
Jess hauled on her Husker Du backpack and enveloped the taller boy with a hug; She hadn't seen him for a couple of days because she'd been so busy with art and photography. But at least the Christmas holidays meant she could spend more time with him and Billie. And maybe, she could get them to help her with her art project.
But before she could ask, she'd need some weed to bribe them with...
She pulled back and looked over her shoulder for Billie, who was smiling awkwardly behind her. Mike led the way as they all stepped down the aisles and through the doors at the back of the hall. They all then proceeded to sprint down the corridors and down the stairs, crashing through the doors at the bottom of the school and into literal freedom.
The three of them slowed down as they reached the steps, carefully ascending as they caught their breath back. At the top of the stairs though, they all stopped. Billie and Jess turned to look at each other, each of them biting their lips to hold in the hurricane of laughter that was brewing inside.
"What the fuck is wrong with you two? You look fucking constipated or some shit."
That did it.
Both Jess and Billie clutched at their stomachs as Mike looked on, dumfounded by the two hysterical teens who were literally dying of laughter.
They calmed down slightly before smacking their palms together in a high 5, both teens grinning from ear to ear.
"Am I missing something? Or?"
Mike frowned, seriously confused this time.
"Me and Billie may be kinda the reason Mrs Edwards is leaving."
Mike's frown and pouted lips instantly disappeared, and a goofy grin replaced the expression. He shook his head from side to side as they begun to walk up the school drive.
"You still alright to come to Gilman with us Jess?"
She placed her hands in the pockets of her black skinny jeans.
"It depends Mike. I don't think I'll be able to get back at what my dad calls 'A reasonable hour' so if I did come to see you guys, I'd need to stay over somewhere."
Billie reached out to touch her shoulder glancing into her eyes as she turned her head.
"You can just stay over at mine. Either me or Mike can go sleep downstairs on the sofa. Or with each other."
Billie's bushy eyebrows moved up and down, as Mike smacked a hand to his face and Jess snorted quite loudly. She rolled her eyes and grasped his hand on her shoulder, pulling it down and holding it with him whilst they walked.
"Yeah that would be awesome. I've really wanted to hear you guys play for AGGGGGEEEES now."
Both boys chuckled, glancing over to each other to exchange a small grin. Never would they have known that in the last year, they would've been signed to a small label and released a EP. And also, they would have never have known that they would meet Jess.
And secretly deep down, both of them thought that meeting the friendly girl was probably the best thing that had happened to them.
So far.
Mike gasped as he felt something warm and fleshy move around his fingers. He looked down, to find that Jess had wrapped her hand around his. As they turned the corner at the top of the drive, he gave her a 'totally weirded out' look.
"What?"
He smiled weakly, grasping her hand so that he could curl his fingers around hers.
"Why did you suddenly want to hold my hand?"
Jess giggled before raising up her other hand, which was entwined with Billie's to show him.
"Didn't want you to feel left out, Mikey."
"Oh."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, the three teens along with drummer 'John' were congregated in Billie's garage, discussing set lists for Gilman. Jess was sat cross legged on the floor, listening in on the other band members debate on whether to play 'Only of You' or 'I Was There' first. Mike too, was sat on the cold concrete, his chin resting in the palms of his hands and with blonde hair swept over his forehead.
He sighed deeply, before getting up from the hard ground.
"Guys, if you're gonna take so long, I'll just take Jess upstairs until you can sort something out. I mean, you've been spewing at each other for like fifteen whole minutes."
Billie frowned as Mike held his hand out for Jess to take, carefully pulling her up from the floor and leading her through the door at the back of the garage.
"Okay John, I Was There could be first. But, you gotta promise me that I can play the new one we've been working on tonight. At some point I mean."
The drummer grumbled but nodded, creating a small smile on the small guitarists lips.
Meanwhile, Jess and Mike were lying on the bed in Mike's room, quietly listening to a random vinyl that was already placed in the player. Jess broke the comfortable silence by sitting up, and looking down at the sleeping bassist.
"Mikkkkkkkeeeeeeee?"
He opened his right eye, revealing a piercing Blue and a dilated pupil.
"What do you want?"
He opened his other eye and frowned.
" Is it pot?"
Jess laughed as she swivelled herself around on Mike's small bed, crossing her legs over and budging slightly closer to his body.
She stuck out a finger and placed it on his torso.
He let out a small squeal, frowning at the girl above him.
"Could you model for my art project? I mean, all you gotta do is like kinda um..."
She calmed herself down for a second, taking in a deep breath.
"Be-kinda-almost-naked-so-that-I-can-paint-onto-you."
Mike instantly sat up, his eyes shooting wide open instantly.
"Whhhhhaaaaat?"
"It's for my art project."
Mike clenched his jaw and brought one of his palms to his forehead.
"You mean paint my skin, right? Or like a portrait thing ."
Jess opened her mouth, stunned that he was actually considering her idea; She was doing self image for her art project, and she had taken in influences from Picasso and such as inspiration. She liked the way these artists used shapes to represent the human figure, and for the last few weeks, had played around in her sketchbook with ideas. Jess had come up with a few good ones, but loved the idea of a 'living' canvas. And she had realised for it all to work, she needed to paint lots of coloured shapes onto an actual person and photograph the finished product.
"Yeah, on your skin."
Mike draped his long arms around her, pulling her closer as she giggled.
"Yeah sure, anything for you Jess."
She hugged him tighter and sighed, closing her eyes in relief due to the fact that she had an actual chance to pass her art exam.
A low grumble at the door stopped the hugging session though, causing both Mike and Jess to pull away from each other's arms.
"We've done a set list. You guys wanna come back down?"
Mike leapt up from his bed, sprinting out of the door and past Billie who was about to set off back down the stairs. Jess flung herself off the agonisingly comfortable mattress, and jogged to the door.
Herself and Billie began to walk down the stairs one behind the other, Jess smiling weakly as she reached out to touch his shoulder.
She placed her hand on him as a sign that she wanted to talk to him, but Billie immediately shrugged it off.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and before she could even speak out, he had whizzed off into the garage.
Oh.
She frowned as she walked back into the jamming room, smiling over at Mike first. Her eyes glanced over to Billie who was evidently trying his hardest not to look at her ; His eyes were staring at the floor, but his body language was obviously directed at Jess.
She felt a small amount of anger and frustration brewing in the pit of her stomach, sighing just loud enough for him to lift his head and acknowledge her.
Except he just turned around, leaving Jess with the back of Billie's body in her sight.
She ground her teeth a little, sitting down on the cold floor as the three boys started to play the introduction to what sounded like 1000 hours. She kept a eye on Billie for the next few minutes, shaking her head a little when Mike stopped the song and Billie gave him an obscure look; It looked like as if Mike had told Billie that he had killed someone, not stopped the song to ask him how many times to repeat the chorus.
Jess sighed once again, not really caring if the raven haired boy heard or not.
What the fuck is his problem?
♠ ♠ ♠
okay I'm sorry about the late update... I've been a little under the weather recently and I think I have tonsillitis :( I though if anything, that being bed ridden would mean that I would have more time to write chapters and stuff. But I was just too tired :(Just to let you know about this chapter - I have no idea how the American schooling system works but, I had a look on zee internet and it turns out that A levels are equivalent to AP things? I don't know...
So yeaaah
And thank you to all of the 60 readers and 12 subscribers ! (I would hug you all but I'm ill so.. Ya know XD)