Los Angeles

He seemed quiet, content and oblivious to the talk that was going around him. A pair of ear phones were always found in his ears during lunch time, the few friends he had scattered around him like vultures waiting to take a piece from him. He was tall and lanky and his messy sandy blond hair would usually get into his eyes, causing him to move his bangs every now and again so his green irises could even look across a room.

That was when I first examined him. He looked at peace with himself, the freckles on his nose only able to be seen up close or in the sun. His eyes would turn a gold color in the light and he almost seemed as if he were ready to burst half of the time just by sitting in class around the people that he didn't really care for. Why did I care all of a sudden? My answer was still unknown, but I wouldn't have minded getting to know his insecurities and understanding why he did the things he did.

But we belonged to two different worlds. I grew up around a pretentious mother who could hardly stand my father. The only time the two got along was when they were busy having sex. But it was rare, since my adoring father would hook up with his assistant after making up excuse after excuse, missing birthday parties and barbeques that we all had planned.

He grew up in a world where his mother and father actually got along. They supported him wherever he went and knew he was safe enough to do the things that my parents said were forbidden. He lived in a subdivision right across the street from me and I usually found him and his younger brothers passing around a football or playing catch with a mitt on their hand and a small sized baseball that would be thrown back and forth. The only time we had ever truly made eye contact was when I had first moved in and he helped me take my boxes back and forth to me room.

"Earth to Lily!" I heard my friend, Quinn, yell out above the numerous people that chattered and laughed around us in the cafeteria. Glad to get my mind off the subject of the boy, I quickly decided to speak with my fellow softball players.

Since Quinn was team captain, it was best to be on her side of things. I always made suggestions here and there that she would never take. She hated being second place to anyone or anything, but it was good in a game when needed. Quinn and a bad attitude never mixed. The first year I met her, she had gotten into a fist fight (or we'll just call it a serious hair pulling argument) with one of the girls on the track team that was messing around with her ex-boyfriend. She sat in the office with a smirk on her face, hair disheveled as I filled out my paperwork and quickly exited the office under her stare.

After that incident, it was hard to ever see us being apart. We went to parties together, we sneaked out in the middle of the night, we played softball together and we fell out more than once because of the amount of time we spent together. But it never really stopped us from being friends.

After hearing the bell ring to signal our next class period, I quickly rushed out of the room to avoid the crowd of people and made my way down the hall where I would be for the next forty-five minutes trying to learn something. Once I had entered the class, I set my books down and saw there was a substitute in the room. The teacher left work next to the attendance sheet and after marking my name off, I moved to sit down in my assigned desk and began doing the worksheet that sat before me.

I was startled by the sound of the chair screeching against the floor and looked over to see green irises staring down at me with a raised eyebrow. "Is this seat taken?" He had asked as I shook my head and he quickly sat down in the seat, turning to face his two friends that were in the class with him as they began speaking about music and whatnot.

"How are we going to get people to come to our shows? No one even knows us for crying out loud!" I heard a boy named Pat say. He had a slight stutter and the problem continued throughout the year although I thought it was just from being nervous. It started on the first day of school and whenever the teacher wanted him to read, the class would groan out and make a big fuss about it.

"Here. Watch this." The boy with green irises said with a shrug of his shoulders, moving to stand on top of the desk that sat beside me, causing me to furrow my eyebrows. As if he needed to get anymore taller than he really was. "Yo, shut the fuck up! If anyone's interested, we have a show tonight at Tempe Rockers. If you're interested, come out at eight. Doors open at seven thirty."

I watched as everyone grumbled and went back to talking as John let out a sigh after being yelled at from the substitute to get off the desk, moving to sit back down in his chair as his friends stared at him in almost awe. He then took a look at me and I could feel his eyes staring me down, causing me to concentrate even harder on my work.

"I can count on you to come out tonight, right?" He had asked, almost in a neighborly way as I took a look over at him. I almost made up an excuse about I had practice until seven tonight and I had to get a bunch of makeup work done to even make my grades look decent. But his green irises looked at me with some kind of hope and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see more of this person.



"What's the kid's name anyway?" I heard Quinn ask as she looked throughout the yearbook to find the familiar face I had saw more than once and knew all too well. "He lives right across the street from you. How can you not know his name?" Quinn's angry tone started to sink in and I quickly had to abort the situation before she would knock my head off of my shoulders.

"His name starts with a J. He's in none of my classes." I said as I finished one of my loose curls that I had decided to put into my hair. After turning off my curling iron, I looked over to see Quinn raising an eyebrow as she waited for a description while I only let out a sigh and thought for a moment. "Green eyes. Tall. Sandy blonde hair that gets in his eyes. Freckles. He hangs with Pat and Jared, that's all I really know."

"I know who you're talking about." Quinn said, a smirk on her face as she began to look around my room. Her painted red toenails dug into the white carpet of my floor as I waited for her to say anything more. "His name is John. I have him in my Anatomy class. He's pretty quiet from what I've saw so far."

I nodded my head and the two of us sat around and spoke to one another until it had hit about seven o'clock. I took the keys to my VW Bug and headed outside alongside Quinn after lying to my mother about going off and seeing a movie. I couldn't believe she actually bought it, mostly because Quinn was wearing a pair of heels and a sundress while I was stuck with a pair of Chucks, black jeans, a tank top and a cardigan to go over it. There was nothing special besides the heart ring I wore that my dad had gotten for me on my fifteenth birthday before he started messing around with anyone he could manage to find.

The drive there hadn't taken long and once we were near the club that held a few teens, I parked my car and looked over to see a pout on Quinn's face. I furrowed my eyebrows at my friend, listening to her whine about not seeing any hot guys to help her troubles go away. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of my small car, walking up to the entrance along with her as we made our way inside with the help of Pat who was loading instruments inside.

"Thanks for coming out tonight, guys. It means a ton." Pat managed to say without a stutter, almost throwing me off to wonder if it was all just an act in school. But once he was speaking with Jared, I listened to him beginning to stutter again and then usher us to the backstage area where they had their own dressing room.

I almost laughed at their choices of outfits, looking as they were all coordinated to match. John took one look at me, gave me a smile and a thumbs off and then rushed off to meet with his other group of friends. My smile faded once he was gone and I looked over to see a boy with brunette hair trying his best to flirt with Quinn and getting turned down each time.

Soon after everyone was in a group speaking to one another, I looked over to see a burly teenager with brunette hair and slight blond streaks in his hair. He wore a plain white tank and a pair of khaki shorts while a pair of Vans adorned his feet. He began speaking to his friends, who I guessed were the band. And I suddenly realized that Pat and him were brothers.

His name was Tim. He had decided to be their manager after seeing some kind of spark in this band and pumped them up for the show that night. It was almost comical to watch, a bunch of teens in a circle jumping around and muttering loudly to one another. You'd think they were under the influence, but they weren't even close to it just yet.

As I stood at the side stage alongside a few others (Quinn managed to get lost without notifying me), I listened to the voice of John and instantly saw a spark. Although they wore horrible plaid and khaki slacks with dress shoes, I could see that they were going to make it far.

It was just a matter of time.