Feather Fall

“Why the hell did we have to move all the way to Hell’s armpit? Could it BE any hotter?” I whined as we continued to drive around this God forsaken town for, what seemed like, the third time. I only now wish I would’ve plugged in the GPS when my mom asked me to last night.
My mom just shook her head and laughed. Her laugh was always enough to cheer me up. Just to know that she was still there and was happy, that’s all I wanted in life. It was a week before the school year started, and she was so excited to have me starting my high school career with a clean slate. After my dad died and my ex boyfriend beat me, she thought it would be best to get as far from Arizona as possible.
I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Johnny Seward. I am almost fourteen years old and a freshman in high school to be. I used to live in Phoenix, Arizona, until my abusive father died and my mom found out that my boyfriend, Dylan, beat me regularly. She decided it would be a good idea to move back to where she’s from, Madison Wisconsin. Well, Monona, but who cares? We’re going to live on the same street as my Aunt Kassy and Uncle Brett so that I can hang out with their son, Matt, and I will actually have a friend at the new school. Matt is going to be a senior this year. I heard that him and a bunch of his friends are in a really cool rock band and they need a bassist. I hope they’ll at least give me a chance. My mom wanted to get me therapy once we got settled in, because she doesn’t believe that me relying on my bass as the only source of healing will help me at all. I think she’s wrong.
“Here we are, kiddo!” My mom said as she pulled the beaten up, old Mustang into the driveway of a very small house on top of the hill. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. I stood and stared at the house. It was tiny. Two bedrooms and one bathroom if we’re lucky. I hear her opening the trunk and the back doors of the car and start to pull out boxes and suitcases. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved. Most of it reminded us of my father, but some of it was things we didn’t want or need anymore. Closing the door to the passenger side, I turn around and start to unload the trunk. Pulling out boxes marked “Fragile” and others labeled with what room they belonged in. I tried to take as many of the heavier boxes in as I could so my mom wouldn’t have to.
About an hour and a half after we brought all of the boxes in and started to unpack, my stomach growled so loud my mom heard it all the way from down stairs.
“I guess that means it’s time for lunch, huh?” She laughed, “Come on, kiddo, let’s go find a Denny’s or something.”
I ran down the stairs so fast my left foot got caught behind my right calf and I fell down the rest of the flight. My mom came running. I looked up, tears in my eyes, to see her laughing her ass off at me.
“Jesus Christ, already?”
I felt my entire face go red as I got up and mumbled, “Shut up.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and we walked out of the house and got in the car. My mom started the old Mustang and pulled out of the driveway. She’s always had a bit of a lead foot, so her speeding down the hill into the sharp left turn didn’t really surprise me.
As it turned out, Denny’s wasn’t that far from our new house, only about two or three blocks. As soon as we saw the parking lot my stomach growled again. I looked at the parking lot to see if I could find a spot so we wouldn’t waste time looking. My efforts were put to waste because when we pulled into the parking lot a car that was parked up front pulled out. Just our luck! As soon as my mom pulled into the stall I unbuckled my seatbelt and shoved the door open, slammed it shut, and ran to the door of the diner. Throwing the doors open and bustling through them, I walked up to the woman at the front podium and asked for a table for two. I looked behind me and didn’t see my mom anywhere. I told the woman at the desk to hold on while I went to look for my mom. She was talking to a boy that seemed to be a little older than me. When he saw me he just stared. It kinda freaked me out to be totally honest. My mom must have noticed that because she turned around and the smile on her face made me feel less self conscious about a stranger staring at me.
“Johnny! There you are. This is Matt, he’s Aunt Kassy and Uncle Brett’s son.” My mom looked so ecstatic.
The boy just continued to stare at me. It was almost like he was confused by my existence. Eventually he finally smiled. He reached out his hand and said with a voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, “Hey, Johnny. It’s really weird seeing you again. The only thing I remember of you is not being trusted to hold you when I was like, 4.” So that’s why.
I smiled back and shook his outstretched hand, unsure but friendly, “Hi, Matt. I don’t remember you at all.” We both just laughed.
My mom put her hand on his shoulder, “Why don’t you join us for lunch?” It was more of a demand than a question.
“I’m sorry, I’m actually waiting for my friends to get here. It’s tradition to always eat here every Sunday for lunch. Actually, breakfast. At least two of my friends just woke up probably ten minutes ago.” He smiled again and I noticed the extremely deep dimples on either side of his face. He was attractive, very attractive. His buzzed brown hair looked damp in the sunlight. He was extremely built and bulky. If I had to have guessed, I would’ve said at least a set of six pack abs. He was tall, maybe six foot give or take an inch. He was wearing a very worn and faded Guns and Roses t-shirt, that looked like he had ripped the sleeves off himself, light wash, loose skinny jeans that hung right at his hips, a black belt, that didn’t seem to have much purpose, and black, well kept combat boots. Overall, the most attractive man I had ever seen.
“That’s alright! They can join us!” My mother sounded far too happy about this.
Matt just looked at me and smiled again, nodding.
“Excellent! Matt, why don’t you go inside and get us a table since you know about how many chairs we’re going to need?” My mom smiled with all of her teeth. Her charming, motherly smile was absolutely contagious.
Nodding again, he walked past me, my heart may have stopped, and into the diner.
My mom looked at me and said, “I’m just trying to make sure you have friends for your first day.” She winked, making me blush. She laughed again and gave me a sideways hug, pulling me inside.
“So, Matt, how many other people are we to expect today?” My mother glowed.
“It’s usually just eight of us, so seven more.” He said without even thinking. “Jimmy Sullivan and his little sister, Zaria, Brian Haner, Zacky Baker, Val and Michelle Dibenedetto, and Arin Ilejay. Val is my girlfriend and Michelle is her identical twin sister. You honestly can’t tell that they’re twins. They are so different.”
“Zaria?” My mom questioned as the waitress escorted us to our tables, “Is that her real name?”
“Yeah, Zaria is her actual name.” He coughed, “Jimmy is really insane. Like the craziest guy you could ever possibly meet. He jokes around with anyone about anything, except for Zaria. When Zaria was born she had a harelip. Of course she had surgery to fix it physically, but she has a very strong speech impediment so she only talks to Jimmy. She is fluent in ASL and that’s how she communicates with her friends, either that or she writes things down. Kids used to pick on her so she’s really shy and embarrassed about her situation. She’s gorgeous and insanely smart, but very shy and reserved. Actually, I think she’ll be starting her freshman year with you, Johnny.” He looked at me and smiled again. “Jimmy is very protective of Zar. She’s been really depressed for the past few years when they had to actually start doing presentations to the entire class. We all think she found a boyfriend or something because she’s been less shy and actually laughs out loud instead of just smiling and holding her breath. I personally think she has a girlfriend, but that’s just a hunch.” He winked at me.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” It seems as though everyone, aside from Matt, jumped out of their skins and stared at the door. A very tall, probably like six foot four at least, boy came crashing into the restaurant. His blonde hair was standing on end and his extremely pale skin was almost blinding. The grin he had on his face when he looked this way, though, it made my heart race and stop in three second bursts. He ran over to us, and Matt stood just in time to hug him in the most violent hug I have ever seen. I looked back over to the door and saw a short girl, about my mom’s height, five foot two, her face was beet red, her hand was covering her mouth and she was laughing the most heart melting laugh I had ever heard. She saw the strange boy and Matt let go and she started walking over to us, rubbing her arms as if she were cold and looking at the ground as if everyone were staring at her.
“Johnny, Hannah this is Jimmy Sullivan and his little sister, Zaria. Jimmy, Zar, this is Johnny and my mom's best friend, Hannah. He’ll be a freshman this year with you, Zar.” Matt introduced us and gave Zaria a huge bear hug. My mom and I both stood up and shook their hands and then sat down again. I tried my absolute best not to stare at Jimmy. His outrageous hair, his crystal blue eyes, thin, perfect lips, oblong structured jaw, his long, slender neck that broke off into thin, broad shoulders. His extremely thin body shape looked especially toned, almost as if he had just come from the gym. I felt myself blush as I tried to keep my imagination at bay. I decided it would be safer to study Zaria instead. She had long, black hair with straight-across bangs. Her eyes were as blue as Jimmy's but her lips were plump and sad. She wore a dark purple lipstick to match her dark purple eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and black mascara. Her head was down and flinched up every time someone, other than Jimmy, spoke. It looked to me like she was expecting someone to yell at her so she kept trying to chip off her fingernail polish.
I wasn’t really paying a whole lot of attention to the conversation being had between Matt, Jimmy, and my mom, but I practically jumped out of my skin when I looked up to see Jimmy staring at me. I looked at my mom, but she was in a deep conversation with Matt. I turned back to Jimmy’s stare and he smiled at me. A soft spoken, lovely smile that made my heart jump through my chest and land at my feet. My face started to burn and my mouth quivered into the goofiest smile I’m sure I’ve ever made. He just laughed and I swear his cheeks turned a little pink.
“So, Johnny, what kinds of classes are you taking?” Jimmy asked with a smile.
“Um, this semester I’m in Algebra 1, Biology, European History, Creative Writing, Study Hall, Gym, Graphic Design, and Woodshop” I listed off of the top of my head. “Next semester is, Cultural Anthropology, and Drawing and Painting 1.”
Jimmy looked reminiscent, “You’re going to love Cult. It was so much better than Euro.” He thought about it again, “I’m really glad that we had to take two different history classes instead of just one. Just one can get so boring.” A thin smile settled across his thin lips that made time stop. He looked at me again with his piercing, blue eyes and didn’t say a word. We just stared at each other.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Zaria looking between the two of us with a smile, until her cell phone vibrated on the table, she scooped it up as if she was waiting for the text message of her life. As she read the message her cheeks tinted a deep red and her eyes sparkled. She’s in love.
“Zaria” Matt said suddenly, “Why don’t you tell Hannah about how you’re going to join the high school bowling team?”
Zaria’s face grew redder and she grinned. Using American Sign Language she signed to my mother about how the year before she had been brought up from eighth grade to the junior varsity team because the girls varsity didn’t have enough girls on it. She also signed about how she hoped they would go to state tournament this year since the team hadn’t been to state since the eighties. My mom was following along very diligently. It had been quite a few years since she has had to read sign language. Her younger brother was born deaf, but he passed away when I was seven years old. As a result of his death, my mother and I practiced ASL for years, both of us becoming certifiably fluent in the language.
“Wow. That is quite amazing. You must be a very good bowler!” My mother beamed.
Zaria’s face, however, got even darker in color, if that was even possible. She signed to my mother about her average only being one-hundred and seventy two and how she knows better bowlers than herself.
My mom only shook her head, “You shouldn’t compare yourself to other people. Do the best you can and have fun. If you don’t win, fine, but at least you gave it everything you had and that’s always enough.”
“Sorry, we’re late. The ‘ladies’ had to take an hour and a half to do their hair and make-up. By ‘ladies’ it’s just Val” A voice I had never heard before said.
I looked up to see a toned guy with jet black, hair down to his jawline that was wrapped in a bandana and a fedora to top it off. He had high cheekbones, deep brown eyes, and a small rug of hair on the bottom of his chin. He was wearing a tight, black, v-neck shirt, baggy skinny jeans, various belts that had chains hanging off of them, and black, leather, combat boots with buckles. He was very attractive, with his tanned skin, multiple rings on both hands, and dark eyeliner. His teeth sparkled when he smiled. Did I mention he was hot?
Apparently the guy next to him noticed too. He kept glancing in the taller guy’s direction and discretely sucking on his right snake bite. The shorter guy had short, shaggy hair with long bangs that fell in front of his eyes. His bangs were dip-dyed a dark purple and contrasted pleasantly with his red eye shadow and thick, black eyeliner. He wasn’t as thin and muscular as the others, but his barely noticeable tummy gave him an adorable charm. He was wearing a t-shirt for a band I had never heard of and a purple zip up hoodie over the top. He also wore tight, black skinny jeans and worn out Converse All Stars. His face was rounder than Matt’s but not as round as Jimmy’s, and his skin was darker than Jimmy’s but only by a fraction of a shade.
Matt looked at the taller of the two guys, “Brian! Zacky! It’s about damn time you two got here. You guys picked up the girls?” Jimmy, Zaria, and Matt all stood and hugged the other two guys. My mom nudged me and stood up as well to shake their hands.
“The shorty is Zacky Baker and the hottie is Brian Haner” Jimmy said as he slapped Brian’s ass.
“I am not short!” Zacky yelled looking like he was about to laugh but sounding like he was about to punch Jimmy. Everyone laughed.
“You’re right, Zacky. You’re not the short one anymore. Johnny here is.” Jimmy smirked and gestured toward me. My jaw dropped and Jimmy had to sit down he was laughing so hard. “Come on, short stack. It’s just a joke.”
I blushed a deep red and laughed along with the rest of everyone else.
Once everyone was acquainted with one another, two absolutely gorgeous girls walked up to our table as well. One with short, black hair and the other with long blonde hair and brown lowlights. The girl with blonde hair walked up to Matt and kissed him, she had to be Val. The other girl, whom must have been Michelle, walked up to Brian and jumped on his back and started to laugh.
“Johnny, Hannah, this is my girlfriend, Val. That’s her sister, Michelle, Brian’s girlfriend” Matt managed.
“That’s hilarious! You two are dating identical twins?” I laughed.
“That’s because if one of them makes out with the other they can just say, ‘But, babe, I thought she was you.’” Jimmy did his best impression of Matt, which was absolutely terrible. Matt flipped him off while Brian smacked him on the back of the head.
Val didn’t seem to find anything funny at all, except for everything Matt said. She had dark brown eyes and was wearing short shorts and a crop top. She had to be a cheerleader by the way how toned her thighs were. She was completely tanned and toned from either gymnastics or the high school equivalent. She was also wearing stark white tennis shoes and giant hoop earrings.
Her sister, in contrast, was wearing torn skinny jeans and a black spaghetti strap tank top. Her eye makeup complimented her complexion perfectly, gunmetal gray with black mascara, no eyeliner. Her hair was extremely short. Shaved until her long bangs covered over her right eye. She seemed to laugh at everything. Even if it wasn’t that funny. I think I’m gonna like her.
“And did you say it was just ME who had to put makeup on? Zacky and Michelle both have full blown eye makeup on and you’re wearing eyeliner” Val said with a flip of her hair. “I’m not wearing any makeup at all.”
“No, but you DID have to wait for your hair to dry, straighten it, spray it, and then shave. That took you probably an hour” Brian defended.
“Hmh”
“High maintenance b--”
“So, Johnny. How are you liking Wisconsin?” Jimmy interrupted before Zaria burst out into laughter.
I laughed along. This year was going to be great.