Chapter 1
May 23rd 2016
This Monday was Justin Stevens favorite day, it was the last day of school and not only that but June 4th was his 14th birthday so he got to have a birthday during his summer break. They didn’t really do much on the last day except for watch movies in class. Miss Blankenship decided the movie they would watch today was big hero six. It was seventh period and the bell had yet to ring.
His best friend Michael their desks put together because earphones fucked up Michaels hearing(Although he would never admit it) and they asked a very important question or at least important to middle school teenage boys
“Gogo smash or pass” Michael asked
“Smash one hundred percent” Justin replied
“Do you think the robot has a dick?”
“What? No way, if so they’d name it ‘Big hero dicks’”
Both the boys bursted out laughing as if the funniest joke on the face of the earth was told. Michael and his freckle faced best friend Justin felt like true comedic geniuses in that moment.
“Oh dude by the way, i got some good news bro. Keep it between us til something happens cause I really don’t want it getting out in this town yet”
“Bro you better have finally grew some ba-“
“I asked Marlene out on a date”
“Where at?”
“The skating rink, she said yes man”
“I told you she liked you man. I’m glad you listened to me”
“Yeah but to be fair it was hard to really read her signs”
“Justin dude, she literally said ‘I really with this school had more guys with freckles . They’re so cute’.”
“Yeah so? Thats pretty vague if you ask me.”
“Justin this is why you could qualify for a disability check.”
“Me? Well i’m not the one who learned to tie his shoes at age twelve”
“Oh ill kick your ass”
“Oh you’re gonna lick my a-“
“QUIET” Miss Blankenship told the two boys “Just cause its the last day of school doesn’t mean you two get to raise your voice and ramble. Some people still wanna watch this movie”
Their voices went from moderate to low “Sheesh whats her problem?” Justin asked, behind them Derrick Dunaway replied “Shes a little on edge, they say her husband was caught with some other woman”
“Oh shit. For real?” Asked a shocked Michael.
“Damn poor lady. I just thought it was menopause”
They all chuckled a bit, none of them even knew what menopause was, they just knew it was period related and is usually associated with women being pissed off.
“So I overheard you got a date?”
“Hell yeah”
“And with who?”
“Marlene Hansen.”
“Ugh finally.”
“Finally? And whats that supposed to mean,”
“Bro everytime before our friday break ended she was always hugging you particularly.”
Justin shrugged his shoulders “Okay and?”
Michael turned his head to the right to look at his best friend “Justin are you sure you were never lobotomized?”
Michael was the only one there who knew what a lobotomy was and he damn sure wanted his classmates to know it. He was a big psychology nerd, sometimes it was fascinating to learn the facts he knew but other times it was boring or annoying to death.
“So how are you gonna get there?” Asked Derrick curiously
“Nick’s gonna drive me. He has a good amount of free time on his hands with his days off and since he’s gonna be graduating I gotta take advantage of it before he moves .”
“Good idea man. Cause as soon as he moves out you can kiss those rides bye bye.”Michael replied
“Oh I know, Dad hates driving me anywhere he doesn’t have to, Hell it was a challenge getting him to drive me to school. Thank fuck that weirdo on the bus finally moved though”
“Nathan? Wait. The handy man?” A snickers bar was being unwrapped in his hands as Derrick waited for his answer.
“Yes the handy man” replied Justin.
“Ewww. You know guys I was in his class when he got caught.”
“Well Mike I hope you can afford therapy”
“Oh it was bad Justin. Right in the back of class Barbara turned around and noticed his pants were below his ankles”
“Ewww” was said by both boys in unison.
“Well I know what his favorite baseball team is” Dan took a bite out of the snickers
Both boys asked “What?”
“The yankees”
Mutual snickering was shared amongst the boys, as the film continued they decided to make plans for after school. They would all go to Blakes bowling alley on highway 68 in Daytonville. All the kids in Mackerel county usually went there on their birthday parties whenever they decided that they were too old to do so at Mcdonalds. There would be one person driving them that night. Either Justins older brother Nicholas or Michaels seventeen year old sister Katie. Derrick secretly hoped Katie would be the driver for reasons you can probably guess.
The final bell rung and they all said ‘“Bye” and went their separate ways.
Justin didn’t mind the hotness of the sun coming through the bus window nor the humidity this day considering he was able to get a blueberry flavored water from the pop machine in the hallway next to the front door of Sellicks middle school. He sat in his usual spot waiting for his eight grader bus buddy Timmy Danielson to enter the empty space with him.
The bus was finally moving after the door closed. The bus began to leave the hill where the big brown brick three story school going to the end of the circular hill and onto the road.
The bus went onto the road passing the bank on the left and the McDonalds on the right
“So Tim do you wanna listen to some music”?
“Unfortunately my fucking earphones just stopped working”
“Aw man you can’t be serious”
“Yep, i shoulda seen this coming though, at first the left one started needing to be turned a certain angle for them to work”
“Ah yeah thats usually a telltale sign man. So are you thrilled about high school?”
“Not really, i’m just mostly looking forward to working at my uncles so i have some cash to spend”
“Shit let me know if he needs any extra help I’m suffering from broke ass motherfucker syndrome”
“Definitely relatable”
“Oh shit dude by the way, I asked Marlene out on a date and she said yes”
“Tim put his head backwards and his curly hair made contact with the behind side of the bus seat “Fucking finally” which caused Justin to cross his arms but in an “I’m not really mad at you” tone and ask “Now what’s that supposed to mean?”
Timmy took his glasses off, put his right elbow on his black nike backpack and covered his eyes with his right hand “It was pretty tucking obvious she likes yo-“
“Goddamn i’ve been told that already man come on i didn’t know she was into me”
Justin like most guys were clearly oblivious to if a girl liked them, but in Justins case it seemed even his fellow boys had a better grasp at hints than him. He met Marlene Hansen on the first day of school, sharing a fourth and fifth period with her. Fourth being science class and fifth being English class. He wasn’t exactly a comedian but his jokes always managed to make the girls ribs hurt. Michaels friends and Jennifers friends started noticing more telltale signs when Jen made him his favorite cookies for Christmas and would often hug him after fifth period.
“Look Tim, we’ve been good friends and had a lot in common and I guess I didn’t wanna ruin that. So if might have been blocked by my subconscious or whatever. At least thats what Michael told me.”
“That could be it. Mikes got a good point but still you couldn’t be that dumb. I mean I would advise you to wear a condom if you guys get serious but I don’t think you could ever legally be mentally fit to consent”
“Oh haha” Justin replied sarcastically. “Anyways I think this will go good. I like to think I know what the fuck i’m doing”
“Speaking of not knowing what the fuck you’re doing there’s some beef going on”
“Oh boy, what happened?”
“Well you know Gavin Howell?”
“I know of him”
“Okay so he’s dating Julie White”
“Yeah uh huh”
“And he thinks Julie is fucking Marcus”
“Marcus who?”
“I dunno, but he’s the one with the buzzcut”
“Ohh, yeah I think his last names Rodgers.”
“Well in seventh period Gavin bursted in and accused Marcus of fucking her and got all up in his face and Marcus denied it and then Miss hawkins did her usual thing and split them up and all that”
“Oh shit, you think she fucked him?”
“Is Morgan Freeman black”
“Oh damn”
“Yeah she has a reputation, i think they’ll probably fight if theres concrete proof though. Thats how Gavin is”
“Yeah i understand that.”
They conversed upon many subjects such as summer plans along with the next months release of tmnt out of the shadows to which both were mostly just disrespecting the design of Michael Bays turtles
In the backseat of the bus was Nicholas Stevens sitting with his girlfriend Katrina Bateman. Mostly just focused on their graduation ceremony and where the after party would take place at
“Okay so Mamaw’s having a cookout that starts right after the ceremony so we gotta save up some money for gas.”
“What about your brothers birthday party.”
“I already got his present so I got that covered”
“You got him a pair of socks”. Katrina stated as if she had some high ground of gift buying. Nick sent a quick rebuttal of “They’re all he fuckin asked for, goddamn he’s gonna be fourteen not four”
“Well when you have a little brother you can get him whatever the hell you want. He gets what he gets”
His best friend Kyle on the seat behind him suggested a bag of condoms with a card that said “Don’t be silly, wrap your willy.”
And what Justin got was a final trip home before eighth grade started. Both him and his brother were dropped off on the white house on 423 Lake street. The screen door was constantly getting Jammed and Nicholas was mumbling about how it shouldn’t be his responsibility to fix the damn thing.
“Hey Nick, i was wondering”
“Yes I got your text about the date.”
“Okay do you know where?”
“The skating rink, yeah yeah one thirty tomorrow now let me sleep.”
“Okay fine man shit.”
Nick took his two hundred and six pound self to his room next to the right door across from the right arm of the flower patterned couch that sat in front of a seventeen inch small flat screen tv on a fake fire place heater stand.
Nicholas was just getting some after school rest. His graduation event was just a week away and he was just waiting to finally get full time at his workplace once all that shit was done and over with. He wasn’t looking forward to his Mom’s return from visiting their aunt Margaret nor his Dads return from his job at Fred’s furniture. He knew both would bombard him with a million questions about potential grandchildren and marriage. Things Nicholas preferred to bury in the backyard of his brain. He didn’t yet feel like an adult, he felt like a kid in stilts and a trench coat with a fake mustache.
Justin luckily didn’t have to deal with any of that at his young age of thirteen. He was on the phone with his first potential girlfriend discussing tomorrow’s date plans and a mutual interest in a film coming out two days after his birthday.
“So its the sequel to Charlies attack”
“Uh huh.” He said preparing his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a paper plate.
“And in this one he wakes up from his three year coma and starts killing people with his axe again.”
“Is his sister gonna be in this one?”
“I think so, theres speculation that Hannah is gonna go crazy from the events and become another killer.”
“And I already know whats gonna happen.”
She let out a little giggle “They’re gonna aim everywhere”
And they both said in unison “But the head”
“Thats what me and Michael were talking about when we saw the first one, its like none of these guys have any common damn sense.”
Marlene opened the door of her house to let her dog Richard outside “Yeah its like they think cutting his head off will just cause him to walk around still killing people like some type of. Oh hold on”
She quickly muted him
Marlene closed the door of her trailer and turned around immediately to the sight of her father and older brother arguing in the living room.
“Look either forty dollars or none at all.”
“What the hells your problem?” The led zepplin shirt wearing red haired man said, getting closer to her brother Rob.
“I’m not giving you eighty dollars just so you can blow it up your damn nose again.”
Daniel pushed the buzzcut headed boy into the wall of the trailer telling him to “Fuckin do something then.”
Jennifer quickly unmuted them “Hey sorry i gotta go” and hung up.
Justin didn’t tell her but there were a few times she forgot to mute him, he heard everything that went on. It made him feel sympathetic, his family wasn’t picture perfect either as he heard his fair share of arguments between his parents Carl and Louise whenever alcohol was involved .
With his sandwich half ate he texted Michael asking him for a call on messenger, Michael having nothing better to do said yes and they began discussing their plans now that the shackles of school were off of their hands and feet.
“So I’m hoping to spend a lot more time with Marlene obviously, I hope this goes well man. Cause i have no idea what the fuck I am doing.”
“Well I know that chicks like flowers, thats what I learned from being with Chasity. They also uhh, don’t like it when you download viruses on their laptops after installing games”
“fucking WHAT?” Justin bursts out in laughter as he heard the news “Is that why you didn’t talk about her at school today”
“Yeah shes uhh pretty mad about that, her parents are too”
“Bro please tell me it was a normal rom or something and not one of those ‘You won’t last five minutes’ type deals”
“Of course it was a normal game i’m not retarded”
“That is clearly debatable. You gotta tell Derrick about this.”
“ Well his Dad is a computer nerd, however Derricks been acting weird lately.”
“How so?”
“Well remember how he was when y’all stayed the night. Suddenly got more funny when Katie was aro-“
“He wants to bang your sister Michael”
“I fuckin knew it man.”
“Well are you really that mad about it?”
“Nah man just weirded out cause like, people say she looks like me”
Justin jokingly replied “Oh I know what you’re worried about. If he can’t get Katie he’ll get the next best thing”
“Oh shit”
“He likes you and he wants you Michael”
“Well shit he’ll have to fight Chasity about it, whenever shes not pissed at me anymore.”
“I can’t believe you actually did that man. You’re fucked and not the way you wanted to be”
Justin managed to help Michael feel less anxious about his current problems now that they were both off the bus. Unfortunately Gavins problems were just unfolding as he went to his trailer in Pikeville, the same trailer park Marlene lived in. He slammed the door furiously as his Uncle Harold told him to “Calm the fuck down boy you should be happy its the last day of school”
He dropped his backpack onto the couch and said “Sorry I just had a bad day.” Uncle Randy shook his head and handed Gavin a plate of a fried pork chop and mashed potatoes. Instant because both hated lumps
“Look if you think your lady friends two timing ya then leave the bitch.”
A bit of invisible anger merged into Gavins brain as he heard his uncle referring to his girlfriend as a “Bitch”
“I don’t know what the hell to believe anymore”
“Language boy. You’re not eighteen yet.”
“Sorry sir” he replied calmly. He wishes he could stop being paranoid and get the thought out of his head but rumors emerged during April, it got worse when local band geek Daniel Krueger took a photo of Julie and Marcus hugging before a game at bowling concert. Derick wasn’t a peep for free though. It costed ten of Gavins twenty dollar allowance to get Daniel to take a picture. Usually it would be twenty bucks but only if the other guy was any kind of threat. Band geeks usually weren’t afraid of other band geeks.
Gavin would often pace the floor every time she talked about something funny Marcus during a band trip or how Marcus stood up for her whenever someone insulted her hair. Its like the more she mentioned him the more jealous he got. Sometimes he thinks thats what she wanted so he tried his best to hide the fact that the mental of Marcus turned his skin green.
By five thirty pm Julie white just got done helping her Mom carry the groceries into the house. When they went to Walmart she always would tag along just to make sure they remembered to get a can of creamy peanut butter, out of the many differences between her and her father the preference of peanut butter was the biggest. While they finally finished the ten minute drive to commercial street she was responding to a text from Marcus, nothing sexual or romantic but just a nice friendly I hope you have a good summer :) from the boy. Admittedly it made her face red and she hated that. Her reputation was not the best ever since she got in a fight with Alicia Hamilton after James Bateman two timed her with Julie(Their relationship being something Julie knew nothing of) and she didn’t want to ruin it further nor her relationship with Gavin. She remembered the words of her Pastor and Uncle Javier Manchester being “You’re not a bad person or a whore. Just one of the many stupid kids” which comforted Julie along with causing her laughter.
After helping fill the cabinet and refrigerator with snacks and meat and soda galore she went downstairs to her parents basement to play pool with her older brother Layne. Layne having boy troubles of his own in his twenty two years of existence always had open ears.
“So how was your last day?” He asked as he chalked up his pool cue and broke the rack.
“It was decent. I’m debating on trying a new instrument”
“Oh yeah? Like for class or just as a hobby” He struck orange five into the far left corner hole “I’m solid. You’re stripes.”
“As a hobby I’m thinking maybe a guitar”
“Shit those are expensive, you might wanna ask for one for your birthday cause we both know when it comes to musical instruments you get what you pay for” He then proceeded to miss the purple four ball and yell “Fuck”, if it were any louder the mounted deer head behind him would have probably fell down.
Julie aimed her pool stick at the cue ball as it was now close to the green striped fourteen ball that was only inches away from the far right corner hole of the pool table.
“Well I wanna get it over the summer, Marcus is gonna teach me. He’s really good at it”
Layne raised an eyebrow “Marcus? Gavin plays too doesn’t he”
“Yeah but, he’s probably gonna be more busy this summer”
Layne’s brother instincts started to kick in. He could read the neon signs in both her eyes that shined bright. Help on her left eye and Me on her right.
“This is the same Marcus that you hung out with on your band trips?”
“Yeah”
“The one who you always talk about how funny he is, the one who puts on a fake mustache and impersonates your principal”
“Yes”
“The one you’re crushing on badly despite having a boyfriend?” She instantly got defensive and put the stick on the pool table and placed her hands on her hips “No i’m not”
Layne shook his head “Julie Julie Julie”
“Ugh what?”
“Look you’re thirteen, you kid’s don’t know the meaning of putting ‘Serious’ and ‘relationship’ together but please be fucking careful”
“Careful? Why?”
“Look you’re a kid, Gavins a kid and Marcus is a kid.” He pulled out a menthol and lit it up and began rambling as he sat criss cross on the pool table “And kids well, kids are really fucking stupid”
Julie rolled her eyes but proceeded to listen anyways, after all Layne and his husband Max have managed to have a good marriage of nearly three years.
“I’ve seen it plenty kid. Boy or girl is controlled by hormones and they don’t know what they want and end up leaving their partner for the shiniest next thing. Believe me it can cause nasty rumors to spread and reputations to be ruined til about high school give or take. She’ll be known as a slut or the boy will be known as a fuck boy and so on and so forth”
“Shit you’re right. What do I do?”
Layne took a big puff and looked above himself for a little bit, he wasn’t a girl and he certainly wasn’t a girl in the relationship between him and Max but their parents have been together since their freshman year so David was Cheryl’s first and only love.
“Well heres what you should do. Either A, stay with Gavin and try to distance yourself from Marcus til any feelings you’re catching for him goes away. B, do what most girls your age do and say ‘i’m not ready for a relationship’ just to immediately get with Marcus and ruin your reputation and possibly cause a fight or C just stop talking to Marcus completely and give no explanation”
Julie turned her head away”Oh , speaking of fight. There’s already some rumor that went around, i’m not sure how but Gavin saw a picture of us hugging and assumed the worse and tried to fight Marcus today.” Julie said as she rubbed her arm in an embarrassed tone
Layne facepalmed himself, his dyed red hair was the only part of his head visible as his medium tanned hand covered his face
“Oh my fucking God kid. Don’t hug another guy, believe me i’ve dated more men than you some get so damn jealous over the smallest things. I now highly suggest you choose A before it gets worse”
“Yeah you’re probably right”
“No ‘probably’ to it. You’re in middle school, basically pre high school. You’re filled with children that think they’re adults. Hell how many of your friends lost their virginity already?”
“Two”
“And how many of them regret it”
“Both of them do”
“Exactly, you’re at the age where you make impulsive stupid ass decisions because you think you’re old enough to think for yourself and do what you want. You’re not, even the most mature of middle schoolers have no idea what the hell they’re doing”
“I guess you’re right. I just don’t wanna hurt anybody. Not Gavin, not Marcus not anybody”
“Oh Julie people are gonna get hurt. Its retarded ass teen romance. You can’t have that without at least someone getting hurt, you just have to hope that the hurt is minimum and not amplified to a point that it makes you look like some type of remorseless monster.”
Julie sat next to her thin tall Metallica shirt wearing brother. She knew he had a good point, he always did.
“You’re right I guess. Maybe I should keep a distance with Marcus. If it continues to go well with Gavin then i don’t think i’ll have anything to worry about. I mean we’ve been together since January. I don’t think one dudes gonna make all that crash to the ground.”
“Oh you’d be surprised” Layne stated flicking his cig ashes onto the cold hard concrete floor.
“Ya know theres one thing I think you could do, think about the pros and cons, the good and the bad effects of who you decide to date and then you can decide more clearly”
“I guess thats a good idea, I mean I guess a con is both are gonna be in high school next year. Its not gonna be easy having a boyfriend I can’t see in the hallways”
Layne laughed his ass off at that remark, he found it cute how that was Julies biggest worry in relationships, if you could call them that. Layne in his adult age and experience sometimes felt more like he was talking to a kid playing house with the neighbor boy. Oh just wait til marriage and you’ll be glad you even have a little time to yourself was something Layne tried hard not to blurt out in front of his younger sister.
Kids, marriage, work, bills were nothing that were of concern to fourteen year old Marcus Rogers. Now that summer break was in session he had the chance to be able to listen to his favorite musician and learn their songs without the stress of homework bringing him down. His favorite hard rock band “Death of Janet ” was first brought up between him and Julie White in Mr Karloff's concert band class. Both of them enjoyed the voice of Damien Jackson and his guitar playing skills. She saw him wearing a shirt with the bands name engraved in red on it and they instantly clicked. Both were apart of the rare section of DOJ fans that preferred the “Let there be life ” album over the more critically acclaimed “Eyes half shut” album.
They were a loud whisper among the members of the Melvin county middle school concert band about their relationship the more they were seen talking to and only to each other before band events, often only talking to students who decide to sit near them by chance. Jessica Thurman was obviously the first one to say anything suggesting their relationship to be non platonic when she whispered “I heard Julie complaining about Gavin to Marcus” on the bus to a university concert on September third 2015 and the rest is history.
He bursted into his room, decorated with a Death of Janet poster on the right wall and a sign that said No losers allowed on the left side of the wall. Before his parents found out anything regarding his personal life he had to clear some things. He took out his phone and texted Julie, requesting a call.
He paced the floor, waiting for her answer. Immediately his phone started to vibrate and he clicked answer like his social life depended on it.
“Hey”
“Hey Mark I was about to ask you to call, what happened today? All i know is you two almost fought but he wouldn’t talk to me after school.”
“So I was in Miss Hawkins class cause she was playing a different movie i wanted to see so i asked Mr Karloff if I could to and he said yes.”
“Okay,”
“I guess he saw me coming in and burst through the door and said ‘Why the fuck were you hugging Julie’ and all that and I told him to calm down and it wasn’t like that and then he got in my face and she split us up.”
“God I hate this drama. Sometimes i think it’d be easier if we weren’t together”
Mark got a little excited about that news but did not wanna show it just yet. Just like Julie Marcus wanted to have a stable relationship, drama and love triangle free. He was hoping for a relationship unlike the one between Harold and Jessica Rogers. He wanted to hold Julies hand instead of trying to put it in the garbage disposal. .
“Well if you feel like breaking up with him, that’s your choice but I hope it goes well for you two” If Marcus was Pinocchio his nose would have hit his dusty broken ceiling fan above his bed
“Thank you, sorry i’m gonna have to go but i’ll text you. I’m gonna have a long talk with Gavin about this whole thing.”
“Alright, bye”
“Bye”
His Mother knocked on the brown wooden door of his cave and all worrying briefly ceased. The open door let in the smell of fried chicken, Marks favorite.
“Hey Bub, Dinners ready.”
“Alright Mama, do we have any pop?”
“I saved you one in the refrigerator. You’ll have to drink water for the rest of the day”
“Aw man, you didn’t get anymore?”
“Nope. My big ass is dieting so if you want a pop so bad now you’ll have to save up and go to that corner store and get one yourself” she said as she led him past the bathroom of the hallway and into the dining room.
He sat on the wooden chair barley across from the table with a lunch tray of two drumsticks, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. She already had his mountain dew bottle sat upon the table
As he took the first bite she instantly asked “So whose that girl you’ve been talking to?” Drumstick in both hands and chicken meat in his mouth, his brown eyes widened
Jessica waited patiently as she stared at him from across the right side of the table.
He swallowed “Um, what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
“But how do you-“
“I’m your mother I know everything”
He began explaining in great detail how he met Julie, how they have a lot in common and how they’re friendship has caused whispers to emerge all the way to Gavins ear. Expecting his Mom to scold him for his not so bright behavior she just nodded until he stopped speaking.
“Well Mark, just like you she is a child. And well children are fucking stupid, no offense I was fucking stupid myself. Harold is still fucking stupid himself. I’m not saying you can’t take it seriously but this is like your third relationship and you both still have plenty to learn. They probably won’t even be together that long so if they break up and the time is right, tell her how you feel and if she likes you back then she likes you back”
For the first time today Mark felt assured, he felt like he could really rely on his mother for relationship advice even if she could be a bit of a hard ass on him sometimes.
Then Harold opened the door. Put his construction tool box on the ground next to the door and entered the dining room, mouth watering from desire for fried chicken
“Good God Richard you smell like a goddamn pack of menthols”
“Jessica i JUST GOT FUCKING HOME”
His sureness and his appetite then vanished
