Freshman Year

“Woe, is me, all summer long, I was happy and free

Save my soul, the board of education took away my parole

I gotta go back, back, back to school again…”

-The Four Tops 1982

Los Angeles 1985

The usual headache-inducing, Californian sun was lost in a sea of grey. The Elvis calendar inside the Hess home showed it was, begrudgingly, to the room owner Monday, August 20th. The King himself, dressed in his Jailhouse Rock attire, was beaming with pride and excitement that 13-year-old Jared Hess couldn’t muster as the LA sun struggled to shine through the tiniest crack of his bedroom window. As he let out a sigh wishing he had the resilience of the California sun and the moves of the King to get out of bed, he heard the ever-familiar voice of Jon Bon Jovi from the tiny bathroom in their three-bedroom suburban home. If you could consider it three bedrooms, Jared thought, might as well be sleeping in the linen closet. “In and Out of Love” was blaring, causing Jared to bury himself in his comforter.

“It’s time to wake up, sleeping beauty. I am not playing Bon Jovi for my pleasure!” the voice of Jared’s older brother traveled through thin walls landing on deaf ears. Jared offered little in response save for a grunt. His lack of interest hadn’t stopped his brother, Christian, from appearing in his doorway like an unwanted sales rep.

“Mom says I must take you to school because it wouldn’t be fair to let you walk on your first day of high school. But what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. If your butt isn’t in my car in ten minutes, you can walk or hitch a ride, but with the way the world is, I won’t recommend it.”

Jared shook his head and felt a stir in his stomach as he thought about his brother’s weird obsession with criminals and new stories on recent mass murderers in the area, like the Manson Family or the infamous Night Stalker who caused most residents to no longer trust their neighbor as he remained at large. He would never understand the fascination and was just grateful he would not have to be exposed to the ring of crime and murder first-hand.

“Aren’t little siblings supposed to be the annoying ones, Chris?” Jared said as he playfully threw his pillow at his brother. Years of being the star athlete allowed Chris to dodge the incoming attack with little effort as he smiled at his brother, and his sarcasm slowly came to life.

“Trust me, you are. Now hurry up. I don’t want to be late.” Chris said before disappearing into their kitchen, singing Bon Jovi along the way.

Jared mustered all his energy to emerge from the cozy nest he created and stumbled down the hall towards the bathroom he shared with his brother. Despite his attractive features, Jared gave little thought to what he wore and often grabbed the first items of clothing he could find in his typical teenage boy’s room. He ended up with a pair of well-worn bleached jeans, a T-shirt from his favorite band, “The Police,” and a navy-blue plaid jacket littered with various patches from bands to witty sayings that probably weren’t school friendly. Completely his look, he grabbed a pair of belted, black boots that had long since lost their laces. Usually, he opted for his high tops, but it seemed as though Chris was wearing the only pair they owned.

Half asleep, he began his minimal morning routine, staring with a splash of cold water to futilely wake him. Unlike his brother, who was 90% caffeine, and 10% water, he did not rely on the bitterness of coffee to energize him. After admitting defeat and letting tiredness win, he wiped his face, staring at his reflection for a moment. The image looking back at him was one he had grown to disdain over the years as it looked too much like his father.

He had champagne hair that was relatively short compared to the hair metal bands his brother liked but relatively long, running down to his shoulder. The straightness didn’t’ help the length, but it certainly made for a killer mohawk when he was in the mood. The eyes burning through the mirror were the color of blue jadeite, a rare stone found only in Guatemala that was mainly grey with tiny flecks of blue throughout. Often, he tried to mask the rarity of his eyes that were passed down from his gene donor, as he called him, with a heavily accented, black eyeliner.

Based on their physical features, he and Chris hardly passed for brothers. While Jared possessed light hair and eyes, Chris took after their mother with his chocolate hair and honey-colored eyes with specks of green clover. Furthermore, while not genetic, Chris was leaner than his little brother and had spent most of his time playing baseball in the park with his childhood buds. Meanwhile, Jared often felt like he looked like a church mouse choosing music over sports (although both boys were a gift in both areas).

Jared took one last look at his reflection and let out a sigh. Maybe it wasn’t disdain he felt as he looked at the somber boy staring back at him. No, he saw bitterness, guilt, and regret behind those crystal eyes belonging to the monster in his nightmares. The boy in the mirror reverted to the frightened five-year-old kid who had since learned to keep an expressionless face. It contained a lifetime of pain and disappointment for which Jared could bear no ill feelings. He quickly shook off the memories of his past. There was no sense in crying over what couldn’t be fixed an hour before the start of something new. As much as he detested attending high school, he’d rather be there with his father, Manny Hess. The thought of his name changed the scared little boy into the vengeful cold-hearted teenager on the other side of the glass.

Jared shook off the negative feelings as he joined his brother in the kitchen just as he was hollering about the five-minute warning. Chris was reaching for the coffee pot, no doubt for the third time this morning, Jared thought.

“That stuff will rot your teeth, dude.” Jared opted for a crisp-looking apple on the table.

“I’d rather my last meal be one with a caffeine rush than something boring.” Chris raised an eyebrow as he watched his brother eat his meager breakfast, an apple and a glass of strawberry milk because regular was boring, but the chocolate was too sweet. In Chris’ opinion, only a psychopath drank milk by itself in the first place. “You ready for you a new adventure, little bro?” Chris asked with a smile that Jared usually enjoyed, but today it felt like the arrogant prick you wanted to avoid in the halls. His response was as cold as the artic.

“Oozing with excitement, I don’t think I can make it through the drive.” Jared threw the apple after three bites into the waste basket with such aggression that the tiny object fell to its side. Chris was about to push the matter when their mother entered the room. Her voice filled the room with a certain air that exuded warmth and love that even Jared’s sourness softened.

“Are you boys ready to head out?”

Chris abandoned his coffee mug, a rarity nearly knocking Jared off the barstool, as he pecked their mother on her cheek. He reached for the keys to his truck, which was basically an appendage, and the most expensive thing in the Hess household, paid for by Chris’ busboy job down at the local greasy spoon where he spent 8 hours a day, four nights a week after school and baseball practice.

“I was just waiting for your little pride and joy, per your request.”

“My baby is growing up. I’m officially the mother of two teenagers.” Katherine Hess pulled her sons into a massive hug before the littlest Hess could protest. It’s not like he felt anything but the greatest admiration for both his mother and brother, but Jared had been building a formidable castle around his emotions for years that affection wasn’t something he craved. Mixed with the admiration and love for his mother was sadness as he thought about how she had spent most of her life tied to a man like Manny. Of course, for reasons he didn’t care to share, he knew she couldn’t get away easily.

“Manny, come see the boys off for school! It’s a big moment for our little Jared!”

“Dammit, Kathy, I’m busy. I don’t have time for the kid. Just say bye for me.” Manny shouted from the back of the house, probably the luxurious master bath. Jared rolled his eyes, knowing that Manny being ‘busy’ just meant he was either slumped over the toilet nursing a hangover or trying to take a warm bath while downing a cocktail of pills to leave the image of a hard-working father for the public’s sake.

“Don’t sweat it, mom. We’ll see him at dinner, and we can fill him in then.” Chris said.

“With any luck, we won’t see him for a week,” Jared muttered.

“Well then, you better get going. I don’t want my boys late on their first day of school. I’ll be here waiting when you get home, and Jared, I want to hear all about your first day as a young adult!” Katherine smiled brightly and kissed her son’s cheek before happily striding back into their ‘family’ home. Jared shook his head at the happy image. It baffled him that his mother was so perky when she had to share a home with such a foul man, worse yet, a bed. Jared jumped into the truck without thinking about his father, slamming the door.

“Careful with Jenny, brother.” Despite his frustrations, Jared couldn’t help but break into the tiniest smile. His brother named his car after actress Jennifer Beals after falling madly in love with her in “Flashdance” and swearing he would marry a dancer just like her. Jared figured he not only loved Miss Beals, but she also bore a striking resemblance to Ivana, a girl his brother had a crush on since they were in primary school.

“I don’t understand why everyone makes such a big deal about high school. It’s the same losers I avoided in middle school; the area is just now larger to hide. Best four years of my life, damn how miserable does that sound. It’s like a prison sentence, man.”

“I’m not going to lie. It’s not all glamour. There are still some cool things about high school. The music department is sick little bro.”

“Whatever, still lame.” Jared leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and resting his feet on precious Jenny’s dashboard.

“Muster up a little enthusiasm, brother. You’re not just going to high school. You’re going to Liberty High, Jared.

“I like so can’t wait,” Jared said, clapping his hands together in his best impression of the valley girls he and his friends couldn’t stand. Chris couldn’t help but chuckle despite the rudeness behind the joke.

Liberty High was a private school dedicated to the Arts and Athletics. Thanks to Chris’ insane baseball skills and Jared’s musical talents ranging from singing to guitar and massive amounts of scholarships, they could attend such a prestigious school. In an attempt to think about anything but the so-called best years of life, Jared thought back to his audition in June. He was a skilled baseball player, not nearly in the same league as his brother, but knew his only hope was in the art program and thus was judged by a panel of music teachers. The primary ‘judge’ was one Chris always raved about, the guitar teacher, Mr. Montelongo. He was just a few years older than Chris and was the subject of many odd crushes, including one of the lunch ladies that was old enough to be his grandmother. Unafraid of his pretty boy self, Jared took the stage confidently and impressed the man with a homage to the Police using both a guitar and piano. Mr. Montelongo, while impressed with the instrumentation, was sold on Jared’s unique voice, one he chose not to use often.

“Are we going to be surrounded by Riches?” Jared groaned, coming out of his flashback. Chris nodded sadly. “Ain’t that just hellacious.” Too tired to offer a usual snarky comment, Jared turned away from his brother and stared solemnly out the window as he watched the sun win against the grey clouds.

Chris cleared his throat, hoping the air would follow suit. “Hey, at least you can make music and play baseball. Surely that counts for something.”

“I’m not even on the team yet. Chill out, dude.”

“Coach Brooks has his tryouts this Friday. It’s your genes, man. You’re going to get on the team without a doubt.”

Jared let out a long sigh as he held a hand to his forehead. I should have tried out for the drama club. Chris thought, fighting the urge to laugh. “I’m sorry I’m such a hoser. I guess I’m just stressed. Everyone makes such a big deal about high school. But what is the worst that can happen in four years?”

“Bite your tongue, Jared. I don’t think you can afford the bad karma. It isn’t going to be that bad. Maybe Billy will make it all better.” Chris pointed out the car window towards a teenage boy sitting under a large tree right outside the front entrance. Jared, lost in his emotions, hadn’t realized they had arrived and were pulling into the upper-classman parking lot.

For the first time since summer ended, Jared lit up at the sight of Billy Valentine, his best friend. “Go ahead. I’ll be fine alone. It’s not like I want to hang out with a bunch of fresh meat anyways.”

Jared offered a sincere smile to his brother before dashing off, leaving Chris to his vices. Billy Valentine was not focused on the parking lot, but Jared’s loud screaming awoke him from his daydreaming pleasures. The boy was drastically different from his best friend and entirely lean for a first-year student in high school. Billy, not by choice in his early years, had been wrestling since he was a young lad. When he wasn’t constantly fighting for his life and his little sister, he worked out as he prepared for his future. Since he was five years old, Billy longed to join the Marines. While it was a dream Jared did not understand, as he merely wanted to create art, he always supported his friend.

“Jared Hess, I was wondering when a familiar face would appear in this shit hole” Billy was standing with his foot against a tree and offered Jared a charming smile. He wore black cargo jeans with a grey tank top that showed off a fresh arm tattoo that Jared watched him get from a cousin just last week. His once long hair, like Jared’s, was now cut short and spiked. Personally, Jared thought it suited his mocha-colored hair better, but Billy was still sulking over losing one of his favorite qualities.

“It’s good to see you too, man; not like Chris is bad company.” Jared smiled. He and Billy instantly became friends as they both had complicated home lives. Billy was an orphan, or at least that’s what he led people to believe whenever they asked him. He had never met his mother, only knew her to be promiscuous, leaving his father to raise two young children. After his mother left, his father spiraled, barely taking time to tend to his children’s needs. Mr. Valentine frequented a lot of Manny Hess’ favorite hangouts. Relying on each other and Chris as the only male figure they needed, the boys had been best friends since they were three.

“Any sign of Russo?” Jared asked.

Jacob Russo was the third member of their little group and arguably the most normal. He was considered very intelligent but often was ashamed to reveal that side of himself around his companions who were more interested in making music than academics. Not that they weren’t brilliant, but Russo preferred brain games over discussing music theory.

“He’s probably tending to his beloved hair.” Billy laughed.

“I wouldn’t harp on his love for his hair. Or would you like me to hand you a mirror?”

Billy playfully pushed Jared and offered him a grin. “Okay, smart guy, how about you? How was your summer? Lose anything precious?”

Jared shrugged his shoulders. “My mom was gone most of the summer. Well, the half you weren’t around for. She had some business to take care of with my grandmother in France, so basically, Chris and I spent most of our time dodging Manny. ”

“I can’t believe your grandmother refuses to leave France. If anyone could keep Manny in line, it would be Grandma Levesque.”

“Oui, Je sais,” Jared said. His mother was born in Marseille but came to the states on her journey across the globe. Katherine Levesque was an adventurous soul not destined to remain in one place too long. She was passionate about photography and began her life as a traveling photographer as soon as she was old enough to leave her old home behind. Though she will deny it vehemently, after falling for a bad boy she met during a photo shoot and immediately becoming pregnant, she put her dreams on hold to raise her son. Her mother remained in France, too stubborn to move even for her grandchildren. Jared missed her greatly because, as the widow of an army general, she learned not to take crap from nobody, including his tyrant of a father.

“I don’t think Gran would have been able to stop me from falling down the stairs last week. Not even Chris was much help, and he was there.” Jared rolled his eyes.

“Again?” Billy sighed.

Jared rolled up his plaid shirt revealing a fresh purple patch among faded scars, tiny holes, and several abrasion marks. Before Billy could offer his remorse, or more likely, a display of colorful language, Jared quickly covered his arm back up and gave his best friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Whatever, man, it is life. Let’s get this day over with.”

“Yeah, we might as well head inside. It’s kind of chilly out here, and I have no faith that the princess will be here anytime soon. He loves that hair more than fresh air.” Before the boys could make up the cobblestone leading to the next four years of their life, a familiar voice was heard shouting across the parking lot.

“Jared, Billy, wait up for me!” The voice belonged to a fair-skinned girl with flowing platinum blonde curls resting against her shoulders and gently touching the tips of her breasts, which, much like Billy’s stature, was rather mature for her age. Her sky-blue eyes practically shined like diamonds under the bright California sun, causing many boys to stare in her direction and girls to scoff as they crossed their arms across their chests. Her outfit was also relatively mature, if not a little scandalous for school. It consisted of a tight leather skirt fitted tightly around her waist with a shirt identical to Jared’s, except hers was tied back to match the form-fitting bottom.

“She might grate my nerves most days, but man, that’s a cold chick.” Billy grinned as Jared shot him a warning look.

“Well, well, aren’t we lucky to have run into you, Vivian?” Billy said as Vivian approached them with a flip of her hair and a rather heated pout.

“Not nearly as lucky as I am, big guy.” Vivian winked playfully before wrapping her arms around Jared’s neck, not bothered by the hundreds of eyes still on her.

“But the real luck is seeing this stud before class,” Vivian whispered seductively as she ran her hand gently down Jared’s chest stopping dangerously close to becoming an R-rated movie. Jared, just as oblivious to the stares as his girlfriend, kissed Vivian passionately for way longer than necessary, in Billy’s opinion, as he rolled his eyes. While he found Vivian attractive and could have fun with her through flirtatious jokes, he found her to be a bit much. He wouldn’t tell Jared, but he thought she was bad news for his best friend.

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t think Liberty High wants a recap of our 8th grade formal dance.” Billy said. The young couple pulled apart, giving each other a look as if they were running out of life-sustaining elements.

“I’m not going to get horizontal out here, Billy. I would at least make it to a bathroom.” He laughed as he reached for Vivian’s hand. She playfully reached for something else before tenderly squeezing Jared’s hand and winking.

“For my eyes, I hope you’re right. Let’s go inside and get our schedules, and then after class, you guys can do whatever you want. Far away from here.”

“I’m down. I want this stupid day to be over. I’ll take the next four years. I’m not going to need most of this crap anyways when I’m playing out stadiums across the globe.” Jared rolled his eyes.

“What’s so lame about a school for talented kids?” Vivian asked.

“Jared just thinks learning is lame. He’s kind of a downer on such a big day. Come on, man, it’s got to be better than middle school.”

Jared let out a long sigh. “L’enfer c’est les autres (hell is other people)”.

“Okay cool guy, let’s cut the mysterious foreigner act and say Bonjour to Liberty High. Besides, what’s the worst in the next four years?” Billy said with a weak smile.

In his mind, Jared could hear Gran Levesque’s voice saying, “Le monde est un livre don’t chaque pas nous ouvre une page” or “The world is a book with each step we open a page,” a famous French saying she would always tell him whenever he asked what could possibly happen next. With one more sigh, he tightened his grip on Vivian’s hand, turned to his best friend and matched his unsure grin, and stepped inside the halls of Liberty High. Liberty High, home of the Cougars. A new chapter in life. To quote Billy, what could go wrong in the so-called best four years of their life? As Gran Levesque would say, “Ne jamais poser cette question…”