The Story of a Friendship The Rest of Part Five

Bethany left early and headed out of her house feeling pretty good about herself, yet still a little nervous about seeing Jesse after what had happened the day before.  She still hadn’t figured out anything about what was going on between them, but she figured it was just a one-time fling and it would just fade away.  With Jesse’s popularity with the girls and Bethany being surrounded by guys, she found it easy to find comfort in the fact that they wouldn’t be seeing that much of each other, though in the back of her mind she knew that he would find her.  She walked into her very familiar high school and went straight to her new locker.  1

‘Yes!  Top locker!’ she thought as she spun the code into the dial and it popped open.  When she had put all her stuff inside, all of her personal touches for the year, she went outside, hoping to find someone familiar to talk to.  As she walked down the front steps and onto the front lawn she could see Jesse’s car weaving in and out of lines of parked cars.  She just had to laugh.  He just never learned that he shouldn’t drive to school later then seven o clock and try and park in the school parking lot.  It just wasn’t possible.  She was glad he didn’t see her as he turned around again and flew out of the parking lot in frustration, down one of the side roads to park.  Bethany looked around franticly looking for someone to start talking to.  She thanked her lucky stars as she saw her drama friend Anna-lee walking up with her usual bright smile and shoulder slung backpack.  Bethany quickly stepped into her path and struck up a conversation, following Anna-lee to her own locker as they compared schedules and swapped horror stories about some of the new teachers.2

Jesse slammed his car door and swung his back pack over his shoulder so hard he felt his binder hit his shoulder blade just right to make his arm feel like it was dead.  He growled under his breath as he opened the truck and removed his most prized possession, one of the only things that got him attention.  His guitar case hung carried in his right hand.  He walked up the hill with a confident stride, but as he approached the school his confidence faltered.  He watched as Bethany completely ignored him and walked into the school with her friend he had seen frequently at auditions.  Never had Bethany left without him, especially on the first day of school.  3

‘Level headed… keep it cool.  You have other friends.’  Jesse looked around for someone he knew.  In reality, he knew practically everyone he saw who wasn’t a sophomore.  The hard part was finding someone he actually wanted to talk to!  Finally, Jesse spotted one of his good friends.  Brian sat across the lawn with his back leaned up against a tall, think tree, headphones blaring loud rock music as usual as he pounded out the drum part in the air with his drum sticks.  Jesse smiled slightly and walked over to Brian, who didn’t seem to notice him.  Jesse set his guitar down and sat down beside Brian, pulling off the headphones.  If Brian didn’t know what he was doing, he would have given Jesse a black eye with his wild sticks of fury.  “Brian!  I do admire your passion, but you look a little ridiculous with your drum sticks flying through the air.”  Brian jumped and smiled at his good friend.4

“Hey Jesse!  Waz up bro?  I haven’t seen you in ages!  How ya been?”  Jesse and Brian exchanged their typical high five, handshake guy thing.  Jesse looked a little distant, but he couldn’t let anyone know anything was wrong.5

“You know how it is man.  Job, parents, parties, dates, a whole crap full of stuff!”  Brian nodded and started to put his drumsticks away in his bag as the first bell rang.6

“Alright man, we still on for tonight?”  Jesse looked at him confused.7

“What’s going on tonight?”  Brian lightly hit Jesse on the head with one of his drumsticks.8

“Duh man.  Practice!”  Jesse nodded, and both got up and walked up the front steps into the school building with the rest of the rushing crowd.9