sample chapter 14

I’m in American Government and totally tuning out of the lecture because I’m thinking about my dream from last night. It was about Chessa and I and we were in some house, but I’m not really sure it was her. It sounded like her but didn’t really look like her, but I can’t really remember because it was dark. We were in some room and there was a couch and she was wearing a white nightgown. I came up behind the couch and we started hugging and then we were fully kissing and she was breathing in my ear. Something serious was going on like I had to go away or do something dangerous, but I just can’t remember what it was. I just know that the moment was intense and we were like almost crying and stuff.
We get our first book assignment in advanced comp, and it’s Farewell To Arms. Last semester in writing class it was All Quiet On The Western Front and now another book about war. It’s my first time reading Hemingway so I’m wondering what it will be like. I write down some Smiths lyrics on my Pee-Chee from that song ‘Frankly Mr. Shankly’ off The Queen Is Dead album because I was listening to it all night while talking to Chessa and Kirtis. When the bell rings, I’m all gay and lame because that dream is still stuck in my head and so I’m the second to last one out of class right before the nerd who’s all upper pants and huge backpack.
I’m walking towards my car when a girl with light brown hair comes up to me out of nowhere.
“Hi, I’m Shawna.”
“Hey,” I nod and give her a once over. She’s all young and cheeks but looks rad wearing tight bleached jeans.
“You’re Brent right?”
“Yeah, how did you know that?”
“Haha, that’s funny,” she laughs and then looks away and then over at some other girls who are unlocking their bikes. “You know my friend Trista? She’s the blond standing over there hiding from you,” she laughs.
I look over at the girls and see a tall brunette who is all elbows and then some short fat one and then there’s Trista. “She the one with the red shoes?”
“Yep, that’s her. So you had tennis with her last year and she totally has this big crush on you,” she looks at me and then back at Trista. “She’s totally too shy to come over.”
I look back at Trista and she looks over at us quickly and I can tell she’s fully embarrassed and then they start laughing while I just stand there, not really knowing what to say.
“So here, that’s Trista’s number and she wants you to call her okay?”
“Uh, okay,” I say while looking at the torn piece of notebook paper with Trista Chamberlain written on it in big letters and then the phone number underneath.
“So call her, like for real okay,” she says and then starts giggling while going back to her friends.
I put the piece of paper in my pocket and then wave toward them and they all wave back. I start going through my backpack while checking out Trista on her bike. She seems cute but really young like probably a sophomore. Her body seems young too like she doesn’t have a lot of curves and stuff. She has curly light brown hair which isn’t really blonde with some freckles on her face. She’s like around the same size as Lisa but with less body.
I grab my stuff and then head out to the parking lot. I spot my 210 under the tree and now it has leaves all over it. I open the hatch back, throw in my stuff and slam it shut, then get in and start the engine. I just sit there for a second remembering that day when those girls on bikes where waving to me, but I was already past them and it was too late to wave back. I’m pretty sure now that it was Trista and her friends that I saw that day.
I leave the parking lot and head down the street toward Walnut and see that an accident just happened. The light turns green right as I arrive and while slowly turning left, I see a Celica parked in the middle of the street and then a bike with its front wheel all mangled lying in front of it. Some girl is sitting on the curb with a few people standing around her. I can see that the girl is crying and an older lady is checking her out her leg which is all bloody and then I’m past it and down the road. I just keep driving while looking in the rear view mirror and after I turn right at Yale, I hear sirens and can see a fire truck coming out of the fire station on the corner. I make two quick lefts and then pull into the driveway and shut off the ignition. I just sit there, listening to the sirens and the image of that girl crying and her bloody leg start making me sick and so I just sit there for a few minutes until the sirens stop.
And at work later I’m still bothered by it but don’t say anything to anyone because I know that if I do, everyone will want to know all the details and stuff, but I don’t really feel like talking about it and getting that sick feeling again. I go out back twice with Shana to smoke cigarettes and during the last one, she asks me what’s wrong with my ass today because I’m all quiet and stuff so I tell her about wanting Chessa and also about the accident. She tosses her cigarette and then tells me “That sucks”, but then she’s just all whatever about it and goes back inside and I’m glad she wasn’t all efforts for the details.
I watch Three’s Company before starting homework and it’s the hilary one where Jack secretly goes on a date with Larry and Terry and sits in the booth next to them at some restaurant. Larry is all nervous and doesn’t know what to say so he listens for Jack to tell him stuff and then repeats it to Terry. Then Jack starts getting distracted by his date who is that blonde idiot named greedy Gretchen and so things all are confusing and stuff when Larry thinks Jack is talking to him when he’s actually talking to Gretchen. I fully roll when Terry looks at Larry and she’s all “Why would you say that?” and he just looks off into space and says, “I don’t know” because he was just repeating what Jack was saying. Full House comes on after, but I don’t feel like watching it so I open my Sociology book and start reading chapter seven. I decide that tonight I’m going to tell Chessa that I like her and ask her out for this weekend. I’m so not into this chapter so I pull out my diary instead and write about last weekend and then hear the garage door opening and the Mazda pulling in.
Dad makes Halibut, rice and peas for dinner and normally it’s one of my favorite meals, but tonight every thing looks like the accident and especially the halibut so it takes awhile for me to eat it. I feed Sneakers and then go into my room and close the door. I look in my closet for some alchy, but there isn’t any and I already knew there wasn’t, but I had to check anyway. I look at my clock and it says 8:52 p.m. I decide to call Kirtis first.
“Hey what’s up?”
“Not much, just doing homework.”
“I’m gonna tell Chessa tonight.”
“You’re gonna call Chessa tonight…and?”
“I’m gonna tell her that I like her and ask her out for this weekend.”
“Fuck yeah! About fucking time.”
“Okay I’ll call you after.”
“You better.”
We hang up and I immediately rise to 159°F. I look up at Morrissey and then over at Richard Butler and finally at Bono. They just stare at me like they know everything and they’re fully pissing me off and then I imagine Bono calling some chick and telling her that he fully likes her and it cracks me up.
I dial her number.
“Hi.”
“Hi, how are you?”
167°F. “I’m good,” I say while leaning back against my bed and staring at my feet.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh just taking a break from doing homework. I’m just like all tired and stuff so I wanted to call you before I get started again.”
“Cool, so how was your day?”
“It was okay. There was like, this accident after school.”
“Really…what happened?”
“I was just leaving and so as I was turning left at the light, I saw some girl on the curb and her bike was all thrashed. I think she was hit by a car.”
“Oh my god, was she hurt?”
“She seemed okay but like her leg was all bloody and stuff.”
“That’s horrible. Did you stop or anything?”
“No, there were already people there and stuff and then as I was driving away I heard the sirens.”
“God that sucks.”
“Yeah. It made me feel sick and then when I went to work, I just kept thinking about it and stuff. So how was your day?”
“Well nothing like that, but it was okay I guess. I had a chem test today and then Erika came over and we ate like a whole bag of Doritos while studying,” she laughs.
“Cool.” I look up at Bono again and almost start laughing but don’t and then put in the Organization tape and ‘2nd Thought’ starts playing. “So I was just like wondering about well…just what’s going on with stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“I don’t know…like, it’s just that we talk all the time and like I haven’t even seen you since like that first time at the dance,” I say and now I know there’s no going back.
“I know, that’s totally hilary. But I asked you to that party last weekend,” she laughs and I feel all lame.
“Yeah I know. I was just wondering like, I don’t know…like, I guess just how you feel about stuff?”
“You mean about you?”
“No, about Nathan,” I laugh and then punch my pillow.
“Oh god, you know we’re totally just friends.”
“I know, you told me.” Pause. “I guess I just wanted to say that we should like go out, like maybe this weekend if you want to?”
“That’s cool. Well Friday there’s the football game and on Saturday I’m going over to Erika’s because it’s her Mom’s birthday.”
“Oh really, that’s cool.”
“Yeah, she’s totally been bugging me about what to get her and stuff because it’s her 40th birthday.”
I look over at the window and then at Morrissey and it’s like he doesn’t even care what’s going on.
“So I guess this weekend your busy then?”
“Yeah but we should totally do something. Are you going to the New Order Concert?”
“Yeah, Kirtis and I got tickets so we’re fully going.”
“Cool. Erika and I are going too so maybe we can see each other there?”
“Yeah totally. We can just meet somewhere.”
“Okay. Well I have to go finish some homework, but I’ll call you tomorrow…no wait, I’m going out with my parents tomorrow night to some dinner, but I’ll call you on Friday okay.”
“Okay,” I say and I’m just all lame and the moment is over anyway so I just say goodnight and then she’s gone.
After telling Kirtis about it, he says that she fully likes me and that something will probably happen the next time we see each other and it fully makes me happy and excited for the concert. I fall asleep to the rest of the OMD tape while thinking about Chessa and she’s wearing that nightgown from the dream last night and the weekend of the New Order concert seems so far away.

I toss my backpack on the bed and flip on some TV. The Dating Game is on and Chuck Woolery is all tan and perfect hair. This blonde chick is all teeth for her date and when they do the phone call, the guy she went on the date with is all teeth too and so it’s like the perfect match. I decide that I want to play some ball so I put on some shorts and a t-shirt, grab my basketball out of the garage and then head over to the courts. As I cross the street and into the parking lot of the elementary school, I make a duck face at some kid who’s riding by on his bike and he fully cracks up and then I realize that I was upper duck and I fully start rolling.
I shoot around for a little but it’s just with Dave and Than and some other guy that I don’t know, but no one else comes so after I nail a three-pointer from the top of the key, I bail.
And later that night I talk to Lisa and then Kirtis and he tells me about a party in Laguna Beach this weekend and how he knows the two guys who are throwing it and how they’re called Camarash Productions, and I fully roll because it’s like a business or something. I remember that I’m supposed to call Kim and tell her about it, but I still haven’t heard from Traney and so I don’t feel like talking to her yet. He also tells me that Dana is going and that they talked about it during photo shop so he’s all teeth for Saturday night, and I’m just gums because I wish Chessa was going, but she’s got plans this weekend.
I’m Friday teeth and during tennis class we play against Christine and her partner Kelly. I totally take it easy on my serve against Christine, but Kelly is all buff legs and backhands and when the whistle blows, we’re tied at three games each. I’m all slow and stuff while putting my racket away, but Christine and Kelly take forever and they’re all conversations and things so I just end up walking back to the gym by myself while wondering what time Chessa is going to call tonight.
Grace is all efforts during trig and after the quiz, she asks me about clubs because she wants to go to one. I tell her about Jagg and then Sensations but then she says that she wants to go to one in Newport so I tell her that I don’t know about clubs there and then she tells me that they’ll probably just go see Rocky Horror again.

“Hello.”
“Hey faggot.”
“Traney?”
“You got a good memory,” he sort of laughs.
“What the fuck? Where were you?”
“I’m in fucking Dallas man. That’s where I moved,” he laughs but it’s all asshole like.
“No shit dickhead but like what took you so long?”
“Yeah yeah, always fucking complaining.” Pause. “Things are cool. I hate school but met some cool people and stuff. And the scene is awesome. Fucking different chicks every night.”
“Really. So you’re like fully getting action and stuff?”
“Yeah, it’s different here. Not so much bullshit and crap like in fucking Irvine.”
“Have you called Kim?”
“Was wondering how long it would take you. Look, I like Kim. She’s cool and stuff and not all fake and shit like those other fucking bitches there, but I’m not gonna call her ‘cause there’s just no point. I mean I’m in fucking Dallas and she’s there. What’s the fucking point?”
“The point is that she fully digs you man and you guys fully got together right before you left,” I tell him with force while standing up and opening my window. The air feels good and then I walk over to my stereo and turn up ‘She Sells Sanctuary’.
“You’re just gonna have to tell her then?”
“Tell her what?”
“What I just fucking told you. Are you there Brent…hello, anybody home?” He’s all force and angry and stuff and I don’t get why is so pissed off.
“Well I’m glad you’re having fun and shit, but fuck you for asking me to tell her that,” I say and then ‘Little Face’ comes on.
“Dude, just do it for me okay. I’ll call you later,” he says and then I hear the click and he’s gone. I hang up the phone and stare at my pillow and then grab my nerf basketball and do a reverse dunk. So he just called to tell me to blow off Kim. Asshole.