Radical (On Hold)

Chapter 5

It was a Monday. The day everyone always struggled to get back on their weekday schedules, which consisted of stress and sleep deprivation.

Andy dropped his books onto his desk and slumped into his seat. Two more weeks. Two more weeks of school, and that was it. Then, he would finally graduate.

"'Sup, man?" Andy looked up to see his friend, Jake, leaning over. He looked exhausted as well, with dark circles under his drooping eyes.

"Feel like shit. You?"

"Don't we all?" Jake sat beside him. Eventually, their other friends, Cece, Ashley, and Jinx, joined them.

-

Cece beat his palms against the lunch table. Andy sang random words, trying to match the rhythm.

"Those times we learn to try...with one... intention. / Of learning how...and when we'll try...no...die...hmm. But we can't listen?"

"Love it, man!" Cece stopped drumming on the table, giving a grin and a thumbs-up. "We should turn it into a song! Like, a band."

"Sweet."

-

"What is that?" Sara laughed, pointing at a photo on Google. Adia stared at her monitor, scrolling down and enlarging the photo.

"LLAMA!" It was, indeed. It was a meme, of a "derpy llama". Its teeth were bared in a goofy way; its tongue dangled outside of its mouth.

They both laughed, beginning to look at more photos. Adia saved some of them and put them on her PowerPoint project.

As she scrolled through more pictures, she saw a llama holding a guitar. Obviously photoshopped, but it got her thinking. She paused, then typed something else into the search bar.

For the rest of class, while she was supposed to be doing her work, she scrolled through photos that ranged through guitars to bands to teenage boys.

Her heart hurt. She longed for the boy. The boy with the red guitar. The boy with the last Peace Tea. The boy she had punched in the face.

-

Andy stared at the beautiful red guitar. He had played it with Eli, and for a crowd a couple of nights before. He loved playing guitar. He loved singing. Being part of a band...it was the perfect idea.

As he helped out people while they shopped, he couldn't help but imagine...

What if?

After work, it was late. Andy didn't care. His brain was so full of ideas that he wouldn't have been able to sleep, anyway. Instead, he pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing.

He began writing a song.