I've Gone Bad For Him (A Strokes Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1: "Who's That?"

        "Ugh". My head pounded with anxiety. It was my first day of a new high school in a new city. My family and I had moved to New York City from Maryland after my dad got offered a job. We moved in during the summer and I had done a fantastic job of staying inside by myself. I hadn't really met anyone accept for this girl named Robin who I started to talk to when I went to the library and I saw her sitting by herself. We had many things in common and found out that we were going to the same school. This was the very first time I'd moved out of my city and having met someone was a great stress reliever. It was our Junior year.

         Robin pulled up to my house in her 1986 Toyota to pick me up for school like we arranged. Her parents gave her that car after they got a new one.Most of the families at my new school were pretty wealthy, for it was a "top notch" private school. I was there on a scholarship and it sure was a strict one. As long as I never got a final grade below a B, I could stay. I wasn't exactly worried since I had always been a great student, always one of the best.

          I had earned the nickname "goody two shoes". I always followed the rules and was good. I never got in trouble and the only attention I attracted was positive. I've never had a cigarette or alcohol and I never really planned to. It was awful really, but I hadn't noticed the misery since I hadn't experienced any other lifestyle.

       Robin honked her horn to tell me to pick up the pace. The school was only about five minutes away  and we had about twenty minutes so I didn't really know what her rush was. I grabbed my small blue backpack and ran out the door waving goodbye to my parents. I ran around Robin's car and got into the passenger seat as quickly as possible. My heart pounded with anticipation.

         "Hey Melody! You excited?" Robin turned her car around and started driving toward my school. I shuddered and looked out the window. "Not exactly...." I huffed. I'd been extremely stressed since we moved. I wasn't ready for new people yet. I mean, I'd been going to school with the same people since Kindergarten, maybe Preschool. Robin tried to comfort me but it always just ended with more stress.

      "Listen Melody, I know you think it's going to be scary, but I promise you, people at this school are great. There's only one group of guys that you sort of need to look out for." Robin tried to hold in a smile but I was still looking out the window so I didn't notice. Her comment did spark my curiosity, though.

        "Oh really? Who is it? What do they do?" Robin tried to gather her thoughts so she could satisfy me.

        "Well, I guess you could sorta say they're my friends, but I only hang out with them because I have a crush on one of them. They're bad news though. They smoke, drink, ditch,cuss, you know. The whole nine yards. The only thing they don't do is drugs. That I know of, of course. They've even got this thing every Friday called "Slap Ass Friday." For the beginning of the year it's Tuesdays and Fridays. You know, to 'sort out the hotties.' It's really disgusting the way they talk about girls though.." Robin turned into the school's parking lot.

       I sighed. We had fifteen minutes before school and I asked her if we could just sit in the car and talk. It was fine with her as long as we got out of the car at least five minutes until the bell.

      "So where are they?" I scanned the parking lot for any people that suited Robin's description. There were mostly people hugging and comparing class schedules. Robin and I had a very similar schedule and we were happy about it. "Not sure." she searched all over for the group that didn't seem to be anywhere.

       She took a sip of a half empty water bottle she had while I rested my head on my bag that was sitting comfortably in my lap.Robin's eyes got wide and she pulled the bottle away from her mouth with urgency that probably wasn't so necessary. "There they are!" she pointed toward a group of grungy looking teenagers. The living image of the 90's. Leather jackets, torn jeans, probably reek of cigarettes.

       "Let's go introduce you!" Robin pulled on my arm. I got confused right away.

       "What? You told me I should stay away from them! What the hell?" she was already out of her car and dragging me out and away from it. "I don't want you to be a loner forever! Hey guys!!" Robin waved to them and I covered my face. One guy with curly hair waved back and they smiled at each other.

      "Hey Robin! Who's that?" One with long brown hair nodded his head toward me and I felt embarrassed. They were all sort of attractive and I really didn't want the first person I meet to be attractive. That's just asking for trouble. Finally we reached them completely and I felt my face burning with all the eyes focused on me.

      "This is my friend Melody. She just moved to New York and she's scared so make her feel better!" Robin shoved me forward onto the one with brown hair and he caught me with ease before I hurt myself. I felt myself turn crimson and my head was hot. The guy laughed and pulled me up by the arms. "Thanks..." I mumbled and turned to Robin with an extremely frightening face while she was laughing her head off.

      "Let me introduce you. This is Albert and Fabrizio." Robin pulled me back and pointed to two guys with curly hair. "This is Nick." the tallest one with short wavy hair. "And... this is Julian. We call him Jules." She pointed to the guy who caught me and he smiled and waved. "Guys this is Melody Moore.She will be hanging out with us from now on. Be nice." I bit my cheek and looked away at a couple of girls hugging.

      We all walked around a bit and sat down at an old picnic table. Robin and the other guys just talked constantly while Jules and I just sat quietly across from each other. Occasionally he would throw in a "yeah" or "cool" but not without looking over to me afterwards. While Robin and the other guys were busy talking about how boring there summer was, Julian leaned over the table and whispered to me.

     "Wanna go walk around? They're sorta boring me..." he looked a bit desperate, so I nodded shyly. We got up quietly and nobody noticed much. We walked around the grassy courtyard by the front office.

       "Where're you from?" He turned to me. "Rockville, Maryland. I don't miss it much, just my friends." I looked down."Hey, that's cool. Maryland." He looked down too.

         "I don't understand. Robin said you were bad news, but you seem kinda cool and nice." I looked up at him towering over me. He looked back at me, laughed, and looked back down."I don't know. I guess I kinda am, but I don't want to be mean to you." I raised my eyebrow.

     "Why's that? Pity? Sympathy?" We stopped walking and he smiled. "No, it's just you seem kinda cool." Julian laughed. "What do you mean? I haven't said a word all morning!" I countered.

     "Well I don't know! You just do!" Jules rubbed the back of his neck. At that moment the bell rang and I looked panicked. He laughed  and took my wrist. "Just come with me, stupid!" "Oh, there's the mean!" I pointed out. We both laughed as he lead me to the Auditorium where the "Beggining of th Year" assembly was being held.