Rockin' Romeo and Jammin' Juliet

Four AM Fisting

Chapter 27: Four AM Fisting

((Playlist: I Don't Care If You're Contagious by Pierce The Veil))

"Alright, class." Mr. Fulton waved his hands in the air enthusiastically. "Today I want to talk to each group about the progress of their final project. When I call you up, please have your notes, sheet music, drafts, blueprints, albums, what have you, ready to show to me."

Sophie suddenly felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Jackson?" She tapped his shoulder.

He looked up from the song he'd been writing in his notebook, then snapped it shut quickly. "What?" He glanced back at her, almost nervously. "You didn't read any of that, did you?"

"No..." she said slowly, cautious of his fishy behavior.

"Okay, great," he smiled at her coolly. "So what's up?"

"We haven't started that project yet."

His brows knit together. "What project?"

"The one for this class. The one Mr. Fulton wants to see our progress on."

"Oh, shit."

Sophie glanced up. A group had already finished showing Mr. Fulton their work and he was calling up the next group. "Give me some paper, quick."

Jackson ripped out a few sheets. She twirled her pen around in thought for a moment, then said, "you start working on an album cover; I'll write a song."

"You're gonna write a song in like five minutes?" Jackson asked incredulously. Sophie ignored him as she began to scribble some words down. Jackson shrugged and started to draw.

After a couple minutes of furious scribbling, Mr. Fulton called them up. "Shit," Jackson muttered again. They gathered their haphazard papers and nervously handed them to him.

Mr. Fulton raised his eyebrows at the slightly wrinkled, messy notebook sheets. "This is what you've done so far? You've had nearly two months."

Sophie and Jackson shared a look. "We got a little sidetracked with... other classes," he lied with a shrug.

"Both of you?"

Sophie nodded. Mr. Fulton sighed and handed them back the papers. "Well, at least you have something. But this project is due at the end of the year; you two better get cracking on this."

They nodded and went back to their desks. "I think that went well," Jackson said optimistically.

Sophie sighed. "I can't believe we completely forgot about this."

"We've been busy." He grinned and gave Sophie a nudge.

"Yes, and while we've been- well, you know," she shrugged, "we've been jeopardizing our grade."

"Everything will be fine, Soph. We've just got to get through all this crazy stuff; namely, the talent show on Friday."

"Right. Don't we have rehearsal today?"

"Actually, we have a gig."

Sophie scowled, having no memory of anything being said at their last rehearsal. "Really? Since when?"

"Since Alan MacAlister walked up to me in first period and said he needed a band to play at his parents' bar tonight. The other group cancelled," he grinned. "Said they'll pay us good as long as we play until midnight and don't drink anything."

"A bar? You expect me to tell my parents I'll be out until midnight because you're taking me to a bar? You've met my parents, right?"

"Speaking of that, when do I get to meet your parents? You've been to my house a ton, and I've only ever talked to your sister. And your mom, for about twenty seconds."

"Eventually." She eyed him dubiously. "Please, just answer my question." She didn't savor the notion of trying to plan out dinner between Jackson and her parents just yet. Just speculating about the interview her father would put him through made her head spin.

"Just tell your parents we're seeing a movie or that I'm taking you to dinner. Something way classier than a rock gig at MacAlister's dive bar. It's called The SS or something like that."

"And will we be grabbing dinner?"

"The band will order pizza. Evan will order anchovies on half, Lilith will complain about it, Dave will eat seven pieces of pizza. You know, the usual."

Sophie laughed. "How romantic."

Under the desk, he twined his fingers with hers. "Trust me, we can make it as romantic as we want."

She was unable to fight back a giggle. "Pizza and a dive bar?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that a dive bar can be very romantic if you're with me."

"Uh-huh. Next, you'll try to convince me that Lilith isn't a Satanist."

"Technically, she's a Wiccan," he shrugged.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll go to a bar with you on one condition."

"And that is?"

"Buy Dave his own pizza so I get more than just a crust."

Jackson laughed. "Deal."