Joining the Band

Get Me Out

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it has been so long. I know I've said that before.. But here I am saying it again. This time I'm hopefully gonna finish this book! I finally got some inspiration and an idea of where to take it. Thanks for hanging in there! 

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Jo's POV

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I was nervous as I loaded into the back of Jacky's car with Ronnie. Derek had decided to drive with Ryan. Once Ronnie helped me slide into the back, he closed the door behind me and jumped into the passenger seat. They both looked back at me.

"What?" I asked nervously, looking at them. They looked at each other before Jacky replied. 

"Well, Jo. You have to quit your job, say goodbye to your friends, we have to run by your house and get whatever you need, and talk to your principal at your school to try and get you un-enrolled. Where to first?" 

I sighed and closed my eyes. I didn't realize how much I had to do. I took a deep breath to keep from crying and thought for a second. "What time is it?"

"Barely noon." Ronnie checked his phone and replied. I thought for another minute. 

"My parents won't be home until around 5. Should we stop by my school and then head to my house?" They nodded in agreement as Jacky shifted the car into drive. I directed him until we pulled into my school parking lot and Jacky turned the car off. I looked at the building and bit my lip as tears filled my eyes. 

"Jo? You ok?" Ronnie looked at me with concern in his expression. 

"Yea. Sorry. I just always wanted to leave this place. But now that I'll never come back or see these people again, I'm kinda sad. And nervous." I chewed on my lip again and slid to the door of the car, opening it. Ronnie jumped out of the car and held the door while helping me out of the car. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. 

"You're gonna be okay, okay? We are here with you." Jacky smiled at me while Ronnie spoke. I nodded slowly before starting to walk towards the building. I opened the front door and walked in, softly smiling at the lady at the front desk. She looked at my bloody mess of a face, and then at the two tattooed band members walking next to me. 

"C-can I help you?" She tried to smile normally. I slowly walked up to the desk, blushing. 

"Yea.. I need to.. Well, I need to leave. I'm dropping out." I mumbled while looking down at my hands. Ronnie stood next to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. 

"Oh. Well. You're going to need to talk to Mr. Hansen, then. You're also going to need your parents to come in." She picked up the phone to dial Mr. Hansen, our principal, as my eyes filled with tears at the thought of explaining to him everything that happened with my parents. I turned and looked at Ronnie. Jacky was examining the trophy case. 

"It'll be fine. Don't worry, Jo." Ronnie smiled reassuringly and reached for my hand. I bit my lip and nodded, trying my best to smile back at him. 

"Go ahead and go on up." I heard from behind me. I turned to see the front office lady smiling and pointing up at the principal's office. I walked towards the stairs, still holding Ronnie's hand, and started walking up the stairs. I winced as we went up the stairs, feeling the pain from my accident. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacky move behind me just in case I fell. We made it to the top of the stairs and I turned, leading the boys to Mr. Hansen's office. I knocked softly and waited a couple of seconds before hearing a crisp, "Come in!" I gently pushed the door open and walked in nervously, pulling Ronnie behind me. 

Mr. Hansen gasped when he saw me and stood up. "Jo, are you okay?" He asked with concern. I had known him since I was about 3 years old, when Jayce started going to his school. We were close. He always comforted me when I was upset, and talked to me about Clifford. He knew I loved that car. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to hold in my tears. "No. I'm not." I started crying and looked at the floor, sniffling, before I heard someone clear their throat behind me and felt Ronnie squeeze my hand again. I shuffled forward, still looking down, to let Ronnie and Jacky enter the room. They introduced themselves to Mr. Hansen while I tried to stop crying. It didn't work. 

"Jo, tell me what happened." Mr. Hansen demanded. I continued looking at my feet as I told him the whole story. Well, not quite the whole story. I left out the part about my parents seeing my cuts and said that they kicked me out because I had ran away for a day. I also left out the fact that the car accident wasn't actually an accident. He didn't need to know that stuff. I simply told him I was crying too hard to see and driving too fast, causing the accident. 

He was silent when I finished, and I was sobbing. Jacky grabbed the box of tissues off of Mr. Hansen's desk and handed it to me. I mumbled a thank you and grabbed a tissue, blowing my nose quietly and wiping my cheeks. Mr. Hansen was still silent. 

"She obviously can't go home," Ronnie started talking to Mr. Hansen. "so we want to take her with us. She can live with me. I have more than enough room in my house. She can earn her keep by selling merch for us when we tour, or watching my daughter. We can't leave her here alone." I looked up and saw Mr. Hansen looking at Ronnie. I couldn't tell if he looked angry or not. I was incredibly nervous. 

"Well, I don't know what to do here. I agree that she can't stay here. But I also don't know how I feel about letting her go off with a couple of band members who she has never met before. I think I'm gonna have to have a talk with you guys - alone." He looked at me and I bit my lip, nodding. 

"I can go get my stuff.." I whispered, not really wanting to go alone and also not wanting to leave the room. I wanted to know what they were going to talk about, but it didn't seem like I had much of a choice in the matter.  

Mr. Hansen nodded and Ronnie rubbed my cheek softly. "I think that's a good idea." He mumbled. I smiled at them half-heartedly and stepped out of the room, letting the door swing shut behind me. I paused behind the door, chewing on the inside of my cheek, before turning and walking slowly towards my locker.