Don't be afraid to Jump

Chapter Five

I wander around for the rest of the day, roaming the hallways, drifting through classes, waiting for after school when I'm going for milkshakes with him at Dot's Cafe.

As I come out of school, I couldn't feel worse. I just want to go home and let my mum stroke my hair and let me watch re-runs of Sherlock on television but a part of me is desperate to go, I just can't help it, teenage hormones and all. Sam strides up behind me, I know he's there, and pounces on me. I yelp and hit him in the groin with my elbow and smack him with the heel of my hand in the nose, one thing I learnt from Miss Congeniality. Blood runs down his nose, he's doubled over clutching his stomach and moping on the ground. Everybody looks at us, "What was that for?" He shouts, incredulously. It looks like a dead something just exploded on his face, there's loads of blood. A little bit of glee escapes me and I snigger, "You attacked me from behind, you could have been a predator."

"Anybody could be a predator, but I'm not so..." He gathers himself up and wipes his face with his t-shirt. I'm pretty sure I just broke his nose.

"Go, see the nurse, she'll help you, I'm going with Eli." I shout over the buzz of people watching us. He lets out an agonized moan and slinks over to the nurse's office. Eli laughs, "Wow, you can really hurt people, I think I might go home." His big goofy smile spreads across his face. We walk to Dot's Cafe, talking, a dozen words per minute. We talk about movies, music, celebrities and books. It seems to be an extra-long walk to Dot's Cafe.

"Where would you most want to visit in the whole world?" He asks me.

I twirl my hair around my finger and think. I know exactly where. Chagrin Falls, Ohio. But I don't want to tell him, I feel like it's one of my secrets.

"The Grand Canyon, obviously. You?"

"Verona, Italy. It's so beautiful. Plus I'm part Italian and so I can speak some Italian." He tells me, I let out a breathy sigh. Of course he's Italian, all perfect people are. Hello, Theodore Laurence?

"Wow, what do you want to do there?" I ask him.

"Play music, I want to move people to tears and become popular without singing about lewd acts or rapping about how much money I have, I want to sing about stuff that really matters to people."

"That sounds great, so a solo artist or a band?

"Well, I'm hoping to form a band in the next few weeks, I'm gonna call it The. Doesn't that sound awesome?"

No, it's not awesome, you're going to die before you even get your fist gig as a band

"Yeah it's very intriguing. Perhaps you'll play for me?"

"Sure, that's why we're here, I've got a gig and I needed to bring along a supporter and you were the only girl I knew who was free." He says as he pushes open the door to the Cafe.

My heart sinks. There's loads of people from school gathered round on table and chairs drinking coffees and milkshakes. There's an elevated stage for Eli and a microphone and amplifier. The owner hands me and him a strawberry milkshake each and I go sit down in a booth as Eli sets up on stage. The schools Diva, Maia is sitting in the booth next to me, checking her pout, or trout in the mirror. She exclaims in excitement and shouts, "Eli's here!" A girl squeezes in next to me as Eli starts his set. She looks up from her glasses and mutters a hello to me, her blonde hair falls at her shoulders and her brown eyes twinkle in the soft light of the Cafe. "I'm Kaitlyn." I tell her, extending a hand out to her.

"Elle." She replies taking my hand and giving it a polite shake. "Are you here with Eli?" She asks, I nod eagerly but not too much because he only brought me as a groupie. "Don't get too attached. He's done this with five other girls."

"I know, I didn't realise until ten minutes ago, I'm not gonna be hanging out with him much longer, as soon as I walk out I'll never want to talk to him again."

"Good, he's a jerk, nothing but a stuck up jerk." She mumbles, rummaging round in her bag, looking for something.

"You were one of those girls weren't you?"

"The first one, the second one and the third, neat huh?" She puts a copy of Red Queen on the table.

"That's my favourite book!" I almost squeal.

"Really, I like it but it's not my favourite, my favourite is 1984 by George Orwell."

"That's my friend Sam's favourite book." I say. Friend, he's not my friend.

"Friend, I heard you kicked his ass and broke his nose in the playground. I wouldn't call that friend."

"Rumours, obviously. Pffft."

"It's not a rumour, somebody caught it on tape and uploaded it to Youtube."

"Damn, what's it called?"

"Brunette kicks Cocky Boy's ass. Its tally is 134 views as of yet, it went up an hour ago." She winces looking at her phone. "It has 87 likes."

Eli sings beautifully. The words to his songs roll off of his tongue like honey. Elle tells me jokes and I laugh so hard that milkshake comes out of my nose, Eli looks over at me and smiles, I blush and look away, I will not like him, he's a jerk. I keep repeating it to myself. His set finishes and we sit with at the table long after Eli has said goodbye and gone. Sam walks in slightly dazed, his clothes rumpled and crinkled and a lipstick mark on his cheek. He slides in next to us, on Elle's side. "What happened to you?" I ask him.

"Some girl called Maia just started kissing me," He smiles at Elle, "But I fought her off, with my bare hands." I want to stick my fingers in my throat and throw up. Sam orders us another round of milkshakes and we sit there sipping our drinks and playing around. Sam flirts with Elle, Elle rejects him and sits with me on the side opposite from Sam.

After a while, Elle says she has to leave. "Do you want to come for a sleepover?" She asks me, I readily accept. "I have to bring Sam though."

"Why....?"

"Because he's currently living with me."

She agrees and we make our way to her house. I get out my phone and text my Mum.

"Can I sleepover at my friend's house? :)" I text her.

A ping comes back quickly. "That's fine, what about Sam?"

"He's coming with us, he feels more comfortable with me at the moment and doesn't really like being alone with adults."

"So sad :( That's fine." She texts back.

I smile as we get to Elle's house.