Sincerely, Jonah

Chapter 5

I think band class will be my favorite of them all. My teacher was super nice and she gave me a violin to take home and practice, along with a binder with music notes inside.

They're working on a piece for an assembly we're having before Thanksgiving break, so she told me to work on that. I was going to use a guitar, but my dad told me I need to try something new, & so here I am, can't even play a note without it sounding scratchy and just, horrible.

Luckily I have enough time to learn at least the part I was assigned to do.
Finn told me we can practice sometime on the weekend or after school at his place, & I agreed. It felt great having someone to talk to, and we have more things in common than I thought.

V met us at his locker after school. Since the town is so small, there are no buses. Most kids are either getting picked up or walking home. And me, well, I have to walk. I don't even remember where we live, all I know is that it's on one of the last streets in the village.

We stood by the locker, talking about school work. They asked me if I'm loving it here, and so I had no choice but to say,
"It's fine I guess."

V places her hand on her heart. "What about us? Do you like us?."
"No, of course I do." I shrug my shoulders. "It just might take me a while to get used to a school like this, you know? Where I used to live, we never wore uniforms, and the school wasn't as big. It wasn't big at all.

Fin smiles . "Well don't worry. You'll grow to love it here. Well, only if you do the right things. It's really easy to get caught up in something you don't wanna be in."

I look at both of them. "Like what?"
They look at each other, before V nods. Finch rests his hand on my shoulder. "You see the guy with the varsity jacket and mullet?" He gestures his head behind him and I take a glance. He was making out with a girl, pushing her against the locker.
I frown a little, and nod.

"That's Bryce Anderson. He's the kid who throws cool parties at his house."

V jumps in. "His parents are out of town for 2 months. Can you believe it? I've been to one of his parties before last year, and I don't remember anything."

Bryce grabs the girl's hand and walks off. "It's a long story, but Bryce is a dealer. He may come off as thee baseball player everyone loves, but goodness there's a bunch of secrets about him. It's easy to befriend the guy. It's like he talks to everyone at this school.– I mean, he even hooks up with girls at this place called the 'Clubhouse.' It's bullshit."

A loud car begins honking outside. Loud music is blasting through the windows.
He groans.
"Jeremy," both of them say, rolling their eyes
"Who's that?"

"He's my older brother. Super annoying. And I swear, if he didn't do his chores today, I'm gonna be left doing all of them."
He grabs a big binder labeled 'Precal,' and stuff it in his backpack.
"Kay guys. I gotta run."
V gives him a hug, and he gives me another first bump.

The after school bell rings and V sticks her finger up and clicks her tongue.
"That's my cue. My cupcakes aren't gonna bake themselves."

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I walked all the way home with a smile on my face. This is good for me. Very good. My classes are easy enough for me to get through, and I never expected to meet someone like them on my first day. This is like...the kind of things that happen in movies. I can't wait to tell my dad all about it. I know he's gonna be happy for me. This is all too good to be true.

My smile fades away once I remember that dad isn't going to be home for another 3 hours. I groan as I walk up the driveway, carrying my bag on my left shoulder. I figured this is our house because of the u-haul boxes out in the front.