Idiot

Chapter 5

(Kylie's P.O.V.)

  My hand was not broken, but I had to wear a splint on my wrist for a couple weeks. Needless to say, I wouldn't be playing volleyball for a while.
  It was pretty early in the morning and I walked out of my house. I was wearing a black and white striped tank top and a denim jacket over my dark green flannel, my ripped blue skinny jeans and gray Vans. I had my earbuds in my ears and I was playing Bad Blood by Taylor Swift. I locked the door and put my keys in my bag before I started walking for the bus stop.
  My music quieted for a second and my phone buzzed in my pocket, alerting me that I had a text. I pulled out my phone and saw it was Evan. We exchanged numbers in the ER and he texted me all last night. I unlocked my phone and read it.
  "Hey, where are you?"
  I replied, "Just left my house, I'm walking to my bus stop."
  I watched the little bubble with the three dots in it, grow and shrink until he sent his next message: "Where is your bus stop?"
  "That telephone pole with the oak tree growing around it down the street from 7 Eleven," I told him.
  I didn't get any replies so I kept walking.
  I walked for maybe five minutes till I got to my bus stop. There was a green Chevy Silverado parked at the curb that caught my attention.
  I saw it fall onto its brake, then Evan crawled out the driver's side window and sat on the door. He was wearing another plain white tee, a black beanie, and a red unzipped hoodie. He had new glasses. His nose was broken so he had two black eyes and a little bandage kind of thing that looked like a Breatherite strip.
  "Sup, girl?" he asked in a valley girl accent, making me laugh.
  "Is that yours?" I asked.
  "No, I stole it so I could give you a ride to school," he said. I faltered for a second. The thing about Evan is that he is so good at sarcasm, sometimes I can't tell when he's being sarcastic.
  "I'm kidding!" he exclaimed and I laughed. "Wow, you don't have any faith in me!"
  "I'm sorry," I said, walking up.
  "Hop in, let's go," he said.
  "Really?" I asked.
  He raised his eyebrows. I realized that was a dumb question and climbed into the passenger's seat.
  "Now," Evan said, crawling back inside the truck, "I hope you don't mind, but Ryan and Jack don't live in the school district, so I'm their ride."
  "I don't mind," I said. I mean, I sort of minded, but whatever, they were his friends and I was his friend now and I didn't want it to be awkward.
  "Cool," he said and started driving.
  We drove for a little while before I realized how far we had driven.
  "Where do they live?" I asked.
  "Fairlawn," he said.
  "Both of them?" I asked.
  "Yep," he said and pulled into a mostly empty parking lot to an apartment complex.
  "You didn't signal your turn," I said.
  "Oh, maybe that's what caused that huge crash back there," he said and I instinctively glanced in the rear view mirror at the empty street. I saw Evan smirk, but he kept his eyes on the lot.
  "Ha ha," I said sarcastically and he started laughing for real. He pulled up to a sidewalk and I looked at the building. It looked abandoned, with faded paint and broken windows.
  "People live here?" I asked.
  Evan didn't answer me, but he honked the horn twice and a the window of an apartment on the upper floor opened. Ryan crawled out, wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt with the sleeves ripped off, ripped jeans and converse, and shortly after, Jake crawled out in a maroon, Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt, a gray flannel over it, blue jeans and Nike sneakers.
  "They live together?" I asked and Evan nodded.
  They didn't use the stairs. Instead, they threw their bags onto the top of a white van parked below them, then jumped off the balcony onto that, and I gasped.
  Evan smiled at my worried reaction and I calmed down when they landed fine then jumped to the pavement. They ran to the truck and jumped into the flatbed.
  "That's illegal," I said as Evan slid open the back window.
  "Your face is illegal," Ryan said and they all laughed like it was some clever joke.
  "Can we turn on the radio?" I asked as Evan started driving.
  "Sure," he said and turned it on. The little screen showed a station I never listened to.
  "GREEN DAY--!" Ryan shouted. "Keep it on!!"
  "Turn it up!" Jake shouted, and Evan did so loud, I could feel the bass replace my heart beat.
  "Aw dammit, we always catch it near the end of the song!" Jake complained and Evan laughed.
  "DON'T WANNA BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT! ONE NATION CONTROLLED BY THE MEDIA! INFORMATION AGE OF HYSTERIA, IT'S GOING OUT TO IDIOT AMERICA!" they all started screaming and I plugged my ears.
  I've never listened to rock music really. Besides the Beatles anyway. I barely knew who Green Day was and I was not used to such loud music so I got annoyed pretty quickly.
  "I'm calling in!" Ryan yelled.
  "What?!" I yelled over the music.
  "He's calling in to the station," said Evan.
  "You don't listen to much Green Day, do you, Ky?" Evan asked, an amused smirk plastered on his face.
  "Not very often," I yelled over the music. Ryan was yelling into his android phone at a radio deejay.
  "Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Evan shouted, stopping at a red light. "Eventually you'll even understand what they're saying."
  "I kinda doubt that," I said as the song ended and another began.
  "Hey, babe!" We heard and looked out my window. There was some grown man in a little car next to us. He must've been about in his late twenties.
  "Hey," I said awkwardly. I saw Evan angrily grip the steering wheel.
  "What's your name?" he yelled.
  "Kayla," I lied and I saw Evan glance at me.
  "Where are you going?" he asked.
  "School," I said.
  "We should hang after you get out," he said.
  "I'm not interested," I said.
  "Come on, babe!" he said, and I went to roll up my window, when Evan stopped my wrist and yelled out the window, "She said she's not interested."
  "Nobody asked you," the guy yelled.
  "Well nobody asked you to open your mouth in the first place but here we are," Jake yelled from the flatbed.
  "Shut up, kid," the guy yelled.
  "You shut up!" Ryan yelled and threw something at him that hit him in the eye.
  "What the hell?!" the guy screamed, then suddenly the truck lurched forward and I screamed.
  "Light turned green," Evan explained.
  "Ryan, what did you throw?" I asked.
  "Beer can," he said.
  My eyes widened and I asked, "Why do you have a beer can?!"
  "'Cause I drink," he told me.
  "Do you all drink?" I asked.
  "No, just me," Ryan said. "Do you?"
  "What kind of question is that, Ryan?" Evan laughed and the others joined in. I almost felt embarrassed. Was I really that much of a goodie-two-shoes?
  "I'm not that innocent," I said. "I've gotten drunk before."
  The laughter stopped and eyebrows raised, suspiciously.
  "Okay, I've never gotten drunk, but I have had drinks before," I said and they nodded in belief.
  "There's nothing wrong with being innocent," Jake said.
  "I'm not innocent!" I argued.
  "Yes, you are," they all said at once as we pulled up to the school and into the student parking lot.
  "Shut up," I said and slapped Evan on the arm. He smiled.
  "I love you," he said.
  "You're an idiot," I laughed with a little smile, shaking my head.