Stay A Little Longer: A Short Story

•Eight•

Guess who almost got arrested last night? Yeah, me. I know, I know, you're probably like "What the hell, Andy, what happened to the pep rally and Bonnie and Claire?" Well that's not important. We can get back to that later. Right now, I'm panicking from being chased by the cops.

Here's what happened: I went to the gas station to buy a hot dog-- bad choice, I know-- but there I saw Kevin and Will, Kevin with his face all banged up from our earlier meet-up. But I ran to the back of an aisle so they wouldn't spot me, and luckily they didn't. I snagged a bag of Gummy Worms, pulled my hood over my head, and made my way to the counter. Good so far, right? Wrong. I had the jacket that said "Andy" on the back of it. And I hate myself for even having that damn jacket.

So, jerks being jerks, Will pulled the hood off of my head, I stared at him in shock, he went to punch me, and I ran.

With the Gummy Worms.

So, technically, I stole them, and I could've simply turned them into the cops when they caught me running down Main Street... but I just felt good with the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

So, I did other stupid shit. I broke into a biker bar, stole a motorcycle, crashed into a telephone pole, and went flying into an old lady's petunias.

The cops put me in the back of the squad car and took me home. Here's the funny part: the only person I got a lecture from was Greyson. He answered the door, took my ear, thanked the cops, then threw me on the couch and gave me a stern talking to. JoJo watched and laughed for the first time in weeks, Mom told me to describe everything that happened in detail and shook her head at everything I said, and Dad just patted my back and said "You son of a-" with a little glare from Mom to stop him.

"What the hell were you thinking, Andy?" Greyson finally finished.

"Well, I didn't plan on crashing the motorcycle. Or stealing it. Or even ruining Ida's petunias... but it just happened. All I wanted was a hot dog. But, sometimes you have to settle for Gummy Worms."

I pat around in my pockets.

"Which, unfortunately, seem to have been lost on my adventure through the city."

"You are making literally no sense right now," JoJo giggled. I smiled and just kissed everyone goodnight.
• • •
The pep rally? Thats a whole different story. It was chill... until Max got the mic, somehow. Some rumours were spread and scandals were revealed, but at the end of the day, Max was sent home with a notice.

As for what Bonnie wanted with Claire... I don't know. Claire won't spill the beans, but she keeps glancing at Bonnie every once in a while, and Bonnie glances up at our section frequently while the cheerleaders perform on the gym floor. The sparks aren't obvious just yet, but give it some time. They'll hit it off.
• • •
Obviously, I'm grounded for the little stunt with the police and everything, but, hey, it was totally worth it. Even the long ass lecture from Greyson. The only thing I can do that's even remotely interesting is read in my room with soft music playing. Man are my parents strict and precise when it comes to punishment! On the bright side, I'm allowed one phone call to Greyson each day after school when my homework is done, on the house phone, of course.

Today is my first phone call of the jail sentence.

"Hey, Andy," Greyson greets me. I can feel his smile over the phone.

"Hey, Greyson. I have a thirty minute limit because of the... yeah. So, what's new?"

"Oh nothin', just contemplating life and trying to solve this ridiculous trig problem. I didn't know some of this stuff could add up to be numbers... it may as well be some sort of secret code to a time capsule from an alternate dimension!"