Once Upon a Road Trip (Jack Harries Fanfiction)

Part One

           Ah, there it is; big, old and unwelcoming. South London High School for girls. I'd hoped I’d never be back here, especially on a Saturday, bringing my sister to detention, but here I am. I’ve been out of there for only a year, but my baby sister is still attending the Christian girls’ school. It was an awful place; the dark, chipping brick face peeling away from the school, the windows tinted dark. It was dead to me.

        I pulled into the car park and turned the music up obnoxiously loud just to spite my old teachers. South London claimed to be “different from other schools where girls will get to know their teachers better.” They got that right. I knew my teachers so well that I couldn’t stand them even more so than I would have if my mother had sent me to a normal school. She claimed it would make me a better, independent woman but all I could think about during my entire time there was the lack of boys and it was torture.

          My sister, Ellie, giggled in the passenger seat of my rusty old pickup truck. She despised the place as much as I did. She was fourteen, five years younger than me, but she was my best friend.

          “This is for my old pal, Doc Smitty!” I cried as I cranked the tunes even louder. Doctor Smith was this creaky old wretch of a woman who taught science at South London and her temper was shorter than a newborn baby’s fingernails. Don’t even think about calling her Mrs. Smith, oh no, she has a degree, you see, and will waste no time lecturing you about it if you forget. I liked to waste time in class and “forget” quite frequently.

          Ellie looked at me in disbelief. “Doctor Smith? She doesn’t deserve that. Miss Murphy is far more worthy,” she informed me, her words dripping in sarcasm. Miss Murphy was a grumpy old Irishwoman that never got married and insisted that she tell every single one of her students that being single is just fabulous. She always had a righteous stench hanging around her and her ratty gray hair could easily house a family of mice. She drank from a steel water bottle all the time and even someone that can’t smell could tell that she kept more than water in it.

          I praised my sister’s choice by turning it up several more notches. “This would be terrifically more satisfying if they were actually here to hear our ruckus, don’t you think?” I asked her with a posh twist on my words.

          Ellie ran her fingers through the mane of thick, dark, curly hair on her head and shrugged. “I suppose. But Mrs. Cox is here, she’s the one who turned me in. She gets to be on detention duty.”

          I nod with a grin on my face. “It’s kind of like the Breakfast Club, isn’t it? Saturday morning detention in the library. Which one are you, the basket case or the criminal?”

          Ellie smacked my arm hard. I tensed up but whacked her back. “Shut up, Amelia.”

          “Ooh, I get my full name today. I’m trembling.” I joked.

          “You should be. I’m horrifying.” She snapped.

          “What’d you do to get in here anyway?” I enquired, swinging my feet up on the dash.

          “Skipped class to go shopping,”

          I snorted. “Yeah, and I’m the first lady of the United States,” I replied in an awful American accent.

          Ellie chuckled and undid her seatbelt. “I got busted for hiding naked pictures of porn stars in the library books.”

          We sat in silence, staring at each other.

          “THAT’S MY GIRL!” I shouted and pounded my fist against my sister’s. “The girls here are so pure and proper. It’s about time someone spoiled their innocence.”

          “I’m surprised they didn’t flush their eyes with holy water,” Ellie grabbed my wrist, but I didn’t pull away, and quickly read the watch strapped around it. “I should go. Don’t want Cox to give me another Saturday.”

          “Oh we can’t have that, you wouldn’t be able to play with all your online friends,” I teased.

          “At least I have online friends, you just a loser with ten twitter followers,”

          “Get out o’ here!” I cried with my best Brooklyn accent.

          "Amy?"

          "Yeah?"

          "Thanks for not telling mom."

          "No problem," I smiled comfortingly and waited as Ellie swaggered into the school. As soon as the door shut behind her, I turned my indie rock louder and drove off.

***

          “I need shampoo,” I recalled aloud as I was driving downtown London. I hummed along to the tune of the radio and shouted out the drum beats as I changed lanes to turn into the Tesco plaza. I was stopped at a red light, so I rested my head against the window and let my gaze wander out the glass. The sky was a dreary gray but there was no rain. A thin layer of snow finally blanketed the ground, even though it was already January.

          The sidewalks were near bare today. Probably because it was so damn early and no one was up taking a gander willingly at this time on a Saturday. I sat back and thumped my head against the worn head rest of my seat. I let my eyes wander freely. I decided to stare at the first person I saw and see how long it took them to notice, like Dad and I used to do.  

          I turned my head to find my victim—and he was already looking at me. A tall, thin, pale boy with light-brown hair impeccably styled in an impressive flip at the front stood on the corner in a light fall jacket and a blue beanie atop his head. We locked eyes for but a moment and I felt my heart stop. His eyes were a stunning but calm green that reminded me of crickets; not the colour of crickets, but the actual cricket. Lifeless and boring until you get closer and they burst with energy, leaping and prancing and showing that they’re actually rather magnificent. This boy’s eyes were like crickets.

          The boy looked down with a shy smile and I couldn’t help but think He’s gorgeous. I looked ahead of me as the light turned green and I continued on my journey to shampoo. I parked my car and sauntered into the store, in no hurry. I purchased my usual hair product along with a chocolate bar and climbed back into my rusty red pick-up.

          As I was driving home, chewing on my chocolate, I couldn’t seem to get Cricket Eyes out of my head. He had a childish charm to him, a mischievous aura. He seemed cheeky and innocent at the same time and overall very attractive. I pulled up in front of my flat and got out of the car. I lived alone. As soon as I turned 18 last year I moved out of Satan’s house, and I’ve been trying to get Ellie out, as well.

          I shouldered open the front door, took my shoes off and tossed my coat on the couch almost subconsciously. I realized I was grinning. This was so unlike me. I see one boy with a pretty face and I get all giggly and girly. I trudged into my bedroom and collapsed on the bed. I figured a nice nap would clear my head, but I couldn’t fall asleep. All I could think about was him.