The Adventure (Tomark)

Chapter 1

Tom anxiously stares at the suburban house's doorbell and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. Even though his math teacher Mrs. Baker declared the upcoming summer tutoring to be a great opportunity, a chance to improve his grade and, despite limiting his plans for the holidays, no big deal at all, it does feel intimidating now. Not so much the studying itself though; it's the tutor that scares him since she represents the three alarming G's: girl, good-looking, gossipy. There are several things that Tom is good at, such as playing the guitar, musing about extraterrestrial life or preparing inventive sandwiches (peanut butter and mayonnaise is a good combination after all!), however, dealing with females usually overwhelms him, especially if they are pretty. And when it comes to Anne Hoppus, this definitely applies.

He knows that those doubts are pointless though. Not only is working on his mathematical skills mandatory by now, but Anne also is one of the few people to notice and even talk to him in class. She was the one who came up with the tutoring idea, too, and if it wasn't for his shyness, they perhaps could actually become friends. A promising perspective. Tom sighs, takes one last deep breath and finally rings the doorbell.

When the door opens, he immediately starts to splutter. „H-hey, um, I'm here for, uh–," is the poor attempt to phrase a proper greeting, but Tom quickly paces himself upon seeing patterned swim trunks, gelled brown hair, striking facial features and something that looks suspiciously like a... nipple piercing?! No, the person standing in front of him most definitely isn't Anne. He knows the older boy though: the name Mark Hoppus, accompanied by small drawings of hearts and stars, decorates several of their school's desks and bathroom walls, and while Tom by all means is not among those lovesick admirers, he somehow does look up to the former senior who by now probably moved on to stealing hearts in college. 

Rumors of Mark hooking up with their hot Spanish teacher, him spiking the punch at last year's prom and other more or less legendary (alleged) incidents are one reason to be fond of him, however, Tom especially likes the open-mindedness he associates Anne's brother with. Mark usually hangs out with the popular guys, some of them quite the bullies, but he never participates when it comes to bothering others (those others every now and then being Tom, who unintentionally attracts negative attention by being reserved and gangly, and his best friend Travis, who deliberately provokes with his extraordinary looks). Mark, just like him, also owns a skateboard and above all Tom could swear that he once heard Descendents blasting from the other's rickety Mercury Cougar. There really isn't anything mean to say about Hoppus, in fact quite the opposite, and that's pretty unfortunate as it makes Tom even more nervous.

„So, you're the new guy, huh?" Mark mischievously wants to know, thereby interrupting Tom's train of thought. The addressee insecurely puts his hands in his pockets, not entirely sure what the other is hinting at. „Weird, I didn't know that Anne had a thing for deaf-mutes."

Tom immediately blushes, not only because of Mark implying that there's something going on between him and his soon-to-be private tutor, but also in light of his silent manner. It's weird: There are constantly thousands of thoughts rushing through his head, and still, he barely manages to express them. Therefore others, at least that's what Tom suspects, probably regard him as weird or, even worse, dim-witted. Maybe that's better than finding out what really goes on in his mind though, for instance him being intimidated by Anne's self-confidence, her soft blonde hair and her perfect white teeth. And that he, even though acknowledging and fancying those attributes, doesn't even know whether he would want to be that 'new guy' in the first place. Tom sighs. „Um, no, Anne actually is my tutor."

„Aw, so you're the kid that sucks at math?" Mark asks with a compassionate smile on his face, apparently relieved that Tom is not necessarily trying to get into his sister's panties, before adding, „I'm Mark by the way. And man, I know the struggle. That fucking Mrs. Baker almost ruined my graduation. But hey, if I made it through high school then so can you, huh?!"

Tom chuckles. He likes Mark's direct manner, his explicit vocabulary and the way he already roots for him albeit them barely knowing each other. „Yeah," he thus agrees blithely, „Baker seems to enjoy making my life a misery, but I'm really counting on Anne. And I'm–..."

He once again interrupts himself when he sees Anne storming down the stairs, initially squealing his name before throwing a skeptical look at Mark who now finally steps aside and lets Tom enter the house. „Nice meeting you, Tom," he remarks and then points at the younger one's Screeching Weasel shirt, „And that shirt's rad by the way. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a fucking awesome pool waiting for me in our backyard, so... bye!" With that being said and after quickly tousling his sister's hair, Mark leaves, contentedly whistling one of Screeching Weasel's songs.

Tom follows him with his gaze for a while, thinking that the whole tutoring plan perhaps isn't so bad after all.