change ⇒ joe mazzello

d e t e n t i o n

" it's all too good to be true, my dear "

It only hits me when I finish last period that I'd drifted through the whole day like usual but with a new sense of relief, happiness even. Becoming friends with Joe again is like a dream of some sort, but dreams all end when we wake up, don't they? I keep waiting for the moment for him to just lean over and whisper to me out of the blue: "I was kidding about the whole 'I wanna be friends again, I'm sorry' sort of shit, like, can you leave?" It's definitely likely that it will. I can't just act like its like it used to be. As I'm fiddling with my pencil while one-million and one memories from the endless summers I spent with Joe whirl around me head, Joe taps me one the shoulder with his pen.
"Speak of the devil." I think.
"So, Indie, I was wondering maybe if you wanted to do something after we get outta this poor excuse for a school?" He asks, looking strangely nervous. "You know, like... Maybe catch up on all the weekly visits to the diner we missed?"
My face lights up. Going to the diner used to be one our special things we did together: every Friday, we'd bike to the middle of town after school and spend hours talking endlessly about absolutely nothing, drinking milkshakes and shit. It was the highlight of my week. I never thought he'd remember. "Yeah sure. I've missed doing that with you..."
He smiles. "Me too."
Suddenly, I hear the slam of a book being shut and the squeak of chair. Mrs. Schneider was standing up at her desk looking sick with anger. "Mr Mazzello, are you talking in my class again?"
"Uh... No way, what're you talking about, Mrs. Schneider?" He says, trying to hide a smirk, earning a few laughs from the popular boys who sat at the back of detention room almost everyday.
"That just won you another detention, boy. Same time tomorrow." She says, before sitting back at her desk and opening her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Joe and I glance at each other trying not to laugh, before I break the silence by spluttering.
"Detention for you too, Hart." Mrs. Schneider says, pointing to me.
I shrug and then carry on writing out my last few lines, until the bell rung, flooding me with relief for two reasons: one being that school's over and two being that Joe hadn't said that anything was a prank yet.
We grab our bags and head in the direction of the school gates, clearing our heads with the grassy smell of summer and late afternoon sun.
"So, diner?" He asks.
I nod. "Where else, Joey? Africa or the Philippines or some other foreign country on the other side of the world? Because if you wanna go then I'll come."
He laughs and shakes his head. "Man, you haven't changed a bit, have you, Hart? Still you're strange self."
I join in the laughter. "You bet."
Maybe things were finally looking up for our friendship after all that's happened over those years we spent apart.