One Step Behind

Chapter One: JAMIE

I've never been able to understand the appeal of pep rallies. Why would anyone willingly expose themselves to so much noise and bo? I say this but unfortunately I'm sitting in one right now. I'd love to have the courage to rebel against authority and say, "Screw you, I'm not going!" but i don't quite have the balls for that yet. It feels like I've been sitting on this bleacher for years now, waiting for them to finally allow us to leave this shit-hole for summer.

"Hey, Cougars!

We wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all of your hard work this year. We couldn't have done it without you. So, enjoy that summer break and try not to get into too much trouble."

Finally, it took them long enough to say that. I decided it was safer to wait until most of the students had gone before I tried to leave, otherwise I would have gotten trampled. I just bought new headphones and I can't risk them getting caught in any bags. Not only did I have to sit through that hour-long pep rally but I had to stay even longer to get out. Add this to the list of reasons to never come to one again. As I wait for everyone to leave, I spot him in the corner of my eye, Nathan Jung.

Despite being in the same grade, Nathan and I have never really interacted, probably due to my lack of friends and total social ineptitude. I'm an only child and up until ninth grade, my parents had homeschool me, which explains my social skills. Nathan, however, always seems to be surrounded by people. I can't pinpoint exactly when I started having this interest in him. I guess it just happened. When you get sick, you don't know when or where it came from, but one day you just start sneezing and coughing, it's like that. I would always see his tall, slim figure, curly brown hair, and his unique style-and it wasn't weird. It just wasn't seen at such a school as ours. Whenever I would see him, I would also see his black koss portapro headphones , whether it be on his head or neck-they were always on him. What kind of music does he listen to? Rap? Rn B?

After a while, I could see the groups of people at the bottom of the bleachers clearing out.

 After this, I can go enjoy my well-deserved 2 month break, although I need to get to the skate shop first. I wanted to see if I could snag myself a summer job from Jerry.

 When I first started skating, Jerry, the owner of "Skate Bite", was the one to help me in every way, almost like an uncle would. I was sure if I begged enough he would let me.

Down the old, rusted bleachers I go. I regret not taking my skateboard to school because walking seems ungodly on hot days like this. Fortunately enough it's only a five-minute walk to the bus stop, or three if I'm fast enough. I have another regret. It's wearing a sweater when it's so hot out. I knew it was summer and I should've just worn a tank-top or something, but it was supposed to be windy, or at-least that's what the weather app said. As expected I got to the bus stop under the normal five minutes, and thankfully the bus came just a moment later. The bus was emptier than usual. The fact that I didn't have to worry about some weirdo hoping to make a move on me with the justification that "It's because the bus is so packed" made things even better.

I got off the bus 6 stops later, and arrived at the shop. The ringing of the bell when you enter, the sound of "Grey Cell Green" by Austins Atomic Dustbin playing, and Jerry's one and only greeting,

"Hey! Jam-Jam!"

was all too familiar to me. I chuckle as I walk in and say

"Nice to see you too, Jerry with no Ben."

 "What brings you here today? I'm sure I saw you last week, and in that same sweater." Jerry questions as he stocks the cases.

"Well actually I came here to ask if you're hiring! I thought since it's summer you might need an extra hand?"

I was hoping that my smile shined through enough to convince him on the first try.

"Hm" he stopped stocking the cases and had a thinking face.

"Are you sure you're asking me because you want to help me, not because you want discounts?" he sarcastically said then continued

 "Actually you asked at a great time, I just hired a new boy so i'll do a quick interview with you and maybe, just maybe, i'll let you work here."

In April, Jerry let go of the people who worked at the shop already due to financial concerns. But he was talking about how things are going much better now. I'm pretty sure he let them go because of the divorce he had.

He asked me some basic "Interview questions" like what days I'm available and blah blah blah. Jerry probably knew I was capable of working since he heard me complain about being the only one at the old job doing the work.

He ended up giving me the job, as anticipated. I started working next week.