Teenage Kicks - Steve Harrington

Lonnie

Raquel and I didn't come back to school after lunch. Jonathan didn't even go to one class today, and the last thing on our mums mind at the moment is our attendance record. Even though Hopper told us that they searched all over town, Raquel and I did as well just incase they missed anything. After we finished putting up the posters, school was just finishing, so we decided to grab some lunch in the diner that I work in sometimes. The food isn't the best there, but I get a employee discount so it's smartest to go there.

"Like, I don't know, it's just so..." I tried to think of the right word to explain the whole situation but I just ended tearing up. "It's just so shitty!" I complained to Raquel as we both walked back to our houses. "it's all going to be okay, babe. They are going to find him. Everyone's looking for him"

"Then why haven't they found him yet?" I mumbled under my breath loud enough for her to hear. "I don't know, but they will."

We were walking through the Main Street as a short cut when Jonathan pulled up beside us with his car. "Hey, Jonathan" Raquel smiled at him and gave him a wave. She's always been the nicest to Jonathan out of all my friends outside my family. When she was like 7 she had a massive crush on him, she said she doesn't like him anymore but I don't know. "Hey. I'm going to dads house to look for Will, you want to come?" He asked me after giving Raquel and lighthearted smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Let's go" I said getting into the passenger seat and waved bye to Raquel. "See you tomorrow!" I called out to her when Jonathan started up the car again. "See ya!"

The music played on Jonathan's car stereo as we drove to our dads house. Everyone few minutes we'd ask each other if they were okay, but aside from that, we didn't talk. Jonathan parked the car on the side of the street in-front of my dads bungalow and we both got out of the car.

Jonathan knocked 3 times on the front door and a girl who looked like she was in her 20s answered it, surprising both of us. "Can I help you guys?"  She asked in a thick Boston accent.
"Yeah, does Lonnie still live here?" I asked tilting my head in confusion.

She had dark brown messy hair, makeup applied horrendously and a dirty blue vest and white jeans on. "Yeah, he's out back. What do you want?" She replied sassily, looking both Jonathan and I up and down. "To look around." Jonathan shoved passed her and a followed his lead straight away to the back. "Hey, what do you think your doing! Hey!" She called after us annoyed. "We'll be quick!" I shouted back at her, not turning around.

"Hey, Will!"Jonathan called out looking into one room. "Will! Will, you here?" I burst a door open to what looks like to be my dads messy bedroom.
Jonathan doing the same in other rooms. I heard Jonathan grunted from behind me and looked around to see my dad pinning Jonathan up against the wall. "Get the fuck off of him!" I screamed at them making my way down the slim hallway.

"Get off!" Jonathan shoved him off. "Damn, you've gotten stronger." My dad commented making both Jonathan and I roll our eyes at him. "Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?" The 20 year old who answered the door asked us from her perspective at the other side of the hall. "Jonathan and Avril, Cynthia. Cynthia, this is Jonathan and Avril, two of my children." My dad said gesturing between all of us. For the first time ever when meeting someone, I didn't smile or wave at her.

"Come here." My dad brought us both in a hug which Jonathan and I pulled out of straight away. "Get off us, man" Jonathan said winding him. "Come on, Jonathan. Let's check out back."  I shoved past my dad and Cynthia on my way to the back, as Jonathan and sadly my dad followed.

"Take a look at this beaut. Should've seen it when I got it. You would've loved it, Avril." My dad said, talking about his rusty car. When I was younger, I used to help my dad fix up cars. I didn't like it. But I pretended I did to make him happy, I don't know why. Jonathan and Will never did it with him. I guess it was our special thing, even though I always hated it.

I didn't even reply to my dad, I just looked in the boot of the car for Will, while Jonathan looked in the front and back. "Really? You guys want to check up my ass, too?" He tried to joke, but neither Jonathan or I were really paying attention to him. "I told you guys the same thing as I told those cops, he's not here, he's never has been."

"Then why didn't you call mom back?" Jonathan asked, once we were finished giving the car a look for Will. "I don't know, I just assumed she forgot where he was. You know, he was lost or something. That boy was never very good at taking care of himself."

"This isn't some joke, Lonnie. Your youngest son is missing and you just... you don't fucking care!"  I shouted at him from Jonathan's side. "There are search parties, reporters.." Jonathan backed me up but was cut off by our dad. "Hoppers not still chief, is he?" He asked us which we both replied with in silence, knowing that hopper probably cares more about what girl he wants to sleep with next over our missing younger brother.

"Tell your mother she needs to get you guys out of that hell hole. Come out here to the city. People are more real here, you know?" He said nodding around. "Like the teenager your dating?" I interrupted his motivational speech, but he just pretended not to hear me. "And then I could see you guys more" he smiled at us, acting as if he actually cared about us. Jonathan and I gave each other a look as to say 'yeah, right'.

"What, you guys don't think I want to see you?" He asked Jonathan and I as a train passed behind us. "I know you don't." I said, starting at him dead in the eye. "See, that's your mother talking right there." He pointed at me, laughing quietly to himself. "Does she even know you guys are here?" I didn't reply because I honestly didn't know, but Jonathan's silence told me the answer. "Oh, great. So one kid goes missing, and the other two run wild? Some real fine parenting right there."

"At least she was around to parent us. You never went to any of our birthday parties, you never taught us how to ride a bike, we had to find that out for ourselves. You pretend that you care about us, you ask us to go to games with you and go places with you but never turn up. Bet you don't even know what my middle name is." I looked up at him, to see him looking at the ground and not answering me. "Yeah, you just run away from your problems, like a coward. That's all you are". I shoved past him and made my way to Jonathan's car. I heard him as I walked away saying. "Maybe I'm not the asshole, all right?"

"Bullshit!" I shouted back to him and continued making my way towards Jonathan's car. I sat down in the passenger seat sobbing quietly and waiting for Jonathan to end his talk with our dad.