It All Started in Detention

Chapter Three

"If I wanted to sing a fucking song, Julie, I would've showed up on East and Seventh to sing with the nuns." Jack chuckled as he busied himself with his sketches, every so often glancing up to make sure none of the other kids were hurting themselves. "Turn this shit off."

"No!" Julie Kramen, the daughter of Jack's history teacher, shared a love for movie musicals. He enjoyed watching the movies she'd pick using her mom's Netflix account, but some of the other teacher's kids had a different idea. "I swear, Hunter, you'll like it."

It was difficult to believe, they'd been dating since sixth grade, which Jack immediately decided didn't count. As a matter of fact, he believes that the relationships most freshmen were in didn't count, especially this one. "I want to watch that new movie that just came out."

"We can't watch a three hour movie, Hunter", Dalia pressed, rolling their eyes. "It'd be a waste of time."

"They're right", Crutchie input, nodding along. Jack watched as he turned to Julie, a sorry look on his face. "But I also don't feel like watching a musical. Sorry."

Jack chuckled as Julie pouted, shoving his brother's arm. "Why don't you ever treat me that nice at home?"

"Because you have no soul", Crutchie sighed, moving from the top of the desk to the chair behind it. Jack pulled it out for him, leaving his sketch book open. "What are you drawing?"

"Uh...whatever comes to mind." Jack stared down at the page filled with aimless doodles of rabbits and flowers, pushing it toward Crutchie. "I have an art assignment to draw. Something about perspective, or whatever."

"Why don't you just draw the football field?" Crutchie grabbed a chip from Dalia's snack bag, ignoring their shout of distaste. "Draw it from the losing side of the bleachers so it's, like, emotional, or whatever."

"Smart", Jack mumbled, thinking it over. "And lazy. You know me so well."

"I wish I didn't", Crutchie joked, punching his brother in the shoulder. "You should get going now. Medda will be done in an hour."

Jack knew that. Medda always finished work at the same time. "That's enough time for a sketch, yeah?"

"Fuck if I know", Crutchie muttered, saluting goodbye as Jack grabbed his sketch book and pencil, not missing the wondering questions of his fellow after school friends.

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"Five, six, seven, eight!"

Davey watched as his team ran through the routine, moving quickly through the basics, having known it for weeks. "Stay sharp, Lenny! You got it!"

The girls danced and moved, and Davey had to admit he was proud. For a bunch of kids that had two weeks to learn such a complicated routine, they were doing amazing. Of course, he had notes, but nothing major. "That was great!"

Davey walked closer to the cheerleaders as the music fizzled out and the group began to stand from their poses. "You guys need to be a bit sharper in your moves, and there were some balance issues, but other than that, you did amazing! I'm proud, guys."

He grinned as he saw his friends smile, proud of themselves. Maybe it was because of the lack of football players on the field—the coach got mono or something, and he wasn't counting on many players being there since the season ended—but he could tell his team was really focused and working hard. He loved that for them. "Let's get water, okay? We'll start again in ten."

He sighed as the team moved to find their water bottles lined up against the gate, tired from the sun and workout. Davey hummed as someone tapped his shoulder, looking over to find Mush. "Yeah?"