june and the blond boy

Itchy Sweater Of A Neighbor

ᴊᴜɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴏɴᴅ ʙᴏʏ

next thing i knew, i was fourteen years old in junior high. it was now june 1st 1978, james and i had been going to school together for the past three years, now in eighth grade, and we kept up with the childish bullying for the last few years.

"hayden!" i smiled at my friend. she smiled back and approached me. "what class do you have next?" i asked.

"ugh... math. you?" she frowned.

"history." it sucked that we wouldn't be in class together, but i quite liked history.

hayden groaned and trudged down the hallway to her class while i went to mine. as i entered the room, i spotted two empty spots next to each other and took one with a content smile on my face. atleast no one was sitting next to me. i liked sitting alone.

mister sullivan greeted us and began filling us in on the sports and electives we could join this season, and other random stuff that i didn't care to listen to.

i was flipping through my binder to the history section when the door opened. i heard the teacher clear his throat loudly and make a remark to whoever was late, then suddenly someone plopped heavily in the chair beside me.

that smell.

i could recognize that smell.

it smelt like james' house.

what do you know? there he was, slumped in the chair with his arms crossed over his chest as he stared off into nothingness.

"mister hetfield, glad you decided to join us." the teacher lowered his glasses and eyed james.

james grumbled "yeah, yeah." in response as he pulled papers out of his messy binder.

"oh look, it's june! my favorite!" he chirped, gaining the attention of myself and a few other students. i felt my cheeks flush as i looked over, half expecting him to look at me.

he was looking at a calendar.

"i didn't even realize! i thought it was still may. junes' my favorite month." he joked, tapping his head.

a lot of the students knew of our weird tension and busted out laughing. i looked around to see everybody staring at me.

i balled my hands into fists and dug my fingernails into my palms, taking a deep breath with my eyes closed before shaking it off and focusing on the schoolwork.

a few minutes later, the class got a little loud, but all i could hear was james humming loudly and tapping his feet on the floor while his pencil screeched loudly against his paper.

i sighed and looked over to see him drawing a logo of some type. curiously, i spoke up. "what're you drawing?"

he gave me a weird look but responded "the name for my new band."

"you have a band?" i raised my eyebrows.

"no, but i will. soon." he responded curtly.

"yeah, okay. whats this band of yours called?" i challenged.

he lifted his paper a bit so i could read it.

metalica

"metal... icka?" i furrowed my brows.

"no, stupid. metallica." he shook his head, pronouncing it the correct way.

"that spells metal-icka." i pointed my pencil at the paper.

"nuh-uh."

"yuh-huh. add another L, stupid."

he stared at the paper for a second before grumbling a profanity and erasing the last three letters and redoing it.

i somehow got through the rest of class without strangling the chatterbox next to me, and the bell finally rang, signaling that class was over.

thank god it was my last class of the day.

i met up with hayden at her locker after i went to mine. "hey." she greeted, sighing heavily.

"hey, you okay?" i asked, leaning against the locker next to hers. "yeah, just tired." she smiled softly.

"oh hey, there's this thing later tonight to kick off the summer— like a party, you wanna go?" she asked. i furrowed my brows. "aren't you supposed to kick off the summer the last day of summer..?"

"yeah... but some people are doing them early."

"why can't we just wait 'til after school ends then?"

"causeeee..." she groaned at my stubbornness. "i dont know! god, you're so boring, just do this with me, okay?"

"i thought you were tired."

her mouth fell open slightly in disbelief at how far i'd go to avoid a party. "i am, but i'll take a nap. duh." she blinked.

"it's june." i said. "summer doesn't end for like—another three months."

"stop being so difficult!"

"fine, fine." i gave in, rolling my eyes. we talked a bit longer. "no backing out now." she glanced over my shoulder briefly before looking back at me and grinning.

"huh?"

"from the party." she responded.

right after she said that i heard someone clear their throat behind me. i turned to see james before i rolled my eyes and looked back at hayden.

he cleared his throat again.

i sighed. "can i help you, hetfield?" i raised my eyebrows.

"yeah, you can." he smirked, peeking over my shoulder.

i felt my cheeks burn again for some odd reason as i turned to face him, with my eyes down at the ground. why did i get so flustered around this boy? this.. roach... why did he have such an effect on me?

my heartbeat quickened as he placed a finger on my chin, lifting it so i'd look up at him. he got real close to my face and whispered, "get out of my way."

"huh?"

"you're in front of my locker. move." he said louder, leaning back again and flicking my chin. "ow." i groaned, rubbing my chin.

"oh, hey hayden." his demeanor changed and he smiled. "you comin' to my party later?" he asked coolly.

now i understood what hayden meant. i widened my eyes at her and she mouthed the words 'no backing out now.'

great, just great.

i only accepted her invite to the party so that i could get away from my itchy sweater of a neighbor, but now it looked like i'd be spending my evening surrounded by him and his stinky friends.

"hayden, meet me at my house later." i said. she nodded before shifting her attention back to james as i walked away.