The School of Rock

Raelyn

I waited outside the toilets impatiently. I had run straight from class to get here, just in case Sydney left before I arrived.

I'm not sure why exactly I asked her to go out and get a milkshake because- besides the fact that I don't like milkshakes- I'm still totally nervous around her.

I don't exactly have a lot of experience with friends.

I was scrolling through Instagram (I still haven't posted a picture since I only got the damn phone two days ago. I only really have it to drool over pictures of band members and such.) when someone taps my shoulder. I turn around, glad Sydney finally came, only to see Milo. He's wearing his flip flops and a huge grin.

"I heard you got in trouble today?"

"Hello."

"Hello. I mean, She deserved it though. She is a bitch." I stare at him blankly.

"You wanna go get a coffee or something?" He asks.

"Um, I kinda-" Sydney appears around the corner. "have plans?"

"Oh. With who? Mrs Gough?" He bounces his eyebrows up and down.

"No." Take your time, Sydney. Not like I'm currently engaged in an awkward conversation with some guy I barely know or anything. "With her." I point.

"Oh. Okay, well, see you tomorrow." He skips away- yes, skips!- just as Sydney approaches.

"Who's he?"

"Mil- um, some guy in one of my classes." She nods thoughtfully.

"Well, ready to go?" I nod. She leads the way, and we walk to a nearby shopping centre in almost silence. I had yanked out my earphones to try to be polite, but she kept hers in so I gave up and just put one in.

When we get there, we sit down and order. She gets a caramel milkshake and I get a white hot chocolate.

"So..." She starts, "That teacher sucks, huh?" I nod, fiddling with my phone. Our drinks come, and she asks for a spoon. When she gets it she takes a huge spoonful of whipped cream and somehow manages to get it all in her mouth without getting a single bit on her face. I watch in amazement as she does it twice more, mentally writing a reminder to ask her how she does it later. She sees me looking and wipes her whipped creamless mouth with the back of her hand. "So, um, are you liking this school?" I ask a little awkwardly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Yeah, it's school, so, you know. I kind of feel like they're forcing music into all the subjects. Like, I had maths, and we were learning something about money and band merch and I wasn't really listening but yeah. Um, sorry I'm kinda rambling, and that probably made no sense." She mumbles the last bit. I smile.

"Nah, I got it." We smile awkwardly at each other until we both look back down at our drinks, both of us taking a sip at the same time; her neatly and me like vacuum. As I wipe my face she asks, "Noticed any hot guys? Or do you have a boyfriend?" I almost spit my drink everywhere at that last bit.

"Jeez, no. No, no no no. God no. No. I mean, I haven't really been on the lookout for hot guys, and I have never ever had a boyfriend. No. Just no." Actually, I had noticed a few okayish guys, but I wasn't going to admit that to a girl I just met. I don't know most of their names anyway, and knowing my luck one of them's probably her boyfriend. "How about you?"

She shakes her head, thoughtful for a moment, but then dismisses whatever she was thinking and blurts "Can I have your number?" Summoning my bravery, I smirk and reply with "Are you asking me out? I'm flattered, but I'm not into girls." She blushes and hides her face behind her hair. An apology flies to my lips but I swallow it hastily. "Here," I hold out my hand quickly, "I'll put it in." She places the phone timidly in my hand and I proceed to make a new contact, simply called 'Raelyn from school' with my number and a picture of the drink in front of me because I absolutely suck at selfies and I didn't need to embarrass myself in front of my new most-likely-pro-at-selfies friend. I hand her my phone and she returns it a minute later with, you guessed it, a totally pro selfie and her name and number. We chat about bands for a while before she looks at her phone to change a song ("I'm not in a Falling in Reverse mood,") and notices the time. She leaps to her feet- me copying, as they do in movies before they say "they were in a car crash!!"- and I wait to hear news of a car crash but instead she says "I have to go to work, like, right now! I'm sorry, this was great but I really gotta go," she calls over her shoulder bumping into a chair on the way out. I grab my bag and then realise she didn't pay for her milkshake. I groan, and scowl as I hand over an extra $3.50- yes, $3.50!- before leaving with a frown. Hey, once a cheapo, always a cheapo. I jog home and unlock the door to the accompaniment off Sarge's barking.