Patrick
Jay @ The Middle, 20:04pm: We're at Jamie’s now.
And that’s my cue to leave.
I drive over to Jamie’s since Joel doesn’t have his car, so I can take him home when we leave. If he'll even want a ride home with me after I've done what I'm about to do. I’m nervous, but I know what I need to do. I planned it all out with Amanda this afternoon. She thinks it’s a good plan, and so do I. I’m not shying away from it now. I need time away from the guys. I need time away from Jamie. So I’m determined to go through with this. Jay is probably gonna hit me, but that’s fine. If it’ll help me get over Jamie, I’ll take it.
I pull into her driveway and block Jays car in. Good, that way he can’t storm out and leave before me. He’ll probably storm out for a smoke, but he won’t be going anywhere without his car.
The garage door is shut, so I go in the front door to the house. It’s open, as expected.
I hear the TV playing in the living room, and I hear Joel laughing about something. I take a deep breath, and walk in. The conversation stops.
“Hey, so, did you go out with Amanda last night?” Jay asks as soon as he sees me.
Jamie isn’t looking at me, she’s sitting on the sofa staring ahead at the TV. Okay, that's fine. This will be easier if she doesn’t look at me.
“Yeah, but listen. We need to talk.”
Jamie's head snaps around to look at me. She looks worried. She probably thinks I’m about to tell Jay everything, but I’m not. She’s sitting next to Joel on the sofa, and Jay is sitting on the sofa opposite them. I’d rather not sit down next to Jay, so I sit on the single seater between the two sofas.
“Okay, are you breaking up with us?” Jay says, the amusement evident in his voice.
No, but you’re gonna think I am.
“No. I got a job.”
“You got a job?” Joel asks, clearly surprised. I nod at him.
“Doing what?” Jay asks, “We can’t work at the Grill until we’re 21. What else would you do?”
“I'm gonna teach drum at the youth centre.” I tell him, “A few nights a week.”
“Why?” Jay asks, completely confused. “If money's a problem all of a sudden, you know I can help you.”
I knew he wouldn’t be okay with this. And it's only gonna get worse.
“Its unpaid, actually. So technically it’s volunteer work. I think it’ll be good though, not enough kids are interested in drumming, it’s all about guitar, and it’ll look good –"
Jay cuts me off. “On what? Your résumé? We're in a band, and we're gonna get signed. You don’t need a résumé. Why would you suddenly wanna do volunteer work?”
“For the reasons I just said...” I say, not breaking eye contact with him. I wasn’t expecting him to react so negatively to this part. So, I’m afraid of what’s gonna come next. “But, it means I’m not gonna have so much free time. And Thursdays are one of the busiest nights at the youth centre.”
“Woah, woah, woah.” Jay holds his hands up, silencing me. “Are you telling us you’re gonna be teaching kids how to twirl drumsticks through their fingers instead of playing at the Grill Open Mic Nights?”
He doesn’t look happy. But, I knew this was gonna happen. I nod, and he explodes.
“What the fuck!? Are you fucking kidding me!? This is everything we’ve been working for since we were fucking 14 years old! Why the hell would you wanna stop playing at the Grill so that you can teach other kids how to do it!? How the hell are we supposed to get scouted if we stop playing!?”
YOU ARE READING
The Middle - Volume Three ✔️
Romance#1 - Shocks 26/9/19 "Never knew you had such a dirty mouth." I say, finally opening my eyes to see her giggling at me and biting her lip. I don't even hesitate about what I need to do next. I flip her over so that she's lying on her back on the bed...
