Ever Fallen In Love

Chapter 1: Rock N Roll High School

Every morning starts the same, your clock radio blaring out whatever the song of the day is. Today it’s the Thompson Twins, Hold Me Now. You groggily pull yourself out of bed and start getting ready for school, humming along to the music.
Your name is Anon Y. Mous and you are about to start your senior year of high school. Best years of your life? That was a goddamn lie. It’s been almost four years with no sex, no girlfriend, no kiss, not even handholding. Fast Times at Ridgemont High lied to you.
After finishing getting dressed, in your usual jeans and T-shirt of course, you take a quick look in your bedroom mirror. Yep, same old shaggy hair and plain, boring face. You sigh and slap your radio off, then trudge downstairs to grab some breakfast. The kitchen is quiet, looks like Mom’s working another early shift. You make yourself some toast, slap a little peanut butter on it and you’re all set. Quickly scarfing down one, you snag another piece for later and, slinging your backpack over your shoulder, you head out the door. Before you go any further, you pull out your Walkman and slide in a tape. The opening strains of Psycho Killer fill your ears as you mount your bike and let David Byrne sing you to school.
You lock your bike up and meet Carter by the doors. Carter is a fox, and your best friend since kindergarten. A music nut like you, Carter leans more towards the rock side of things, while you’re all about the pop and new wave.  He looks up when you approach, adjusting his glasses. “Hey Anon.”
You sling your headphones and your neck and give him a small nod. “Carter. How are you?”
“Just building up the courage, you know.” He laughs nervously. “Dreading lunch.”
You softly tap him on the shoulder and smile at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you. And come on it’s senior year.”
He lets out and resigned sigh and faces the doors. “Oh, alright.”
“Excellent.” You sling an arm around his shoulders and steer him inside school. The two of you maneuver through the crowded hallways, dodging other students as you head towards your lockers. When you’re entering the senior hallway, Carter freezes. “There she is.”
The “she” in question is Tessa. 6’4” of spotted hyena and bad attitude packed into a leanly muscled frame.  As you watch, she laughs at something one of her friends said and leans her head back, tongue stud flashing as she opens her mouth wide. She’s the image of a typical punk yeen complete with ripped jeans, combat boots, piercings, and a leather jacket.
“Don’t worry. Walk fast and she won’t notice us.”
Carter nods, and you dip your heads and walk quickly past her. She doesn’t notice you, too focused on talking with her friends. The two of you make it to your lockers, right next to each other like always. You deposit your backpack and grab your books. “See you at lunch?”
Carter nods, seemingly feeling good about slipping by Tessa. “Yeah.”
You go your separate ways, heading for the first class of the day. Yours is English Lit with Mr. Farmer, an old lion. Age aside, he’s still a good teacher and intimidating as hell. The rest of your classes before lunch go by in a mind numbing blur of syllabuses and class rules. Finally it’s lunch time.
You load up your tray with the closest to edible out of the whole selection and grab a seat next to Carter. The two of you are having a good time talking about your classes and complaining about your teachers, when out of the corner of your eye, you see a hand covered in brown fur slam down on the table in front of you, rattling the bracelets on it. You slowly look up and see Tessa leaning over your table, a toothy smirk crossing her face.
You give her a fake smile. “Tessa, what do you want?”
Her gaze focuses on you, and her eyes slowly track up and down you. “I just wanted to welcome the two of you back for our senior year. I know we’re going to have an amazing time.” She snags a large handful of French fries from your tray and snatches Carters drink. As she walk away, you can’t help but stare at her ass just a little. For a raging bitch, she’s really got a good one.
Carter lets out a large breath. “That could have gone a lot worse.”
You shrug. “Yeah, maybe she turned over a new leaf.”
He shakes his head, squinting after her. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t worry about it. She probably found someone else to bother.”
He hums in the thought for a second and then turns to you. “Do you want to come over after school? I’ve got a new album I need to play for you.”
You smile. “Yeah dude, sounds good.” The bell rings and the two of you part ways again, promising to meet up by the bike rack. You’ve got a free period right now, so you head over to the music room. It’s deserted, as per the usual, so you take a seat by the amp in the corner. You didn’t bring in your guitar today, so you’re stuck using the schools. After plugging in the guitar, your fingers start to tease out the opening to a song Carter got you into over the summer. You sing along softly as you play, letting the music carry you away. “Living on a lighted stage approaches the unreal. For those who think and feel in touch with some reality beyond the gilded cage.”
As your focus narrows down to only the guitar in your hands, you don’t notice someone leaning on the edge of the doorway. When you finish playing, you’re startled by the sound of someone clapping for you. You look up and see Tessa, of all people, standing there and grinning at you. “That wasn’t half bad, Nonny. You really know how to use those fingers, huh?”
You flush a little and duck your head, you’ve never been good taking compliments or being teased. “Thanks Tessa.”
She saunters into the room and plops down in the seat next to you. “I’ve got a deal for you. Meet me back here same time tomorrow and I’ll leave you and your friend alone. What do you say?”
Your mind races as you weigh the pros and cons of what to do here. After a little quiet deliberation, you give her a small nod. “Yeah, I’ll do it.”
She flashes you a toothy smile. “Great. Do you have your own guitar?” When you nod she smiles wider, something you didn’t think was possible. “Bring it tomorrow.”
The bells rings and you hurry out of the room, leaving Tessa behind. As much as you want to concentrate on your last class of the day, you really can’t, Tessa and her deal taking the forefront of your mind. At last the day is over, and you need to tell Carter about this.
You wait until you’re in his basement, listening to some music and smoking a little grass together. You exhale a large cloud of smoke and try to the blink the fog out of your eyes. “Who are these guys again?”
Carter slowly looks at you, and blinks once. “What?”
You lean over to him. “Whose song is this?”
Understanding dawns on him and he smiles at you. “Oooh. It’s Blue Oyster Cult, the song is Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
“I like it.” As you nod along to the music, you remember what you wanted to tell him. “Hey dude?”
“Yeah?”
“Tessa said she wants to meet with me alone in the music room tomorrow. And for me to bring my guitar.”
He frowns at you in confusion, before his eyes widen in realization and he lets out a loud screech. “WHAT?”