Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > The Car Crash Hearts
The nurse had come back with a thermometer ready. “There’s been a bad flu going around. Ridiculous really, with the start of the school year.” I stopped her before she could try to shove it down my throat. I told her I just had a bad migraine. She asked if I needed to call my parents but I shook my head and she gave me an aspirin. When she left me alone I had a chance to break out the book we had begun reading for English. One of my guilty pleasures, Great Expectations. I identify so closely with this book, I must have read it 10 times.
The bell rang, interrupting me in the middle of reading where Pip is just being threatened into cooperation by Magwitch. It pretty much described my own day. My head had been feeling much better; the throbbing had subsided. I got ready to leave, to go meet Jan where she had told me in front of the courtyard area. She had insisted that she and Andy take me home for almost bloodying Gary’s face.
I managed through the thong of kids out in the hallway and made it outside, looking for Jan, who was waiting with Andy, Allie, and this kid named Bob off to the side of the school. Andy and Bob were smoking cigarettes behind the van, Jan was in a deep conversation with Allie about psychology she was taking that semester. Jan waved excitedly at me. “Hey! You know everyone knows now that you almost knocked out Gary." She laughed. "Everyone's saying he was about to get his ass kicked by a girl with a cast."
I bit my lip, not knowing what to think. I hoped it hadn't meant anyone had been talking about me, and a small part of me hoped it did.
Andy held out his pack of menthols as I leaned against the van, waiting for Jan to finish talking to her friend.
“Want a smoke? You look stressed.”
“No thanks. I don’t smoke. Just a headache.”
Andy nodded his head at the other guy. “Bob’s got things for that.”
Bob, a senior with long black hair and a neck tattoo, opened his denium jacket and showed me his pockets. “What you want? I got a little of everything.”
I almost burst out laughing at the predictability with which Bob really was a walking pharmacy.
We got in the van, I sat sandwiched in the back between Bob and Allie, Jan sat in the front and Andy got in the drivers seat.
“Videl, we’re going to Pick Me Up Café on Clark’s if you wanna go.” Jan grinned at me.
“Yeah sure.”
“Good. Cause you have no choice. Its first day tradition.”
Andy laughed. “I didn’t know almost every weekend was tradition.”
Jan shrugged. “Well it's a tradition now. Its called Whenever-we-the-hell-we-feel-like it tradition.”
I smiled. “That’s my favorite kind.”
So we went to Pick Me Up Care on Clark’s. We went inside and Jan made her way straight to a booth. “Yes, I love this one.” She and Andy sat on one side and Bob, Allie and I sat on the other. Andy smiled at me and pointed down at the table. Underneath the glass I realized the entire table was made up of Where’s Waldo book pages. I laughed and we all played to see who could find one first. Suddenly Andy slammed his hand down on a section of the glass, shouting “Suck it!” just as our waitress appeared.
“Andy cheats; he’s been here so many times I’m starting to think he’s homeless,” she said, rolling her eyes and smiling. “Hello Andrew.”
“Lavinia, you’re looking ravishing. Speaking of which, you mind letting me take a shower in the back? I’m due for my weekly,” Andy replied smoothly. She false gagged in good nature.
“I don’t know how you managed to keep it down that long,” Jan mocked. Lavinia laughed. “Alright misfits, whaddya want?”
“Andy, let me save you the effort. He’ll take your best bowl of processed animal parts.” Jan and her one-liners. Lavinia nodded seriously. “”Sounds about right.”
Andy sat back and grinned. “Yeah yeah,” Lavinia sat back on her heels and put her chin on top of her arm, looking around at the rest of us. “What about the rest of you?”
We ordered, Jan got a mongolian vegan stir-fry and a chai tea, Bob just got a plate of chili fries and Allie only wanted coffee. I ordered the jalapeno bombers and a raspberry tea. When Lavinia took my order, she glanced up at me and looked at Jan. “She’s a new one, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, this is Videl.” Jan gestered at me. “She almost beat up Gary Stevens, so just refer to her as bad-ass from now on.”
I blushed, wondering just how many people Jan had been telling.
“No shit,” Lavinia said in amusement. “I hate the cocky little pervert. Alright, I like you already,” she winked at me
“Thanks” I mumbled, slightly amused as well.
Lavinia leaned toward me. “You know, I can get them to make it with bacon wrapped around it.”
I grinned foolishly. “Fuck yeah.”
We sat around and waited for our food, talking about school and things, we got our drinks and blew our straws at each other, played more where’s waldo (excluding Andy, cause he cheated, although he would slap his hand randomly over the table to confuse us) and when we got our food, we all attacked out plates.
It turned out Andy’s ‘processed meat special’ was a whopping bison burger. Jan acted disgusted for the sake of her vegan-ism when Andy stretched his whole mouth over it (the portions were absolutely enormous) and inched his mouth over the rest. It was actually kind of disgusting to watch but it had us cracking up. I tried my bombers, which Lavinia had given me three times the regular amount (which Lavinia whispered to me were on the house) and they were amazing, and perfect.
Andy put on Metallica's And Justice for All and blasted it on the way to my house. I found myself grinning the whole time. They dropped me off in front of my house, and I went up the drive and waved as Jan pulled away. “Pick you up tomorrow!” she yelled out the window.
“See ya!” I called back, and checked my watch. It was only 4:30, which meant Maryann wouldn’t be home for another hour or so, and her husband Steven worked in as a building restrictions overseer, so he worked a lot of on-call hours and was usually home late at night. I went inside, finding the door unlocked and realized Addie was probably home. I took off my backpack and ran up the stairs, still in my good mood.
Despite knowing better than to interact with the test subjects, I still felt happy that I had people to call friends and sit around and shoot the shit with them. I always had a guard against people, but afternoons like this might be enough to change my mind. That’s what I was thinking anyways as I walked past Addie’s room, seeing her sitting on her bed.
“Hey,” I said, trying to be friendly.
She looked up, surrounded by piles of books. “Hey,”
I gestured at the books. “How do you already have homework?”
Addie sat up a little and pushed the books aside, seeming to be grateful to take a break. “I go to catholic school,"
“You go to catholic school? Damn, that must such. I would hate my life.” I was somewhat joking.
“So is it an all girls catholic school?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you had a boyfriend then?” I asked, interested.
“No… I’ve never had one.” Addie’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“So your mom won’t let you date? One of the 10 commandments or something?" I knew full well it wasn't.
Addie skewed her lips. “She lets me. It’s just most boys are a waste of time.”
Now she had my attention. “So you’ve never dated a guy? Ever even kissed a guy?”
Addie’s blush told me she hadn’t. “So, is your mom forcing you be a nun?” I joked.
Addie narrowed her eyes. “She doesn’t force me to do anything.”
I shook my head. “But what girl in her right mind thinks boys are a waste of time?”
It was true, Maryann was a hardcore catholic and I knew it was a matter of time before she started trying to ‘lead me to the light’.
I held up my hands and leaned off the doorframe, surprised that she was offended. “Okay, it’s cool. I take it the conversation’s over.” Addie just rolled her eyes as I left.
I didn’t care either way if Addie and I got along, I told myself, going into my room and turning on my record player, letting myself seep into the sounds of Lifetime.
I lay on the bed, getting out a sketchbook and absently drawing. Living here was defintley a new experience to me. I hadn’t usually been in a house that actually practiced what they preached. Sure, I had been raised in a Catholic orphanage. But their type of faith had been more like a set of rules to follow. Do this. Do that. Repent, and you will be saved. Don’t do this, don’t do that. The list of don’t was just as long and pointless as the list of do’s. It never made sense to me. If all it was, the whole religion thing, was a set of rules, then why would they need a Jewish hippie guy to die on a cross and pay for their adultery and murder and human nature. Wouldn’t they just run helter-skelter and break all the rules because it wouldn’t matter? In the orphanage we learned usually by action and consequence, not action and enlightenment. So far, Maryann had been tolerant of me, but then again I hadn’t wanted to cause any trouble. So without action, there was no consequence.
This house was kind of like an alien world. I was starting to wonder when I’d be probed and brain-washed.
The bell rang, interrupting me in the middle of reading where Pip is just being threatened into cooperation by Magwitch. It pretty much described my own day. My head had been feeling much better; the throbbing had subsided. I got ready to leave, to go meet Jan where she had told me in front of the courtyard area. She had insisted that she and Andy take me home for almost bloodying Gary’s face.
I managed through the thong of kids out in the hallway and made it outside, looking for Jan, who was waiting with Andy, Allie, and this kid named Bob off to the side of the school. Andy and Bob were smoking cigarettes behind the van, Jan was in a deep conversation with Allie about psychology she was taking that semester. Jan waved excitedly at me. “Hey! You know everyone knows now that you almost knocked out Gary." She laughed. "Everyone's saying he was about to get his ass kicked by a girl with a cast."
I bit my lip, not knowing what to think. I hoped it hadn't meant anyone had been talking about me, and a small part of me hoped it did.
Andy held out his pack of menthols as I leaned against the van, waiting for Jan to finish talking to her friend.
“Want a smoke? You look stressed.”
“No thanks. I don’t smoke. Just a headache.”
Andy nodded his head at the other guy. “Bob’s got things for that.”
Bob, a senior with long black hair and a neck tattoo, opened his denium jacket and showed me his pockets. “What you want? I got a little of everything.”
I almost burst out laughing at the predictability with which Bob really was a walking pharmacy.
We got in the van, I sat sandwiched in the back between Bob and Allie, Jan sat in the front and Andy got in the drivers seat.
“Videl, we’re going to Pick Me Up Café on Clark’s if you wanna go.” Jan grinned at me.
“Yeah sure.”
“Good. Cause you have no choice. Its first day tradition.”
Andy laughed. “I didn’t know almost every weekend was tradition.”
Jan shrugged. “Well it's a tradition now. Its called Whenever-we-the-hell-we-feel-like it tradition.”
I smiled. “That’s my favorite kind.”
So we went to Pick Me Up Care on Clark’s. We went inside and Jan made her way straight to a booth. “Yes, I love this one.” She and Andy sat on one side and Bob, Allie and I sat on the other. Andy smiled at me and pointed down at the table. Underneath the glass I realized the entire table was made up of Where’s Waldo book pages. I laughed and we all played to see who could find one first. Suddenly Andy slammed his hand down on a section of the glass, shouting “Suck it!” just as our waitress appeared.
“Andy cheats; he’s been here so many times I’m starting to think he’s homeless,” she said, rolling her eyes and smiling. “Hello Andrew.”
“Lavinia, you’re looking ravishing. Speaking of which, you mind letting me take a shower in the back? I’m due for my weekly,” Andy replied smoothly. She false gagged in good nature.
“I don’t know how you managed to keep it down that long,” Jan mocked. Lavinia laughed. “Alright misfits, whaddya want?”
“Andy, let me save you the effort. He’ll take your best bowl of processed animal parts.” Jan and her one-liners. Lavinia nodded seriously. “”Sounds about right.”
Andy sat back and grinned. “Yeah yeah,” Lavinia sat back on her heels and put her chin on top of her arm, looking around at the rest of us. “What about the rest of you?”
We ordered, Jan got a mongolian vegan stir-fry and a chai tea, Bob just got a plate of chili fries and Allie only wanted coffee. I ordered the jalapeno bombers and a raspberry tea. When Lavinia took my order, she glanced up at me and looked at Jan. “She’s a new one, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, this is Videl.” Jan gestered at me. “She almost beat up Gary Stevens, so just refer to her as bad-ass from now on.”
I blushed, wondering just how many people Jan had been telling.
“No shit,” Lavinia said in amusement. “I hate the cocky little pervert. Alright, I like you already,” she winked at me
“Thanks” I mumbled, slightly amused as well.
Lavinia leaned toward me. “You know, I can get them to make it with bacon wrapped around it.”
I grinned foolishly. “Fuck yeah.”
We sat around and waited for our food, talking about school and things, we got our drinks and blew our straws at each other, played more where’s waldo (excluding Andy, cause he cheated, although he would slap his hand randomly over the table to confuse us) and when we got our food, we all attacked out plates.
It turned out Andy’s ‘processed meat special’ was a whopping bison burger. Jan acted disgusted for the sake of her vegan-ism when Andy stretched his whole mouth over it (the portions were absolutely enormous) and inched his mouth over the rest. It was actually kind of disgusting to watch but it had us cracking up. I tried my bombers, which Lavinia had given me three times the regular amount (which Lavinia whispered to me were on the house) and they were amazing, and perfect.
Andy put on Metallica's And Justice for All and blasted it on the way to my house. I found myself grinning the whole time. They dropped me off in front of my house, and I went up the drive and waved as Jan pulled away. “Pick you up tomorrow!” she yelled out the window.
“See ya!” I called back, and checked my watch. It was only 4:30, which meant Maryann wouldn’t be home for another hour or so, and her husband Steven worked in as a building restrictions overseer, so he worked a lot of on-call hours and was usually home late at night. I went inside, finding the door unlocked and realized Addie was probably home. I took off my backpack and ran up the stairs, still in my good mood.
Despite knowing better than to interact with the test subjects, I still felt happy that I had people to call friends and sit around and shoot the shit with them. I always had a guard against people, but afternoons like this might be enough to change my mind. That’s what I was thinking anyways as I walked past Addie’s room, seeing her sitting on her bed.
“Hey,” I said, trying to be friendly.
She looked up, surrounded by piles of books. “Hey,”
I gestured at the books. “How do you already have homework?”
Addie sat up a little and pushed the books aside, seeming to be grateful to take a break. “I go to catholic school,"
“You go to catholic school? Damn, that must such. I would hate my life.” I was somewhat joking.
“So is it an all girls catholic school?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you had a boyfriend then?” I asked, interested.
“No… I’ve never had one.” Addie’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“So your mom won’t let you date? One of the 10 commandments or something?" I knew full well it wasn't.
Addie skewed her lips. “She lets me. It’s just most boys are a waste of time.”
Now she had my attention. “So you’ve never dated a guy? Ever even kissed a guy?”
Addie’s blush told me she hadn’t. “So, is your mom forcing you be a nun?” I joked.
Addie narrowed her eyes. “She doesn’t force me to do anything.”
I shook my head. “But what girl in her right mind thinks boys are a waste of time?”
It was true, Maryann was a hardcore catholic and I knew it was a matter of time before she started trying to ‘lead me to the light’.
I held up my hands and leaned off the doorframe, surprised that she was offended. “Okay, it’s cool. I take it the conversation’s over.” Addie just rolled her eyes as I left.
I didn’t care either way if Addie and I got along, I told myself, going into my room and turning on my record player, letting myself seep into the sounds of Lifetime.
I lay on the bed, getting out a sketchbook and absently drawing. Living here was defintley a new experience to me. I hadn’t usually been in a house that actually practiced what they preached. Sure, I had been raised in a Catholic orphanage. But their type of faith had been more like a set of rules to follow. Do this. Do that. Repent, and you will be saved. Don’t do this, don’t do that. The list of don’t was just as long and pointless as the list of do’s. It never made sense to me. If all it was, the whole religion thing, was a set of rules, then why would they need a Jewish hippie guy to die on a cross and pay for their adultery and murder and human nature. Wouldn’t they just run helter-skelter and break all the rules because it wouldn’t matter? In the orphanage we learned usually by action and consequence, not action and enlightenment. So far, Maryann had been tolerant of me, but then again I hadn’t wanted to cause any trouble. So without action, there was no consequence.
This house was kind of like an alien world. I was starting to wonder when I’d be probed and brain-washed.
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