Unexpected Friends

We arrived at the classroom in no time. A Japanese man approached us, a clipboard in his hand.

"Hey guys," He smiled, offering his hand. "I'm Mr. Ibanez and welcome to 9th grade Biology. Can I have your names please?"

"Jillian Jacobson" I said, shaking his hand. "I go by JJ though."

"Alrighty," Mr. Ibanez said, scribbling quickly on his clipboard. "Thanks for telling me that JJ."
He looked to Matty and Johnny.

"Matthew Baker."

"Johnathan Seward."

Mr. Ibanez nodded, marking us all present.

"There's a seating chart up on the front desk." He said, gesturing to the paper. "The seats will last for this six weeks."

We thanked him then headed up to the front desk, looking down at the seating chart.
We were happy to find that we all sat near each other at one end of the room. Matty in front of me and Johnny behind me.

"Oooh JJ" Matty said as we took our seats. "I feel so bad for you. Johnny's behind you."

"Wait, what's wrong with that?" I asked, puzzled.

He smirked. "You'll see."

I turned around to ask Johnny what Matty was talking about, when the final bell rang. Mr. Ibanez walked to the front of the room and the class grew silent. I turned back around, seeing that I would have to ask Johnny later. Mr. Ibanez gave the usual first day speech, explaining the classroom rules and the work policy. I was listening when I felt someone flick my ear. I knew it was just Johnny, so I didn't turn around. Instead, I tried to continue listening to our Biology teacher. About a minute passed and he flicked my ear again, this time even harder. The flick had actually stung, but I refused to rub my ear and let Johnny know that it had hurt. Ear throbbing, I turned my attention back to Mr. Ibanez, who was now passing out a syllabus. Again, Johnny flicked my already aching ear. It actually really hurt, but I couldn't really do anything.

"Dang J," Johnny whispered, snickering. "Your ear is red"

"I wonder why." I grumbled, taking the syllabus Matty passed back.

I passed the remaining one back to Johnny, moving my arm sporadically so he would have a hard time getting it. After a few seconds, he was finally able to snatch it from my hand. I snickered and Johnny flicked my other ear in response. Matty turned around, hearing the ruckus we were making.

"What is going on back there children?" He playfully demanded, attempting to make a serious face.

"It's an all out war Matty!" I explained, as Johnny flicked my ear again. I turned around and grabbed his binder off of his desk, placing it on my lap so he couldn't reach it.

Matty grinned. "Now you understand?" He asked, as Johnny pulled at the collar of my t-shirt, demanding that I give his binder back.

"I sure do," I said, as I gave Johnny back his binder. He flicked my ear in thanks and the three of us giggled. Matty turned back around and we all refocused our attention to Mr. Ibanez. He told the class that he had nothing else to say, and that we were free the rest of the period as long as we were civil and weren't to loud. He went back to his desk and sat down, signaling that the class was free to talk. I glanced at Mr.Ibanez, and when I saw that he wasn't looking at me, I turned around and flicked Johnny on the forehead as hard as I could.

"Ow!" He cried, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

"What do you mean what was that for?" I said. "My ear is freaking red now!"

"Actually, both of them are red." Matt added, chuckling as I felt my warm ears. "Wait till he starts dropping stuff down your shirt."

My eyes widened in fear as Johnny laughed evily.

"Johnathan Seward." I said sternly, "You better not try any funny business with me. If you do, just know that you better watch your back."

His eyes widened in fake horror. "Yes ma'am," He said mockingly.

I stuck my tongue out at him, causing him to remark that I was acting Very mature
Matty, Johnny, and I conversed until the bell rang. We packed up our stuff, then headed to lunch, pushing each other playfully. We stood in line, cracking jokes at one another. The line was taking forever to move. We overheard a lunch lady saying to another that they were running low on food already. We looked at each other, worrying that we wouldn't be able to eat.

"Hey, you know what?" Matty piped, perking up. "Zacky and the rest of the guys have our lunch. Maybe we could go out to lunch with them!"

Matty pulled out his phone, calling his brother. Johnny and I nodded. Eating out would be a lot more tastier than the cafeteria food. Thankfully I had $20 in my wallet for emergencies. Matty raised his eyebrows at Johnny, silently asking if he had money. Johnny nodded in response.

"Hey Zacky?" Matty said, speaking into his cell phone. "Can me, JJ, and Johnny go out to lunch with you guys? The cafeteria is running low on food. We'll pay for our own food."
Matty was silent as Zacky said that yeah it would be cool and warned him that freshmen weren't supposed to go off campus for lunch, so Zacky and the guys would have to sneak them out. Matty told his brother that it was fine and he would meet them at the school's entrance. He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

"So," Johnny said, as we walked out of the cafeteria. "What'd he say?"

"He and the guys are cool with it." Matty said as we passed by some teachers. "But, freshmen aren't supposed to go off campus for lunch so they're gonna have to sneak us out."

"Wait, sneak out?" I asked. I wasn't usually one to break rules and I had never snuck out before.

"Yeah," Matty shrugged. "Zack did it all the time when he was a freshman. He was never caught, so we'll be fine."

I nodded, beginning to feel nervous.

We arrived at the school's entrance and saw that Matt, Brian, Zacky, and Jimmy were already there. They beckoned us to hurry up, and we quickened our pace, obeying.

"Ok," Matt said as we stopped in front of them." "The cops check the cars going off, so we're gonna have to hide you three. One can go in the trunk and two can be on the floor underneath a blanket. So, who wants to go where?"

Matty, Johnny, and I looked at each other. I didn't really want to go in the trunk and it was pretty obvious Johnny didn't either. Matty noticed this and shrugged, volunteering to be in the trunk. Matt nodded and we all headed to his car, looking out for teachers or the school cops. Matt opened the trunk and Matty climbed in obediently.

"We're just going Chick-Fil-A, Matty." Zacky said, peering down at his little brother. "It won't take too long to get there. Just call me if something's wrong."

Matty nodded, seemingly unfazed that he was about to be shrouded in complete darkness. Matt closed the trunk, then instructed Johnny and I to lie on the floor. Our heads had to be next to each other and we had to curl up in order for us to fit. When we were situated, Matt draped a blanket over the two of us.

"Zacky and Brian's feet will be on you guys." Mat informed, as he fixed the blanket. "Just stay still and quiet. We'll tell you two when you can get up."

"Ok," Johnny and I answered, our voices muffled by the blanket. I felt Brian and Zack climb in, placing their feet gently on our bodies. The doors were shut and I heard Matt start the engine.

"Alrighty guys," He said, cheerfully. "Show time."

Notes