Unexpected Friends

I felt the car lurch forward. Matt and the rest of the guys made small talk as we waited in line for the school cop to check the car. It was already getting hot underneath the blanket and I was feeling a bit nervous about sneaking off.

"Hey Johnny?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Matty's okay?"

I felt him shrug, shifting the blanket a little.

"I'm sure he's fine JJ." He answered. "I'm just glad it's not me in the trunk. I don't do good in confined spaces."

"Yeah me neither," I agreed, as I wondered how long it would take to get to the Chik-Fil-A.

"Hey guys, how long- "

"Shhh." Brian said, shushing me. "The cop is heading over to the window right now."

"Just don't move and stay quiet." Zacky advised, as I felt the car come to a halt.

I heard an unfamiliar deep voice. "Good afternoon gentleman. I.D. please."

The guys got out their school I.D. cards and handed them over to the cop. There was a slight pause as he checked them over. "Alrighty, you boys are good to go!"

"Thank you officer," Matt said, as the boys put their I.D.s back in their wallets. "Have a good day."

I heard Matt roll up the window and felt the car move forward again.

"Can we get up now?" I asked, squirming. "It's hot under here!"

The guys laughed and the blanket was pulled off. I turned my head and found that I was looking into Brian's brown eyes.

"Why do you wanna get up?" He jokingly asked, smirking as he and Zack scooted over, making some room for Johnny and I. "It looks pretty comfy down there."

"Haha very funny Brian." I said as I sat down next to him. "Maybe next time you should lay on the floor."

"Maybe next time you should lay on the floor." Brian said, mocking me.

I laughed and lightly punched his shoulder. "I don't even sound like that!"

For the rest of ride, we talked and cracked jokes at one another. The drive was a quick one, probably around 10 minutes or so. Matt pulled into the parking lot and parked the car.

"Alrighty guys," Jimmy said, climbing out of the car. "Lunchtime!"

Brian opened the door and climbed out. I scooted over, attempting to follow him, when he shoved me back in the car, making me knock heads with Johnny.

"Ow!" We both cried, rubbing our heads. We both turned to Brian, glaring. He stepped aside, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry guys," He said, as the other guys chuckled and opened up the trunk. "Didn't think you would smash heads."

We climbed out of the car, rubbing our aching heads. We went to the trunk to see how Matty was. I pushed past the guys and peered into the trunk. Matty was lying still, eyes closed.

"Matty," I said, poking his stomach. "We're here now."

He didn't respond and continued to lie there. I turned to the guys with a concerned look on my face.

"Um, he's not getting up." I said, pointing at Matty's still figure.

They shrugged, attempting to conceal small smiles. Confused, I turned back to Matty, reaching out my hand to poke him again. When suddenly, his eyes flew open and he grabbed my arm.

"Ahh!" He yelled, an evil look on his face.

I screamed and jumped back, yanking my arm out of Matty's grasp. Matty climbed out of the trunk, grinning, and I could hear the guys dying of laughter behind me.

"Oh JJ," Zacky gasped, doubled over from laughing so hard. "He got you good!"

"The scream was the best part!" Matt laughed, patting Matty on the back.

I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed.

"I wasn't even that scared you guys." I said, attempting to save a little bit of my dignity.

"Oh sure you weren't," Johnny said, raising an eyebrow. "You just screamed for no reason at all."

"Well maybe I did," I retorted, as Matt closed the trunk. "Can we go eat now?"

The guys nodded, still chuckling about Matty's prank, and we walked into the restaurant. We stood in line, waiting to order our food. I looked over to Matty and shot him a grin.

"Okay, maybe I was a little bit scared." I admitted as the line moved forward.

"Oh really?" He said, moving closer to me. "I never would've guessed!"

I smiled, punching him on the shoulder in response. He punched me back and we started shoving each other playfully.

"Whoah whoah whoah!" Brian said, wrapping his arms around Matty and I. "Now children, it's not nice to hit each other in public."

"It's not nice to hit each other in public." Matty and I said mockingly, as we looked up at Brian.

He snorted, and put both Matty and I in a headlock. "You kiddies better behave now, or no dessert for you!"

Matty and I grumbled as we squirmed, demanding Brian to let us go. He complied, releasing us with a slap on the back of our heads. Matty and I rubbed our heads, knowing that if we complained, Brian would just put us back in the headlock. We turned around and saw that we were next in line. We ordered our food and sat down at a table big enough to hold our group. Our food was ready fairly quickly and we all devoured it, talking and cracking jokes at one another. Jimmy told Johnny, Matty, and I a story about a particular duck he had seen at the park. Apparently, this duck was huge and Jimmy was making plans to actually catch this "stallion duck". I laughed, yet a small part of me believed that Jimmy was indeed telling me the truth. I looked over and saw Zacky pouring two packets of salt in Brian's cup, as Matt distracted him. Zacky noticed me, and held a finger to his lips, smiling. I smiled back, eager to see Brian drink his modified soda. I tapped Johnny and Matty's shoulders quickly, whispering about how Zacky had spiked Brian's drink. We all looked over, waiting for Brian to take a drink. Soon enough, he did exactly that. He raised the straw to his lips and drank. His eyes went wide and he spewed the contents in his mouth all over the table.

"What the heck is this?!?" Brian cried, wiping his tongue with a napkin as we erupted into laughter.

Zacky showed Brian the empty packets of salt. Brian shook his head, a small smile on his face, as he got up to empty out his cup and refill it. We looked at the time and saw that it was time to head back to the school. We wiped up the soda Brian had sprayed all over the table and threw away our trash. We walked out to the car, still laughing about Brian's spiked drink. Matt opened up the trunk and Matty climbed back in. As Matt closed the trunk, the rest of us climbed into the back seat. Johnny and I agreed that when we were five minutes from the school, we would hide underneath the blanket again. The ride back seemed short and it seemed that in no time, we were almost at the school. Johnny and I went on the floor while Brian and Zacky covered us with the blanket. We weren't stopped by a cop as we entered the parking lot. I asked why, and Zacky explained that they only check when people leave, not when they come back.

"Wait," I said, realizing something. "If they don't check when we come back, how come Johnny and I are down here?"

"Because," Brian said, and I could just imagine the smirk on his face. "More room for me and Zack."

Johnny and I let out groans, throwing the blanket off. Matt parked the car and we all climbed out. We opened and trunk and Matty jumped out, not scaring me this time. We walked to the school courtyard, waiting for the bell for 5th period to ring. I had band next and all the other guys had different classes. We conversed until it was time to head to our next class. I walked to the band hall, a bit nervous because I didn't know anyone in this class.

Well I thought as I sat down next to some kids. I didn't know the guys at first, but I became friends with them. Maybe the same thing will happen here.

And the same thing did happen. The girl next to me turned around, a smile on her face.

"Hi!" She said quietly, smiling. "I'm Alex."

I smiled back. "I'm JJ."

We shook hands and conversed, getting to know each other. It turns out that she also played the Clarinet and that she had also been nervous about this class because she didn't know anybody. We talked for the whole period, only pausing when the band director, Mr. Carvin, called roll and told us to bring our instruments tomorrow. I really liked Alex and was glad I met her. 5th period seemed to fly by and in no time, the bell rang. I said goodbye to Alex and walked to my next class, Art. I was excited because Johnny was in my class and I was eager to tell him about my new friend. I walked to the classroom and spotted Johnny. I sat down next to him and he looked up from his drawing.

"Hey J!" He said happily. "How was your last class?"

"Pretty good," I answered, taking out a pencil from my binder. "I made a new friend! Her name is Alex."

"Nice job!" Johnny said, high fiving me.

Apparently, it was pretty obvious that I had been nervous about making new friends in band. We talked until the bell rang, the class falling silent as the teacher closed the door and walked to the front of the room. She introduced herself as Mrs. Dean and then told us what we would be focusing on this semester. She then instructed us to take out a pencil and paper and draw the first thing that came to mind. She told us that when we were done, we were free to talk quietly to each other. The class rustled as everyone pulled out pieces of paper and pencils. Johnny and I looked at each other, shrugged, then began to draw.

Notes