Take Me Back to Start

“Yes, Dad, I have the address for Matt and Val’s house. It’s only two blocks from Papa Gates’ house. I’ll text you when I get there…Yes, you’re being more nervous than when I was a teen…I love you too. Goodbye,” Jolie spoke into her phone as she sat behind the wheel of her old car. It was a bit beaten up, but dependable. It felt like forever since she had been behind the wheel. When she moved out with Alex, he insisted she leave her car behind, so she did.

The car ride over to Matt’s house was only about fifteen minutes at most. Jolie could see three cars parked outside the house and two parked in the garage. She pulled into the driveway putting the car in park, but didn’t move from the car. After taking a moment to stare at the huge house, she laid her head against the wheel trying to muster up the courage to go into the house. A day before, she had finally answered Matt’s call. He insisted that she come over, especially since all the rest of the guys would be over too.

Suddenly, a loud slamming of the front door made Jolie nearly jumped right out of her own skin. Her heart picked up and she looked up in fear to see a mix of flailing limbs and screams running towards her car. Next thing she knew, Jimmy Sullivan had her car door open and was pulling her out of it. “Knife Girl!” he screamed making her flinch a little more. She tried to pull away from him nearly hitting him in the process. He realized what she was doing and immediately dropped his hands away from her. “Sorry, that was a lot. I’m just really excited! You know I can’t contain my excitement…ever!” he said with the grin still on his face.

“Jimbo, can you let the poor girl inside instead of harassing her? You know there’s some other people that want to see her too!” Matt sternly called out from the front door where he stood with his arms crossed. Jimmy stuck his tongue out at the other man before holding his hand out for Jolie. She just stared at the familiar gesture before taking his hand loosely in hers.

On the first day of first grade, Jolie immediately noticed a tall boy running around the playground with wild hair and a messy uniform. She had a small smile on her face as she waited at the swings for Matt to join her. He promised her the day before they would meet up at recess since they weren’t in the same class.

The tall boy ran up to a boy asking if he wanted to play monster with him. The other boy glared at the tall boy. “You’re so weird. Nobody likes you,” the other boy rudely insulted the tall one, “Why is your uniform so dirty? And monster is a stupid game.” The tall boy’s face instantly fell. He had been turned down by at least three other kids. Well, some of them had just run away.

Bravely, Jolie walked up to the two boys with a stern look on her face. “It’s not nice to call someone weird or pick on their clothes. All he wants to do is play a game. Stop being mean!” She yelled.

The other boy just glared at her shaking his head. “You must be just as crazy as he is!” he tried to insult the girl before running off.

The tall boy had a huge, goofy grin on his face when Jolie turned to him. He held out his hand as an offering. “Want to see a really cool place I found already? It’s top secret,” he offered as if the other boy had never even been there, “Oh! And my name is Jimmy!”

“I’m Jolie. Two J’s, that’s pretty cool! I love secrets! But, my best friend Matt is supposed to meet me at the swings. Can we wait for him together?” Jolie asked the tall boy as she easily placed her hand in his. He brightly agreed and the two walked to the swings together.

Jolie barely even realized that they had made it to the front door. Matt greeted her warmly like before, but she also spotted Valary by his side. She was more restrained in her greeting. She made sure to slowly wrap her arms around Jolie in order to give her the chance to move away. Matt had warned his girlfriend that Jolie had becoming more panicked and jumpy.

Val easily ushered Jolie further into the house offering drinks and telling her that the rest of the guys were in the backyard. Jolie just kept nodding her head as Val talked trying to listen, but having trouble focusing. She was already overwhelmed and she knew three other guys were waiting outside.

Suddenly, Jimmy grabbed Jolie’s hand making her stop outside the back door. “Hey, you need a minute to take everything in?” he offered suddenly serious. It was the thing about Jimmy that everyone loved. He was the brightest person around, always goofing off and making everyone smile. Some even believed he was certifiably crazy. But then, when you needed it, he could be completely serious. It made him so easy to confide in.

Jolie smiled up at her friend giving his hand a squeeze. “Actually, I think I’m okay, Jim Jam. Sorry for acting so weird. I have really missed you,” she genuinely responded. He laughed a little leaning down to kiss her forehead gently. Instead of replying, he simply guided her outside.

The first person to look up and notice Jolie’s entrance was Johnny. “Hey!” was all he was able to say before Zacky pushed him directly into the pool and coolly strode over to Jolie with a shit eating grin clearly on his face. “I couldn’t let Short Shit greet you first. We all know you missed be more,” he said simply.

Jolie instantly let out a laugh, a genuine one. It was a sound that she barely even recognized when it left her lips. “Zacky Baker, you always knew just what to say,” she said sweetly before stepping towards him and slowly wrapped her arms around him, “But I missed you all equally. You know that.”

“You can claim you missed us all equally, but you know I missed you the most. You look beautiful,” A voice from behind Zacky said smoothly. Jolie stepped back from her green-eyed friend to see Brian Haner Jr standing there with a smirk. She rolled her eyes barely believing how some people don’t change.

“Synyster Gates, as smooth as ever,” Jolie replied easily as she would have three years ago, “You try that line out on all the girls?” When the words left her lips, she barely even realized she had said them. She didn’t know how joking tone was so easy for her in the moment when any other time, she could barely figure out what to say. With Brian, it was just easy to fall back into place.

With the Synyster Gates signature smirk clearly placed on his lips, he took a couple steps closer to the small girl. He practically towered over her 5’3” frame the same way he did years ago. “I don’t usually have to say anything for the girls to be all over me. Have you seen me?” he asked confidentially.

Jolie smiled a little brighter and shrugged. “Yeah, I have. Still nothing much to look at,” she briskly said before stepping around him towards the pool to see Johnny. “Still dealing with these assholes teasing you?” she asked kneeling down by the side.

Johnny laughed straight away swimming to the edge and crossing his arms on the concrete next to Jolie. “They only do it because they know I’m the most important one in the group,” he said like it was obvious.

“Yeah right, Gnome!” Zacky cried jumping into the pool and dunking Johnny under the water. The splash of the water soaked Jolie straight away and she fell back on her ass. It hit her face messing up her make-up and hair, as well as soaking her shirt. Feeling herself instantly getting upset and freaked out, she climbed to her feet and practically ran into the house. Val following right behind her.

After a minute of searching, Jolie found a bathroom and tried to fix the damage done to her make-up. She had diligently put it on covering the marks she was trying to hide and to make her face look at least decent. In her head, she could hear Alex telling her how messy she looked when she didn’t do her make-up right. How she looked like a slob and he couldn’t understand how she would allow herself to leave the house looking like that.

“You can fix that up with my make-up if you want,” Val gently said from the doorway causing Jolie to jump again and realize how tense she had become. After taking a deep breath, she nodded her head and Val guided the other girl up to her and Matt’s bedroom.

Silently, Jolie fixed her make-up and ran a brush through her hair again. Val waited on the bed for her to finish up. What happened finally sunk in for Jolie. She realized how she had a small freak out and was suddenly deeply embarrassed. She couldn’t believe she let herself react like that. Alex would have…She stopped herself from thinking about how he would have reacted and moved back over to Val.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I reacted like that,” Jolie mumbled trying to explain.

“Don’t worry about apologizing, honestly. It’s been a while and the boys are a lot to get used to,” Val easily said and leaned back a bit, “But if there’s more you want to talk about, I’m all ears.”

There was a bit of silence before Jolie just forced a smile. “That’s sweet, but there’s nothing else. I’m just a bit weird about my appearance these days, especially since getting out of the hospital,” she said downplaying the situation. Val just accepted what the other woman said not wanting to push too much, especially being the first time they were together again.

The two women walked back out with everyone, but Val stuck by the other’s side. The guys were a bit on edge at first, but Val made sure to give them a glare. They all slowly transitioned back into some easy conversation. The guys were just more considerate of giving Jolie space while she tried to keep herself calm. The longer she was there, the more comfortable she got. It started feeling like how it used to be.

Matt and Val stuck by Jolie making casual conversation. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Zacky teamed up to harass Johnny. They would make sure that to dump the shorter man countless times and tease him. Brian sat on one of the lounging chairs by himself watching the chaos in front of him. Jolie could feel his eyes on her lingering every so often, but she willed herself not to meet them. There was something about the way Brian looked at her that made her stomach flip, but she couldn’t figure out if it was a good or bad thing.

Notes

Not sure how I feel about this, but let me know what you think! Warning, things are gonna get worse before they can get better!