leesophie: After-school ritual?
I smiled at my phone reading Sophie’s text. I was exhausted from the long day I had; that’s one thing they don’t tell you as a dual major. Your days feel like full-time jobs on top of all of the other bullshit classes you have to take. Maybe that’s why the school only accepts a handful of them, but fuck, sometimes I wish I could’ve gone for just band. Maybe then I could focus all of my attention on that class and Soph–
“Yo Milo,” Mollie sat in the seat next to me. It would be the last week that we’ll get to sit with each other since we’re all getting assigned our positions in this class. “Are you free to hang out after-school?”
I looked at Mollie, not immediately giving her an answer. Mollie knew me well enough to know what I was trying to say, and she rolled her eyes as a response.
“Sorry, Mol. Aren’t Tuesdays your thera–” Before I continue, Mollie hits me on the arm to shut me up. Fuck, Mol!
“Wanna tell the whole fucking class, dude?” Mollie asked, annoyed at my carelessness. She sighed and continued talking. “I don’t have an appointment today, so it would’ve been cool to hang out with my best friend on the one day I can…”
“I have plans with Sophie,” I looked down at my phone, ready to respond back to Sophie’s text.
“Whatever, Milo; forget that I even asked,” Mollie turned away from me, looking forward toward the class. I looked at her; I feel bad for not hanging out with her after school, but Tuesday afternoons with Sophie were important to me.
“I’ll make it up to you, Mol,” I said to Mollie. She being her classic self, ignored me. I rolled my eyes and faced forward; the class was about to start.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” my dad said to the class. “We have about 5 of you left to present to the class, so who wants to kickstart it today?” The class was quiet until my dad looked toward the back of the class. “Mr. Serrano; thank you for volunteering.”
I turned from my seat and saw Aaron walking towards the front with a guitar in his hands. I can’t help but laugh to myself. Of course, typical hype boy.
“I mean, Mollie can’t be the only one in this class who’s brave to go first,” Aaron commented.
“Asshole,” I said to myself, but loud enough to let Mollie hear me. I looked at her when I didn’t hear her reaction, which was weird. Her eyebrows were cocked up, looking at the hype boy in front of the class.
“So, this is an original I wrote not too long ago; this song is called “Hard Secrets of Orpheus,” he said. What kind of stupid ass song title is that? Before I could even pay attention, he starts playing his guitar and begins to sing. He has a rasp in his voice, but it doesn’t feel like he is straining it. It’s natural, which catches me off-guard the most. It ages him like he’s been doing this his entire life. And his guitar playing; it’s not bad for someone that’s in the percussion section of band class. He has a decent voice and he plays decently on an instrument.
I look at Mollie. She looks forward to Aaron and I can see it in her face; she’s focusing so hard on his performance and analyzing it in her head. Maybe she’s also thinking the same thing I am thinking: Hype boy went first to not even set the standard high for everyone else.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took my phone out of my pocket and tried to look at my notifications with it under my desk.
leesophie: Let me know before school ends so I can let my mum know!
As I’m about to text her back, I feel a voice call out my name. Fuck.
“Mr. Kamalani,” my dad said as he looks at me. I looked up quickly at him. “Sorry if your classmates’ performances are boring you, but please try to respect them as they do despite your personal opinions.” The class bickers a bit and my face instantly turns red. I’m more than angry at that point; I’m pissed. Why would my dad just out me out in front of the entire class like that? He could’ve just come to my desk and told me to put my phone away, but instead, he just has to make my life a living hell in this class.
“Well sorry if this assignment sucks,” I said without even realizing it was loud enough for him to hear. He looked back at me.
“Excuse me, Mr. Kamalani–“
“It’s Milo,” I corrected him, not caring that I was talking back. He was pissing me off, and I wasn’t going to let him treat me like this. For fuck’s sake, I’m your son.
“Mr. Kamalani,” my dad sternly said louder. “If you’re not going to respect your classmates, then you can kindly leave class and go find something else to entertain you.” I don’t move from my seat. It’s literally the first couple of weeks of school and my first incident is with my own dad? He wasn’t letting this go, and I was upset that he was doing this.
“Mr. Kamalani, that wasn’t a suggestion, that was an order,” he said as he walked towards the front door to open it. Fuck this.
I grabbed all of my things and got out of my seat, angrily walking towards the front door. As I got closer to the door, he leaned close to me to whisper something.
“You know better,” he said. I didn’t say anything back. I just walked away from the classroom, towards the principal’s office.
Letters From Liz. 