CHAPTER THREE;

"ALL THESE FEELINGS COME BACK TO YOU"

RODRICK HEFFLEY STOLE GABBY SANTELLO'S DESK, which was placed next to Jo's. She was wearing a black Linkin Park t-shirt, plaid red jeans, and combat boots. A few rings decorated her fingers, and a gold locket & chain complimented her neck. Her chocolate colored hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, and her face held a minuscule amount of makeup.

He didn't even realize he was staring.

"Heffley, can you stop staring at me? It's fuckin' weird."

Rodrick jumped slightly, sending her an awkward laugh, "Yeah, sorry." He apologized before turning to the front of the classroom. After yesterday, making her laugh all day after lunch, reminiscing on memories from when she babysat Manny and Greg, when they would jam out together after school, and allowing her to "steal" his extra set of drumsticks, he was left with an odd feeling in his stomach. He thought that maybe it was just the cafeteria food, but when he woke up with that exact same feeling, he didn't know how to act.

"Mr. Heffley," Mr. Stroud began, "answer the question on the board."

The teen's eyes moved from the man, to the chalkboard. He furrowed his brows as he tried to decipher what the answer to 400 x 45 - 37 + 69 x 79 - 290 was. It's eight thirty AM, how the fuck did Mr. Stroud expect him to do this shit?

Subtly, a note landed itself onto his desk, and no one else noticed except for him. He glanced down, reading the all-too-familiar handwriting.

It's 23124. Try paying attention next time instead of staring at me, Heffley ;)

The boy smirked, licking his lips before turning his attention back to their teacher. "23124." He spoke, triumphantly, causing Mr. Stroud's eyes to narrow.

"That's correct. Well done, Rodrick." The man growled, before continuing with the class. When Rodrick looked back over at Jo, she sent him a wink before beginning to scribble down notes in her metallic gold binder. He felt his face and neck heat up as he smiled to himself, realizing that he and Jo were slowly drifting back to where they once were.

Even though he was afraid his old crush would re-emerge and ruin their friendship all over again.

★

"Hey, did you hear about the contest?" Jo questioned as she sat across from Ben and Rodrick, who were just discussing when they need to schedule rehearsals. The boys looked at her, smiling.

"Of course! Löded Diper is totally gonna win this thing." Ben said, his stoner-like voice invading Jo's ears and causing her to subtly roll her eyes. "I doubt anyone has the talent required to beat us."

The brunette scoffed, "We'll see about that, boys. I'm entering, as well."

"Oh, really?" Ben began, "What're you gonna do? Teach the audience math?"

Jo released a false laugh, "I'm gonna sing, you ignorant dick-chicken." She informed him, "I just haven't decided which one of my songs I'm gonna sing. I'm meeting with my brother and his band today after school."

"Wait.. seriously?" Rodrick questioned, eyes wide, "You still sing? And you're having one of the best bands in the country perform with you? That's so not fair!"

The girl teasingly stuck out her tongue, "Neither was me saving your punk ass in class earlier, what's your point?"

He smirked, jokingly scrunching his nose up in false annoyance. Ben glanced between his friends, sending Rodrick a confused look. The teen just rolled his eyes, "So, Jo, I hope that us winning this contest doesn't affect our friendship."

"Well, Rodrick, when I win that $1,000, our friendship will be perfectly fine unless you decide to cry about my victory." She stated, smirking.

"Game on, Tiny."

"Fuck off, Punk."

★

"Oh look, she actually showed up." Vinny chuckled as Jo entered their garage, where his bandmates and brother were laughing and catching up.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Of course I did. I wanna win this this thing more now than ever."

"And why's that?"

"Rodrick is competing." She smirked, "And I just wanna remind him why he got into music in the first place."

The bassist of Vinny's band stepped forward, her chocolate curls bouncing as she approached the younger girl. "Who's Rodrick?" She questioned, pulling Jo into a hug.

"Mo! Hey!" The girl exclaimed, hugging her back, "Rodrick is an old friend of mine."

"Suuuuuure." A voice stated, smiling as he approached the young girl. "I will smack a high schooler."

"No, Wen, you wouldn't want to get arrested for hitting a minor, would you?" She joked, hugging the tall man before hugging Scott and Stella.

They all chatted for thirty minutes before finally getting ready for rehearsals. Jo smiled, "So, since you guys don't know the song yet, I'l sing some of it and you can join in. Sound good?"

Murmurs of agreement wandered the room before the girl began to sing Would I. She cleared her throat and mind, thinking about her parents and her brothers.

I thought if I was older, I'd have less on my shoulders.
I can't tell if I'm sad or bored.

Most nights I am not sober.
L.A.'s making me colder.
I've got voices I can't ignore.

Everything is never enough.
If I wasn't afraid of love, yeah.
I would've hugged ya.
If I wasn't so insecure.
If I wasn't easy to hurt then I wouldn't hurt ya.

If all of my friends wanted to jump, would I, would I?
If I could feel nothing, if I could feel numb, would I, would I?
If I could forget you without all the drugs, could I, could I?
If all of my friends wanted to jump, would I, would I, would I, would I?

She sang, not even noticing that her brother and friends had already joined in.

Would I?

Empty numbers on pay checks.
Good days, only on weekends.
It's so easy to miss the point.

A-plus, call me a genius.
Took my patience for weakness.
I wish I would have had the choice.

Everything is never enough.
If I wasn't afraid of love, yeah.
I would've hugged ya.
If I wasn't so insecure.
If I wasn't easy to hurt, then I wouldn't hurt ya.

If all of my friends wanted to jump, would I, would I?
If I could feel nothing, if I could feel numb, would I, would I?
If I could forget you without all the drugs, could I, could I?

If all of my friends wanted to jump, would I, would I, would I, would I?
Would I, would I?

Would I?

Everything is never enough.
Everything is never enough.
Everything is never enough.
Oh everything is never enough, never enough.

"Holy shit, Jo!" Scott exclaimed, "That was amazing!"

She chuckled, "Thank you."

"Don't take that compliment lightly, girl." Stella warned, "You have an incredible voice."

Jo smiled, hugging her brother's bandmates before they all entered the Moreno household and ordered pizza.

It felt good to sing again, seeing as she hadn't done it with a band since she was eleven. Spending time with her brothers, and the band, made her unexplainably happy. But, one thing on her mind furthered her cheerful mood.

She was gonna see Rodrick the next day.

MOHINI BANJAREE
AGE: TWENTY-ONE
naomi scott

SCOTT PICKETT
AGE: TWENTY-TWO
nick roux

STELLA YAMADA
AGE: TWENTY-ONE
hayley kiyoko

WENDELL GIFFORD
AGE: TWENTY-ONE
adam hicks

— R E X I E E  S P E A K S —

shoutout to -yellowxnostalgia

the "dick-chicken" insult was a reference to her book, HOLD YOUR BREATH. it's amazing and i highly recommend reading it.

mwah!