Part 11 - But I Digress...

There's been a delay in creating a new part, but it's worth waiting for, and in compensation I offer the reader this long-winded and probably unnecessary digression. The next part was to be a guest written piece by Jase, a snapshot of his thoughts as Amanda and I prepare to extricate his deepest secrets through tortuous mind-games. But I neglected to take into account Jase's notoriety when it comes to lateness. Just as he was late picking me up on this particular morning, just as on most mornings, Jase was always late handing in assignments. Not just ordinary run of the mill 'I'm sorry miss, I had it written in my diary as due tomorrow, see, right there, it's at home, I could go now and get it but I'm not sure I'd make it back to school before you left, wouldn't it be easier if I just handed it in tomorrow?' kind of late that most kids attempted. Myself, I was more of a 'skip every class before the one it's due in and write it on the day' kind of guy, something which had absolutely pissed off Amanda the other week when I pulled this awesome speech in modern history out of thin air, and came first in both classes, five marks ahead of her speech that she'd spent weeks preparing. Still stoked about that one.

Jase held a couple of records in the grade – longest overdue without penalty (legal studies), largest penalty for lateness without failing (English extension 2), and most passes with assignments missing (Health, yr10, Food Tech yr8, and Chemistry three years straight, 8-10). Hence, I should have expected no less than a week's delay in getting his assignment. Really, it boggled the mind how he didn't fail, week after week seemingly on the brink, and always tottering back safely. When I mentioned earlier that this was the final week of year 11, and we had no assignments due, nothing to do, well, assume that Jase still owed a couple of assignments to pass a subject or two. Really, if we were good friends, we would've actually gone to the library and stood behind him with whips till he finished them. But, y'know, that'd involve way too much effort.

Plus, the whole competition thing. Ranking kids in every class, that starts to get you down at a high-performance school. Everyone knew that most of us would be top of the line at any other school, but here that'd just get you somewhere in the middle. There were a couple of clear front-runners, 99.95 just waiting for them at the end of year twelve, superior degrees, high-paying jobs and boring lives in cubicles. They'd barely comprehend the fun of mediocrity. So we'd slouch off on our free periods instead of studying. We didn't aim high because we didn't like what we saw there. We didn't aim low either, because that'd be just as bad. Kind of serving our time, doing what had to be done, no more, no less. Jase was just better at knowing exactly how much he needed to do to keep running.

Part 10 - Double Effort

Jase turned around in his seat, his arm behind Amanda's seat as he backed out of the parking spot, and while Amanda might've been a bit unsettled by the speed, seeing as how the gravel was flying into a growing cloud of dust, I was just thankful he was looking at all. He hauled the wheel about, and said, 'Dude, when you get a car, get power steering.'

Then he floored it.

Two years later, on a dry night with a full moon, after 2am, no cars in sight, it took me four minutes longer on the same route than this run with Amanda in the car. He hauled that machine through to the back of Gosford, stereo blaring the heavy techno of an early Skitzmix, while Amanda turned around and asked,
'Is it always like this?', while she looked out the back window, looking for cops, or worse, an A Current Affair news van running a piece on 'Reckless Youths, Hooning About Your Town During School Hours. Tonight At 6.30.'
'I think he's toning it down a bit cos you're in the car. We'd probably be there already, right Jase?'
'Yeah, that bloody Volvo back there,' (the one that pulled over to catch his breath back) 'what was his deal?' he replied.
'Probably going to write to the Advocate, complaining about the youth of today,' I said.
'What's the rush anyway?' asked Amanda.
Jase ignored her. 'Youth of today, it's the Old of today that are the problem. Clogging up our roads with Volvos, filling the coast with retirement villages instead of things for kids to do.'
'Hey dude, what Amanda said, what's at Erina?'
'Just shut up dude, we're almost there.' He revved a bit harder, racing up the last straight before we reached the mall. It barely deserved the title, Mall, in it's current incarnation, but it was the closest thing to one on the Coast, and it was a bit more than a shopping complex like Deep Water Plaza in Woy Woy. That two bit hole was so small you couldn't get your ankles wet before reaching the deep end.

Well, we were intrigued at any rate. Something was worth driving out here for, beyond showing off his driving skills to Amanda. Jase cruised into the parking lot, and parked between the cinema and the food court, and as we got out, he started walking towards the cinema.
'Hey dude, burgers this way.' I called out.
'It'll just take a minute,' he replied as he kept walking. I turned to Amanda, and muttered, 'Do you have any idea what this is about?'
'Not a clue,' she said.
'You guys coming?' he yelled, and we started trudging towards the multiplex. Really, there wasn't much else for kids to do on the coast, beyond cruising about and going to the movies, especially when the weather wasn't warm enough for the beach. They'd had a couple of blue light discos at the abandoned roller rink in Gosford, but they kinda stopped after a drug bust yielded over 100 Ecstasy tablets scattered on the floor when the police showed up.
'We don't have time for a movie Jason, we have to be back for Legal.' said Amanda.
'I'm not here to see a movie,' he said as he kept walking to the side of the ticket booth, flicking over the papers there, and suddenly,
'Alright, they are holding a movie marathon. Sunday night.'
'Enjoy dude, we're both working.' I said.
'Yeah, public holiday pay. Can't give that up.' said Amanda. When your hourly rate is still in single digits, the chance to be paid like an adult is something you don't pass up.
'I wasn't going to ask you guys.'
'Well, who then?'
He started blushing, and walked past us, back towards the food court.
'Ooh, Jas-ey's got-a girl-friend,' I said in that singsong voice.
'Shut up man, you know I don't.'
'But you want one,' said Amanda. 'And you're gonna ask her to a movie marathon?'
'He never said it was a her,' I said, as Jase hit me on the arm, then, 'Ow! Well, we've narrowed it down to women then. Okay then, does she go to our school?' I asked, and he replied,
'Stop with the questions, just go get your food, I thought you were hungry!'
Amanda chimed in, 'So she does go to our school!'
'I never said that!'
'Well, It has to be someone in our year, he doesn't know anyone in the year below. Not any girls anyway, just those dudes who play soccer.' I said.
'Stop talking about me!'
'And you can rule me out, cos I've already got a boyfriend,' said Amanda, in that faintly proud way she had
'God, yes, we know. We see him every day.' I replied.
'Back to it, who would he like?' She said.
Jase folded his arms. 'I'm not saying anything.'
'Sure you are.'
'You will confess.'
'Hey, you know he was right after all.' I said
'What's that?'
'There is something interesting here, after all. I'm gonna get some food, we'll sit back here, yeah?'

We'd have it out of him before we got back to school, there wasn't anyway to stop two of us against the other. Amanda on her own could be countered by a brick wall from both me and Jase, but with one of us helping her, there was no such thing as a secret. Just gossip waiting to happen.

Part 9 - Get In, Shut Up.

i'You little tramp.' I said to Amanda as we walked away from Snowdon.
'Excuse me?' she replied, indignant at the accusation.
'Oh Mr. Snowdon,' I mimicked in a falsetto, 'you wouldn't put a cute girl like me in detention, would you?' batting my lashes for further effect.
'As if I said anything like that! I was just being nice, something which you seem to have forgotten how to do.'
'Dude, she was so putting it on, wasn't she? Dude?' I asked Jase, as we walked towards the student car park. And by car park I mean street. And by street I mean gravel ditch by the train tracks, overgrown by evil weeds. The kind that grow on public property. Not the good kind of evil weeds, that the cool kids cut up finely, wrapped in homework, and smoked during lunch breaks.
'Sorry what? I was just thinking...' said Jase.
'Does it hurt?' I pulled out the old line
'Fuck you. I was thinking we should go to Erina instead, there's something I want to check out.'
'What is it Jase?' said Amanda.
'I'm not going to say just yet, just in case.'
‘Ooh, this sounds interesting. Dude, spill.' I demanded.
'No, you'll see if it's there, if not then you'll still be able to buy food.'
'Hey yeah, I can get Maccas while Amanda gets Subway.' It'd be worth the delay, after all.
'God Keegan,’ said Amanda, ‘You've been working there a year now, yeah? aren't you sick of it yet? it took me like a month and I stopped eating it.' It was probably because Amanda, Nick and Brendan were already working there that I scored a job.
'No way, It's even better now because it's cheaper. 20% now isn't as good as the free stuff after close though.' It must've been only the price, because I became a vegetarian for two years after I quit.
'Eww, gross.' she sqealed as she made a face
We reached Jase's car, and it had probably been a while since Amanda had been in there, what with her boyfriend Nick driving her in every day. She kinda just stood in shock for a minute.
'Dude, you get in the back.' Jase said, while Amanda surveyed the mountains of crap in his car. Her big brown eyes were wide open, her mouth just opening and closing while she thought of something to say.
‘yeah, you haven’t been in here for a while, have you?’ Jase asked her.
‘Have you ever cleaned this thing out?’ she asked.
One might expect a teenager’s car to have some junk in the trunk, especially a bloke’s car. The interior of Jase’s car though, was something else altogether. Beyond the usual fast-food wrappings, half empty bottles, soccer gear (and the chunks of dried mud scraped off said gear), Jase had taken some casual work delivering pamphlets and the local paper, which produced leftovers that never left the car. There were things growing in the boot that were well on their way to discovering fire.
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Jase. ‘I had her polished last week!’
‘Just get in, Amanda,’ I said, as I shoveled piles of junk off a seat in the back, ‘ at least you’re in the front.’
‘well, okay. But you’re going to drive careful, aren’t you?’ she asked.

Me and Jase just looked at each other.