Jacob's Entry for GCEA short Story competition

[[Desolate Divine]]

Note
~All curse words are probably censored. However I may have missed some, or not be aware of their impact, eg some people see crap as a bad word, whilst I find that to be bull crap (See what I did there?). If there are any that you think need to be censored, let me know and I will do so immediately.
~Phoebe in this is NOT Phoebe of the Elite Four. She is just a random girl from Jacob's english class, and was the first name I came up with.
~I get that is this PG13 rating at the worst as part of the contest rules. If you think that Phoebe's comment of "If you ask me, I think he is trying to compensate for something…" is too inappropriate, watch Shrek again...
~By 'fooling around' I don't mean anything too explicit. Clothes remained on, and they were only pretending ;)
~If anyone read my previous story for the first competition, they might remember Jacob said a few things that clash with this. Eg he said he was arrested because the cops rocked up and his ride left without him in the panic. He also mentioned fitting everything he can into life because it is too short. He says this because he is embarrassed by what happened with Blake, and how for a year he... No spoilers ;)
~I added what I did about Blake's family because I felt like there was not much deep interaction with him as a character, and that there was little personalty behind him.
And on that note, let us begin!

Party
“So what do you say Jacob? This is the last time we will do anything as a group. Exams are over, and graduation is in two weeks. You will probably hardly see anyone after that.”

I remember Blake saying those words earlier this afternoon. Though it is 5am now, so technically it would be yesterday afternoon. The technicalities don’t matter, but when you are in the cell of a police station, there isn’t much else to think about. You are probably wondering why none of this makes sense. That is probably because you tuned in about thirteen hours too late. The action is over, and now I am waiting to see if this works out for better or worse. Let me explain, back from the beginning…

It was 4pm of the 27th of April. My first official day of freedom, as I had finished my final high school exam the day before. In normal teen fashion, I had slept in, only awoken by the noise of my phone ringing. I regretted leaving it under my pillow, because the screams of the metal song that served as my ringtone almost deafened me.

“Whoever this is, it is too early to be making phone calls…” I mumbled groggily into the mobile phone.

“Jacob, it is 4pm.” Came the voice of my friend Blake, followed by a sigh. He had always been an early riser. “Anyway, you will want to get out of bed when you hear what I just found out!”

“Don’t hold your breath mate, you will probably end up suffocating.” I grunted, as I rubbed my eyes. Small cracks of light had made their way through the curtains, lighting the dark room. I put my phone on hands-free, and listened as I began sniffing my clothes on the floor, trying to identify the cleanest. After I got dressed, I opened the window. It was a sunny spring day. The first sunny one all week.

“There is a party on tonight.” Blake said, ignoring my comment. He knew me too well to know I was not meaning to offend him, “It is at school. They are lighting a giant bonfire on the football field. There are no security systems down there, and there is nobody around for miles. They will not be expecting it. Muck-Up day was yesterday after all.”

This party did interest me. And Blake was right in all three of his statements. We went to a school on the edge of Route 121. Ten kilometers stood between it and the Lilycove city limits. No security systems outside buildings, and nobody expecting it. We did all our screwing up on our final day, the day before. I remembered taping bicarb soda tablets to the hidden parts of the toilet bowls, and filling the cisterns with potent vinegar. Flooded the toilet block every time one was flushed, and without detailed inspection, nobody knew why.

“Thanks for letting me know Blake, but no thanks.” I said, “You invite me to parties all the time, but you know more than most that I just don’t like people.”

That was the truth. I had been in and out of school a lot, due to my mental health. I only started coming back normally at the start of the year, and since then, Blake was my only friend. Some people remembered me from before my sickness, though avoided me. Didn’t want to be seen with the ‘mental case’.

“What will you be doing tonight then?” Blake asked, slightly annoyed. “If you say practising guitar, I will come over there, and drag you to the party in whatever you are wearing then and there, for your your sake, and the sake of everyone else, I hope you are wearing enough.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I said to Blake, “I won’t be practising guitar.”

There was a silence.

“Really?”

“Honest to Arceus.”

“Then what will you be doing?”

“Practicing piano.”


Though I am quite unsure how, I found myself in Blake’s car within the hour, showered, shaved and dressed up. The car was a brand new Ford Mustang GT. His dad made a killing in the shipping industry, and could afford to spend $50,000 on his sons first car. His mum just stayed at home, spending his money, and finding new problems with her car so the mechanic would come in. Blake knew what was going on though he never said it. Though it was wrong, there was peace, and he figured if he had figured it out, his dad probably would have done the same. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, even if faked.

“So what do you say Jacob? This is the last time we will do anything as a group. Exams are over, and graduation is in two weeks. You will probably hardly see anyone after that.” Blake said as he drove along the freeway leaving the city, almost definitely too fast.

“I am in the passenger seat of your car, and you are going too fast for me to jump out and not be killed.” I laughed, “I don’t think I have much of a choice anymore.”

“Well you are brighter than I thought.” Blake said jokingly with a grin. “Now that you have caught on, I will stop pretending you have a choice.”

We arrived at the party at 7pm. It was only starting to get dark, and the guys from the football team were attempting to light the bonfire. Next to them was a bucket of what was probably something highly flammable, and in the head-honcho’s hand was a plastic lighter from the two-dollar shop. After ten minutes of watching these fools try and fail to start a flame, I left Blake’s side, and made my way to the not yet burning bonfire.

I grabbed my handkerchief from my pocket, and a long stick from the pile. After soaking the hanky in the fuel, I tied it to the end of the stick, and threw the fuel on the pile. I pulled out my metal lighter from my pocket and lit the hanky, creating a flaming torch and threw the whole thing on the pile. It erupted in flames, which stayed and didn’t disappear like when the others did it. I had a thing for causing fires. I wasn’t a pyromaniac, but I wouldn’t be surprised if my strange talent got me into some trouble some day.

“You know they are gonna try and get back at you.” Blake said as I walked over to where he was standing. He had seen the whole thing, “I might be able to talk them out of it, but they will probably be embarrassed by you showing them up.”

Blake was one of the more well liked guys in my class. Seemed to get along with most people, though hung out with me the most, since I lived two streets away from him.

“Exams are over, and graduation is in two weeks. You will probably hardly see anyone after that.” I said, in my best Blake-voice, to which he laughed.

More people began to turn up to the party. At its liveliest, the party had about 200. There were only 130 in my graduating class, though half had brought people along. Girlfriends, boyfriends, cousins. I saw a lot of people I didn’t recognize, though there were probably a few in them that were in my classes. As I said, I don’t like people.


The party was supposed to be spring themed, and they attempted that by bringing a few potted trees to line the entrance, and the fence. Pretty stupid seeing as the trees don't magically appear at the start of spring, then disappear without a trace at the end for the next nine months. I kept my mouth shut though, and attempted to enjoy the party.

Occasionally I would talk to someone who wasn’t Blake. One thing I noticed was they all said the same thing. They crapped on about how we would have to make sure to keep in touch next year. I agreed with them only to shut them up. Most of them had never had anything to do with me at school, and probably wouldn’t want to anyway. No worries. I don’t plan on keeping in touch with them anyway.

It got to 1:30am, and I found myself with Blake again. We were talking, and I was secretly hoping we could go home soon. Blake however had made it his mission to get at least one girls number that night, and knowing him, we would be here until he did, or every girl that was there had left.

For the fifth time, he left my side, asking me to hold onto his jacket, walking over to a girl who was standing alone, and attempted to charm her. The last four times, she had either been with her boyfriend, had a boyfriend who wasn’t there, or had more to drink than we were able to tell at a distance.

I watched as he talked to this girl. I had notice how she had a somewhat serious expression on her face before approached by Blake. However the moment he started talking to her, that changed to one of complete dopiness. She must have been trying to seem like a bit more of a bimbo, though I wouldn’t know why she would think being an idiot is attractive.

I watched Blake and the bimbo speak for a few minutes, until I heard noise coming from Blake’s jacket. It was his phone. He had just received a text message from his dad.

“For Arceus’ sake Blake! Another speeding fine just arrived in the mail for you! I am sick of paying these! If you don’t call me in the next five minutes, I am selling the Mustang!”

While I knew Blake had a mission, I also knew that the Mustang was his baby, and was also his ultimate pick-up tool. I walked towards Blake as he talked to this girl. He didn’t see me coming towards him from behind, and it was too dark for the girl he was talking to to see me.

“I see you hanging out with that Jacob guy a lot. How come?” the girl asked, “He is a creep, and an *sshole. Never talks to anyone. I am surprised he stuck around for the whole year. It is obvious nobody likes him.”

I stopped walking, slightly shocked, and ready to slap this girl.

“I just feel sorry for him that’s all. He is pretty messed up in the head.” Blake replied confidently, “I figure it would be nice for him to feel like he has at least one friend, though to be honest he annoys the crap out of me.”

I felt my temperature rise, and my body start to shake with the adrenaline. Blake was my only friend, and to hear him say that, to get a girls number, really pissed me off. I pocketed his phone, and took the car keys and wallet from his jacket pocket.

“So that’s what you think of me?” I said loudly. Blake turned around, shocked. “If you are going to b*tch about someone who calls you a friend, have the ****ing decency to make sure they aren’t around, you idiot!”

Blake said nothing. He just opened and closed his mouth, unable to form words.

“So that’s why you were my ‘friend’? So you would look good?” I yelled at him. People began turning around at the sound of a fight. “So you can brag to stupid b*tches like her about the saint that you are, making the mental cases feel like they have friends?!”

I threw Blake’s jacket on the ground, and pushed him in the chest. He stumbled back a few feet but retained his balance.

“Don’t push me Jacob.” Blake said sternly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

I pushed him again, harder. This time he fell backwards onto the ground.

“What are you going to do about it Blake?” I sneered, “You wouldn’t hit the retarded kid would you?”

Blake jumped up, and threw a punch at me. However I saw it coming. I had seen him in fights before. He always started with a right hook, every time, without fail. I jumped backwards, as he missed and lost his balance, then launched myself of the ground, tackling him, and pinning him to the ground. I punched him square in the face and felt his nose break under my fist. I had never been this violent before, but I was mad. My only friend, who I had confided in more times than I cared to mention, was a fake. Someone who was using my history as a way to make himself look better.

I got off Blake, and grabbed his jacket, using it to wipe off the blood on my knuckles, then tossed it to him, as I walked towards the woods that were just a few hundred meters from the football field.

After about fifteen minutes of walking in the woods, using my mobile phone as a torch, I finally stopped, and sat down on a fallen tree. I could hear the cries of wild Pokemon, the nocturnal ones at least, and the sounds of cars. I must have been near the freeway, and the Safari Zone boundary. After a few minutes, I heard leaves crunch behind me and footsteps.

“Blake, I have punched you once, and I will do it again.” I sneered, “Leave me alone.”

“Lucky for me I’m not Blake then.” came a girls voice, that was slightly familiar. I turned around and saw one of the girls from my English class. Phoebe, her name was. “I saw what happened. Is that true what you said? That Blake only pretended to be your friend to look good in front of everyone else?”

“Pretty much.” I responded quietly, “I went to give him his phone since his dad sent him a text, and overheard him bragging to some girl about how he is such a saint for spending time with the mental-case-kid.”

Phoebe was quiet for a second. She came and sat down next to me and spoke.

“Well if it makes you feel better, I don’t think you are a mental case.” Phoebe said, “To be honest, the only reason I didn’t talk to you was because you were always with Blake. I have always thought he was an *sshole, and never really knew why. Though now I do.”


Hearing that made me feel a little bit better.

“Thanks Phoebe.” I said quietly, “He is definitely not the friend I thought he was. Makes me all the happier that I grabbed these from his jacket when he was saying what he did.”

I pulled his phone, wallet and car keys out of my pocket with a grin. I weighed each individually in my hand, then after a second, threw them as hard as I could towards the Safari Zone. Phoebe giggled a bit after seeing that.

“You’ve seen the way he drives that car haven’t you? As if the world is ending?” Phoebe asked, “If you ask me, I think he is trying to compensate for something…”

I snorted as I burst into laughter. She had always been so quiet during school, so to hear Phoebe make a joke like that was surprising. After a second she joined in as well.

The moment that we were possibly having was cut short however, by the sounds of sirens on the freeway. Police sirens.

“You know lighting a bonfire on private property without the owner's consent is probably highly illegal?” I said to Phoebe, who nodded. “Do you have anything back at the bonfire? Jacket, car?”

“No, I got a lift with a friend.” She responded. I nodded.

“Well if you want to stand a chance of not getting arrested, I suggest you come with me.” I said with a slight grin. Blake wouldn’t be getting away from this. Especially since a Noctowl had probably used his car keys as decorations for its nest, especially being Spring time. Even if he gets a ride out of here, not many people in Lilycove drive Mustangs.

As we began to walk towards the freeway, eastward towards Lilycove, Phoebe grabbed my hand, which surprised me a bit.

We spent the next hour walking along the freeway. We were within sight range of the city, and thought we had made it, until I heard it. The engine of a car. Before we could do anything, a police car sped past us, obviously coming back from the school. I grabbed Phoebe, and ran behind the bushes.

From where we hid, we saw the lights of the police car turn around, and park on the opposite side of the road to us. We heard the door open and close, and heard footsteps moving towards us.

“I have an idea.” Phoebe whispered. She whispered her idea and I had to restrain myself from bursting into laughter.

Now that I look back on it, from my small cell at the station, I couldn’t help but laugh. At first I wondered how the police officer would react when he moved the bushes aside and shone his torch to find two teenagers getting pretty intimate behind the shrubbery. Though I couldn’t help but laugh when he said “You know I heard you say ‘Pretend we are fooling around’”.

So in the end, we both got arrested. Handcuffed and put in the back of a police car, laughing uncontrollably. It was 3:30am when we arrived at the station, and 4am when Phoebe’s parents arrived to bail her out. My dad was in Mossdeep for work, and had to wait until dawn for the next ferry back. It meant I would be stuck here until 8am.

As Phoebe left, she slipped a piece of paper into my hand. I couldn’t help but grin. Her parents on the other hand gave me two evil looks. They must have read the police report, and found out where we were arrested, and what we were doing.

They left, and I waited in my cell for dawn to arrive. Afterwards, I had a look at the piece of paper. Scribbled on it was a phone number, and three words.


‘Keep in touch.’