Go Your Own Way: Volume 1 - Softcover

Riley, Zane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1941530346 ISBN 13: 9781941530344

Verlag: Interlude Press, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

Will Osborne couldnt wait to put the roller coaster ride of his public education behind him. Having suffered bullying and harassment since grade school, he planned a senior year that would be simple and quiet before going away to college and starting fresh. But when a reform school transfer student struts into his first class, Will realizes that the thrill ride has only just begun. Lennox McAvoy is an avalanche. Hes crude, flirtatious, and the most insufferable, beautiful person Wills ever met. From his ankle monitor to his dull smile, Lennox appears irredeemable. But when Wills father falls seriously ill, Will discovers that there is more to Lennox than meets the eye.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Zane Riley is a transgender writer who wrote his first work of fan fiction in the fourth grade. He is a recent transplant to Vancouver, Washington where he spends his time watching long-distance baseball games, hiking, and exploring the musical depths of the internet.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Go Your Own Way

By Zane Riley

Interlude Press

Copyright © 2015 Zane Riley
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-941530-34-4

CHAPTER 1

Will was late. It was a tradition for his first day of school. His dad had started it when he was little since he had to open the store hours before Will went to school. He went to work with his dad and sat on the counter playing with the trophy figurines while his dad got tied up on the phone checking orders. Since his first year of high school, Will had made his own way to school, but hadn't been able to break the habit his dad had begun. As a six-year-old, it had been funny to watch his dad curse, trip and spill coffee down his front when he noticed the time. Now, all Will wanted to do was sleep until mid-day instead of being forced awake by a trio of alarm clocks.

"Look out! Plowing through!"

Will dodged a television cart and ran past a gaggle of cheerleaders. His backpack flopped at his hip as he skidded into the Commons and then down the band hall. Only when he shoved the door open and a cacophony of tuning instruments greeted him did he realize that he'd left his own at home. Great. Another year started on the wrong foot. At least this was his last year of high school.

He twisted past the percussionists rolling their big drums in and stumbled into an open seat. Trombone, second chair. If any junior trombone players joined them this year, he'd end up as third or fourth. He was second chair now only because Natasha Eckhart and he were the only trombone players. In middle school, he'd tried to improve, but by eighth grade, he'd been content to hide in the back and pretend he could carry a tune.

"Will!"

He heard a high squeal and then he was bulldozed off his chair. Natasha Eckhart was one of his few friends, and she had been since they were five. Accidentally giving Natasha, the only kid in class with a peanut allergy, a peanut butter sandwich on the first day of kindergarten had solidified their friendship. At the time, she'd insisted that he owed her his friendship after what he'd done, but Will was glad to have her as a friend now. She was one of a handful of people at Eastern who was worth his time.

She also spent every summer far away from here.

"You won't believe what the Bahamas are like!"

Natasha helped him back into his chair and took the seat beside him. As Will fixed his hair and smoothed his shirt she gushed over the long cruise she'd been on with her parents, and then the second one with her grandparents and then another with the Girl Scouts.

"It's gorgeous down there," Natasha said. "I bought you this gorgeous scarf and this really neat belt. I wish you could have gone. Mrs. Walters would definitely let you join. You're not a threat to us girls."

"Is it a bandanna scarf? Karen found this online shop that sells a ton of them. And just because I can sew better than anyone else here doesn't mean I want badges for it."

Natasha rolled her eyes and opened her instrument case. She was a short girl with a long, messy braid, dirty fingernails and sleeves made of hair scrunchies.

"We could do Adventure Crew again," Natasha said. "We had lots of fun with that."

"Yeah, until everyone realized I was gay."

Natasha propped her feet up on her trombone case and nodded. "How was your summer?"

"The usual. Working at the store, playing with Oyster. Karen's mom came to visit. She still wants them to have a baby."

"Ew. Your dad's, like, ancient"

"He is not. Forty-eight isn't old"

"Is so" Natasha said. "I suppose Karen's still vibrant and young enough for it. You're so lucky you have a young stepmom around. Can you believe my mom turned sixty on our cruise? Ugh. I hate being the youngest. It just means watching them wrinkle."

"Karen doesn't want to have a baby. She says she's got no room for a baby in her or in the house."

"True, your house barely has enough space for you"

Suddenly, both of their chairs tipped forward. Will caught himself as Natasha tumbled forward and her case went flying. The group's only tuba player, Jack Hartlett, stumbled into them again; his tuba obscured most of him from view. Natasha snarled as she got to her feet.

"Watch it, lug-nuts!"

"Sorry!"

Natasha glared at him as he lowered himself into a chair on the end. "He's such a klutz."

"When did you two break up?" Last he'd heard, they were still texting each other hearts at three in the morning. Apparently, they'd switched back to communicating in English and insults.

Natasha opened her case. "Last week. Something about bubble gum and video games. He's an idiot. Oh, ew" Natasha grimaced and held up her trombone's mouthpiece. "I haven't cleaned this since last year"

"I'd rather clean that than take another year of gym," Will said. Anything was better than another nine months of getting knocked around the boys' locker room.

"I like the locker rooms. I get to find out where everyone gets the cute bras I like" Natasha said.

"You don't get hit or have shoes thrown at you either"

The band director swooped in from his office. Mr. Robinette was one of the youngest teachers at Eastern, with thick glasses and a side part in his black hair. Will liked him more than his other teachers. He was always willing to go out of his way to help his students.

Everyone settled down into their arched rows. The percussionists tapped away on the floor and their sneakers. They weren't a large band. Last year, they'd just tiptoed over thirty members, but this year, Will could see a significant drop. His fourteen fellow seniors and eight juniors couldn't fill a space meant for fifty.

"I should have taken up flute" Natasha said. Just behind them, one of the boys was attempting to stick his drumsticks into his nostrils. "Then I could sit by the piano instead."

Will glanced at the girls across the room from them. Tiffany, Maggie, Florence. The other two were juniors Will had never met. The piano was closed. No student had been talented enough to play it well as long as Will had been here. A few people had been proficient when he was younger, but never good enough to play for concerts. According to Mr. Robinette, the last person to play that piano in front of a crowd had been a girl who'd gone off to Juilliard when Will was learning to read The Cat in the Hat.

"At least Roxanne quit" Will muttered. The percussionists, despite the continuous tapping, were a lot quieter without their former leader barking orders. It was surprising not to see her in the class, but Will was glad, too. If the last three years were anything to go by, he and Roxanne would share at least half of his classes.

"Miss Perfect Pretty Princess Roxy." Natasha flipped her hair and batted her eyes until they watered. "Everyone lick my boots, please. Lick them until you're all hoarse, so I can direct everything!" She rolled her eyes and set her trombone on her lap. "I spent all of that stupid Girl Scouts cruise listening to her swoon over all the boys on deck. She thought all my retching noises were seasickness."

Will checked the clock. Two minutes until the bell and announcements. He dug out his music folder and a notebook and set up the music stand.

"Did you see that new guy earlier? He knocked Otto out cold by our lockers," Natasha said.

Will's head swiveled toward her. "What?"

Up front, Mr. Robinette called for silence. Will glanced at him, blushed and ducked his head.

As Mr. Robinette took roll call, Will flipped his notebook open and offered Natasha a pen. Anyone who kicked Otto's ass was worth finding out more about.

Natasha plucked the pen...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Interlude Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1941530346
• ISBN 13: 9781941530344
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 264
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar