Writing My Book.

[Jesus Chicken]

[color=blue]I started writing a book, a couple of weeks ago now, it's my first attempt at anything like this. I have not done as much work on it as I would have liked to, but I have been busy with exams and such. So far I have written about 7000 words.

The book is a story, I made up about myself, and the people in my life. It gives insight into my personality, but I have changed everybody's names. But that won't matter to most of you anyway.

I have decided to post the first 5000 words on here. I beg you to read it, and give me some feedback. Yeah.[/color]



Music, who doesn?t like music? How could any sane person, just not listen to it? Music helps me see things more clearly most of the time. There have, however been circumstances in which music has made me feel worse about my situation, but generally, music also gets me out of it. Some people live for God, some people live to try and better the world. I live for music, and my friends. Of course, my family keep me here too, but when they are gone, it will just be my friends and my music left, so in my opinion, that?s what I live for.

I sat at my desk doing my maths B homework, stupid ********. I hate maths B, and may god give a life to the person who really enjoys it. Being sixteen isn?t anything great either?what?s that saying? Sweet sixteen? Meh, I think it?s the same as being fifteen. Sure you can get into MA movies, and apparently you can now buy soft porn, but I have never been bothered to buy any. So if anyone tells you being sixteen is great, don?t worry about it too much.

Being me, on the other hand is quite interesting I think. Yes, being Jack is quite a ride. Well sure I don?t know what it?s like being anybody else, but in comparison to most people I know, I would prefer my life. I am what I refer to as a muso. It means you play music, you write music, you listen to music, you talk about music, and anything else you can think of to do with music. I would have to say that being a muso shits all over being in any other group. There are a whole bunch of other people getting round in other groups: footies, whores, and all those other little groups who aren?t as popular as those two, but they?re, all of them, crap anyway.

Being a muso can make you really popular, or make everyone think you are a try-hard. At the moment I have started to become slightly popular, which is better then everyone thinking I?m a dick. Oh well, back to the story?


I sat at my desk doing my maths B homework, stupid ********. I was trying to figure out how a certain formula worked. I was trying to see how it all worked, when I tuned out the music I was listening to and I started too feel better. I hadn?t any major problems in my life at the moment. I don?t have a girlfriend right now?as a matter of fact I don?t even know who I want to go out with. I know whom I would like to get onto, but a relationship and a casual sex partner are two very different things. Right now, I don?t think I?ve got much of a chance of getting either.

I have been looking for a girlfriend for sometime, and I doubt I will ever find one I really would think is perfect. I have known one girl who would be great for it, for about half a year now. Her name is Rachael. She likes the same music as me, she is great looking, and she likes me?at least I think she does, and that?s what counts right? Yeah, well Rach and me have been flirting with each other since we have known each other. We have almost kissed each on numerous occasions and I have come close to feeling her up even more. I think Rach will always have a place in my head, or heart, whatever.

Well, I got up from my desk turned off the music, and walked out into the hallway of our house. It?s a small house, especially compared to the place I used to live. I still live in the same area, but I will always miss that old house. It was huge, and it was surrounded by trees. We lived on ten acres so I could always play my music loud, and play my drums whenever, just as long as my parents weren?t sleeping. My dad reckons we moved about six months ago, but it still feels like I have been in this house for three weeks.

I walked down the crème hallway of our small house, and opened the door to my dad?s office. I walked over to our computer and switched it on, then plonked down into our leather computer chair. I pulled my brothers headphones on, and hit play on the cd drive. Radiohead came clear through the speakers, and I leaned way back in the chair, just staring at the ceiling. This song always made me think?

All of a sudden I remembered the reason I had come into this room. I snapped the chair forward, and connected the computer to the internet. Once I was online, I opened up Messenger, an internet service that lets me talk to my friends. I have been using it quite regularly to just talk, in case you haven?t noticed I?m extroverted. I logged on, and saw that Lisa was online. I hadn?t met Lisa yet, but she had a great taste in music, and we got along on the net.

It?s a start.

?Hi Lisa, how the hell you doin?? These words appeared on the screen, and then slightly above.
?Jack, I am not too bad thankyou, and yourself?? She replied. This is how they all start online, but then she went on with, ?I want to meet you Jack. You seem pretty cool, and I like to meet those types of people.?
?I think I can deal with that?You don?t seem to bad yourself.? I liked where this was going, ?So where and when do you have in mind??
?Well I am not working this Saturday. Are you busy??
Even if I was, it wouldn?t have mattered.
?Not that I know of. Do you want to go down town or something??
?That?s exactly what I had in mind.? The pink letters she had just sent, made my heart beat a little faster.

From there the conversation went on, a time and specific place was set, and it was done. In a few days, I was going to meet someone who had a taste in music similar to my own, and thought I was cool. What more could I ask for? I just hope she isn?t a mole?


* * *


The next day started the same as all my school days: My alarm went off; I got up, pulled on some boxers, opened my door, into the hallway, and stumbled into the bathroom. It was winter, and I began to feel the cold as I flicked on the bathroom light. I had a shower, checked my face in the mirror for any bad pimples, and stumbled back into my room and closed the door and began to search around for my school uniform.

In about ten minutes I walked out the door, and off the school. God bless Fridays. I walked half way around my block, and waved to a pretty girl who catches the bus that drives past me everyday. Another person I would like to get closer to, physically anyway. I looked up at the sky as I waited for the lights to change, so I could cross the road. The sun was out, but the wind was blowing, a typical winters day for this town. I continued to stare at the sky, but I wished it was raining.

I don?t know why, but I have developed a new feeling for rain since I moved into town. I think I get a feeling of renewal when it rains in town, as if it washes the stale feeling from the place. Rain, was the only thing that seemed to prove to me that there was something actually looking over this city. I?m not sure if it?s God, as in Christ, but it made me feel like something else was there. I also like how my hair looked when it was wet?

I walked in the school gates and passed a group of year eights in blue shirts. I walked over to the undercroft, and greeted a few of the guys who sat with my group. I sat there, having a simple conversation with them, about what they were doing on the weekend, but then AJ rocked up.

I held out my hand and stuck out my index and my pinkie, and kept my other fingers clenched. It?s a sign you?ve probably seen heaps of people making at any rock concert.

AJ was thinner then me and better looking too. When he started in year eight, I realised he was basically who I wanted to be like. He was cool and funny, he played guitar and he used to skate. He was friendly to everyone, and he holds our group together. When we go to parties, we wait for him to arrive, and then we enjoy ourselves. It?s the same at socials too; he has to be there. Sure he may not be the life of the party, but things don?t feel right if he?s not there.

?Hey man, how you doin?? I asked. This was my greeting for most everyone. He said hi to everyone else first, and then turned to me.
?I?m pretty ****, ey. What about you? he asked as he sat down on the long seat next to me.
?Yeah, tired as hell, but at least it?s Friday.? I pulled off our crappy broad-brimmed hat and ran my fingers through my long brown hair.
?I reckon, you doin anything?? A smile spread across my face.
?Yeah, surprisingly.?
?Ooh, Do tell? His voice had a slight edge of sarcasm to it.
?Well I?ve been talking to a muso chick online, and she wants to meet me downtown tomorrow.?
?Is she hot?? Now he was slightly interested.
At that moment, Justin walked up three stairs and his head became shaded by the undercroft. He was easily the coolest guy in our select group. He wasn?t as big a muso as the rest of us, but he was funny, really fit, and according to many girls I knew, really hot.

?JUTTTOOOO!!? I called out across cement towards him.
?JAAACCKERRS!!? was the call back,
?Ey man, hows doin?? I lowered my voice as he came closer and stood in front of the wall that the bench me and AJ were sitting on protruded out of.
?Yeah not too shab-by? was his reply, as he punched the air, as if to emphasise his last word.
?Kick ***. So what?s you got planned for ye weekend?? I questioned him as he leaned on the wall.
?Nothin? man? Justin said, in a somewhat defeated tone, ?What about you??
?Goin? down town, meetin some chick.?
?Cool, gonna get sex??
?Maybe with old men? AJ, joked,
?Oh yeah? I laughed, ?What else??
?Nice.?

Yes, this was a pretty typical conversation at school with my friends. John, Chris and Clarky also arrived and discovered about plans that had been made for the weekend. Sadly the social wasn?t till next week, but it gave us all something to look forward to.


* * *

First period was a maths exam. It was the only reason I had even been looking at any maths work after school. Me, Clarky, AJ and Jutto milled around outside the class room and talked about how much we didn?t study, and about how badly we we?re going to fail. I chose to reveal the fact that I had put some effort in, but I emphasised that I got sidetracked early into it, and so I don?t remember any of it. Then our teacher arrived, Mr Jenkinson, a tall, lanky man in his late forties. In his left arm he held a briefcase, most likely holding our test papers.

He questioned a few of the boys,
?You ready for your exam??
A few of them would be, but I was pretty sure I would not pass it, and if I did pass it, only just. We slowly marched into class, and took our seat, talking amongst one another. The teacher went around to each of us, handed us an exam, and told us to start.
I wrote my name on the front, and took a deep breath before opening the paper.

First question?No hope?
Second question?Maybe?
Last question?YAY!! Easy.

I spent about an hour doing my exam, and handed it in as soon as the bell for morning tea went off. I walked out of the mass class and into the hall, walked down it a little and opened my locker. Some of my friends from the other Maths B class came out along with me, so I asked them about the answers they got on the test. They were completely different from the ones I remembered writing down on mine. This didn?t look good, oh well. I shut my locker, and clicked the lock shut between the two bits of metal.

I strolled down the corridor, said Hi to a few kids I knew, got yelled at for not going down the right stairs, walked back up the corridor, and down the ?right? stairs. I walked down and around the building I had just been walking in. I strolled past the graphics and woodtech rooms, and then rounded a corner into the courtyard. I found my friends in the same place our group had sat every winter.
?Ey stooges.?
I got a few replies here and there as I sat down next to Clarky and swung my satchel-bag onto the ground.
?Ey Jackers, how you doin?
?I?m not too bad I guess, considering I probably just failed maths.?
?Good to hear.? Clarky said, offering me an earphone.
That was the good thing about Clarky, other then the fact that he was a champ. He always had his cd player here, and the only bands he didn?t like that I did, was Radiohead and Tool, and I wasn?t in the mood for either of them much anyway.

?What is it?? I questioned as I took the earphone.
?Pumpkins.? Was his reply.
Sweet I thought to myself, as the first line of An Ode to No One came through loud:
?Never comin? back, never givin? in, I?ll never be the shine in your spit, spit, spit, spit??
?Ah, god bless Billy.? I said to no one in particular as I flipped open my bag to see what food I felt like. AJ walked towards me as I pulled out one of my water bottles and an apple.
?Are you listening to the Pumpkins?? He inquired.
Clarky and me both nodded to him.
?Typical.? He said, and then went on to do his best impression of Billy Corgan, in an extremely nasal voice. He distorted it so much, you couldn?t understand the words, but the tune gave it away, and he was obviously singing Bullet with Butterfly Wings.
AJ always did this, but deep down I knew he liked them almost as much as me. Still?
By the time the bell rung again for us to go off to our next class, we had heard four other songs only one of them Pumpkins, as Clarky had a strange tendency to get sick of one band rather quickly.

We gathered our bags over our shoulders and walked off to Biology. I had only recently changed into this class and I was happy with the change. In this class I had close friends, and in multi-strand, I didn?t have anyone that even sat near me. Also, in Biology I actually learned stuff, where-as in Multi, we had an open book exam, so being able to count page numbers was about as hard as it goes.

AJ and Clarky quietly argued about Billy?s vocal qualities as our feet crushed leaves of brown and red onto brick paving, and I took in the solo from Geek U.S.A. God damn Billy Corgan was a smart ***. Listening to music and walking around with headphones on, always made me want to have a soundtrack for my life.

I?m not exactly sure how it could work, whether it would just be some speaker implanted in my brain, or whether I should get giant levitating speakers that followed me around, but either way I wanted one. You know how when people in the movies are talking, and regardless of them being outside or in, or anywhere near anything that plays music or not, you can hear music that fits the mood. I had a dream once that had a soundtrack, and when I was sad, there was a sad song playing, and in my dream I think the song was ?Exit Music? By Radiohead. Also when there was something happy going on, music that fit the scene could be heard in the background of my dream. That was the coolest dream I have had, other then the one where I met Dave Grohl and Danny Carey, and we made a percussion trio. But I want music that follows me around anyway.

I slid my hand up the rail as we walked up the stairs to our class. When we saw that the door was open already a couple of the students remarked on how our teacher had not been late to one class. They decided on asking him whether he had a spare or not, and it turns out he didn?t. Weird.

I threw my bag onto the side bench, took out my books and pulled up a chair at the bench right up the back, where I was soon joined by AJ, Jutto and Chris. For most of that lesson we sat up the back copying notes on Grouping and Clumping that the teacher had on the Over Head Projector and talking about stuff.
?Would you ever have sex with a man?? Chris asked. He had been asking lots of questions like this, and right now, I wouldn?t have been surprised in the least if he announced to the school that he was in fact, gay.
?NO, for the last time,? remarked Jutto, ?Get over it. No one here is gay ?cept you.?
?What about for money?? Chris added, this got Jutto thinking a bit more.
?How much money? And how old is the guy??
?How many diseases is he carrying?? I asked.
?Maybe none, maybe a lot. There?s only one way to find out??Chris remarked as we all shuddered a little, ?He is your age, and you get one million dollars.?
?A million? Hmmm?that?s a toughie?
?Can we talk about something else!?? AJ asked, ?This conversation is totally homosexual.?
?Like, seriousla?? I asked, putting on a voice, pretending to be a teenybopper chick.
?Yah, and then Chris said something and I was like totally?? Jutto remarked, putting on the same voice.
?Yah??
?Uh-Yah?
Then AJ punched us both in the arm.

* * *

?You don?t remember it?? I asked in disbelief, ?Kitty at my foot and I want to touch it!? I sang. AJ however, still shook his head.
?I can?t believe you don?t remember that song. That would be almost as bad as being unable to remember Under the Bridge.? I still in shock as we both walked across asphalt and walked towards the only class I generally always look forward to; Drama.

I have been pretending so I can fit in all my life, and pretending to be anything else, like I do all the time in drama class, seems to come naturally to me as a result. The only think I didn?t like about Drama was our current teacher; Mr Fat ***? I mean Mr Kent. Mr Kent, is as you probably guessed, a fat *** and I think he?s a tool. He?s a pompous, unenthusiastic, lame, dickhead, who?s really intelligent and I hate him even more for that. He has a really short fuse, and always goes on about history all the time, and most of our drama classes turn into history lessons. But, when he does feel like teaching, or just letting us screw around, we always have fun.

Luckily for our year 11\12 composite class, today was one of those, play drama games and screw around days. We were told to make teams of four, and there were three teams in total. My team consisted of, Myself, AJ, and two fellow muso?s in year twelve, Matt and Travis.

For the rest of that lesson we played games like In The Style of?A game where the team is given something to do, like mowing the lawn, or a fairy tale like Jack and the Bean Stalk, and they are also given a style in which to perform the aforementioned something, for example, Jack and the Bean Stalk, In the Style of a rap song.
Our groups In the style of?was; Cooking a BBQ in the style of a documentary, in which I played the documentary guy, AJ was the drunk male chef, and Matt and Travis played two gossiping housewives.
So I put on my best Richard Attenborough accent and we began.
?Hello and welcome to another of Richard Cranium?s outdoor documentaries, and today we are visiting the urban backyard.? All the while I was saying this, AJ was pretending to flip burgers and get drunk.
?And using our night vision camera, you can see that George, who is cooking up this banquet, has absolutely no idea what on earth he is doing. By observing the empty beer cans, scattering the ground around him, I deduce that he is completely off his face and probably drenched with alcohol as well.?
In the breaks between me speaking, Travis and Matt were saying things like.
?Oh Raylene, I dunno about this new big brother.?
?Oh darl, I know exactly what you mean, exactly.?
?You mean you have no idea about it either??
?Oh darl, I haven?t got the faintest clue.?
Then I thought it was probably dragging on a bit, and interrupted them with;
?Now all that alcohol must be a bit of a fire-hazard to George, especially as he is cooking with quite a high flame. At this rate, I certainly wouldn?t be surprised if he caught fire.? I just hoped AJ picked up on it. Luckily he did, AJ wasn?t stupid after all, and he was better at drama then me.
?AHHH!!! ****! HELP ME YOU STUPID BITCHES!!!? AJ screamed at them, as he ran around pretending to be on fire.
?Ah, isn?t this interesting, now we?ll notice how little the females care.? I said, still holding the accent.
?Oh Raylene, I dunno about this fire thing.? Said Matt, once more.
?Oh darl, I know exactly what you mean.?
And that was the end of it?Perhaps it was one of those you had to be there things, but we all found it hilarious. Yes, twas quite the enjoyable drama lesson.

* * *

Lunch, other then the end of the last lesson, there is no better time of a school day. Our group sat on the same bench as we did at morning tea, and we all bathed in sunlight, in an attempt to warm ourselves up. I sat next to Clarky again and began listening to music once again, this time it was Queens of the Stone Age. No one under the age of thirty should not like them. Jutto soon showed up, carrying items of food from the tuckshop. AJ kept asking for an earphone, and I refused to give mine up. Clarky on the other hand, soon became sick of his constant badgering and gave in, handing him the earphone. I wasn?t sure why he wanted it so badly but when the solo for God is in the Stereo came on, I understood. Josh Homme was damn good at guitar, and I had seen him play a couple of solos in person, at the 2003 Big Day Out. Ah, the memories.

After I had finished my lunch I gave Clarky my earphone, and me and Jutto played a game we often resorted to in times of wanting to annoy Chris. I think it was he thought kicking around an empty carton of milk like a hackey-sack was poor or something, but whatever it was, kicking around an empty carton of milk like it was a hackey-sack pissed him off.
?C?mon *****, I?ll take you!? I exclaimed, as I threw my second apple in the bin and sprung to my feet.
?Is that a challenge?? Jutto replied.
?You?re damn right it is?
?A?ight, lets do this thang!? With that, Jutto threw the milk carton into the air, and then kicked it to himself a couple of times, before sending it my way. I kicked it twice with my right foot, before sending it way too the left with a dodgy left-footer. I can imagine how ridiculous it looked, but still, it was lots of fun. I walked over and picked it up, and kicked it once, straight to Jutto. Soon enough Chris was saying things like.
?God you?re gay.?
?That is so damn poor.?
And
?**** you guys are dickheads.?
But we all knew he secretly wanted to play, but was too crap.
After a few games, Chris stopped arguing with AJ about whether or not Chris Cornell should grow his hair back to how it was when he was with Soundgarden, grabbed the milk carton out of the air, and crushed it by repeatedly jumping on it. All the while AJ was laughing, and Jutto and me were swearing at Chris for being a tool.

I sat down for a bit, but then felt the urge to go and play the drums. So I walked off around the woodtech and graphics rooms, following a path that lead me into the music rooms and as I got closer and closer, the sound of drumming got louder and louder. This meant that there were no teachers around to make sure the drums weren?t having the crap beaten out of them, and it also meant my predecessor was up there. I walked into the music rooms and I saw Greg at the kit, and Mike standing in front of him, watching the display.
I walked up to the door and threw my bag to against the way opposite the door. I reached for the handle, and I was surprised to discover it open. I entered the room and locked it behind me, as I hate little idiots running around inside here.
?Hey Jack.? Mike said.
?Hey man, how you doin??
?Good, ?self??
?Yeah, I is not too bad.?
We both stood there and watched Greg finish drumming with a rather impressive fill.
?Not bad man, not too bad at all.? I said, sticking out my bottom lip, and raising my eyebrows.
?Thanks.? Said Greg, rising from the drum stool. I reached out to him, and wriggled my fingers. This was something he was quite familiar with.
?Just don?t break them.? Said Greg, as he handed me his drumsticks.
?I won?t break ?em. Quit you?re worrying.? I retorted, taking his drumsticks and feeling the drum stool beneath me. I brought the snare drum up a bit, as Greg was shorter then me and moved the high hat back as well. Once I got comfortable, I began to play.

* * *


Drumming was one of the reasons I loved music so much? I was good at the kit. I don?t want to sound like I was up myself, or anything, but I was very good at it. In a couple of years with constant practice I could play just about anything. Even now I could play most the entire Songs for the Deaf album, which no easy feat, mind you. If you don?t know what I?m talking about, go and buy it, you uncultured swine.
I have been playing the kit for about five years, but only seriously for about 2, but I have enjoyed it for all five.

Before I had finished there were a couple of kids with their face stuck to the music room window, as I played Ticks and Leeches. If only the school had a double kick pedal? Luckily I didn?t have to move when the bell rang, as I had music for my next class. I handed Greg his sticks back and removed mine from my bag outside and walked back into the room, sticks in hand.

In a few minutes most of the people in my music class had arrived, along with the teacher. This class was also year11\12 composite, and I took a seat next to AJ and Travis. We didn?t get much work done that lesson, as our teacher was walking about what to expect on our excursion to the opera on Tuesday night next week. I was looking forward to the opera as we would be accompanied by out sister school in the region. All the year eleven and twelve music class students from St. Saviour?s college would be catching our bus and sitting with us. I didn?t know many people from that school, but there were bound to be some cool ones.

After forty-five minutes of our teacher saying, ?Dress appropriately and be good,? the bell rung, telling all teachers and students to go to their final class for the day.

AJ and me, walked out of music, both talking about our anticipation for the opera.
?Yeah should be good.? We both agreed as we walked up the stairs past the maths room, past my locker and down to our English class.

?Hey Ms? I uttered as I entered the room, English books and pencil case in hand.
?Hello Jack.?
Jutto came in closely followed by AJ talking loudly and laughing even louder. They both took their seats to the right of me against the wall, with Jutto in front of AJ.
?Ey man?
?Ey *****.? Jutto greeted me in return.
?All right, settle down now class.?
And the English class got underway. We were studying the play, the Crucible written by blah, blah, blah. No it wasn?t that bad, and it was pretty damn easy, so I wasn?t complaining. Too much.

In another forty-five minutes the bell rang twice. Strange indeed, but it seemed that everyone was celebrating the fact that the school week was over. I copied down my homework into my dairy and got out of that place as fast as I could. I said goodbye to my friends shortly after me, AJ and Chris organised a band practice at my place on Sunday. I then began to walk home, and to my surprise and welcome, it began to rain.

This is the best way to start a weekend I thought to myself, as the rain came falling down.

[Avatarofkaine]

This is one life I know, the man tells the truth. Only thing that surprised me was that he didn't break Greg's sticks, I've watched this man play and you can often see the splinters flashing in the air as he grinds them down to toothpicks.

Bout the only other thing I am really qualified to say is, top job on your spelling, better than I had expected mate. I am going to have to drag a bit more of this book out of you at some time.

[Jesus Chicken]

You didn't tell me whether you liked the story or not. Or should I take the hint and not ask?

[Avatarofkaine]

I know this story though, its the story of any of us poor sods living here. But yea you do tell it rather well jackums, nice mastery of the written word. You should know i wouldnt make fun of you, unless of course it was a public forum where you could be horribly embarrassed..... Hang on, this otaku boards thing can be accessed by anyone cant it?.... in that case..........

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]I somehow doubt there's really anything that would embarrass someone of JC's level of dignity. It just couldn't happen.

You already know my opinion on the story, so I won't restate it, though I am interested in a continuation.[/font][/color]

[Jesus Chicken]

Yeah, I am going to post more, when I get another 5000 words or so. Not that it seems to matter, because no one seems to be reading much of anything I am posting in this forum. If they are reading it, I would like someone to say something, preferably someone I don't know. Oh well...