Jackson & Damien: Detention
“Ugh,” said the guy in the heavy black getup. Jackson looked up at him, distracted from picking at the calluses on his fingers, to find himself being stared at. “What did you even do, Hollywood? I didn’t think people like you got detention.”
Jackson thought about it for a moment, about the hum in his veins as his guitar tutor smashed his guitar to pieces, and then came to his senses too late to stop it. About how he’d accused Jackson of making him do it. None of this would have happened, he thought, if he took to guitar as easily as he took to piano and violin and drums. “Tried to learn guitar,” he said, cryptically. He probably deserved the look he got for it.
“What does that even mean,” the goth kid asked. It wasn’t so much a question as a statement.
If it had been a question, Jackson couldn’t really have answered honestly. I compelled Liam to smash his $1,500 Gibson would sound stupid, even if it were the truth. “I’m getting blamed for Liam’s guitar getting broken,” he said after hesitating probably too long.
Goth guy stared at him some more, processing. Jackson had no way of knowing what the guy was thinking, though he did wish he’d been paying attention earlier. He was sure goth guy had a name – probably a D name. Darren, maybe. Danny? “You smashed the guys guitar?”
“Sure,” Jackson agreed, not a little guilty. He was too confused for that. Who compels a guy to smash a guitar without so much as lifting a finger? Him, apparently. Somehow. God, he needed to think of absolutely anything else. “Why’d you call me Hollywood?”
Goth guy snorted. “You’re famous, or your old man is, or some bullshit. I can’t believe you smashed his guitar. What’d he do to deserve that?”
“He was being unreasonable,” Jackson said diplomatically. He did not mention that Liam had insulted his mothers music, though the idiot of course hadn’t known Kiri Kaufman was Jackson’s mom. It wasn’t like it was highly publicized or anything.
Oh, wait. It was exactly like that.
“So I made sure it broke.” As an unintentional joke. Christ, how did that make sense? You’re worth about as much as the splinters that guitar would make, so why don’t you do us both a favour and smash it. “ I’m not famous. My mom’s famous. Kiri Kaufman. She does opera. Dad does grunge. Travis Masters.”
The first name clearly didn’t mean anything to goth guy, but the second did. His eyes went wide, and his chair thudded down off its’ back legs, onto the floor as it was meant to be. “Your dad is Travis Masters? As in, Once In a Hellscape Travis Masters?”
“That’s his second favourite of his albums,” Jackson said after letting the question hang between them. “Second favourite is the one he did with mom doing backing, Adelaide. The one he did right after he met his wife.”
“How’s that work, then,” goth guy asked, evidently fascinated. “You go to school here when your dad’s a, what, billionaire?”
“He’s not that rich,” Jackson said feebly, thinking of the three homes with more than enough room for his four kids, including Jackson, plus a small toy store worth of entertainment for the ones younger than him, all with studios, studies and guest rooms galore. Jackson mostly lived with his mums sister, Hannah, with both his parents swanning in and out of his life on a whim, paying for Hannah’s mortgage and shoving money at him for more music, more hobbies, more fun. His only responsibility was school, his only commitment was music. “Besides, the music is more important than the money,” he said, like it was the final thing to be said.
Goth guy – maybe Danny – stared at him for long enough for Jackson to relax. No one stared that long who had something to say, he thought. And then: “And yet you still smashed the shit out of Liam’s guitar.”
Jackson stared back for a moment, before, finally, laughing, a brief huff of relief. “Yeah, I did.”
(When the teacher came back, expecting to have to track down Damien for being a brat and ditching detention, she was surprised to find Jackson and Damien face to face, each of them straddling a chair and laughing along at something she’d missed. The two were laughing like friends, and she was immediately worried. Jackson could get away with murder, and Damien was quietly voted most likely to drop out and ruin his life by the staff.
Fuck, the teacher thought, shepherding them out of the room as quickly as she could. The principal would need to be warned.)