Thunderbowl Read Online Free

day I was sleeping my way through Langford’s class. The bell rang and I didn’t wake up. Everyone left but me. Langford tapped me on the shoulder.
    â€œTruth time, Jeremy,” he said.
    I woke up from a dream where I was running away from something. There was a long empty hallway. I don’t know what was after me. I was in a daze. I pulled my fake tooth out of my mouth and looked at it. I couldn’t remember where it came from.
    â€œJust mellow out for a minute,” Langford said.
    I yawned. “If I was any more mellow, I’d be dead.”
    Langford looked unhappy. “Jeremy, what happened to you? It’s like someone scooped out your brain and threw it in a ditch. You fall asleep in class. Your grades are in the sewer.”
    â€œMr. Langford, I should tell you, I’m thinking of quitting school.” This had been building for a while. It had to be school or music. Not both.
    â€œWhy?” he asked.
    â€œYou wouldn’t understand,” I said.
    â€œTry me. I’m all ears.”
    â€œIt’s just something I have to do.”
    Langford looked upset. He shook his head and didn’t say anything else. Then he walked away. I was left alone in a big empty classroom.
    That night, driving to The Dungeon with Al and Drek, I told them what I was thinking about school.
    â€œForget about school,” Drek advised me. “You don’t need it. You’re going to be a legend in your own time.”
    Drek had hated school and quit. He had always been a failure in school even though he was smart. Drek could read music and electronics magazines twenty hours a day. But school just never clicked.
    â€œStay in school,” Al told me. He acted like a father sometimes. “Summer’s coming soon and you won’t have no homework to worry about.”
    â€œSummer’s six months away,” I said.
    â€œWell, hang in there.”
    Great advice.

Chapter Seven
    You know, I thought that would do it. Quitting school. Or at least my decision to quit school.
    But I kept putting it off. Langford knew and the guys in the band knew that I had decided. I wanted to wait for the right time to tell everyone else. Truth time, like Langford had said.
    I decided to tell Suzanne, though. Shealways wanted me to talk to her, but I never felt like I had anything to say.
    â€œSuzanne, I’ve decided to quit school,” I said.
    â€œJeremy, I didn’t know you were in college.”
    â€œHigh school. I still go to high school.”
    Suzanne gave me one of her goofy smiles. “You’re not telling the truth.”
    â€œNo, I’m younger than you. I should have told you. I’m not supposed to be playing here. Or drinking this beer.” I took a long hard swallow.
    â€œI bet you’re a virgin, too,” she said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSex,” she said. “I bet you haven’t had any.”
    â€œHow would you know?”
    â€œI’m just guessing,” she answered. The conversation had turned weird awful quickly. And I wasn’t going to own up to the fact that I had never had sex.
    â€œJust because I’m young, it doesn’t mean I’ve led a totally sheltered life,” I said, maybe a bit too defensively.
    â€œI believe you,” she said. She bit her lip. “And I don’t care how old you are. I like you just the way you are.”
    â€œWell, I’m glad that’s out of the way.”
    â€œBut I think it’s fine you’re quitting school. I never felt free until I was out of school.”
    â€œYou finished?”
    â€œWell, yeah. But I didn’t have anything better to do.”
    The break was over. Time to crawl back into the music. “Just don’t tell anyone, please,” I said.
    â€œI won’t.” Suzanne went back to her drink. I went up on stage. Thunderbowl began to wail.
    Halfway through the set, I noticed that a guy had sat down with Suzanne. It was Ike from