~o 1st person (Fallon) o~
A big smile spread across my lips as the sign that would lead me to my life came into view. Deep sapphire calligraphy over an opaque sign read 'Welcometo Northwood Academy for Performing Arts.' I couldn't stop myself from staring at the elegant scrawl as we turned into the school's winding drive that would lead us to the place I would finish my high school career. The winding drive was lined with a well-maintained forest lined on either side with huge oaks, maples, and beeches.
As we drove further up, I could make out a huge courtyard, where students wearing navy blue and red socialized. A gaggle of girls sat on some fancy stone benches, talking and acting like they were perfect, as shown with their sly grins, lip-glossed smiles, and guys they held hands with as they talked. The guys looked uncomfortable listening to the female's conversation. It was obvious I'd found the preps, but that only made me more eager to find out more about them. Especially their music.
How good did they sing? How good did they sound on their instruments? The thoughts ran wildly throughout my mind, making me more jumpy.
"Almost there, hun," my mom said before turning to face me, as if she could hear my wild thoughts and feel my eagerness. Of course, she had a proud smile on her face and tears in her eyes. I just stared at the parental figure before me, noticing her bright green eyes that were framed by laugh lines and her warm mom-smile for what seemed like the first time. I wasn't even at the academy, and I still felt homesick.
"Alright. Are you guys going in with me?"
"Of course. Did you think we were just gonna leave you on the doorstep?" My dad stared at the road ahead as he spoke, only taking his hand off the wheel to push his thick black glasses up the bridge of his nose and trying to tame his mess of jet black hair. "You ready for your new school?"
He'd just asked me the question that had been in the back of my mind since I'd gotten the acceptation form. Was I ready to switch schools and take on a place where the stakes were higher than ever and where everything would be unfamiliar? The academy was all the way in Oosaka, which is all the way across the country from my hometown of Ashia. I sighed and tried to push all the negative thoughts from my mind. With a mask of calm and determination, I replied with an "Of course."
"We're so proud of you, Fallon."
"Thanks mom," I said. Even though the six words were said many times to me, I still felt my face get hot every time they were said. As the last words in the praising sentence were said, the rental screeched to a halt. I was out of the car and breathing the cool mountain air in under a minute.
"Sure is a nice up here. Makes me wanna move." Dad was hauling my two Chanel red suitcases and my matching duffel out of the awkwardly small trunk. It had taken forever to fit the heavy bags up into the back of the black Camero. "I still don't understand why you need so much stuff."
"I have clothes, hair and makeup stuff, some knick knacks and keepsakes from home, towels, and a few other odds and ends. It's a lot of stuff."
"Come on, let's go and get you registered and all that." Dad carried my bags into the huge limestone building that looked more like a cathedral than a school.
"Welcome Fallon." The woman's voice instantly gave me a clue that she wouldn't be the kind of headmistress I'd hoped for. It was even worse than I'd imagined. She was well into her sixties and had her totally silver hair in an elegant bun that made her look even older than I'd originally assumed. Her beady eyes glared at me, searching my body for anything she didn't like. "My name is Ms. Amelia Carlis. I assume that you wish to get to your room immediately?" Not wanting to get off on a bad foot with my new principle, I just offered a simple nod. "Very good. I took the liberty of printing your schedule and a school map in advance to your...arrival." When she smiled, I felt a shudder run down my back. Her teeth were yellowed and crooked and when her lips were back, she reminded me of something out of a child's nightmare. "Here you are, and I hope you have a nice time at our academy. It's one of the best in Japan."
I forced a polite smile, while thinking about what a bitch my new principle was. "I guess this is it," I stated weakly to my parents. Both had teary eyes and were opening their arms for a hug. Settled into their warm, protecting arms instantly gave me comfort, but the happy family moment was over way too quickly. As I stepped out of their loving embrace, the feeling of protection and safety melted away, like an ice cube in a volcano, or ice cream on a hot summer day. The walls of love and childlike dependency on the people who'd raised me crumbled, leaving me vulnerable for anything that wanted to strike.
"Call us if you need anything," Dad ordered, his glasses almost at the tip of his nose. I pushed them up and gave him one last hug. Once I did the same to mom, I just stared at him.
"I will," I replied with a choking voice. I guess my hope of not crying during the goodbye would be an epic fail. "Bye guys"
Goodbye Fallon." My mom kissed me on the forehead, her voice cracking despite the attempted smile she plastered on her face. A tear rollded down her cheek, leaving the black streak from her mascara. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. "Never forget that we love you."
I pulled my emotional mother into a huge bear hug, feeling my eyes prickling with oncoming tears. "Mom, please don't cry. That'll only make me feel bad."
Then I was alone with my headmistress. As my family walked out of the elegant mahogany doors and out to the car, an aching loneliness spread like fire within me. Even the elegant white marble floors, covered in thick antique rugs and high, intricately painted ceilings couldn't make me feel better. Even though I was finally at the school of my dreams, I couldn't help but feel a sense of abandonment. I tried mercilessly to wipe my eyes and clean the snot that was now pooling under my nose.
"I know it must be hard to say goodbye," Ms. Carlis may have been trying to sound sympathetic, but instead she sounded sickly and venomous. "You're roommate will show you around campus if need be. Good luck, Ms. Ashmia. You'll need it."
"Thank you," I muttered without looking at her haggish face before starting to lug all my bags up the winding oak and crystal staircase. Dad wasn't messing around when he said the luggage was heavy. It took me almost twenty minutes to lug all my bags up to the second story hall from the crystal staircase with the golden hand grip. As I took the last beautiful stair that went up to the next level, I stood up and stared down at the first floor from whence I'd come. It was beautiful, with the high windows and intricately decorated ceilings that made me think of this place as a monestary. I stared down the halls I still had to travel, and noticed the girl who approached me from the left with an automatic feeling of comfort and fearlessness that I'd always envied people for having. Hopefully she wasn't a prep.
"Need help?" The girl was about an inch taller than me. She had creamy pale skin, fair auburn hair that had fringed bangs and a bright green streak, and the sweetest smile I had ever seen. She reminded me vaguely of Adriana Grande.
"Thanks," I said weakly, short of breath from my trip upstairs. "You gotta name?"
"Haley Blaine," she answered simply with a small smirk. "You seem tired."
With a roll of my eyes I pointed to my luggage that needed moving. "Grab a bag Haley," I ordered with a faint smile. The girl ran over and grabbed the heaviest of the three bags. We dragged it to the first hall we found. Once the bags were set down I pulled out my schedule. "Do you know where room 150 C is?"
Haley's eyes got huge and round, and she started clapping, flashing a brilliant smile. "No way! I live in room 150 C! We're gonna be roomies!" I smiled, happy that I had already been introduced to the girl I would live with for the next four years.
"Awesome. Now, the break is over." We immediately got back to the heinous task of lugging about thirty pounds of luggage into the nearby dorm room, door wide open, throwing it onto the carpeted floor with triumphant high-fives.
"Here we are. Home sweet home. Just keep the bags under the bed once you've unpacked." Haley's room was plastered with Taylor Swift, Pretty Little Liars (God that show was annoying), and other pop and television posters. The four-poster bed that sat about ten feet away was covered in a bright pink comforter and fuzzy lime green pillows, and the whole room was floored in blue shag carpet. The only areas that weren't were the small kitchen directly to my left, which was a nice glossy oak floor, and the bathroom directly to my right, which was a bright white linoleum. Haley was sitting on the bed, watching me with the eyes of a hawk on the hunt, and flashing a small smirk.
"Nice dorms. But why the letter?"
Haley sat on her bed and gestured for me to sit next to her. Once I was settled into the plush mattress, she began her explanation. "Each dorm is separated by little pods, which is the hall we turned into. Remember, it's like a huge living room. There are five rooms per pod, and there are one hundred and fifty pods. There are a max of three people per dormroom. It's a little confusing at first, but you'll get it eventually. All the dorms are on the second floor, while all the classrooms and the dining room are on the main floor. The gym is at the far end of the school. There's also a huge football and soccer field outside. Since we use one field for both sports, it's easy to know how to get around outside. The field is surrounded by a huge track."
"This school sounds so complicated it's making my head hurt!" I groaned and laid my head on my new friend's shoulder. Haley patted my shoulder and told me eyerything was going to be alright, and I almost believed her. The soothing words were like a melody, and in a matter of minutes I felt better.
"Thanks. So, when do the classes start?"
"They start at nine and they end at five. After that, there's study hall and we get the rest of the night free. Meals are served at nine-thirty, one-thirty, and six-thirty in that order." Haley was flashing me a proud smile, obviously impressed she was able to memorize all the information that had been said in the past five minutes.
"This is a lot to take in," I sighed and fell back against the soft mattress.
"I totally get it. That's how I felt my first day." I sat up and fell back against the suprisingly comfortable matress.
"You need something to make you feel better. I know just the thing." I bolted upright and glared at her.
"What do you have in mind?" I asked cautiously.
"First, I want you to sing...Mary Had A Little Lamb."
"What?" Why would she want me to sing that?
"Do it," she commanded, tone bursting with authority. I instantly began to sing, rolling my eyes the whole time.
"There, I sang." Haley was smiling wide.
"Now I want you to swear that you won't tell anyone about what happens during the next two hours. Can you do that?"
"I swear," I muttered with yet another eye roll.
"Good. Now come with me, my newbie friend. There are some people I want you to meet."
"Who?" I was suddenly paranoid. "Give me a sec to straighten up." When Haley waved her hand, I dug for my makeup and hair stuff and ran into the bathroom. My hair was a matted mess of black undercolor and on top, a pretty white-blonde. It took only a minute to brush it out, but like the paranoid mess I was, I took my hair and looped it around, using a bobby pinn to hold it into a nicer-looking bun. Once I added some bronzing powder on my pale skin and re-lined my eyes with kohl, I went out to see Haley sitting on the bed with an impatient look on her face. A cell phone was being thrust into her pant's pocket.
"Come on Falls." She stated before taking my arm and practically-dragging me to the stairwell. I followed suit until we reached the first floor, where she commenced dragging me down a series of hallways. She stopped at a glass door labeled Practice Room 3, taking only a second to open the door and drag me inside. There were four others besides me, standing around and socializing in grays, whites and blacks.
"Who's the girl?" A guy asked, running a hand through shaggy chestnut hair and glaring at me with cold blue eyes that shined like navy blue diamonds. Is he always such a douche? The guy gave me an answer when he began to play a guitar. "I'm playing what's called a guitar."
"My roommate, Fallon. Fallon these are my friends. Together, we're Destination Unknown. Destination Unknown, this is the girl who I told you about a minute ago." Haley stepped over to the guy who'd asked who I was and they all stared at me. I felt like I was suddenly naked in class, the embarrassment was so high. I felt like slapping myself in the face. They were one of the bands that competed in the Battle of Beats each year! The top ten performing arts schools sent their best band out to London and they competed to try winning money for their school. People who were involved in that got real big in the music industry, and it was my lifelong wish to compete, even if I lost.
"Oh...my...god!" I practically-shouted. "You're one of the bands that might get to compete in the Battle of Beats. It's such an honor to meet you guys." Haley stood next to a girl who twisted a lock of yellow-blonde hair through her fingers and gave her a squeeze. "This is Lilly, our drummer. The guy with the guitar is Easton, and yes he always acts like that . The other guy is Patrick." He approached and stretched out his hand.
"Hello, miss. Pleasure to meet you." I took his hand and felt my face get up to a' hundred degrees when he kissed it. His eyes were gold, his mouth was that of an angel's, his body was like a sculpture carved from a master sculptor. I instantly felt myself drooling and wiped my mouth hastily, mentally smacking myself for acting like an idiot in front of the total hottie before me.
"Nice to meet you all. Haley, why did you bring me here?"
"To make friends, and to see if you might be interested in joining us. You got accepted here, so you must be good. Plus, Haley said that she heard you sing." The whole band gathered around me, staring at me with curious eyes. Even Easton was standing closer to me.
I almost fell to the floor in shock. "For real?" Were they really asking me to try out? This couldn't be real. I attempted to hide my feelings with a mask of unemotionality. Of course, that failed. I was bouncing on my heels like a kid waiting to go in a candy store.
"If your voice is as good as we think it is," Patrick answered with a sexy smile.
"Well, alright. Can you guys play Beat Me Up by Allison Iraheta?" I stared at the band as they got their instruments and got into position. Once they were set I grabbed a microphone and made sure it was on. I cannot believe I'm doing this, I thought before taking a small breath. "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, GO!" The music began to play and I let the music take me. "You like to keep me on a chain, chain, chain. Change your mind or change your ways, ways, ways. You got me running through a maze, maze, maze. I know this isn't just a phase, phase, phase." As I sang, everything just melted away. Nobody was here except me and the song. The lyrics played across my lips. My hands and feet began to tingle, like i was floating. The band sounded amazing as well, especially the guitarist. The last note sounded a few minutes later, and it was followed by hoots of approval. The whole audition had been a fantastic blur. Every note I sang made my body tingle deliciously, and for once, I felt like the most important thing in the world.
Haley glomped me with enough force to knock me onto the wood floor, bringing me down from my huge singing high. I tried to sit up under her weight, but ended up propping myself up on my elbows.
"Holy shit you're a good singer!" she cried gleefully.
"Thanks," I muttered. "Can you get off me now?" Once she did and helped me up, I just smiled at the bandmates and their smiles that blazed with approval and impression. As a few seconds passed, I narrowed my eyes and raised an eyebrow, ready to hear what they thought of my voice. "Does this mean I'm in?" What they said next would change my life forever.
"I dunno. You were kinda flat on those last few lines, and at the beginning you were weak."
My face fell the minute he finished talking. "Well, thanks for letting me try out." I was trying to be nice, but even I could hear the sound of my voice wobbling. They all stared at me with sympathetic eyes, and Easton was fiddling with his guitar.
"Easton, why are you always such an ass?" Patrick asked, hig glowing eyes narrowing as he glared at his friend. "You were great Fallon."
"Thanks Patrick. That means a lot." It did, too. Praise from the band sparked an inner confidence in me. It flared like a fire.
"Why can't we give her some time to take some vocal lessons? That way, she has some time to get used to the school." Haley's eyes were sparlking in approval of her genius plan.
"Alright," Easton said before standing up from the ground and stepping up to me, guitar in hand. His narrow eyes searched me. "You get two weeks to take lessons and get used to the academy. Your audition will be same time, same place.
I found myself staring the group dead on. I would come back. This time, with a new song and a better voice. My goal; to make Easton accept me, and to get sexy patrick's attention. "I'll be there." I turned on my heel, walked out of the huge room, and began to backtrack my way back to the dorm. I had some unpacking to do.
~o 3rd person (Akatsuki) o~
"She didn't get accepted, Pein-sama," The blue boy said into the walkie-talkie he held tightly in his left hand. "Her voice was amazing, though. They're giving her some time to get settled, and then she has a callback." He knew his voice was raspy like an old man's, but didn't worry about Pein hearing him.
Pein's staticy voice sounded full of authority, the voice that always made him think of what god might sound like, but Kisame could hear a faint note of fear. "No matter. Come back to the dorm we can discuss this with the other band members." Once the command was given, Kisame got up from his perch outside the many practice rooms and walked as quickly and as quietly as possible to dorm 61. The other members of Akatsuki were gathered around their favorite blue couch, anxiously awaiting details on the new band member for Destination Unknown.
"So, you say she's good?" Pein asked as soon as Kisame stepped within a foot of the band members. Deidara, Zetsu, Itachi, and Tobi, the other band mates, all stared up at the shark boy with faces of expectancy and earnestness. Kisame took a breath and a question formed in the back of his mind.
"Where's a the pervy member of the group?"
Itachi grunted. "He is with one of the other bands, I think Pretty n' Plastic," he answered in his deep, matter-of-fact voice.
"Shut the fuck up, Itachi," Hidan grumbled from behind, then flopped down between the guy-girl and the flytrap. "But for the record, yes I was with the girls." His eyes began to darken with oncoming memories.
"Hidan!" Pein snapped, his voice and the roll of his eyes showing obvious annoyance. "Stop having a sexual fantasy, or I will cut your heart off and feed it to a pack of hungry wolves. Are we clear?"
"But I-" Hidan began, his voice unnaturally whiney compared to the gravelly thung-style voice he usually used.
"Now is not the time for a sexual fantasy," Itachi scolded.
"I wasn't-" Hidan was cut of once again, this time by Pein.
"Sorry Hidan, but it's kind of odvious when you start thinking about women, un." Hidan debated wether to say anything, and after a minute, he flung his head against the couch with a groan. "Now, back to Kisame, yeah." Deidara had the kind of wise-father voice. He reminded himself of the characters in the anime he loved to watch in his free time. He could calm a room with words; he'd done it many a time back hime. He shuddered at the memory.
Kisame nodded obediently. "Her name is Fallon, and she's a damn good singer." Hidan had sat up, and looked like he had something to say. "Yes, Hidan, she was hot." The silver-haired man fell back against the couch with enough strength to knock it over, if not for the amount of people.
"What are we gonna do?" Konan, the blue-haired woman who happened to be Pein's wife, asked with a look of faint fear to her husband of almost two years. Her usually calm and prim voice reflected such fear.
"We practice. Hard. Akatsuki, we are officially in overdrive mode. Remember, in two days is the big showcase. Let's get to work." Pein did a good job of managing the band, and had a real nice hold on them. It made him proud when they all began to walk obediently to the many practice rooms.
Now that the girl was in their midst, things may get a little more interesting around here.