"We were all strangers. We all came from different groups, we thought that none of us had anything in common, and never in a million years would we ever see ourselves becoming friends. But now everything we never knew we never wanted had happened, and had led us here to this moment."
August 29th, 2017
The Swan Pub. A small bar in the lower east side of Manhattan. Not much happened there and not that many people stopped by to get a drink. However the only ones that showed up every day was "the band."
"1...2...3...4!"
[Ariel]
"Still don't know what I was waitin' for And my time was runnin' wild A million dead end streets and Every time I thought I'd got it made It seemed the taste was not so sweet"
[Ariel and Frank]
"Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes"
[Ariel] "Don't want to be a richer one"
[Ariel and Frank] "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes"
[Frank] "Just gonna have to be a different man"
[Ariel] "Time may change me"
[Ariel and Frank] "But I can't trace time"
As soon as the song finished only one or two people in "the crowd" applauded. Everyone else was either on their phone or passed out in the booths from all of the beers.
"Uh...thank you, you've been a great audience!" Ariel Valentine said into the mic, as she and her friend Frank O'Malley were hiding behind fake smiles.
"Ugh...what a night!" Frank sighed as he took off his leather jacket and plopped down on the couch. Ariel sat down right next to him and groaned as she ran her fingers through her long black hair. Frank looked over to his left to see a picture of when he graduated high school back in 1989 and when Ariel graduated high school back in 1997 and he asked himself 'What happened?'
"It'll come one day Frank." Ariel said to her. "You'll see."
"I don't know Ariel." He said. "I mean look at us, we're not getting any younger."
He was already 46 and Ariel was 36. Years ago they left their small town in never looked back, trying to get into the music business. They were supposed to be given a record deal by now. They were supposed to prove to back at their hometown wrong.
"We're still playing at The Swan Pub, and we're still living in this crumby apartment." He said.
"Are you saying we should go back to Rockbell?" Ariel asked.
Rockbell, it was nothing much, just a little suburb around the Long Island and a drive away from the city.
Frank hesitated. They've been doing this for far too long. There were times when he wanted to settle down. He wanted to go back. He missed seeing his friends and his mom. Secretly Ariel wanted to go back too. She missed everyone, her friends, her sister, her brother, and her nieces, but that meant she would had to see her dad again. He was always against everything she did. He didn't support her when she came out as bisexual, and he wasn't too thrilled when she said that she was moving to the big city, mainly because she was staying with her sister's ex-boyfriend.
But then suddenly the phone started ringing. "I'll get it!" Frank said as he reached over to get to the phone. "Hello?" Then a familiar voice answered him back. "Oh hey Charlie!"
"Put him on speaker." Ariel whispered. Frank chuckled and he happily pressed the speaker button so Ariel could talk to him. "Hey Charlie it's me, Ariel!"
"Oh hi Ari," Charlie said on the other end "So how's the music business you two?"
"We're still performing at that bar." Ariel said.
"And we're still living together in this dump!" Frank told him, Ariel roughly nudged him causing him to squeal in pain.
"But were getting there." Ariel said. "So how are the wife and kids?"
"Kid." Charlie said correcting her. "Kara and James are fine."
"He's gotten so big now." Frank said, remembering seeing the pictures of Charlie's son online.
"Yeah. I can't believe he's going to be a freshman in high school." Charlie told him. "So I wanted to tell you guys something."
"What is it?" Ariel asked.
"Remember our school's music teacher, Ms. Wright?" Charlie asked..
Suddenly memories started flooding their minds. Ella Wright had been a music teacher at Rockbell High for almost 52 years and she was also the faculty adviser for the school's glee club, which both David and Ariel were apart off when they did their time at Rockwell High. Although they went high school at different times, Ariel and Frank had good memories of her. She acted as a mentor to them and she was the one that encouraged them to have a career in music.
"Of course we remember her." Frank said.
Ariel smiled "Yeah she was like the best teacher ever!"
But then Charlie came out and said it "Well did you guys here that she's retiring?"
Both Frank and Ariel were shocked. "No way!" They exclaimed.
"Apparently she is." Charlie confirmed.
"Well she deserves it." Frank said. "She's been a teacher there for 52 year, she needs to take some time for herself."
"Yeah, she does." Charlie said agreeing with him. "So anyway we're throwing a party over at The Sunrise Diner tomorrow, you two should come join us, we haven't seen you guys in a long time."
Ariel hesitated for a second. "Uh...Charlie I...I...I-"
But then Frank cut her off. "We'll be there at 8!"
As soon as he hung up the phone Ariel started freaking out "FRANKIE! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! WHAT IF MY DAD-"
"Ari, relax." Frank said trying to calm his friend down. "Your dad's probably not gonna be there, it's just gonna be all of our high school friends.." He said. "And if you don't feel comfortable you could stay with me and my mom."
Ariel sighed. "Alright, anything for Ms. Wright." She said. "And it's only just for one night." The suddenly she remembered something. "But what are you going to do if my sister's there?"
Frank froze a second. He desperately wanted to see Robin again. He hadn't seen her since they broke up on the night of their high school graduation, but sadly he remembered something.
"I doubt she'll there." Frank said. "She's probably having the time of her life upstate with her kids and her husband."
The Next Day...
"Daisy, are you done yet?!" 15 year old Scarlett Valentine asked as she knocked on the door to her little sister's new bedroom.
"Uh...just a few more minutes." 14 year old Daisy stammered.
Getting impatient, Scarlett opened the door to see Daisy sitting down at the vanity, she turned around and she faced her sister. She already put on the dress that Scarlett picked out for her, but Daisy's hair was all frizzy and her makeup looked a little off.
Scarlett chuckled as she approached her little sister. "Let me help."
Right away she grabbed one of the makeup remover towelettes and started taking off all of her sister's makeup.
Daisy felt confident with Scarlett doing makeup. Back when they lived upstate , Scarlett did a lot of plays and dance recitals where she was required to do her own stage makeup, so she was more experienced with cosmetics than Daisy.
Scarlett just gave her sister a nude makeup look since it was just a casual little party. Now that her makeup was all fixed Scarlett started brushing out Daisy's frizzy hair. "Do we really have to go?" She asked her.
"Of course we do." Scarlett said. "She was our Mom's music teacher."
Scarlett tucked a piece of Daisy's curly dark brown hair behind her ear.. "There, you look beautiful."
Daisy never really liked parties and she never really had many friends back upstate. She wasn't shy or anything, she liked it when someone would come up and talk to her, but she always had a hard time talking to people other than her relatives.
Meanwhile...
Frank started knocking on the bathroom door. "Ariel, quit hogging the bathroom!"
"Frankie, she's a woman," Frank's mother, Sandy, said to him. "Let her be."
Then suddenly Ariel stepped out the bathroom. She was wearing a metallic red dress that hugged her curves. She gave herself a soft rosy smoky eye that went with her blues eye, and she put on red lipstick.
"It's not too much is it?" Ariel asked them.
"No, not at all." Frank said to her.
"You look gorgeous honey." Sandy said to her.
Ariel started blushing. "Thanks Mrs. O'Malley."
Sandy smiled "I'm just glad you and my little boy came back to town."
Ariel and Frank ended up getting a ride with Charlie. Kara couldn't come because she was doing a double shift at work. James couldn't make it because he said he had "other plans."
As soon as Charlie parked the car, Frank and Ariel looked out the window to see The Sunset Diner. "Oh great," Ariel said. "I've been craving for a Sunset Diner burger since noon."
Charlie smirked and said "Well you're in a treat."
As soon as they got in they saw all of their high school friend mingling around the restaurant, but someone caught Ariel's eye. She saw a tall man with black hair, brown eyes, and glasses. At first she thought it was another employee since he was in uniform, but then she took another good look at him and she immediately knew who it was.
"Emmet?"
The man turned around and he faced her.
"Ate?"
Immediately Ariel ran up to give her little brother a hug.
"You guys are back from the city?" He asked. "And you didn't tell me?"
Ariel nodded "Yeah, Frank wanted it to be a surprise."
Frank approached the two "So you work here now?"
Emmet smiled "Well..." Then suddenly Charlie came up to him and put his arm around him "He owns the place now."
"Aw...Emmet that's great!" Ariel cooed as she gave him another hug. But then he remembered something.
He gestured to Ariel and Frank "Come with me." Emmet took Ariel's hand with Frank following behind them. Emmet took to a booth. There they saw a woman with grey hair and blue eyes sitting with a man with a chiseled face, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ms. Wright look who's here?" Emmet called. The woman looked over and she saw two of her old students. "Frankie, Ariel?" She said shocked. She got up from her seat and she gave them both a hug.
"Wow, you both have gotten big now!" She cooed.
"Oh Ms. Wright." Frank said bashfully. While Ms. Wright was talking to Frank, Ariel looked at the man her old teacher was sitting with, he looked like he could be around her age or maybe a little older. Ms. Wright seemed to have noticed and she decided to introduce him to her two students.
"Frank, Ariel this is Terrance," Ms. Wright said. "My nephew."
Both Frank and Ariel have never seen him before, and they don't recall Ms. Wright saying that she had a nephew. Although they both remember her mentioning she had a niece that was a little older than Ariel, but she attended a catholic school in another town on Long Island.
Terrance reached out his hand and he shook both Frank and Ariel's hands.. "I'm also her replacement." He told them.
"Well that's sweet of you." Ariel commented. It was nice to know that someone who was close to Ms. Wright was taking over for her.
"Terrance is musical prodigy." Ms. Wright added. "He learned how to play the piano by when he was a toddler and violin when he was 11."
Ariel nodded her head and gave him approving eyes, impressed with what she just heard.
"I know, wow!" Terrance said shyly stealing the words right out of her mouth.
But while the three of them were talking. Frank saw something. He saw a girl sitting alone at a table wearing a white dress. He couldn't see her face since at that angle her hair was covering her face. He recognized that hair, it was long dark, and flowy.
'Could it be?' He asked himself. 'Robin?'
Frank felt his body moving through the air taking a shaky breath as he approached her. As soon as he got close he put his hand on her shoulder and said "Robin, it's me-"
Startled the girl jerked away and her hair flew to her back. He looked at her face, closely. Although the girl looked a little similar to her, he knew right away it wasn't her.
For a moment there was silence.
Daisy looked at the mysterious man that was standing in front of her. He was tall, he had golden blonde hair, and blue-green eyes. She never seen him before. She already felt the pressure blowing up inside of her.
Frank thought he might have scared the poor thing, so he apologized and he did the best he could to explain the situation.
"Oh...uh...sorry," Frank said. "I thought you were-"
"No i-it's fine." Daisy said quickly.
"I'm Frank," He said as he held his hand out in front of the girl. "Frank O'Malley."
Without thinking Daisy shook his hand and she told him her name, but she said very fast that he couldn't pick it up.
"It's nice meet you Macy." Frank told her.
Awkwardly Daisy tried correcting herself "No, no, it's Dai-"
"Daisy?"
The two of the turned their heads to see Emmet, and two other women approaching them. One of them was wearing a blue dress with a halter top, and she had the same long dark hair and brown eyes as Daisy. The other had the same hair and eye color, but her hair had a pixie cut, and she was wearing an off the shoulder black dress that was hugging her curves.
Right away, Frank recognized the woman with short hair, and she seemed to have recognize who he was.
"Frank?"
"Robin?"
The two immediately walked towards each other. They didn't hello, they didn't ask each other how they were, or give each other a hug. They just stood there in silence.
Scarlett and Emmet got closer to Daisy and they watched what was happening in front of them. Scarlett leaned towards her uncle and asked. "Tito, do they know each other?"
Emmet just shushed her. He looked over at Frank and he gestured his head over to his older sister Robin, giving him a sign that meant 'Don't just stand there, say something to her!'
"Uh...uh...uh...you changed his hair?" Frank said to her.
"Same jacket." Robin said.
Frank looked down and he pulled on the leather. "Actually it's new."
Trying to find a way out of this awkward situation, she looked over at her little brother. Right away Emmet gestured to Daisy and Scarlett.
Robin walked over to them and said "Frank, I'd like you to meet my daughter." Rights away she pointed to her eldest "This is Scarlett," and then she pointed to Daisy. "And you've meet Daisy." Scarlett reached out her hand and she shook Frank's. "Girls, this is Frank." Robin said. "I...uh...well...we used to date back in high school."
Then suddenly they heard Ariel's voice saying "Ate!"
Robin looked over Frank's shoulder to see her little sister Ariel walking up towards her.
Robin, Scarlett, and Daisy's face immediately lit up.
"Ariel?!" Robin exclaimed. Followed by Scarlett and Daisy shouting "Tita?!"
The three girls ran up to them and they gave Ariel a hug.
"Oh I've missed you." Robin said to her little sister.
"I've missed you too," Ariel said to her. "Frank and I thought you weren't going to make it."
"Well we just moved back to Rockbell." Robin told her.
Ariel was shocked. Her sister moved back to Rockbell and she didn't tell her. "You did?"
Robin nodded, she wanted to Ariel what happened between her and her husband, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Yep, the girls are going to go Rockbell High this school year."
Ariel just smiled and said "Well that's great."
Frank awkward shuffled away and he leaned against the wall. From a distance he watched Robin talking to Ariel. She still looked beautiful as she did back when they were younger.
He regretted breaking up with her and all throughout college he couldn't stop thinking about her. Frank was going to ask her to get back together with him after he graduated college, but then his heart broke when heard the news that Robin was engaged to a wealthy heir and she was moving away to Albany.
Then suddenly he heard a familiar voice say "Rough night, huh Frankie?"
He turned to his right and he saw a woman wearing a pink dress, with curly brown hair, and brown eyes. Right away he recognized who she was.
"Hi Marianne." He said as he looked away from her. He remembered her, but he had not so pleasant memories of her, back in high school she was super competitive and ruthless, and she would do whatever it took to get what she wanted.
"So how's New York?" She asked him. "I heard you're still playing at a bar with your girlfriend."
"Ariel's not my girlfriend." He said correcting her. "She's Robin's sister. You know I would never-"
But then Marianne interrupted him "I thought she was since she practically ran away with you."
"We didn't run away together she wanted in." Frank said. Trying to get back at her, he asked "So how was Hollywood?"
Marianne sighed and said "Oh Frankie, I gave up on that business years ago. I have kids now and I'm Rockbell High's cheerleading coach now." But then she said "I'm so happy that they decided to cut that little glee club years ago, so now my girls can go to state championships."
Frank was shocked at what he heard "Wait, they disbanded the glee club?"
(A/N): I decided to try another Glee SYOC, but I think I'll stick with this one.
In case it you're wondering, Ariel is played by Lena Hall, Frank is played by Adam Pascal, Charlie is played by Anthony Rapp, Ms. Wright is played by Mary Beth Peil, Scarlett is played by Eva Noblezada, Daisy is played by Auli'i Cravalho, Sandy is played by Paige O'Hara, Emmet is played by George Salazar, Terrance is played by Lucas Steele, Robin is played by Lea Salonga, and Marianne is played by Lesli Margherita.
So I'm going to need 4 girls and 4 boys. The rules and guidelines are on my profile.
BTW it's my birthday today, I'M OFFICIALLY 17!
Song Featured
"Changes" By David Bowie