The one thing about the Kirkland siblings that defined them was how unpopular they were. It was a mixture of the eldest brother being the principal of their high school, two of them being gingers with the overly curly hair and the abundance of freckles, one of them requiring glasses in order to see clearly, and the youngest one held a scrawny figure and overly bushy eyebrows. They were the group of siblings that were the laughingstock of the school.
Patrick Kirkland was the troublemaker of the siblings, however, he only got into trouble when he needed to defend either himself or his younger siblings. He often found himself in Principal Kirkland's, or rather big brother Allistor's, office attempting to explain himself. Then, later he would be serving his time in detention under the supervision of his brother. However, despite the rough and tough nature he displays, it's all an act to protect himself. He would do underlining anything to protect his siblings, it just comes off a little harsh.
Cormac Kirkland was the normal one out of the twins, and that's saying something since Patrick happens to be his twin. He was the only one without a part time job, since he was handed the responsibility of cleaning up the house and preparing every meal for the loud and obnoxious family. Despite not having a single class with Patrick, he's often around his twin-to keep Patrick out of fights or to explain to Allistor why his twin acted up-and there is absolutely no conceivable way those two would ever separate.
Dylan Kirkland was the sweetheart of the siblings, too bad everyone was far too busy picking on him to notice that. He wore ginormous black square frames on his face to aide with his vision, and on top of that, he often wore bow ties with his school uniform rather than the issued neck tie. To everyone around him; he was a dork. That was all well and good, but remember, this fellow is in high school. Being a dork in that setting will have you strung up and burned at the stake. He normally kept to himself, which is the smartest decision he could ever make.
Lastly, Arthur Kirkland was often the misunderstood one of the group. He came off as a grumpy old man stuck in a teenager's body. He was easily irritated, easily angered, and he was such an aggressive spitfire in an argument-and those ginormous eyebrows made him appear older than he actually was. Nonetheless, he still played tabletop Dungeons and Dragons with Dylan and would rather binge Doctor Who than be a functional member of society.
And unfortunately, Arthur Kirkland-on the dumpster tier of the popularity scale-fell in love with a boy who was on the highest tier on the popularity scale; Alfred F. Jones.
Arthur began to criticize his own complex feelings when he uncovered his feelings for Alfred. And an unhappy Allistor was forced to call Arthur sick from school, since Arthur was experiencing emotional distress.
But during those three days of absence, Arthur began to brainstorm ideas on how to wrangle up Alfred. However, most of the ideas weren't that up to snuff. Staring a book club to captivate Alfred's attention with interesting books and intelligent discussions? Not in a million years. Having a Dungeons and Dragons tournament and having Arthur come out on top? Try again, mate... Starting a band and playing gigs during school dances?
Not exactly the worst idea Arthur had.
Granted, the instruments needed to start a band were located in a storage unit under a tarp. Back when those four Kirklands lived with their father, their father bought them whatever they wanted so they would keep their mouths shut. Four instruments and a microphone later, and the four Kirklands had a band for a week before giving up. Arthur knew how to play some mean guitar, and held a singing voice for rock music. Patrick also knew how to play the guitar, since Cormac decided to learn the bass guitar and the two of them absolutely needed to play similar instruments. And Dylan's read a book, possibly two, about how to play the drums. If they dug up the instruments and began to practice, they could be the gods of the school if they tried hard enough.
And Arthur was somewhat concerned that he was actually considering starting a band with his own family... But, that didn't stop him from talking about it during dinner, which was on the third day of his absence.
Allistor was out on the town with the vice principal and the one of the librarians, leaving the other Kirklands to fend for themselves for dinner. While Arthur was busy completing the homework Dylan had brought home for him, Cormac was finishing up on making dinner. Patrick and Dylan were seated at the table along with Arthur, Patrick leaning back in his seat and staring at the ceiling while Dylan was bobbing his head to the beat of some song pouring out of the kitchen radio.
Eventually, Arthur was finished up with his homework right as Cormac was serving up beef stew and mashed potatoes. That was the moment when Arthur opened his mouth to say, "We should start a band."
Patrick had to stop shoving his face with mashed potatoes in order to slowly turn and look at his youngest brother. "Oi, Artie. No."
Dylan placed down his spoon onto the table before saying in a sweet tone, "Um, why do we need to start a band?"
"Because..." Arthur started, but stopped himself before he could reveal his crush on Alfred-but every single member of the Kirkland family knew about the crush. "...we might become popular."
Patrick scoffed. "It's a lil' too late for that, aye? Cormac and I are already seniors. It ain't gonna matter ta' us."
"Dylan's a sophomore, and I'm a freshman... It matter to us."
"Bein' a senior means I gotta worry Bout college n'-"
"Patrick, shut yer mouth n' let Artie talk." Cormac piped up, having a dignified look to his face despite slurping the broth of his beef stew straight from the bowl. "'Kay, Artie, keep talkin'."
Arthur presented a look of gratitude towards Cormac as he started to speak again. "I'm just tired of being the most unpopular person in school-"
"Sorry to interrupt, but, don't you like Alfred too?" Dylan interrupted.
"Uh, yes, sure Dylan. Anyway... We could play gigs during the school dances! Whenever Allistor is gone we can practice! Whenever we are bloody bored we can get together and write a song!" Arthur explained, and Patrick's attention was suddenly piqued. "Father bought us all those instruments when we lived with him. Isn't it about time we use them?"
The table was struck with silence, with a fresh wave of radio advertisements ensuring they weren't sitting in complete silence. Arthur was swirling his spoon around in his steaming hot stew while the other siblings were internally debating on Arthur's proposition.
Patrick was thinking about how everyone thought of him now, and what everyone would think of them if they started this band. Cormac was thinking about how this band could bring the family closer together, and how it might possibly get Allistor to stay home more often. And Dylan was thinking about how people would stop poking fun at him if he played drums alongside his siblings.
Patrick finished up devouring his meal before Cormac cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. "Aren't the instruments in storage?"
Arthur shook his head yes. "Yes, Allistor put them in storage when we moved in."
"'Kay. Patrick, would ye be willin' to take us to the storage after we're done eatin'?"
Patrick shrugged, leaning back in his chair as he yawned. "I guess."
Dylan's face lit up before he took another bite of his stew. "We're starting a band!"
Right alongside Dylan, Arthur felt a smile creep up onto his face. "I can't believe you all agreed to it..."
"Well, Artie, ye better believe it or I can change my mind." Patrick stretched his arms well above his head, then he stood up to take his dishes to the kitchen. "N' ye better hurry up n' eat, so we can get goin'."
"Oi, if ye hadn't held off yer essay then we wouldn't be in a rush!" Cormac called out, setting his utensils in his bowl, which now only contained two small blocks of beef and a miniscule pool of broth, before he himself stood up to clean his dishes. "But, Pattie's right, we better get goin'."