A/N (10.14.2018): Takes place about a year after the events of the movie. Title comes from "Been There Before" by Hanson. I have most of it written, so I anticipate updating once a week! This is unbeta'ed, so any mistakes are mine. Feel free to point out any egregious mistakes via PM or review!
THURSDAY
Zack couldn't help but stare at her sometimes during practice. Like, he'll be shredding on his guitar, whipping his head around as he lets the music course through his body; he'll just happen to see her in his peripheral vision; and he'll just happen to let her stay there.
Usually she'd be paying rapt attention to the band during rehearsal (taking notes on their progress, any recommendations Dewey made, and even some notable band bonding moments), but Dewey told her that she could have band practise to herself today.
She fought it, of course, but one thing Dewey never compromised on was their musical integrity. "Sometimes bands just need to have fun, be around each other, and jam out, you know? It's what keeps rock music effective against The Man," he ended with a meaningful look directed at her.
She acquiesced and walked over to where the non-musicians sat during band practise, switching her time between following along with their conversation, doing her homework, and listening to the music. Seeing her tap her feet to the beat made his heart race and made him more dedicated to his playing. His fingers flew across the frets, and his feet spun him around. His good vibes rippled throughout the band: Dewey, of course, engaged in his own guitar solo, Lawrence was bopping along to the music, and he thought he actually saw Katie laugh.
It was shaping up to be one of the best band practises they ever had until Patty showed up. She claimed she was just picking up some stuff she left behind when she moved out; but as soon as she crossed the doorway, she started yelling at Ned for "irresponsibly throwing away your life and potential by dedicating even an iota of effort into this pathetic dream of yours!"
Summer had marched right up to Patty—arms akimbo, in her face as much as she could be at 4'6"—and shot back, "That's rich coming from the woman pathetic enough to drive to her ex-boyfriend's house and yell at him in a transparent attempt to win him back."
The whole band watched as the unstoppable force met the immovable object.
Zack had never met Patty before now; but from what he had heard about her, he really didn't know if even Summer could take her.
To everyone's surprise, the corner of Patty's lips turned up in a little smirk. "And just who are you?"
Summer straightened and extended her hand, a business card somehow between her fingertips, ever the consummate professional. "Summer Hathaway, business manager of both the School of Rock band and after school program. The only woman allowed to verbally harass these goons," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Ned and Dewey trying to cower behind each other discreetly and failing at both, "is me." She pointed her thumb at herself.
Still smirking, still looking Summer in the eyes, Patty took the proffered business card and ripped it in two. "I won't be needing your contact information, Ms. Hathaway." With one last glance at Ned, Patty saw herself out.
After the door shut, Summer primly turned on her heels to find everyone in the band staring at her, Zack included. He wagered, though, that he was the only one with hearts in his eyes, despite his best efforts to hide them.
Summer pretended to look at the watch on her bare wrist. "It doesn't look like 6 o'clock to me, which means band practise is still in session. I don't hear any 'jamming out,'" she pointedly looked at Dewey for that one.
Dewey grinned maniacally, high on the music and the epic showdown in which Summer had just engaged. "You heard the little lady! Everyone to your rock and roll positions!"
Summer grinned to herself in self-satisfaction before relocating her work to the kitchen so that she would have a table to work on. His eyes followed her as she walked to the other side of the apartment, and he sighed. On Dewey's cue, he started playing again, but he was on autopilot, kind of disappointed that if he wanted to continue to keep Summer in his line of sight, he could no longer be discreet about it.
This had gone on for a few minutes until: "Woah! Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah," Dewey raised his voice above the music. "Stop for a sec!"
All the instruments halted at different times, creating a cacophony of tinny, amplified noise as everyone's heads rose to look at Dewey.
"Uh, what just happened here? We started out wicked strong, but the musical fusion just ain't happening. Okay, who's not fusing?"
Dewey looked straight at Zack as he asked that, and he knew that he'd have to step forward. He made the mistake, though, of looking for Summer out of the corner of his eye, only to find that she was already looking at him. Whatever resolve he had to fess up to Dewey withered away, and he dropped his gaze to the ground in an attempt to fight off the blush he just knew was rising to his cheeks.
"Alright, guys. Y'all gonna have to take five, maybe fifteen. Get your musical mojo back. Except you, Zack Attack. You're coming with me."
Dewey walked over to the entrance hallway, and Zack followed. Dewey turned to face him after determining that they were a safe distance away from any prying ears (*cough* Michelle and Eleni *cough*).
"Okay, spill, man. It's not just today when you've been straddling the line of the zone, and during practice, I need you in that zone."
Zack's eyes darted from the wall behind Dewey to Dewey's hair to the bridge of Dewey's nose to the pizza sauce stain on Dewey's cheek so that he wouldn't have to look Dewey in the eyes eyes before he sighed. "I don't know, dude. I'm sorry that I've been distracted lately, but I've kinda been thinking about… things…" he trailed off.
Dewey's eyebrows lifted. "'Things?' What kind of 'things?'" He leaned in really close to Zack and murmured, "You know, if it's about why all of a sudden you're really itchy—"
"No!" Zack's eyes widened then shut in embarrassment. "It's not those kinds of things." He sighed again. He noticed that he did that a lot whenever the topic is even remotely related to her. "Never mind, the only advice you can give me will probably come from your… experience with Ms. Mullins."
He made a face as he finished that statement, and Dewey nodded in understanding. "Ah, girl things. Z, the Finnster has tonnes of experience with females. Alright, lay it on me; who is it?"
Zack itched to turn around to look at her, as he always itched to do whenever he thought about her. He didn't want to give Dewey any clues, though. It's embarrassing enough as it is.
"Oh, I know. It's Little Miss Posh Spice, isn't it?" Dewey guessed. "That's cool; you guys could be like… actually I cannot immediately think of bassist/guitarist couple. That can't be right," he muttered to himself.
"What? No! I don't like Katie!" Zack whisper-yelled, looking back into the room to make sure no one heard.
Dewey rolled his eyes. He forgets sometimes that he's working with 11-year-olds. Super talented, incredibly cool 11-year-olds, but still 11-year-olds. Which gives him an idea. "Oh, no Posh Spice? Ahhh, is it Eleni? Michelle, maybe? Tomika?"
Catching on to what Dewey is doing, Zack got nervous. Eventually Dewey was gonna get to her name, and Zack knows that his blush would give it away despite all his best efforts not to.
Meanwhile, Dewey is staring intently at Zack's face from the corner of his eyes waiting for some kind of tell while he pretends to think of who it is. "I would guess Alicia, but I don't think she's your type. Unless she totally is, in which case, go for it, man. Love knows what love wants. If it's not her, it's definitely Marta, th—oh!" Dewey interrupted himself. "I can't believe I didn't think of Tinkerbell first!"
"It's no one you know!" Zack rushed to say. Dewey raised his eyebrows again, but in amusement. At least now he knows who the special lady is that made his most dedicated band member fail to fuse the past few practices.
Zack started rambling. "She's a girl from school. A new girl! Yeah, a new girl. She sits next to me in… music? She plays the, uh." "Don't say clarinet, you idiot; that's so obvious," he thought to himself. "The oboe?"
"Zack, it's okay to like Summer, you know."
"I don't," he mumbled to the ground in a half-hearted attempt to dissuade the man from thinking what he now knows to be true.
"Look at me," Dewey said as he placed his hands on Zack's shoulders. After he looked up, Dewey continued, "'So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key,' and oh my god did I just quote The Eagles? Man, I've gotta stop giving Roz control over my radio. Whatever, just know that you have the power to make what you want to happen happen."
Zack half-smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, man. I'll remember that."
"Think you got it in you for a few more rounds of musical fusion?" Dewey asked with a flourish.
Zack nodded with a small grin on his face. "YEAH, that's what I'm talking about! Alright, guys!" Dewey yelled as he and Zack reentered the rehearsal space. "Let's take it from the top of 'Edge of Seventeen!'"
"Actually, Dewey," Summer interrupted. "I have an announcement."
As per protocol, the band arranged themselves in a half-circle facing the instrument setup. Summer stood where Dewey normally was, and Dewey stood at the back behind everyone else.
"Okay, so remember how last rehearsal I told you that I was able to contact Alan Krem from the A&R division of Spin City Records?" There were nods and murmured assents. Her excited smile made her pale skin pink at the cheeks, and Zack thought pure emotion made her look better than any amount of makeup could. "Well, now we're in the talks for an actual record deal!"
There was a whispered "oh my god," and then a chorus of screams from the girls and hollers from the guys while Summer had a look on her face of Yes, I know I'm brilliant. Any and all gratitude is accepted.
Zack, for his part, could hardly contain himself. He wanted to run up to Summer and swing her around in those cheesy hugs they show in the movies. A record deal, an actual record deal! This is School of Rock's big break! He could see it now: people will listen to their music all over the world, and—
"Is there a catch?" Dewey was, surprisingly, the one to react with the most sanity.
The clamour the band was making moments before quieted down when Summer didn't immediately say no. "Ugh, I knew it," Dewey muttered to himself.
"Wait!" Summer called out. "I only didn't mention it because I knew it would be no big deal for us!"
"Well, what is it?" Leonard asked.
"They want another song." Murmurs broke out once again. "They think 'School of Rock' is great, but it's the only reason they're really giving us a chance. Even after we tweaked 'Step Off' to be something we can play at shows, it wasn't strong enough to be additional evidence of the quality of our music. All they want is some reassurance that we're not some Journey cover band," she said over their voices, which decreased in volume with every word she said.
"We have some time, too. Right now, they're in the middle of some scandal with their branch in LA. Mr. Krem said they won't even have time to view a demo until all of that blows over, and he anticipates that it'll only take another month. If they like us, and I know they will, contract negotiations can start after that."
Realising how legitimate this all sounded, Dewey finally reacted with all his typical gusto, which invited the others to do the same. Amidst all the celebration, Zack searched for Summer, who was making it a point to share in the celebration with as many people as possible.
He was glad to see it. He couldn't tell if he was imagining it or not, but lately her relationship seemed kinda weird with the roadies. (She had tried to be as hands on with the musicians as she was with everyone else, but after stepping on Dewey's toes one too many times, he told her to keep her focus only on the other roles from now on.)
Maybe not weird. She was still the bossy, grade-grubbing micromanager he knew and admired, but it was different.
Dewey ended up cancelling the rest of practice and took them out for pizza in celebration, but not without asking everyone to tell their parents (Summer's idea, of course). At this point, the band divided into its usual cliques as everyone excitedly talked about what it would be like to play music in an actual recording studio and hear their songs on the radio.
As Freddy bragged about all the chicks he's gonna score, Zack's attention wandered. He saw that Summer was sitting with Marta, Michelle, and Billy a few booths over, but they weren't really talking to her. Instead, she was looking down at her lap, probably doing something on her PDA.
"Weird, she's the reason we're all here," he thought. "Maybe this is my chance to talk to her!"
He turned back to the conversation at his table and heard that they still have not strayed from imagining what the life of a rock star was like, so he started trying to psych himself up.
Breaking the ice would be easy, he reasoned; the shock and excitement from the potential record deal had not lessened at all between her announcement and ordering a pizza slice. It's after they exhausted the topic that he was concerned about. What would he even say? So, did you manage to finish your homework during practise today? Lame.
His mental gymnastics eventually lead to the conclusion that conversations are a two-way street, and Summer would probably have something to say after that. She was an opinionated girl, after all; it was one of the many things that drew him to her because he was so used to not having his own.
Sufficiently psyched up, he turned to face where Summer was seated, only to find that she was already halfway out of the pizzeria.
He looked wildly around to see if anyone else noticed that she just up and left, but everyone else was still engrossed in their food and conversations. Without even thinking about it, he grabbed his stuff and scooted out of the booth, determined to at least walk her home.
Freddy stopped him. "Hey, man, where you off to? The band's all here."
Zack stared at Freddy with thinly veiled disbelief before deciding to let it go. "My dad wanted me to… do something," he finished lamely. He didn't care to hear Freddy's response to that as he turned on his heel and ran to the door.
He really hoped he could catch up to her. "Turn left; she turned left."
Sure enough, Zack spotted Summer a little ways ahead of him about to cross the road. "Hey! Wait up!" he called once she reached the other side.
Summer didn't stop, though; she just kept striding purposefully in what he realised wasn't the direction of her bus stop. You have to turn right from the pizza place to get there, but he didn't think about that too much then.
"Summer! Summer, wait up!" he continued calling as he ran after her. She turned around.
"Zack?" she asked incredulously. "What are you doing here? Is the pizza party over already? Did someone get hurt? Does Dewey need help?" she asked in quick succession.
"What? Oh, no, I…" He didn't really think that far ahead. Instead, he asked, "Do you want me to walk with you?"
Her surprise showed on her face. With the corners of her mouth slightly lifted upwards and the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks, she responded, "It's only five-thirty, Zack. I'm sure I can manage to get home by myself. Not to say I don't appreciate the offer, of course."
"Is that why you're walking in the opposite direction of your house?" he blurted out.
She had the decency to look chastised. "Okay, I wasn't really going home."
"Well, I'm in the mood for a walk if you are." He doesn't think he's been this forward in his life, but as soon as he spoke, Dewey's words echoed in his mind and justified that this was actually the best thing to do.
She looked like she wanted to smile but wouldn't allow herself to. He thought it was a pity. "May I ask why?" She fiddled with the detachable stylus of her PDA as she looked him in the eye.
He couldn't tell her the truth at the risk of sounding kinda stalker-ish, but he didn't want to lie either. Not to her, anyway.
"It's on my way. If we're both walking this way, we might as well walk together." He hated how aloof he sounded, but aloof is better than pathetically infatuated.
"Oh, that seems reasonable. Best be going on our way then," she said as she turned on her heel and began walking at the same brisk pace at which he saw her walk earlier. He might just be hearing things he wanted to hear, but she sounded like she wished he said something else.
As he semi-struggled to keep up with her (the girl's got stride), he wondered whether she'd mind conversation. The silence didn't feel awkward, at least on his end, but he was getting the feeling that he should say something anyway.
While he was debating how to break the perceived ice, he heard her faintly humming. If it weren't for the fact that she was the only one there, he wouldn't even believe it was coming from her.
After that day last year, when she sang that song and Dewey all but begged for her to stop, she never sang again, much less hummed. (That was back when all the band madness started picking up; god, was that really just last year?) He felt really honoured to be privy to something she must actively keep from the rest of the band.
He spent a few more seconds of listening to her hum in contentment before his eyes widened. It wasn't just any song. He knew that song.
He wrote that song.
Summer Hathaway was humming "School of Rock" as she walked to wherever she was going. And it couldn't have been because they played the song at practise today because they didn't play the song at practise today, which meant that it was just stuck in her head or something. Which kinda sorta meant that, indirectly, he was on her mind.
His mind continued to race like this just as she reached the part where his solo comes in. In another burst of confidence (probably from the high of finding out that she hums his song!), he stopped walking and started air guitar-ing his part à la one Dewey Finn, making her jump in surprise.
After his impromptu solo, she asked with amusement, "What was that?"
He blushed and looked down before bashfully raising his eyes to hers. "You were humming the song, so I thought I'd join in."
Her eyes went wide before she closed them in embarrassment and covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god, I didn't even realise I was humming," she spoke from behind her hands. "It's better a song you wrote, though, than Mariah Carey or something." She chuckled as she shook her head.
That was just like Summer: never apologetic for how she acts or who she is, even when she considers it totally embarrassing. And let's not forget the fact that she was humming his song.
Just when he thought he couldn't fall harder.
"You know, it was quite chivalrous of you to walk with me this far, even if it were where you were already headed. I really appreciate it, but I can make it from here if you want to head on home. Thanks a lot, though," she finished with a smile.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he joked.
This time, his attempt at humour worked, and she laughed. He swore if he recorded her laughter, he'd be able to get the band their new song by tomorrow.
They continued walking, and he recognised this part of his route. It's where all the shops were. To his surprise, Summer led him to the music store.
The surprise must have been evident on his face because she explained, "I take clarinet lessons here."
She took clarinet lessons? He didn't know she was that serious about some instrument that she played in music class every Tuesday.
"Oh, did I make you late? I'm really sorry if I, like, messed with your schedule or something."
"Don't worry about it. I plan for exactly this kind of circumstance." At his pretend look of understanding, she explained, "I make it a point to arrive at least ten minutes early to everywhere I go, and I always leave at least five minutes earlier than I'd need to in order to get there in ten minutes, just in case. Besides, why arrive on time when you can arrive earlier, right?"
He smiled inwardly. Summer would never let anyone make her late even if it were the President talking to her. "Oh, yeah, definitely."
Then he started panicking. He's surprised he managed the whole walk here maintaining even a semblance of conversation (and he made her laugh), but now they were that point where they say goodbye, and he had to make that split second decision to hug her or not or—
Her cellphone rang. "Oh! So sorry, Zack, but I have to take this. Again, thanks so much for walking me! I'll catch you tomorrow?"
He barely nodded his head before she gave him a quick, one-armed hug as she simultaneously accepted the call.
"Hello, it's Summer Hathaway. To whom am I speaking? Yes, thank you for returning my call…" her voice trailed off as she walked into the music store.
He made the rest of the way home in a lucid daze. The day's events were so fantastic he can't even believe half of it was real, much more all of it. However, when he approached the front lawn of his well-to-do suburban home, he was reminded of how very real his life is.