Disclaimer: I do not own Gorillaz
Seemed like anytime the Gorillaz managed to get a break something would always go wrong. It had been over years since the whole el manana incident and over 8 years since plastic beach fiasco, Noodle was finally able to get back into the swing of things and the gang was about to make their big comeback or at least that wa what was planned until documentation issues led to them being stuck in America. the Embassy said it would take a good three months before everything could get squared away.
This meant that until then the Gorrilaz had to make themselves comfortable had frankly become code for get a job, which to Murdoc translated to everyone else getting a job. 2-D managed to get a gig singing at a Mexican restaurant, Russel managed to get a job working as a bouncer and Noodle, well she had applied for a job as a substitute teacher using one of her civilian names.
Principal Rick looked at the resume that Noodle laid in front of him, the to say that it was strange was a bit of an understatement. She cleared her throat .
"well Miss… Gongora is it? In all my years. I have never seen a resume quite like this."
Noodle gave the Principal a cheeky grin. The man however was not impressed.
"Sigh… Look miss Gongora, Most of the stuff on this resume is completely unneeded considering that all we need is a substitute while our Music teacher is on maternity leave. The references you give have all said you have exceptional music ability. All we need is someone who knows a thing about or two and about music and can keep sanity in a room full of 14 and 15 year olds. You understand that right?"
Noodle gave a nod.
"Sure thing."
"Can you start today? Next class is in an hour. Honestly this shouldn't be too bad. We are just running a simple music class here not the next set of Carnegie hall performers. yes sir I'll head over there right now."
The young band member darted toward the door but was stopped in her tracks.
"Miss Gongora Before you leave. I feel like you need to be aware. There is a student, he's not a trouble student or anything, but he does tend to be a little bit of a recluse."
"Oh?"
"They call him Cotton Eyed Joe."
Noodle had to admit she was a bit surprised.
"Why do they call him that?"
"His real name is Joseph Kreacher. When he came to the school his left eye was covered by cotton gauze. Now he wears a patch over the eye."
"Am I allowed to ask what happened?"
"Car wreck, Head on collision with a drunk driver. His brother was killed instantly, caused Joseph's eye to hemorrhage."
Noodle wasn't sure if it was due to her friendship with 2-D or just a case of the sympathy bug, but Noodle started to twist her face in a bit of a frown.
"Sorry to hear that."
"He's a good kid. That's not to say he doesn't get into trouble."
The Principal proceeded to show what appeared to be a Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball poster with a sticky note with the words Reject False Icons plastered over Miley's face. Noodle did everything she could in order to stifle her laughter with admitly mixed result.
"Yeah I have to admit I found it pretty humorously myself. Anyway try to reach out to him if you can I don't want the other kids to feel awkward about him."
"Will do. I better be going. I don't want to be late."
"Miss Gongora, It's room 216."
Noodle could hear the sound of chatter and poorly played insterments. the young woman found herself taking deep breaths as she creaked open the door. There looked to be 20 kids in total all sitting in a large circle. oddly enough, there were four sets of lead, bass, drums and mikes, was this some rock music class or something
"Hello, my name is Suzuki Gonkora. I am your substitute teacher."
The kids however were not reacting.
"Um so I was told by your principle that you are working on an end of the year project?"
Still no reaction. She had to do something to get their attention. She let out a very loud whistle causing the kids to stop in their tracks. .
"Do I have your attention now?"
The kids slowly nodded.
"Hello, my name is Suzuki Gonkora. I am your substitute teacher. I hope we can soon get to know each other. Now before we begin, I want to get a taste of your abilities. Can you guys play a basic scale?"
That would prove to be a big mistake. The next ten seconds would erupt in a chaos of poorly paid notes and a complete lack of rhythm. By the dust of chaos cleared, Noodle's spikey hair stood at the back of her head. Her face twisted into a horrid mix of wide-eyed shock and cringing pain.
"Nuuugh, Um ok…That…That was loud. " Noodle said as she shook off her initial shock. It was pretty obvious at this point that she had a lot of work ahead of her.
"Does anyone here actually no how to play a musical instrument?"
only one or two of the kids raised their hand. Noodle began to rub her eyes,
"Let me guess, most of your class consist of randomly fingering at the instruments and so long as you know how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb you got an A?"
The kids slowly nodded
"Yeah that figures. So how many of you actually know each other?"
Once again only a couple of kids raised their hands.
"well at least that gives us the opportunity to start from scratch. I'm going to be your teacher for a bit and while I'm here I'm going to try and teach you all I can about music. That means I need your cooperation . Everyone streets other with respect. Go it?"
The kids nodded.
"How about we start by introducing ourselves."
The first girl got up in front of the class.
"My name is Natalie gomerez. My family owns a chain of Fast food joints across the city. I'm here because Daddy said if I got one more A, I could get a car."
The next kid to come to the front was a short and had tan skin and black hair.
"My name is Bobby Danials, I'm 14 years old, and my hope is to eventually play an interment so I can entertain my local community."
The kids got up one each explaining more about themselves. Most of the kids were in poorer neighbor hoods in town, some of them actually did want to learn music while others were here because the A looked good on a transcript.
From what the kids told her, Mrs. Simmons as the students called her really did not do much for the class. The kids were left to their own devices while she would check messages on their phone. Some of the kids tried teaching themselves; others just did their own thing.
"Alright. Let's pretend that everything that has happened up to this point just didn't." I was then noodle realized the class was missing someone.
"Hey does anyone know where Joseph Kreacher is?"
CREAK
A pair of long skinny arms, came out of the door pushing the knob away, the owner of said arms was a tall kid with a pencil thin build and unkempt brown hair. An eyepatch covered his left eye, and a sucker stick hanged off the side of his mouth. His eyes went straight to noodle as he pulled the sucker from his mouth.
"Did Mrs. Simmons croak on us or did her bun in the oven finally decide to go ding?
The class let out a giggle, even Noodle cracked a grin?
"The latter. Joseph Kreacher right, you realize your 20 mins late."
"Yeah I know, I had some personal matters I had to take care of. It's not like we do anything anyways."
"I don't think we have any instruments."
"I have my own guitar."
The first thing that caught Noodle's attention as she got the full view of Joseph was his backpack. The whole thing was a blown up "Reject False Icons" picture.
"You a fan of Gorillaz?"
Joseph looked a bit shocked at the question.
"You actually know about them?" He asked
"Yeah?"
"Wow you might be the coolest sub in this school."
Joseph grabbed a chair and sat in the back of the class.
"You know Joseph. We were going to use today to get to know the class. Maybe you'd like to tell us about yourself."
"Well you know I'm a fan of Gorillaz."
"What sparked your interest."
"Um I'd rather not talk about it."
Noodle sighed "I understand."
"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself Miss Gonkora." One of the students asked.
Noodle let out a laugh "ok, I'm from the United Kingdom and I enjoy playing guitar. I also like racing and playing video games. I also like to race,"
All of the sudden the bell rang.
"and it appears as though we are all out of time."
All of the class bolted out the door, all except Joseph.
"May I go to the back room, I'd like to practice."
"Um sure?"
As joseph began to head to the back room, he could not help but take a double take.
"Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."
"No I don't think we have met before."
"Huh. Well good luck teaching you're going to need it."
As Joseph closed the door and settled, Noodle could hear the kid sing.
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
She had to admit, the kid had some skills, but If this kid was as much a Gorillaz fan as he appeared to be, then there was the concern about being recognized. The last thing she wanted to do was put an unnecessary spotlight on herself. If need be she could always quit, but for some reason something wanted her to continue. All the kids here had potential; they just needed some actual lessons, besides if push came to shove, then it wasn't like telling the truth would kill them. Now as to whether she could whip these kids into shape or not was another story.
A/N Sorry if this was slow and choppy seems like getting started is always the hardest part. I hope this interest you long enough to stick around and continue reading