The second day of school is never anything special to most people. Noodle wasn't expecting anything; that was sure.
But Russel knew what would come to pass that day. Murdoc had called Russel the previous night to fully explain his plans, and he was sure that he'd find some final confirmation in his locker that day.
The school was in for a shock; that's all Russel could definitely say at the moment.
Noodle skipped out of the blue Sedan, all smiles. She didn't know what was going to happen. Maybe it was cruel of Russel to not tell her. At the time, he was only thinking of her safety, which was why he offered to take her to her locker that day.
Noodle was unsuspicious.
As they walked through the front doors, a large crowd of backs greeted them. They seemed to be hovering over something large posted on a pole.
Russel gulped and backed away. Noodle let go of his hand and shoved her way through the throng of people, finding herself next to Rachel Stevens.
"What is this…?" Rachel spat as she read. Noodle, taking a cue from her, began to read the poster. There were very few words on it, but it was very to the point.
I'm starting a band. These are the people I think are talented enough. Auditions are this Friday, after school, in the theater. You cannot drop out. You probably wouldn't want to do that anyway, since I know where you all live, disturbing as that may sound. – Murdoc Niccals
Noodle's
heart swooped, but her head was reeling. What on earth was the point
of -?
Noodle's eyes hovered over the list of people. There were
only four.
Paula Cracker
Werzel
Stuart Tusspot
Noodle Hobbs
Her eyes widened. "What -?"
Rachel turned to Noodle. "That's you, isn't it?"
Noodle didn't answer. She just nodded, her voice deserting her at this crucial time.
"I'd watch your back," Rachel advised. "This is going to have people talking."
Noodle's voice cracked. "…Why?"
"Murdoc hates freshmen."
Rachel ducked into the hallway as Paula pushed her way through to the pole, screaming at people to get out of her way. Noodle's body began to shake violently. Without warning, she darted off, down the hallway, and into the cafeteria.
She saw every eye on her. There was another poster placed on the wall by the door. Noodle sniffled. She was surrounded. Perturbed, she fled to her locker, avoiding all the harsh stares and the whispers floating around her.
Noodle opened her locker frantically, dumped all of her stuff on the floor, and attempted to lock herself inside. She curled her body into the box, but she was too big. Her shoes were in the way. Frustrated, Noodle threw her sneakers on the tile. They made a loud thudding sound. Noodle slammed her locker closed, but realized too late that she couldn't lock herself in from the inside. She needed an accomplice.
"Noodle-kun?"
Perfect, Noodle thought.
"Alan-san, lock me in here."
Noodle wished she could see the look on Alan's face.
"What?" Alan asked incredulously. "Why?"
"They're going to kill me," Noodle mused. Her voice was borderline psychotic. "They're going to kill me, Alan-san…"
"They are NOT going to kill you," Alan frowned. "They're just going to talk about you for a little bit."
"That's just as bad!" Noodle wailed, slamming her elbow against the wall of the locker. She let out a little yelp of pain before sniffling.
A third voice joined in. "Alan, what's going on?"
"Noodle-kun wants me to lock her inside," he explained. "I'm not going to do that, but you can, if you want…"
Noodle blanched. "Russel-nii-chan, don't let me out!"
Russel was seething, apparently. "I am NOT going to let you stay in there! Do you have any idea how much air you have in there? You'll die."
"Fair enough!"
"Noodle!" Russel cried. "I am NOT going to let you do this!"
And with that, Russel yanked the locker door off of its hinges. Noodle found herself squinting in the light. She stared at Alan's concerned face and Russel's angry one.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Noodle asked quickly.
"Huh?"
Alan blinked. "I just found out –"
"NOT YOU!" Noodle
screeched, forcing her legs out of the locker. "I meant…
Russel-nii-chan, why?!"
Russel sighed. Apparently he had been dreading this.
"I didn't think he was serious…" Russel admitted. "He has a tendency to threaten many things. Hardly any of them come about. But apparently this was different…"
Noodle thrust herself out of the locker. Her stance was a little wobbly for a bit, but she was otherwise unharmed.
"Murdoc told you about this?" Alan inquired, amazed.
"Yeah, apparently I'm already in this band of his," Russel grunted. "What he's planning, I don't quite –"
"Who do you think you are?"
Noodle, Russel, and Alan whipped around. Standing arms crossed before them was Paula Cracker. Noodle never noticed it before, but her hair seemed a little greasy and her eyes seemed hungry for something. Other than that, she was still beautiful and… well, even her accusation seemed friendly.
"Who, me?" Alan asked confusedly.
"No, not you," Paula snapped angrily. She glared at Noodle, who found that she wasn't as friendly as previously thought. "Her. Who does she think she is?"
"I'm Noodle Hobbs…" Noodle offered.
"What are you to Murdoc, then?" Paula barked.
"What?" Noodle whimpered, her face turning a pink color.
"What do you mean, 'to Murdoc'?" Russel asked. Alan crossed his arms, a frown forming on his face.
"Why are you even here?" Alan wondered. "She had nothing to do with this. She was trying to shove herself into a locker just now."
Paula looked at the locker door lying on the ground, hinges ripped off roughly, then looked to Noodle, sheer terror rising on her face. "You FREAK!"
"She
didn't do that!" Alan protested. "Russel did -!"
It was
too late. Paula had run off, talking to herself. Noodle collapsed to
the ground, tears bubbling in her eyes. She stared at her hands
uneasily before breaking down. Russel kneeled down beside her and
rubbed her back gently, murmuring calming things. Alan still stood,
looking at the mounting crowd of people.
"Noodle's not safe here," Alan told Russel. "People are talking already. They're not pleased, that's for sure. Noodle's changed everything they thought they knew about Murdoc… and they're questioning it."
"Why me?" Noodle sniffled. "Why me…?"
Russel
glanced skyward before turning to Noodle. "Murdoc's heard you
play your guitar before, remember? When you were messing around last
year and playing a bunch of really random songs?"
Noodle
nodded. She remembered that day rather well. She wasn't messing
around, though – she was showing off. She wanted to show up Murdoc,
after he revealed his abysmal skills with guitar. At the time, she
didn't understand why. Now she did.
What I've been looking for, Noodle thought with a smile.
"He didn't do it to spite you," Russel assured her. "And if I find out he did, I'll kill him."
Noodle saw that her brother was serious. She stood up uneasily and began to put her things back in her locker. Over her shoulder, she muttered, "This should be an interesting day."
It was turning out to be a very interesting day, as Noodle predicted. By lunch, everyone had heard the news: humble freshman and semi-loner Noodle Hobbs (who was, in fact, NOT Russel's girlfriend, but his half-sister) was worthy enough to be recognized by Murdoc Niccals, infamous freshman-hater, as a prospect for his new band.
This was a little more than odd to quite a few students, but none more than Paula. She didn't understand it. She paced across the second floor of the cafeteria, musing on the subject.
"I just don't get it," she glowered, facing Stuart. He was sitting at a table, drinking some Sunny D and not even really focused. For being smack-dab in the middle of the controversy, he was surprisingly laid-back.
"She's prob'ly tal'nted," Stuart shrugged. His accent, which came and went depending on how focused Stuart was about it, was clearly present now. A smile rose on his face. "Jus' 'cuz she's a freshm'n doesn' mean she's crap."
"I know," Paula assured him as she looked over the second-floor railing. She eyed Murdoc, who was leaning against the door of the cafeteria. The school had (unofficially) given him the duty of making sure no one skipped out of the cafeteria and ditched school. (He was fairly good at it.) Murdoc caught her eye and gave her that 'you're-so-off-base-it's-not-even-funny' look. Paula whipped around, fuming.
"He's so smug," Paula noted.
She looked over the railing again, looking at the various people populating the caf. Werzel and Rachel were pouring over some sheet music. Paula would have never expected to see Werzel get nominated for anything by Murdoc, either. But this was more because of an incident where Werzel dumped dirty mop water on Murdoc in eighth grade. Oh, Werzel paid for it, all right – Murdoc dumped toilet water on him the next week – but the two of them weren't on very friendly terms.
The basketball team was all talking, but they kept glancing around the room nervously. The nerds surrounding Werzel and Rachel were doing much the same thing. Actually, everyone was talking. Paula could bet she knew what they were talking about.
"Stuart… what should we do?"
Stuart tossed his empty Sunny D bottle into a trashcan. Five-foot shot… and he swooshed it in. He turned to Paula and smirked.
"We'll jus' give it ou' bes' a' auditions," Stuart nodded. "Tha's all we can do, y'know."
"No," Paula sighed. "I meant… about Noodle… where is that little whelp, anyway?"
Russel, who was sitting with the rest of the basketball team, listened to them chatter about Murdoc Niccals' new 'band'. Since they knew all of the participants for whom they really were, they were a lot more attuned to the real issue.
"Who do you think Murdoc'll put in his band?"
"Not Paula, I don't think. At least, not Stuart and Paula together. Nothing'll get done."
"But Noodle seems like a bit of a long shot – no offense, Russ."
"None taken," Russel answered.
"I don't understand the point of this, though. I know Murdoc likes to screw with people, but this is crazy."
"Yeah, I saw Noodle today, and she looked shell-shocked. And she's usually the life of the party."
"If life was a party, you mean."
"Yeah. I say we jump Murdoc for making Noodle depressed!"
"YEAH!"
Russel stood up. "NO! This isn't his fault! This is the other students' fault!" Russel sighed. "They're all getting on her back because she's a freshman, and Murdoc chose to recognize a freshman for something. It's so stupid!"
"I don't get it, Russ."
"Me neither."
"…Murdoc started it."
"GET HIM AFTER SCHOOL!"
"YEAH!"
Russel narrowed his eyes irritably. "Maybe an example is pertinent." He took a basketball out from under the table and slammed it on his chair. He dribbled and shot it against the wall. It came to land perfectly in the chair. Scattered applause followed, but Russel chose to ignore it.
"You can bet there's nothing but net when I am in the zone and on a roll," Russel offered.
"Of course," the team murmured, nodding.
"But," Russel continued, "I've got a confession – my own secret obsession – and it's making me lose control!"
The basketball players motioned to the cheerleaders. "Everybody, gather 'round!"
"Well, if Noodle's secret can get blown, so can mine," Russel explained. "I bake."
One of the cheerleader's faces soured. "What…?"
"I love to bake," Russel shrugged. Now most everyone in the cafeteria was watching him intently. "Strudels… scones… even apple pendavi…"
The team completely missed Russel's point. "Not another sound!"
"Someday I hope to make the perfect Crème Brule," Russel explained. "But that's not –"
It was apparent that most of the eavesdroppers missed Russel's point entirely, too. They jumped out of their seats angrily, cutting Russel off. "No, no, no, no -! Stick to the stuff you know!"
A basketball sailed through the air and into Russel's arms.
"If you wanna be cool," they told Russel, "follow one simple rule – don't mess with the flow, no, no! Stick to the status quo!"
Russel threw the basketball to the floor, frustrated. "You're missing my point!"
Surprisingly, Rachel Stevens jumped up and stood on her seat. "Yeah, you're missing his point!" She picked up her AP Calculus textbooks and her calculator, frowning. "Noodle is just a victim in this situation! Just because she's a gifted musician doesn't mean we should rat on her!"
"Look at me, and what do you see?" Rachel asked the proletariat, who were now fully enthralled with this debate of errors.
"Intelligence beyond compare!" they yelled back.
"Right!" Rachel nodded before putting her books down. "But inside I am stirring – something strange is occurring! It's a secret I need to share!"
"Open up," the crowd begged, "dig way down deep!"
"Well…" Rachel suddenly jumped up on the table. "Hip hop is my passion! I love to pop and lock and jam and break -!"
Werzel looked at her confusedly. "Is that even legal…?"
"Not another peep!" the students yelled angrily.
"It's just dancing!" Rachel protested. "Sometimes I think it's even better than homework! That just -!"
"No, no, no, no -!" the mob of people cried out, cutting her off. They were so hopelessly lost, it wasn't even funny. "Stick to the stuff you know! It is better by far to keep things as they are! Don't mess with the flow, no, no – stick to the status quo!"
Rachel clenched her fists. "You guys don't get it! People change! 'Freshman' is a description, not a job title!"
Paula, from her perch up on the second floor balcony, laughed. "That's so pathetic. You guys are all pathetic! This isn't an issue of whether Noodle deserves the honor or not – it's a matter of what's right! She's just a freshman! They're still finding their niche at this school! They deserve little, they get little, and they're happy with it! But now that Murdoc foisted this all on Noodle, he's changed everything! He's disrupted the very fabric of this school!"
Murdoc looked up for one second, saw everyone staring at him, and started laughing.
"What?" Paula yelled. "What's wrong with you?!"
Murdoc beamed. "There's nothing wrong with a little change…"
Stuart suddenly jumped off of the balcony. Paula screamed, Werzel clean fainted, and Russel ran over to catch Stuart. However, he landed on his feet, on top of the punks' table. The cafeteria was very silent as Stuart stood up and dusted himself off.
"Murdoc's righ'," Stuart finally said. The furor started up again.
"WHAT?" Paula screeched.
"You're CRAZY!" a cheerleader called.
"Why would you agree with THAT?!" a nerd inquired irately.
"MORE PIE!" a confused girl at the punk table demanded. Her cry was ignored.
Stuart made the upward palm gesture, universal sign for 'stop and shut up'.
"List'n well, I'm ready to 'ell 'bout a need tha' I cannot deny," Stuart murmured, his voice gaining strength and shedding its accent with each word. "Dude, there's no explan'tion for this awesome sensation, and I'm ready to let it fly!"
The crowd looked at each other uneasily before saying, "Speak your mind and you'll be heard."
"All right," Stuart nodded happily, "If Murdoc can change, well, then, I can to. And I did. You see, last year, I started playing the cello!"
A few eyebrows were raised, to say the least. The confused pie girl spoke up.
"Awesome!" she yelled. "What is it?"
Stuart mimicked the cello-playing motion in a very obvious fashion. Confused Pie Girl's eyes lit up.
"A saw!" she cried out before throwing her arms up in the air happily.
"No, dude… ette…" Stuart said awkwardly. "It's like a giant violin!"
"Not – another – sound!" the crowd yelled. Paula's voice carried over everyone else's.
"When you play, do you wear a costume?" Confused Pie Girl questioned.
"Coat and tie," Stuart replied in a show-offy tone.
"No, no, no, no -!" Paula cried.
"No, no, no!" the crowd echoed. They rounded on all three of the so-called heretics. Russel's grip on his basketball was growing tight. Rachel's therapy was quickly becoming an afterthought. Stuart ran his fingers through his hair nonchalantly, but it seemed like he was becoming a bit worried.
"Stick to the stuff you know! If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule – don't mess with the flow, no, no! Stick to the status quo!"
Paula began to walk down the stairs. "No, no, NO! Stick to the stuff you know! It is better by far to keep things as they are!"
"Don't mess with the flow, no, no!" the mass of people picked up quickly as Paula reached the floor. "Stick to the status quo!"
Paula walked over to Murdoc's position and hovered above his hunched-over frame. He casually zipped up his hooded jacket and focused both his normal eye and his pink eye on her.
"Yes?" Murdoc asked in his swaggering manner. Paula wasn't in the mood, however.
"Do you see what you've done?" Paula growled. "Look at them! Your 'band' thing has ruined the tranquility of the school!" Paula stopped momentarily. "'Tranquility' means –"
"I know what it means," Murdoc interrupted forcefully. "And I also know that, yesterday, you could have cared less about such plebian manners and instead preferred to worry about only yourself and your darling Stuart."
Paula scowled before admitting defeat. "THIS is not what I want. This is not what I planned, and I just gotta say… I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!"
Murdoc shrugged. Irritated, Paula stomped off before her gaze came to rest upon one of the infamous posters. She ran two of her fingers down its length before ripping it off the wall and crumpling it in her hand.
"Something
is really –"
"Something's not right…" Russel
moaned as the crowd continued to argue, heckle, jeer, and consider
the multiple issues on hand.
"
– Really wrong!" Paula
finished, stepping lightly up the stairs. "And
I've gotta get things back where they belong! I can do it
-!"
"Gotta play!" Stuart
yelled.
The crowd wasn't pleased. "Stick with what you know!"
"Hip hop hooray!" Rachel exclaimed.
Her nerd friends were embarrassed beyond belief. "She has got to go!"
"Crème Brule?" Russel suggested, making a last-ditch effort.
"Keep your voice down low!" the basketball players urged, now fearing for Russel's safety.
"Not another peep!" Paula cried.
"No!" the crowd agreed.
"Not another word!"
"No!"
"Not
another sound!"
"No!"
"Not -!"
"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Murdoc suddenly screeched, standing up swiftly. The students were all taken quite aback until they noticed what Murdoc was staring at. Entering with her cafeteria tray was Noodle, and walking with her was Alan.
Noodle felt all the empty, mad stares coming in her direction. She turned to Alan, baffled.
"Why is everyone staring at you, Alan-san?" Noodle wondered aloud.
"Not me… you," Alan said, clearly at a loss.
"Because
of… of… that paper, right?" Noodle
asked. Alan merely nodded. Noodle swallowed uneasily. "I
can't have people staring at me! I can't take it! I really just
can't…!"
Noodle
tried to sit down with the punks, who had welcomed Noodle in English.
But now they were incensed. "No,
no, no, no -!"
Noodle quickly moved away and tried to go somewhere else, but Paula was hovering overhead to make sure that didn't happen. "Stick to the stuff you know! If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule!"
"Don't mess with the flow, no, no! Stick to the status quo!" the cheerleaders barked, scaring Noodle. They were usually so nice to her…
Noodle tried to get over to where her brother was, but he was being riled in much the same way she was.
"No, no, no!" the nerds yelled at Rachel.
"Stick to the stuff you know!" came the cry of the skaters.
"It is better by far…" the drama geeks started.
"…to keep things as they are!" the artists finished.
"Don't mess with the flow –" the other jocks ordered.
"No, no!" the basketball players called, finally realizing what Russel had tried to say. They attempted to get Noodle to a place of safety, but they couldn't reach her. Murdoc was headed right towards her.
"Stick to the status -!"
"Stick to the status -!"
"Stick to the status quo!" Paula yelled out. Murdoc, who was clearly irritated, picked up Noodle's milk carton.
"Can I borrow this?" Murdoc asked politely.
"Sure," Noodle responded confusedly.
Murdoc fingered the carton delicately for a few seconds. Without warning, he lobbed the carton directly in Paula's face. Upon impact, it exploded, getting milk all over Paula. She screeched.
"You…! You -!"
Paula couldn't even say what she thought.
Murdoc grabbed Noodle by the arm. "I think I owe you an explanation."
Noodle put down her tray quickly as Murdoc roughly dragged her into the eastern hallway. Alan looked down awkwardly at Noodle's lunch tray.
"Noodle-kun, you put your tray down on top of Stuart's cello case…" Alan called out. His efforts were futile, for Noodle and Murdoc were already talking in the hall.
It was a great deal quieter there. No one dared to follow the pair of them, because Murdoc looked ticked off and Noodle was… er… Noodle. She would pipe up if something indecent happened, and then Russel would personally take care of Murdoc. That was how things worked, and the basketball team knew that. So, the team kept everyone away.
"Okay, first, I'm sorry," Murdoc blurted out once the two of them were safely in the hallway, away from prying eyes and pointless accusations.
Noodle was a little taken aback. "Wait – is the great Murdoc Niccals apologizing?"
Noodle realized that she was being very critical, but at the moment, her own protection was a bit more important than Murdoc's potential opinion.
Strike that, Murdoc's potential opinion WAS more important than Noodle's well being.
"Sorry," Noodle sighed. "I'm not myself…"
"Obviously, Noodle-chan," Murdoc stated. "Second, I didn't mean for this to happen. Until Friday, there's going to be a lot of pressure on all four of you guys – least of all Stuart, because he's a vacant-headed dullard, most of all you, because you're a freshman, and apparently I hate freshmen." His hand brushed against hers.
"Do you?"
"No," Murdoc answered truthfully. "I just enjoy hazing them."
All the color drained from Noodle's face.
"BUT YOUR BROTHER WOULD KILL ME IF DID ANYTHING TO YOU," Murdoc reminded her forcefully.
Noodle cleared her throat. "So… what do I do?" She sank to the floor. "I can't go anywhere without being stared at. I can't do anything without whispers floating behind me. I can't escape this."
Noodle looked up to Murdoc's blank face. She knew what she wanted to say. She wanted to look up and say that she loved him, and that, despite the issues at hand, she didn't blame him for any of it. But, no, Noodle didn't say any of that. It would have been really inappropriate, considering the source and the context of the conversation.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Noodle asked tentatively.
"Yes, that I do."
Noodle stood up ineptly. "Well, then, I think that I'll be fine. As long as I'm not being led blindly into anything…"
Murdoc nodded before walking into the cafeteria again. Noodle, however, didn't move. His hand had touched hers… she was a bit euphoric, to say the least. A smile wove onto her face.
From her perch behind the lockers, Paula smiled widely.
Murdoc may have revealed that Paula's only intention was to win the competition, but he also gave her ammunition against the other competitors.
If Noodle was so blinded by love, why not give her eyes? Why not shatter the rose-colored glasses?
Paula walked towards her own locker in the western hallway, ready to unleash an onslaught of scandal.
A/N: Barring my chapters for Coming to America and The Story of a Girl, this gigantic explosion of a chapter is the longest thing I've ever posted on the site, something I didn't realize until looking at the page ticker and seeing 12/12 down there. I hope I didn't lose anyone with the length.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gorillaz, or High School Musical, something utterly undisputable.
