Thursday was a flurry of light, sounds, and color for all four of the short-listed auditioners. Add that to the fact that Murdoc's nose appeared to be broken horribly and that Rachel Stevens had to go back into therapy after hearing that Werzel knew of Paula's plot, and you had one seriously screwed-up school day.
Noodle and Stuart spent most of the day together, healing each other's wounds and trying desperately to learn their song. Noodle, being a guitar virtuoso, and Stuart, having written the song on his Casio, were okay with the actual PLAYING of the song. The singing part was eluding them.
During lunch, the two of them (and that confused pie girl, who had taken to sitting by herself lately) went over the singing parts of the song again.
"Okay, so when you go very low, I have to continue with the melody, right?" Noodle asked.
"Yeah," Stuart nodded, "ya go with the mel'dy, bu' then I come back here… I think we're missin' that node or somethin'…"
Two figures plopped down beside Stuart and Noodle and the portable melodica machine and Confused Pie Girl. They were Murdoc and Russel.
For the first time since the previous day, Noodle got a good look at Murdoc's face. She soon saw what everyone was wondering about: Murdoc's nose had, indeed, been broken in about seven places. Russel looked the same as ever, except that his sweater appeared to have a bloodstain on the underside of the sleeve.
"Russel?" Stuart murmured.
"Murdoc-sanuma?" Noodle questioned.
Both of them appeared suspicious, at best.
"Don't hurt us," Murdoc begged. "Don't… just don't. Okay? Hear us out."
"Murdoc Niccals, beggin' for mercy?" Stuart muttered doubtfully. "Somethin's not righ'…"
"Your ex-girlfriend –" Murdoc launched before Russel could put a palm over his mouth.
"You two are best off avoiding Paula until the auditions," Russel advised. "From what I hear, this little… incident… of hers didn't help her image, if you get what I'm saying. She's out for revenge, and you two are pretty easy targets."
"So you making out with her ruined HER reputation? Wow, how screwy…" Noodle shrugged. "This stupid MTV generation…"
"Other way around!" Murdoc managed to yell.
"Huh?" Noodle cried out, getting it.
"We aren' the MTV gen'ration… we're the Google gen'ration…" Stuart corrected, not getting it.
"You're saying that PAULA…?" Noodle shook her head. "No… NO. You're lying… that…"
"Tryin' to cover your sorry arse?" Stuart accused roughly.
"No, he's not –" Russel tried to spit out.
"Russel-nii-chan, how COULD you?!" Noodle cried. "HOW, HOW, HOW?!"
Murdoc sat watching the accusatory remarks fly from one end of the table to the other, his rage silently boiling over. Russel was never good under pressure. He buckled and fell, stripped of his waxen wings. Noodle was a girl, and as such, became irrational at the drop of a hat. Stuart was just angry, and Murdoc couldn't blame him. But the combination of the three was proving to be too much.
Murdoc turned his back to Stuart and Noodle.
"Oh,
did we make you mad?" Noodle demanded. "You can't run from
everything, Murdoc-sanuma! You -?"
Murdoc grabbed the edges of
his shirt. An eerie silence fell upon all the occupants of the table,
including the Confused Pie Girl, who was doing her best to ignore the
circumstances.
"Don't say anything," Murdoc ordered. "I'm going to show you something. Think of it what you want."
Murdoc pulled his shirt upward slowly. He curled it around his neck and turned his head around. His face was blank. His back didn't fare so well. It was horribly bruised, disfigured - call it what you want, it was not good.
Noodle gasped.
Stuart was shocked into an even eerier silence.
"This was not my plan," Murdoc said calmly. Noodle's body arched slightly away from him.
"If any of you geniuses still think that it was my fault, go right ahead, think that way," Murdoc continued, pulling his shirt down. "But I don't want to further confuse an already muddled situation."
"Murdoc-sanuma -?" Noodle tried to ask.
"That's all."
Murdoc walked away, hands behind his head. When he saw Paula walk by him, he tripped her, sending her face-first into the floor. Murdoc's Cuban heel skidded across the floor. He muttered something very obscene at Paula before walking out of the cafeteria.
Russel, Stuart, and Noodle watched him open the doors and regain his freedom in silence. Russel's shoulders sank.
"That's the first time he's ditched school," Russel said blankly.
Stuart was confused. "Wha' -?"
"Murdoc-sanuma… isn't stupid," Noodle murmured, just as transfixed as Russel. "I don't think that he's missed a day of school… since I've known him. But… whenever things get really tough, he just… runs away. Murdoc-sanuma sits by himself for an hour or so and figures out a way to make things the way he wants them again. It's such a cowardly thing to do… but he doesn't care. He never does."
Stuart didn't say anything. Noodle looked down at the table below her, her face turning a discreet shade of pink. Stuart was… amazed. He couldn't bring his eyes away from the picture of loneliness and doubt that was Noodle.
"Stuart," Russel stated, "I assume that you'll be working with Noodle now."
"Uh… yeah," Stuart answered, a little startled.
"I advise that you stay as far away from Paula as humanly possible," Russel instructed. "As I tried to say earlier… she's going to try to ruin everyone's chances of winning, and now that her good girl image is shattered, she's going to do whatever it takes."
Noodle stood up and took her lunch tray with her.
"In the world of competition, those who are defeated become stronger. This audition isn't over."
And with that, Noodle dumped her lunch in the trashcan and walked away.
"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach…" Noodle murmured under her breath as she continued to work out fingering positions for the audition song. Strum – move finger up! Strum, strum – down! No, farther!
Noodle smiled. By herself, she was way too frantic for her own good. She was more relaxed when Stuart was around to help out.
Maybe it was just that, compared to Russel's blunt kindness and Murdoc's my-way-or-the-highway attitude, he was so down-to-earth, which was kind of refreshing. Or it could have been that Stuart was just so kind and nice to her. Or was it…?
Noodle shook the thought from her head. No, she didn't like him. That was stupid. She wasn't even over Murdoc yet.
Russel-nii-chan does say that you never really get over your first love, Noodle recalled. She resumed strumming on her guitar in the gymnasium. Waiting for the basketball team to finish getting dressed was one of the most boring things about being ball girl. Lately she'd taken to working on her already amazing guitar skills.
Noodle smirked and began to sing a really retarded clubbing song. "You got me tossin' and turnin', I can't sleep at night…"
"Didn't know that you liked that kind of crap, Noodle-chan."
Noodle looked up and blanched. "Murdoc-sanuma?"
Murdoc had, evidently, returned from his sabbatical. His mismatched eyes were a mask of sympathy and confusion. That made Noodle a little more than nervous.
"Yep," Murdoc nodded. "Hey, er, listen, Noodle-chan, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but –"
"Oh GOD!" Noodle shrieked randomly. She didn't want a confession of any kind at the moment. "Why does everyone come out of the closet to me?!"
Murdoc blinked. "I was just gonna say –"
Noodle bit her lip and was being thoroughly over-emotional. Murdoc sighed, his pink eye twitching.
"I'm sorry! Okay? Jeez, you haven't changed at all…" Murdoc spat out angrily.
Noodle raised an eyebrow. "You're sorry?"
"I think I made a mistake in…" Murdoc looked away. "Uh… I just made a few mistakes around you, okay?"
He's usually so articulate, Noodle thought.
"All right," Noodle said with a smile. "Sure, Murdoc. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Thanks for that, you snot-nosed – wait."
Now it was Murdoc's turn to be bemused. Noodle returned to her guitar, strumming gently. Murdoc shook his head and looked to the floor.
"Did you just -?" Murdoc began.
"Maybe," Noodle cut off.
Murdoc bit his tongue. "Uh… see you later, Noodle-chan."
"Bye, Murdoc."
Murdoc walked out of the gymnasium, his mind reeling.
No more Murdoc-sanuma? Murdoc thought. I'd gotten so used to that… But…
No honorific. Usually only reserved for family members… that's what she told me once…
Murdoc leaned against the hallway wall. Maybe…
I guess that Noodle IS getting over me.
Stuart was puzzled.
That's not new, considering that Stuart was always in some state of uncertainty. But Stuart really didn't understand.
Just days ago, he was head over heels for Paula. But now that she had revealed herself for what she really was, he found himself completely uninterested in her. When Rachel Stevens broke up with him, he moped around for weeks – months, actually. But he felt no remorse, no angst.
Stuart, instead, was in love with someone new. It was like he was never meant to be with Paula. Or that he shouldn't have been with Paula.
He frowned, sitting at the bus stop after school. He stopped driving after crashing into that parallel-parked car. He figured it was all for the best.
Just to be stupid, Stuart stuck out his thumb and pretended to be a hitchhiker. It was nice to be stupid, a contrast to the brooding going on inside his mind.
"You nev'r know wha' you're gonna feel…" Stuart mused. "Ya nev'r see it comin', sudd'nly it's real…"
Someone in a red Honda honked angrily at Stuart. Stuart flashed him the loser sign before sticking his hand in his pocket. People around Kong had no sense of humor.
"It nev'r even crossed my mind that I would see 'er in this light…" Stuart mused as the bus pulled up. Stuart and a few random stragglers jumped on. Stuart flashed his bus pass to the driver before taking a seat in the back of the bus. No one ever went to the back, so Stuart usually got a few moments of privacy.
"Well, things change when you don't expect them to," Stuart rationalized. "No one knows what the future's gonna do. I never even noticed that you've been there all along… I can't take my eyes off of you!"
Stuart pulled out the sheet music and looked at his trouble notes. However, his mind soon drifted from the audition song.
"I hope you feel the same way too," Stuart said earnestly. "I can't take my eyes off of you… all it took was one look for a dream come true!
"Yeah, we've got a good thing going on. Right here is right where we belong… You never really know what you might find; now all I see is you and I – you're everything I never knew that I'd been looking for!"
The bus ran over a pothole. Stuart found himself flung into the seat in front of him. His papers and sheet music were scattered all over the ground. He quickly picked up the papers, his face turning red. Stuart hoped no one saw that…
"I can't take my eyes off of you… so let the music play… Can't take my eyes off of you… The feeling's getting stronger, and I've never ever felt this way…"
Stuart sat back up in his seat and turned to the audition song again. It looked so… scribbled-on. In every margin and near every music note was a mark or words of some sort. Stuart grinned sheepishly. Singing… well, he was okay at it. Everyone overestimated him.
Except for Noodle.
"Alright, I see everything in your eyes," Stuart admitted. "Alright, something's happening. Cause everyone's around but you're the only one I see!"
Stuart shook his head. Noodle. He thought of her constantly. Her smile, her voice, her eyes…
But she still liked Murdoc, as far as Stuart knew. Murdoc-sanuma. She revered him, apparently. Stuart sighed, removing vengeful thoughts from his head.
"I can't take my eyes off of you… feelings like I never knew…" Stuart mused. "I can't take my eyes off of you! From the start – got my heart, yeah, you do… Can't take my eyes off of… you…"
Stuart frowned and went back to his music.
"Noodle-chan…" he murmured.
A/N: While this song isn't really in the original High School Musical, I thought I'd stick it in here, partly because it kind of serves as a bridge to explain Stuart's sudden 'OMG I LIKE NOODLE' feelings. Because if you didn't know THAT was coming… man, dense people.
A/N 2: What do you all think of me making a Kong School Musical 2 to correspond with the movie? I'm not sure if I want to make one or not.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own HSM or Gorillaz. No one owning both would think to combine them anyway… haha.