Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction, there's no resemblance to actual persons or events or places. If so, it is utterly not intended. We do NOT own Monster High, or anything to do with it. Nor do my co-writer, Anonymous Chica and I own ANY songs, lyrics, artists, labels – nothing. Their exposure in this story is completely non – profit and just for fun. I (we) are not claiming to own anything except our own darn story plot. Thank you.
Heartlessly Heartfelt
Chapter Eleven
The music began, which seemed to be but a simple guitar, and the mechanical girl gripped the microphone; her nervousness clearly visible as she began to harmonize the first few beginning parts before actually breaking out into song.
"Phone rings, don't wanna pick it up; I'm so scared, I'm gonna say too much, I tip toe around your questions; why you gotta dig so deep?" Robecca began to relax while the music picked up ever so slightly. "Tears fall and the glasses break, inside these walls, the floor boards shake. From outside, it's alright, long as you looking from fifty feet."
The music picked up and the robotic ghoul yanked the mic from it's stand, approaching the more upbeat part of the song, "I been trying (trying) to hold my head up high. I been lying (lying), keeping it all inside, trying not to trust you, yeah, take another leaf, I'm a book, yeah, yeah..."
Robecca smiled at the sight of her fellow students and some monsters she didn't even know. They were really enjoying this performance of hers; why was she even nervous?
"I'm done, I give up..." she belted out the first lyric of the chorus with pure pride and confidence. "I don't wanna pretend no more, that's it, so what? I've lost a friend before. Gonna say it like it is, no more wondering what if, that ain't the way you oughta live. 'Cause I don't want you to love me if you don't wanna love me for me, 'cause I don't want you to love me, if you don't wanna love me for me..."
The music slowed back down and the audience had began to clap along to the beat of the song while Robecca's smooth voice echoed throughout the cabin as she sang the second verse, "A doll house is all that you could see, but it's so far from my reality. I got problems, I got issues, sometimes it's all too much for me; wrap it up with a pretty little bow, but there are some things you can't sugarcoat. So I give it to you anyway, even though it won't taste so sweet."
The crowd was clapping softly to the beat of music and Robecca smiled, going into the chorus once more, "I been trying (trying), to hold my head up high. I been lying, (lying) keeping it all inside. Maybe I could trust you, yeah, take another leaf I'm a book yeah, yeah. I'm done, I give up, I don't wanna pretend no more, that's it, so what? I've lost a friend before, gonna say it like it is, no more wondering what if, that ain't the way you oughta live. 'Cause I don't want you to love me if you don't wanna love me for me."
The music picked up for the final verse and the crowd began humming along, to add more of a beat to it all.
"Sick of all the fighting, all the slamming of the doors, the pain, the pain, is too deep to ignore. Step back, step back, can you see it through my eyes? I know, I know, wouldn't it be a surprise? Don't wanna be perceived for something that I'm not; just wanna be accepted for the little that I got. If you could see me now in my glass house and I'm ready to let you in. Oh, yeah, and I'm ready to let you in." Robecca closed her eyes, gripping the microphone and managing to belt out the chorus for the final time, loud and clear."I'm done, I give up, I don't wanna pretend no more, that's it, so what? I've lost a friend before, gonna say it like it is, no more wondering what if. That ain't the way you oughta live, 'cause I don't want you to love me if you don't wanna love me for me. 'Cause I don't want you to love me if you don't wanna love me for me. 'Cause I don't want you to love me if you don't wanna love me for me..."
The soft music stopped and an awkward silence formed over the crowd, only before they all burst into a wave of applause.
"Alright, alright, alriiiight, man, ghoul, you were really feeling it, weren't you?" Xavier said, jumping up on the stage; standing beside the robotic ghoul.
"I suppose." Robecca murmured, handing the microphone back.
"Nah, nah, ghoul, I think we want an encore, don't we?" A few members of the crowd nodded and cheered, causing Robecca's faceplates to heat up as she walked off stage, getting a few more cheers and high fives.
"I did not know you liked Scare Lloyd." Rochelle said simply as her best friend sat beside her.
"I'm surprised you knew even knew the song." Venus teased, sitting across from the both of them.
"I'm not that old fashioned." Robecca shot back, playfully throwing a napkin at the plant girl.
"You know how harmful these things are, right?"
"Oh, here she goes again." Rochelle practically face palmed, shaking her head.
"They are, I mean, seriously, you think they could find alternatives to this! Cutting down trees is wrong, I mean, c'mon, hello? We wouldn't be alive if it weren't for plants." Venus waved the napkin in the air and sighed. "Cloth might be more expensive, but it's a small price to pay for keeping the Earth healthy and alive, you know?"
"Venus, you cannot find an alternative to everything." the female gargoyle declared. "And if we did that, we would not have most of things we do, such as..." she shrugged. "Lots of things."
"Great comeback." Venus huffed, throwing the napkin at Rochelle.
"Robecca, help me." she muttered as she caught the napkin; the thin material shredding to pieces the second it came in contact with her claws. "Everything I touch..."
Robecca shrugged. "I don't really know what to say. You both have valid points and I can't really say anything because I can confess to polluting, you know."
"You've polluted the Earth?" Venus gasped. "When?"
"My boots." the robotic ghoul replied. "They run on gasoline."
"Convert!" the plant girl exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Seriously! I mean, sure, you'd survive the apocalypse, when the Earth is dying, but when..." she sighed. "Everyone I know!"
"Yo, I'm calling this one last time, man!" Xavier was heard from the stage. "Who's playing a joke here? I want a Venus McFlytrap up on this stage, now!" Said plant girl suddenly blushed redder than a rose and slowly stood up, now feeling like a complete idiot.
"And that is what you get for not paying attention." Rochelle rolled her eyes, inspecting her manicure.
"Can I bail out?" Venus whispered to her friends, as she felt a sudden wave of paranoia wash over her. "What if... what if I mess up?"
"Get on the stage already!" somebody in the crowd yelled. "Sing something!"
"See? They already hate me!" the plant girl whisper-shrieked. "Guys..."
"You signed up for it. It is not that hard to sing, you know." Rochelle said.
Robecca, however, had a different approach among it. "Keep your eyes on us. Like there's no one else in the crowd."
Blinking slowly, Venus drove her fangs into her bottom lip nervously and nodded, taking a deep breath and walking for the stage.
She couldn't get away with what Robecca just did – getting everyone to jam with a slow song, hers was pretty damn upbeat. "Wake up tired, Monday mornings suck, it's way too early to catch a bus. Why conform without a fuss? Daddy Daddy, no, I don't wanna go to school, woo!" It didn't take long for Venus to pump up a crowd. Howleen and her new 'punk friends' were cheering her on wildly. "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare, meet Juliet or Mavolio. Feel for once what it's like to rebel now, I wanna break out, let's go!"
Jamming into the next verse roughly but gracefully, it was a combination that only Venus McFlytrap could master. "Teachers treat us all like clones, "Sit up straight, take off your headphones," I don't blame them, they get paid. Money money, woo, lot's of money money, woo!" She shifted directly into the chorus. "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare, meet Juliet or Mavolio. Feel for once what it's like to rebel now, I wanna break out, let's go! Get out, get out, get out, get out, woo! Get out, get out, get out, get out!"
She could afford to be entirely all over the place and jumping all over the place, pumped with energy because the song wasn't that long in length. "To skip or not to skip? that is the question. Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!"
After giving the air a high kick, unintentionally showing off her heels, she continued with the chorus, "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare, meet Juliet or Mavolio. Feel for once what it's like to rebel now, I wanna break out, let's go! I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare, meet Juliet or Mavolio. Feel for once what it's like to rebel now, I wanna break out, let's go!"
She kept her high energy performance right up until the end of the song. "Get out, get out, get out, get out, woo! Get out, get out, get out, get out, woo! Feel for once what it's like to rebel now, I wanna break out, let's go! Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!" With her song ending, she put the microphone back on the stand, giving a large bow. "Thanks guys! It wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be." She told them, a thankful nod as she headed back to her table where her friends congratulated her on a job well done and a song well sung.
Xavier soon made some adjustments for the shy Jackson Jekyll, music started playing and then a voice was heard, despite no one seeing a person on stage. "I burn the pages in my head but the memories are so clear. A thousand words left unsaid and you never shed a tear. You say that you wanna be close to me, so how does it feel?" The voice was soft, sweet and seemed to be filled with an anger that had innocence to it.
The monsters and ghouls looked around to see if they could see where this delightfully smooth voice was coming from but they searched and searched to no avail. "Now the tables have turned, you can learn how to live without me (live without me). Pictures up on the wall and suddenly now you're all about me (all about me). Where were you when I needed you? The only thing that I learned from you was how to walk out the door, sincerely yours."
Operetta smiled to herself, she knew it was Jackson Jekyll singing. She'd heard him sing and hum this tune while getting ready today and once he found it, he filled out a song slip and seemed pretty impressed with it as well as having some confidence in submitting it. She felt like a proud mama. "Now I'm a man out on my own. I am not ashamed, you broke my heart - you stole my pride. All you left me was my name I know you wanna be in my shoes, so how does it feel?"
With little hesitation he proceeded with the chorus once more. "Now the tables have turned you can learn how to live without me (live without me). Pictures up on the wall and suddenly now you're all about me (all about me). Where were you when I needed you? The only thing that I learned from you was how to walk out the door, sincerely yours."
"I just wanna forgive and forget all about you, why can't I just move on? From this place in between loving and hating you I don't know where to belong. I burn the pages in my head but the memories are so clear." He was still really nervous, but he did his best to focus on remembering the words, it'd be real embarrassing if he forgot them.
Shifting his position behind the curtain – he had no idea if they were liking the song or hating it. It was the only downfall of not being able to see their faces. He knew if he even peeked out, he'd probably panic and run. So he trudged through it anyway. "Now the tables have turned you can learn how to live without me (live without me) yeah. Pictures up on the wall and suddenly now you're all about me (all about me). Where were you when I needed you? The only thing that I learned from you was how to walk out the door, sincerely yours."
He let out a soft, barely audible sigh as he knew he only had a couple lines left to the song before he was done. Thank goodness. "Sincerely yours, yeah."
He waited until the ending announcements took place and everyone was in the midst of leaving the cabin. He snuck out into the crowd non – chalantly. "Hey, nice song cousin!" Heath greeted Jackson, who shushed him as quick as he said it.
"Shh, but thanks." He gave a warm smile and shrugged. "I don't know if I can keep performing while we're here, but I wanted to do it once to say I did, y'know?"
Heath nodded, "Yeah, for sure. I get what'cha mean."
"After some wicked clawsome performances," Xavier cut in, the previous microphone holder was taking much too long to explain things. "we're going to have a picnic lunch out in the common area and field at 12, be there or be square!" Excited whispers went around the cabin right away in anticipation as to what would happen next. No one could wait!
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