I'm gonna throw a very, very good song your way today. Listen to it when you get the cue.
Enjoy!
"Okay… I gotta pick up my ointment on the way home, get something for dinner, grade these stupid articles… Ehh, that can wait til tomorrow. Respond to all my reviews and messages, bust out another chapter of my fic, as long as Mary doesn't get on to me for something stupid. I swear, sometimes I could just smother her with a pillow…" Mr. Sunderland quietly mumbles as he relieves himself in the privacy of a bathroom stall, his eyes glued to his smartphone.
"Well, at least I still have my dignity," he voices as he finishes up, and he reaches out to flush the toilet.
Just as he presses down on the flusher, he drops his phone… inside.
All he can do is hopelessly watch on as it's whisked down into the porcelain point of no return, his ginger face growing mortified.
"No, no, no, no, no!" he cries. Nearly reaching into grab it before stopping himself.
With a heavy heart, he just waits for the flush to finish, and it does.
Somehow, someway, the phone manages to get lodged into the water seal.
He just stares at it for a little while, contemplating this delicate new situation.
On one hand, getting a new phone will cost time and money he doesn't have…
On the other hand…
"Oh god…" he miserably groans.
He checks over his shoulder, even though he's isolated from everyone else in the one place no one would bother him, just to be sure no one is around. He even does that weird little lean and check under the bathroom stall to be sure he's completely alone.
Thankfully, he is.
He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.
"Am I really doing this?"
Very, very hesitantly… he carefully places his hand inside the toilet... the cold, unforgiving water breaking his skin.
"Ugh…" he moans as he pinches the phone with his fingertips, and he gives it a forceful tug.
Nothing. It's stuck.
He tries again, a little harder this time.
Still… Nothing happens.
He braces himself, clenching and cringing all serious like, and he sticks his other hand in.
With both hands, he grabs on to the phone, and begins pulling with all the strength his skinny arms can muster.
"Come on… You stupid-"
CRACK!
With a hardy tug, he is able free the phone from the villainous crapper, sending himself crashing out of the stall. Unfortunately, he manages to completely destroy the potty in the process, shattering the porcelain, and causing water to spew everywhere.
He simply watches on as it begins cascading the floor, slowly and surely rising with every second.
"Oh poo…"
"It's show time…"
"Alright, Ladies and germs… I can't think of a better way to follow up that fantastic performance, then by introducing you to our next musical guest…" Carol hears Mr. Johnny tell the audience from behind the safety of her curtain.
She readies her violin and her bow, and shuts her eyes. "If I can't see them, they can't see me."
"Please welcome… Carol Pingrey, and her violin!" he announces, and shortly after, the curtains open wide for all the patrons to see her.
Luna hears Carol's name being called out as she's about to take a seat by her sister Lori, and stops. "What?" she utters.
Lori just gently pulls her down into the seat as she beams from ear to ear. "Just watch," she whispers.
Luna looks to her, sees the keen expression on her face, and smiles. "You knew…"
Lori doesn't say anything. She just keeps smiling as she turns her attention to the stage, and Luna does the same.
Carol can't help it; she has to open her eyes.
When she does, she can feel the spotlight down on her, but the crowd is so dark. She can hardly make out any of their faces.
But somehow, she's quickly able to spot Lori, then Luna. She sees the warm smile on her face. It's timid, but all the while full of wonder.
Kind of how Carol feels, right now.
She really should be nervous. There's over one hundred people in this auditorium, all waiting to watch her do something as impressive as play a whole song on the violin without screwing up.
More importantly, her crush: Luna Loud, the girl who lives and breathes music, the girl who's seldom seen Carol vulnerable, is out there. The girl who was never supposed to be her friend, the girl she thought was just a wannabe poser like the rest. The girl with the stupid freckles and the stupid paperclip earrings…
The girl she can't live without.
For a moment, she can just feel her looking back with those beautiful brown eyes… maybe in the same way Carol looked at her when she was up here.
That's how she realizes… there's no need to be nervous. Not here, not now.
Because, if Luna had the courage to work on that stupid project even after Carol got her detention twice, or had it in her to confess her most sensitive secret, pour her heart out to her about who she is…
Then Carol can play a song for her.
Not all those other faces in the crowd. Her.
Slowly, she raises her bow, and ever so gently rakes it against her strings…
…
*Attention students and faculty. This is an emergency warning. Several areas of the building are flooding. We need you all to vacate the building in an orderly fashion until we can resolve this issue. This is not a drill. I repeat: please vacate the building until further notice,* a voice over the intercom calls out.
"What?!" Carol thinks, goosebumps coming over her.
In the crowd, Luna and Lori conflictingly look to one another.
"We have to go everybody. Come on, line up. Single file. You heard the man, let's move," Miss Go tells all the students with her usual dissatisfaction, and they begin doing just that.
Except for Luna.
"Come on, Lune," Lori somberly tells her sister as she stands up.
"But-?! What about Carol?!" Luna cries.
Lori just meets her with sadness. "I'm sorry…"
Luna can't even say anything. She just looks up to the stage at Carol, who looks back at her with the same heartbroken expression.
It's easily the most it's pained either one of them to share one of these gazes.
Eventually though, Luna realizes she can't stay. Reluctantly, depressingly, she stands up, and begins making her way out into the aisle. Lori follows behind, glancing back at Carol on stage.
Still, all she knows to do is watch, her heart growing heavier by the second.
Before long, the students and teachers have all made their way out of the auditorium. Then Lori…
Then Luna…
Leaving her alone on the stage… Hopelessly... alone.
She just looks out at the empty seats, letting her arms fall to her sides, letting her jaw drop with dejected disbelief.
"Wait… Luna…"
"Don't go…"
"Please…"
She can feel her eyes welling up, but before she can let any tears fall, Mr. Johnny is making his on stage.
"Carol?" he calls out.
She belatedly looks to him, not even trying to hide just how horrible she feels.
"We need to leave," he simply tells her.
It takes some time for her to find the strength to stand, but she does, and she slowly puts her violin and bow back into their little black case.
The hardest part is actually closing it.
All the occupants of Royal Woods High have safely made their way out of the building. Mr. Sunderland sits in the back of ambulance with a woobie and warm coco, his right hand taped up. Luan sneaks off into the clown car she drove in to get here.
Luna finds herself waiting with Lori along the sidewalk, looking around to see if a certain someone is out here too.
She sadly doesn't find her though, and hangs her head low with defeat.
Mr. Johnny leads Carol out to the back parking lot, where she looks all around for the one and only person that could make any of this better.
She sees Lora, and Greg, and Ash and Tabby, and Leni and Chaz…
She sees Whitney, and Dana, and Becky even…
But no Luna.
She too hangs her head low, looking down to the pavement, thinking about how unfair it all is.
She didn't ask to get a crush on Luna. She didn't ask for stupid Mr. Sunderland to make her her stupid partner either.
The more she thinks about it, the angrier she becomes. She hasn't done a damn thing for this to happen to her! First her parents decide to basically just leave her all alone, and then everything just had to go to crap after that? Her stupid family, then her stupid friends, and now this stupid talent show?!
"I didn't even do anything to deserve th-!"
She stops.
Because, she realizes, she did.
This is what she gets for years of snubbing Lori. This is what she gets for always putting herself and her selfies over others. For as long as she's been alive, it's always been about stupid Carol…
And the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes… She really does deserve this…
But she really doesn't deserve Luna.
Luna is kind, and caring. She's a little rough around the edges, maybe quick to anger sometimes, but she almost always puts her family and friends before herself. She even takes the time to write songs about the people she cares about…
People that are terrible project partners, who say mean things about people behind their backs…
People who throw paper wads at helpless old ladies, or judge others just because of the clothes they wear, the food they eat, or the cars they drive...
People who are all around mean, and spoiled, and inconsiderate, and generally make for all around bad company...
People that are just… stupid…
"Like me…"
A few hours later, virtually everyone has left campus. The local fire department was called in to fix the plumbing issue, and they had to call in Flip of all people to work something out. He was willing to offer his plumbing know-how, of course, but everyone had to buy Flippees for double the normal price afterwards.
Students and faculty were dismissed for the day, which really didn't bother anyone too much. The variety show was indefinitely postponed with the beginning of an investigation regarding Mr. Sunderland's involvement in the flooding.
Things didn't end perfectly, but for the time being, things are okay for Royal Woods High.
Except for one girl.
Carol stays behind a while, just to think about things. She's turned her phone off, because she knows mom and dad won't be calling, and the only two people who would call, Luna or Lori, will want to talk about things.
Which, she really doesn't feel like right now.
She makes her way into the empty auditorium, which was ironically unfazed by any of the flooding.
Unsurprisingly, there's nobody else here… Which is just fine.
She heads up to the stage, where the light is still shining down, because apparently no one cared enough to shut the thing off before vacating the premises.
"Pshhh… Fire hazard…" she quips in a snide attempt to make herself feel better.
It fails.
She sort of kicks her feet against the hardwood floor for a moment, before making her way to the backstage area. All the things students had prepared for their various acts: a Goldin's box, a certain wooden dummy, and instruments of all sorts, have all seemingly been packed and taken away. All except for a small black case.
Carol sadly sighs as she walks over to it.
"Well… It's not like I wasn't gonna try," Carol tells herself.
She picks the case up, and takes a seat as she sets it on her lap.
"I guess it's just a sign… I'm not meant to be with Luna…" she bemoans.
"Well… At least she's my friend. I mean, I guess that's better than nothing at all…"
"No, don't say it like that… I'm happy she's my friend. These last few weeks have been… amazing…"
She smiles to herself as she thinks about all the fun they've had together. Throwing paper at Ms. Clifford, her acting so foolish in the library, taking each other's pictures at the house, all the crazy things they did together her first night at Luna's house, their heart-to-hearts about everything…
Playing her violin tonight for Luna would've really been the best way to cap off such a great experience.
"Well… Variety show or not, I'm gonna play for her the next chance I get. I might have a heart attack trying, but she's worth it…" she quips.
She looks down to her case, and sighs another heavy sigh. Then, she looks all around her, and just takes in the bittersweet splendor of the auditorium. Without everyone else around, it's actually quite peaceful.
She looks down to her case again, and smiles a little.
"Well… The show must go on…"
She takes the case and opens it, and collects the violin and bow from inside. She then makes her way back out to the front stage, and to the solitary black chair that was set up for her.
She takes a seat, and rests the violin under her chin. She readies the bow, just letting it hover above the strings.
Finally, she takes a deep breath, and begins.
She plays the first note for "My Immortal," a song she learned when her parents first started working at the studio. She found Lindsey Stirling's rendition because of a friend, and couldn't help but cry her first time hearing it, it was so beautiful.
If only she knew how well she can play it herself. With every slide and transition, there's perfection. It comes so naturally, because she just forgets about everything and everyone else. There's her, the violin, and Luna. That's all that matters right now. Not Mr. Sunderland, not Lori, not Becky. No one.
Maybe she can't have what she briefly got to hold on to in that one night's sleep, in the dream where she got to hold Luna so close. But it's fine. She'll learn to move on. She'll overcome. She'll be Luna's best friend, and Luna will be hers, and it will be perfectly okay.
It still doesn't make it hurt any less now, though. She tried. She tried so, so hard…
She cares so much. No, she hasn't been the best kind of person all her life, but she does care about Luna. She'll do anything for her, and nothing will change that.
Friend, lover, or otherwise; Carol wants the best for Luna.
Until she can forget what this is like, the unrequited love she's denied so easily for so long, she'll play her violin. She can do that much. There are no yearbook committees to worry about, or dates that aren't really dates where millions of things can go wrong.
And right now, in this moment…
She just wants to forget.
She plays her final note, really drawing it out as the endorphins surge through her veins, and her heart hammers in her chest, and her eyes well ever so slightly…
It's the perfect release for everything she's felt. The pain, the sadness, the hopelessness; but also the good things. The happy feelings she felt all those times getting lost in Luna's eyes, or when their skin would touch.
But then there's the silence, and the feeling of release is complete.
For the first time in a long time… She is calm… relaxed… at peace...
…
"Woo! Yeah!" she hears a familiar voice call out in the distance.
She perks up, and looks out to the dark empty seats to see a vaguely recognizable silhouette standing out.
She squints her eyes, doing her best to make out the shape.
"Luna?"
"Yeah! Go Carol! Woooooo!" freakin' Luna Loud cheers, clapping and whistling like a total fangirl.
Carol blushes, defensively tensing up as she realizes Luna just saw her play. She can't even say anything. She's hopelessly mute.
"That was awesome!" Luna happily cries, and then she rushes from the aisle up to the stage to join Carol. "Dude…" she starts again, panting as she tries to catch her breath.
Carol still doesn't say anything. She's still stunned just to see Luna here.
The two girls just look at one another for a moment, Luna wearing that eager smile in her favorite punk garb, Carol looking to her all flabbergastingly in this lovely purple dress.
Luna finally speaks up again once she's caught her breath. "C… That was amazing!... What are you doing here all by yourself? I texted you like, five times!" she explains, smiling all the while.
Carol finally regains some composure, enough to respond anyway.
"I- uhm… What are you doing here?" she cleverly retorts.
Luna walks backstage, and picks something small off of a shelf. "I forgot my lucky pick," she explains as she paces back over to Carol. "Everything was so sudden, I kind of just forgot it," she adds as she shows off the small purple guitar pick.
Carol just dumbly studies it for a moment, then shakes herself. "Yeah, that was all pretty sudden wasn't it?…" she almost thoughtlessly says, nervously rubbing her arm.
"Yeah, I guess Sunderland broke a toilet…" Luna tells her with some nervousness of her own.
"Huh… Sounds like something he would do, heh heh…" Carol replies.
"Yeah… heh heh…" Luna simply laughs.
Then, they get quiet, looking anywhere but to each other.
"So…" Luna belatedly starts again. "How did you like my song?" she asks, her smile somewhat waning.
Carol just looks into her eyes for a moment. In them, it becomes perfectly clear…
That song really was for her.
"I loved it," she simply says, a soft smile coming to her face.
Luna's smile comes back, and her cheeks get rosy. "Great! I mean, cool…"
Carol pussyfoots a little circle around Luna, and thinks of a perfect follow up.
"So… you named your guitar after your best friend, huh?" she asks.
"Oh, yeah… heh heh," Luna says with a nervous little laugh. "I uh, named her 'Moonsong."
"Moonsong?" Carol repeats with a playful eyebrow raise.
"Yeah… Kind of like… Luna… Carol… Moonsong."
Carol just playfully sneers at her for a minute, but lets her smile come back to her.
"Well… You two were wonderful tonight."
Luna perks up a bit. "Heh, like the Clapton song?"
"I actually know that one," Carol happily informs her.
And they share another smile.
As they do, the tension dissipates. All those familiar, warm feelings come back to Carol. The swelling in the chest, the buzz in her brain, the weightlessness that comes with being so close to the person she likes so much…
She almost forgets she's still holding onto her violin.
Luna looks down to it. "You were pretty great yourself… Is that the song you were gonna play for the show?" she asks.
Carol realizes just what she's asking, and snaps out of her brief reverie. "Oh! Uhm… No… I just, felt like playing that one… I had another song for the show planned but... You know… Things just happen…"
"Yeah, things just happen," Luna simply repeats.
She makes her way to the back again, and scoots up another steel chair.
"Uhm, what are you doing?" Carol asks.
"Oh, don't let me stop you," Luna answers. "You can keep playing if you want."
Carol's eyes widen. "What? Uhm, heh heh… I mean, I can, I guess. Just… It's not really the best place, you know? The acoustics and all… And my fingers are a little sore, so there's that. And I wasn't even really ready for that one, you know? I just played for the heck of it, so it's not like I was even really trying…"
Luna places a hand on her shoulder, and Carol stops spazzing to look into those wonderful brown eyes of hers. And yes… she smiles.
"You were perfect."
Carol smiles back. "You really think so?"
"Totally…" Luna warmly assures her.
With that, Carol takes a seat in her chair, and Luna takes a seat in hers.
Carol gets her violin ready, tucking it under her chin.
"Hey… Wait…" Luna says.
Carol just looks to her, and she holds her pick out.
"I think you should have this," she says, inviting Carol to take it.
Carol untucks her violin, and incredulously reaches out for the pick. She stops herself midway though.
"Wait… Why?"
"Just 'cuz," Luna simply answers with a smile.
It's good enough for Carol, and she happily accepts the gift. She places it safely to the side, and then tucks her violin under her chin again.
"Are you ready?" she asks Luna.
With a smile, she answers:
"Rock on, C."
The end.
Just kidding ahahahah not funny Pillow we know where you live.
For real though, we still got a little ways to go, so please stay tuned for more.
Now for the long winded notes! I never change people. I'm as predictable as the sunrise.
I apologize for the first scene. Not for how disgusting it was, but for the Silent Hill 2 easter eggs it contained (look at my username, people). I'm aware that maybe no one got them, but if at least one other person did- I'll be happy.
Lindsey Stirling's violin cover of "My Immortal" (and the original by Evanescence) is truly fantastic. If you listen to only one of my song suggestions, make it this.
This chapter was very hard to write. I wanted it to be a "big deal," but I'm hesitant to call it that. I tried my very best though, and hopefully you're all feeling the warm fuzzies I want you to be feeling right now. If not, then maybe I should stick to pretend teaching.
The name "Moonsong" comes from BenignCyborg. They left a review about naming our girls that, and I thought I'd work it in somehow. Thanks, love:)
And finally, I did have a song planned for Carol to "actually play," but I thought this ending worked better than trying to be all artsy fartsy. It would have been a violin cover of "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. No, I don't like Twilight. I just like the song. I swear! Stop looking at me like that!
That's all for today, folks. Again, please stay tuned for the remaining chapters. We're reaching the home stretch now.
Thank you all so much for reading, and for continuing to show your support. I love nothing more than sharing what I love to do with you fine, lovely people, and you make me very happy.
Until next time, true believers.