A/N: Title inspired by one of my favorite Ramones songs! XD And toward the end is somewhat inspired by when Harry won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffondor in the third book. Nerdy, I know. But, stuff happens.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.
Chapter 29: Rock 'n Roll High School
Since that memorable first visit to Riku's house, I couldn't stop dreaming about him. That almost kiss must have really affected me. I guess it was because I honestly had wanted him to.
But, who was I kidding? Maybe he would refuse to see me as anything more than a friend. I had to be content with that, or else it was going to bring me down. Homework pile seemed only to increase as the days went on, so I had to have Marluxia and Larxene tutor me again.
"So, that's how it works, huh?" I asked them, referring to the quadratic formula.
"Well, yeah," Larxene lazily summed up, looking at her nails. "It was hard for me at first, but it got really easy. Probably because you have to do it so much in the upper grades."
Marluxia threw me the seventh volume of Death Note. "This volume's pretty depressing, Nam."
Larxene gave him an affectionate smile while she rolled her eyes at the same time. Something about those two clicked so well. I could practically feel that kind of chemistry with me and Riku.
"Yeah, I know. L dies, right?"
"Shhh!" He placed a finger to his lips. "That's a spoiler to our non-anime person over there."
The blonde chick shrugged. "Just wasn't that into anime, Marl. Sorry."
Marluxia and I exchanged looks. "Someone needs converting, Namine."
"I think so. May I suggest Fruits Basket, Larx? It's like a chick flick."
Her smile was mysterious. "I'll consider it."
I took that as a no, but oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. Did I even use that phrase right? Well, anyway, I told my friends what I'd do today. It involved Sora and Kairi and not-so-divine intervention. Yep, I was going to be Jane Austen's Emma again and play matchmaker. And I had never seen myself as one before this year. I was brutally honest with my brother about this.
"Ask Kairi out, man, for the love of Fred Weasley."
Yeah, I had a crush on that character while reading Harry Potter. But, God, I was so devastated with the seventh book...
He looked ready to panic. "What? No way, you can't be serious!"
"Do it or I'll punch you," I told him in my stern sisterly voice.
Not threatened by what I said, Sora continued to pack his textbooks and all he needed in his bag. "You're bluffing."
"Like heck I am." I pulled back my arm, prepared to punch him directly in the face. It was time for him to face the facts. He had to ask Kairi out if he really liked her.
He blushed nervously at the thought, so he submitted, "K, you had to do what you had to do."
Making sure he didn't chicken out, I followed close behind him as he oddly shuffled toward Kairi's locker. The redhead was talking to Selphie when she looked eagerly up at Sora.
"Hey, Sora, what's up?" she asked him, pushing back strands of her hair.
He took a deep breath. "Will you go out with me?"
I bet he felt the whole world stop just because he asked that one question to her. Sora smiled at her, truly smiled without any awkwardness, hoping she would say yes. I could tell he was scared to death at the same time, though. My brother, the resident stud muffin of this past summer, was worried over something small like this.
Kairi's smile was rather big. "Yeah, sure. I'll definitely go out with you, Sora."
Relief spread over his face. "Awesome."
Meanwhile, I glanced at my friends who came up one by one. "Who called it? It's March 21st, last day before spring break."
Roxas came up to me while raising his hand so high that Axel lifted him up somewhat, so I could see it. "I called March 21st at 3:15."
I checked my watch. It said 3:20. "Only five minutes off, but you won."
"What'd I win?"
I grinned evilly. "Absolutely nothing!"
Axel smacked his forehead. "Come on, Namine, at least give him something."
"All right, all right. How about $20?"
Roxas held his thumb up. "I'll take it."
In disbelief, Sora spluttered out, "You guys betted on when we'd get together?"
Everyone nodded as Zexion said what we were all thinking, "It's been obvious from the get go."
Our spring break lasted two weeks, and the weekend after Easter was the locally known Lobster Festival over at Destiny. Obviously, seafood's very popular at my hometown, especially the lobster. Anyway, every year, there's a big talent show at the festival. Actually, no, it's a battle of the bands competition. You have no idea how many people from different towns and cities come out here just to eat lobster among other things. Then again, there's a lot of stuff to do, and people keep coming back. I couldn't wait until our band The Nobodies would reunite to play one of our original songs. And Dad, thankfully, wouldn't be on a business trip. So, when he came to pick me and Sora up, I was excited about the competition later that afternoon. We'd worked really hard, and I wanted the jam sessions to pay off so badly.
While Dad drove us to his house to wait a few hours before that awesome competition, he mentioned like it was no big deal, "I quit my job last month."
Most kids would be worried. We both said, "Congrats, Dad."
"Thanks. But, I've saved plenty of money over the years, so your Grandma Kyoko and Grandpa Akio won't be too mad at me," he assured us, a roguish grin on his face.
"So, any plans for a new job, Dad?" I asked him.
"Hm...no, not any time soon. Well, unless you count me making artwork."
My eyes got really big. "No way, I never asked you if you're artistic."
He shrugged as he raked back his black hair and focused on the road ahead. "Well, who do you think you got it from? Sure, I guess your mom was a little artsy back in the day. But, back when we first dated, she had to drag me away from walls with graffiti on them. I always thought street art was so cool."
So did I. I settled back in the car seat, satisfied with my life and happy to know Dad had really wanted to be an artist. For some reason, it was...nice. To realize that there had been someone all along I could talk about art with was amazing. I listened to "Carpal Tunnel of Love" by FOB with renewed enthusiasm. Plus, listening to pop-punk would provide rad inspiration for our band's performance later that day. And then a little Ramones music never hurts either, the punk band that launched the whole thing into existence after the forefathers before them.
For extra inspiration and general support over my band, Dad had Sora and I watch Metal: A Headbanger's Journey that he just happened to record a couple weeks ago on Tivo. It's a pretty good rock documentary.
"Now, Namine, you and your friends better win the battle of the bands, or I will be disappointed," he told me as he prepared making his version of ratatouille.
"Good fatherly advice for her, Dad," Sora replied mock sarcastically as I grinned cockily.
I said to both of them, "Don't worry, guys. We'll win. Or I hope we do. Second place again for a third time won't be so bad...I guess..."
I was hoping that The Nobodies at least ranked—you know, first, second, third, etc. all the way to tenth or so.
Sora pretended to glare at me, but I knew he was getting ready to give me an encouraging pep talk. "Win first place or I'll punch you."
"Hey, hey! It's not like with you and Kairi. It's picky judges."
"Well, perform the hell out of whatever song you're gonna do. OK? This is you guys' reunion for God's sakes! Impress those picky idiots. You guys are original."
I was truly touched by his speech. "Sora, you better shut up, or I'm gonna cry."
"Yeah, well..."
Imitating Josh off Drake and Josh, I yelled, "Hug me, brotha!"
We did hug but only very, very briefly, since teenagers hugging (especially siblings) wasn't cool usually. It was so awesome I got support even from him. And, quite frankly, Sora never used to care about my band or the music we made. I think he was stupid enough to think we were a poser girl punk band. No way in heck.
"Too bad you didn't mention this to your friends or Kairi or Riku," Sora told me off-handedly as my heart pounded from hearing Riku's name. "It would have been sweet if they came. I doubt they would today."
Almost spaced out, I replied in a detached sort of way, "No, they probably wouldn't come. They probably have other plans anyway. Who knows? Riku might be going out with someone."
"Where'd the heck did you come up with that one?" Sora asked, extremely confused.
I didn't know. My complex? I should not have been thinking about him right before a band competition. I had to get pumped for this. A nervous bassist would ruin the rhythm of the band's song. I knew that better than anyone. So, around two o'clock, Dad drove us a couple of miles outside of town, where the festival was perfectly located near a beach. Once we got out of the car, I couldn't stop the smile coming to my face. I could see the ocean waves from the parking lot, lapping against the shore with the occasional crash. It reflected the blue of the sky as well as the bright yellow sun. It was absolutely beautiful.
"Uh, hello? Namine, let's get something to eat real quick," Sora insisted.
In disbelief, I yelled at him. "But, we just had lunch two hours ago!"
And that ratatouille had been delicious, even though the traditional recipe calls for eggplant as one of the ingredients. All the same, it tasted good, but it was also very filling. I couldn't believe Sora wanted fatty festival food already.
He shrugged as he purposely walked faster than me. "So? I'm hungry again!"
I rolled my eyes. "You're always hungry. Go on ahead, I gotta meet up with my friends."
"Kill it out there." He grinned.
"We'll try," I said evenly, but I was feeling pretty confident with my band. For some reason, I had a better feeling than usual about the competition.
Luckily, it didn't take long to find my friends. In a crowded place like this, though, I guess it isn't so hard when you spot a certain friend jumping up and down while doing splits in mid-air. I swear Rikku is made of rubber. Shaking my head at her antics, I headed over to the group who had just gotten out of Paine's mom's SUV and were unloading their gear.
"Save that for the show, Rikku," I told her then grinned. "Hey, guys!"
"Hey yourself," Garnet greeted back, clutching tightly to her mike and its stand. She was randomly protective of those things. "So, you still want to do that one song?"
Paine glanced at her irritably and flicked back her hair. "We better. It's about half an hour til showtime. And we got to set up. And..."
"Paine, chill, we're going to be playing sixth. Plus, they usually give people five minutes' set-up time," Rikku assured her.
Paine sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, something she usually did when stressed and/or overwhelmed. "Sorry. We just haven't done this in a while. At least I haven't. So, we're gonna do 'Outcast', right?"
"No, duh, Paine. Plus, it's our best work. We agreed on this ages ago. So, anyway, have you guys heard anything about who we're up against?" I asked.
Garnet outright laughed as soon as I brought it up. "Oh, apparently, Rinoa Heartilly's little brother has a band called The Ninja Stars, and they're doing a cover of 'Paradise City'."
I pretended I got a headache. "Oh no...Why does it always have to be Guns N' Roses?"
"Yeah, there's hardly any bands with original material," Rikku added. "But, we do have to watch out for a band."
Uh-oh, looked like there was one band that might try to outdo us. There always seemed to be one every year that usually was the one that ended up winning. Go figure.
"Between all the Aerosmith and even Green Day—yes, Namine, faint away—cover bands, there is one pesky band called Teens in Paradise. And they're a..."
"A what? A what, Paine?" I freaked, shaking her by the shoulders.
"A boy band trying to come off as punk. But, they have hardly any punk cred to speak of."
"NOOOOOOO!" I yelled overdramatically before Garnet revived me.
Slapping me in the face, she told me, "Pull yourself together, Nam. Deep breaths, deep breaths...Good."
Rikku came up to me with a hug that was supposed to be comforting but was once again a chokehold. "It'll be all right. Besides, they're nothing compared to us, even though they have original songs. And they have a huge female following at Destiny High. And...and...I'm dating their drummer!"
The rest of us did a double take at her. "Whaaat?"
The blonde girl then acted shy. "Well, yeah...He didn't really want to be in that band, but they had try-outs at their garage. He only got in because he's one of the best drummers in the school. He's way more punk than those other sissies, I swear!"
"Fraternizing with the enemy, that's all that is. Bad Rikku, bad!" Paine scolded.
I pulled her back. "Calm down, O Goth One. It's gonna be OK. Remember, deep breaths..."
So, about half an hour later, the battle of the bands show was set to start, and I met up with Dad and Sora one last time before I would head over to the rest of The Nobodies.
"You'll be the best bassist out there, sweetheart," Dad told me, trying to give me confidence but just ended up embarrassing me. "Kill them out there."
"Dad, you're sounding like a criminal," Sora warned him.
He raised his eyebrows. "Um, yeah, sorry. Seriously, kill them."
"My hands won't be clean, I promise." I hugged them both before I set off.
As soon as I joined my friends, the show had just started, and so we watched.
We gave sometimes downright mean critiques of the performing bands. There was this one group in their late teens that killed "Dream On." And not in a good way.
"Somebody get them off the stage before I cry." Garnet wiped at imaginary tears.
"No, somebody from Aerosmith needs to sue them," I remarked cattily.
Then, there was a band made up of forty-year-old dudes who played "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. It was the strangest sounding cover song I heard in my life. Another group followed that was actually pretty good performed "American Idiot." I just wish people knew that Green Day had made other albums in their two-decade career!
A girl group our age that probably went to my friends' school too after them played, sadly, a Miley Cyrus song. Don't know which one, don't care.
Paine shook her head at them in disgust. "They're the resident ditzy girls at our school. Of course they would perform that! Not a good day for the judges, I bet."
"Nope," I agreed. "If their ears are anything like mine, they're bleeding."
"Hi, Trevor, hi!" Rikku greeted her boyfriend, again jumping up and down.
We all dragged her down simultaneously. It would have been funny if not for the fact these guys were our stiffest competition with a whole fangirl base. Poor Trevor. He was the only guy from Teens in Paradise I felt sorry for. His so-called bandmates looked like they were soaking it up. One of them, we noticed, got into a hot and heavy make-out session with one of his female fans. Sick!
Rikku simply sighed in a pitiful way, probably feeling sorry for Trevor. "He said he's going to ditch this band after this. Oh, and he said if this band had been more serious about the music like they pretended to be, he would have stayed."
"Those other guys used trickery, hm?" I asked skeptically, though I was looking suspiciously at the rest of the band. "That's pretty low."
The guys off that band played a song of their own, entitled (yes, this is the honest-to-gosh truth) "My Punk Rocker Babe." Now, you know why they have that huge female fan base. We, even Rikku, pretended to gag once the three minute (sadly) song was over as a chorus of girly shrieks and screams was deafening our fragile ears.
"You know, their lead singer almost sounded like Nick Jonas," Garnet said as a fake compliment but was actually scathing. And she was normally so sweet.
Rikku sighed pitifully yet again. "Yeah, he did. Poor Trevor, he should have quit ages ago. I tried to convince him, I really did."
"Oh, that's the greatest tragedy of the year," Paine snapped sarcastically before adding more calmly, "Let's go, guys, it's our turn."
I grinned, ready to take on the world. "Yeah, let's show Teens in Paradise what we're made of!"
"And that's not sugar, spice, and everything nice." Rikku smirked.
We set up our instruments while Garnet set up her mike and tapped it real quick to make sure it worked. Because if no one could hear us, we'd be screwed. I was really psyched over the song we chose for the contest. "Outcast" was a song that subtly protested against trying to be popular and just be yourself, even if it means you're an outcast. It's a cliché message, but we felt like it was something worth repeating. Who knows? Maybe we could inspire some kids out there.
The DJ who was basically the "host" for the competition, a college guy named Vaan Martin who worked at awesome 98.9 The Mosh, came up to us.
"You girls all set up?" he asked for confirmation.
We tried not to drool too much. "Yep."
He asked to borrow Garnet's mike for a second to make the announcement. "OK, guys, the next band up is The Nobodies with their song 'Outcast'!"
People were cheering, and I thought I heard Sora shout, "Yeah, Namine's band!"
Stupid comment, but he's my brother, and I loved him for that. So, with a "one, two, three, four," it was time to jam for real. Like we practiced.
"Being what they want to be
Is not all that's cracked up to be
Being what they want to be
That's not to be for me
And if they try to tell ya
That they're the group to follow
Just don't listen to them and be
An outcast
Never live a lie
Outcast
Even if that's not so cool
Outcast
That's what I want to be"
We had two more verses, and of course, that chorus repeating after that, but that was the whole gist of our song. Paine, the genius, actually co-wrote it with me. So, of course, that was one of our more recent songs. I was really proud of myself that my best friend put enough faith in me for my songwriting skills or lack thereof. But, I'm modest. Anyway, as soon as we finished the set, we unbelievably received a standing ovation. Even the judges were standing! Hopefully, I thought, that kiddie group The Ninja Stars wouldn't beat us. Or, worse, Teens in Paradise.
Vaan Martin even got excited as he shouted, "Give it up for The Nobodies!"
We all grinned and waved at the crowd before getting off the stage. We generated some great energy.
I was so high on life after that, I didn't even honestly listen to the rest of the bands. I was beyond thrilled to be here at this competition with my friends, and we were liked...It was beyond anything I'd ever felt before. Just the rush of adrenaline...wow. Soon, before any of us knew it, it was time for the unveiling of the top three bands, announced by Vaan, of course. Third place was some band that apparently covered The Ramones.
"Second place goes to..."
If we were second again, I swear...
"Teens in Paradise with 'My Punk Rocker Babe'!"
Vaan tried sounding enthusiastic but sounded like he epicly failed with that.
"Great drumming, Trevor!" Rikku cheered her bleached haired boyfriend encouragingly while he gave her a relieved smile. Finally, he could quit his band. As for his other bandmates, they tried hard not to show their sulky disappointment. That's what they got for having too many fangirls! So, did this mean...? But, surely not, we were so underrated by everyone. We might not have ranked at all.
"And the moment you have all been waiting for. This band can easily be considered a crowd favorite and was the judges' top pick. The winner of the Lobster Festival's Battle of the Bands competition is..."
We all held our breath, and Paine was actually shaking from suppressed emotions. And my BFF is usually never like that, trust me. I thought we would cut off each other's circulation...
"The Nobodies with their song 'Outcast'!"
All of us screamed at the exact same time while the crowd roared their appreciation. For once, we ranked first place. We practically leaped on the stage while Vaan gave us the gold trophy and congratulated us. As we got off stage, we hugged each other and screamed, "We won! We won!"
And Paine, our band founder, was actually crying (gasp!) and taking turns hugging each of us. It was definitely euphoric. It just felt so good to be alive at that moment.
Arguably, this was probably one of the best days of my life.
A/N: I would suggest Metal: A Headbanger's Journey for people who are into metal like I am if you haven't seen it. It's really good. This guy interviews the coolest people ever in my opinion. Like Alice Cooper! And Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden! But, yeah, I'm randomly into old-school metal. It's something I'm proud of. Drake and Josh reference...I had to do it, I still love that show even though it's been cancelled for so long. Sigh. And for some reason, I could see Vaan in AU as some college kid who works at a radio station. Unlike a similar guy where I live, Vaan in this one is actually likeable and is into punk. Real punk. How cool is that?
