Disclaimer: Yay! Another chapter for my awesome fans! Hope you really
enjoy this one - I know I'll enjoy writing it! Oh yeah, and lyrics owned
by Dream, the fantastic Pink, and the AWESOME Destiny's Child!!!!!
Every Good Musician
The next day, Areina did not come out of her room. The other roommates pondered why, although it was blatantly obvious.
They had all been in shock when she was booed offstage just the night before. It was as if the crowd had suddenly gone deaf of good talent, and shunned it. As soon as they had gotten home, Areina had flung herself into her bedroom and hadn't come out since.
A few of them had even tried coaxing her out of the room by yelling through the door, but no response was heard, not even a giggle when Duo would crack a joke.
Relena had said that Areina was just depressed about the booing incident, and that she'd be fine by that night's performance. However, Quatre sensed differently.
"I think this is more than just a one time thing, Relena," he had said with concern. "Areina's usually not this sensitive, even when people are mean to her."
"What I don't understand is why they booed her," Heero commented to the surprise of his roommates. "I mean, she wasn't that bad."
"Let me talk to her," Quatre said as he got up and moved to the door.
"Areina?" he yelled against the door, placing his ear to the knob to hear a response. Nothing.
"Areina, at least talk to me," Quatre exclaimed. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Heero walked to the door. "Areina, may I talk to you in private?"
A muffled response was heard, and the door opened from the inside. Heero was allowed in, but the door was promptly slammed in Quatre's face.
"Aw, poor baby," Trowa spat from a nearby wall. "Rejected by your new lover already?"
"Trowa," Quatre began irritably. "I already explained it to you! I'm not in love with Areina."
"That's not what my memory tells me," and with that, he walked away again.
- - -
He found Areina lying on the bed, still wearing her tank top and jeans from the night before. Her face was deep in her pillow, and her body dug itself into her bed's sheets.
"Areina, what is it?" Heero asked, knowing before the question was enunciated what the answer was.
"You were right, Heero," Areina said with a sob. "I'll never be a singer."
"Why do you say that?" Heero said with concern, again anticipating the answer.
She looked up from her pillow with tear stained cheeks. "Did you hear that crowd last night?" her voice cracked. "They hated me! I was awful." With that, she stuffed her head back into her pillow.
Heero placed his hand firmly on her shoulder. "That's not true," her murmured in his rough voice. "You're not awful. You were - and are - amazingly talented."
"Yeah right," she said into her pillow and at him at the same time. "Since when have you ever cared? You were the one who said I couldn't make it in the first place. So now you come to comfort me and bask in the truth? Don't screw around with me, Heero. I don't need your pity."
Heero closed his eyes and took a slow breath. "Areina, I'm not pitying you. I'm telling you the truth."
She snorted at him with disbelief.
"You're great!" he yelled at her, now with a flaming note of anger at her doubt of her own abilities. "You've got awesome dance moves, and your voice can move mountains! I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of one night!"
"They absolutely hated me."
Heero shook his head. "Why is it that people only notice it when bad things happen to them? When the audience cheered for you those many nights before yesterday, you shrugged it off, yet when they boo once, you go into tears."
"You don't know how I feel."
Heero admitted under his breath that he didn't. However, he continued. "Don't you see, Areina? Every good musician - every good artist! - is booed offstage at least once in their lives!
"For instance, Beethoven, possibly the greatest musician in history, was ridiculed and criticized for his music. Elvis, doubtfully the most revolutionary figure in the history of pop music, was booed and hissed at constantly for the way he performed!"
A pause filled the room, and Areina's sobs halted briefly.
He continued. "But do you know the difference between these great musicians and everyone else that's ever tried being a part of the musical world?"
Another pause. "They didn't let it phase them. They continued on, and ignored others' insults. And eventually, they made turning points in the history of music, and quite definitely in the world's history."
Areina sat up and smiled at Heero. "You know, when you try being nice to people, it really works."
Heero smirked, and she giggled before rising and walking out of the room.
- - -
Areina had pulled Relena and Hilde from the rest of them once again. The five Gundam pilots sat alone together in the room, and Duo knew that tension between Trowa and Quatre would soon arise.
Surprisingly, however, neither of them said a word. Then again, their exchanged glares said enough for the both of them combined.
"What's wrong with the two of you?" Duo said, finally fed up. "You guys are staring at each other like you hate each other!"
"No comment," they both replied at once.
"Sorry!"
- - -
Hilde walked out of Areina's room, unsure of what to think. Would Areina's performance idea really work, or would people boo her offstage again?
She shook off her concerns upon seeing Duo.
"Hey, baby," Duo said with a grin. "When we going dancing?"
Hilde winced uncomfortably. "Duo, I'm really tired," she said hesitantly. "I don't think I'll be able to dance after the performance with Areina."
Duo's face turned to anger. "Come on, Hilde! How can you be so tired? You sound like you're fifty or something!"
"Simmer down," Areina's familiar voice came from across the room.
"What concern is it of yours?" Duo intoned upon facing her.
"Hilde's my friend. I think she deserves a break, is all."
"She doesn't need it!" Duo shouted.
"Yes she does," Areina said softly but firmly enough to make Duo stop. The braided man walked off in a fit of rage.
"You need to learn to stand up for yourself some more," Areina said to Hilde. "Why do you let him push you around so much?"
Hilde shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."
- - -
Her fourth performance. It was quite scary to think that it was true. It was even scarier to think of what had happened the previous night.
Hilde and Relena stood by her in their costumes, fidgeting nervously. At least she wasn't the only intimidated one.
- - -
The show started almost immediately after Duo sat down. Hopefully it would be good, since he was in a pretty bad mood after before.
- - -
Quatre and Trowa sat at different tables this time, both equally pissed off at each other.
Trowa could not believe the selfishness of his ex! How dare he try to love both him and Areina! It was quite uncharacteristic of Quatre, especially considering that the competition was a woman.
- - -
Wufei sat alone, waiting for the show to start.
He was sick of everyone else's problems - Quatre and Trowa, Duo and Hilde, and now Areina's humiliation! At least Heero had no problems - then again, the Japanese soldier's entire life had been one big problem up to that point.
The show began, and Wufei sighed as he prepared for another sap-filled performance.
- - -
"Lying here," Areina sang into the microphone like an insane person. Her hair was streaked with blue and red, along with black glitter. Her clothes included a tattered, long sleeved, green shirt and a fish net shirt over it, along with tight red leather pants.
"On the floor where you left me, I think I took too much," she continued as the spotlight revealed a pile of pills, pink and yellow and blue, surrounding her on the floor. She kneeled into the large pile, coming up to her waist.
"I'm crying here, what have you done?" she practically whispered into the black sound maker in her hand. "I thought it would be fun."
She grabbed a handful of the pills, and with one quick motion threw it into the audience with rage. "I can't stay on your life support, there's a shortage in the switch."
She rose quickly and, with another two handfuls of pills, showered herself in the tiny plastic capsules. "I can't stay on your morphine cause it's making me itch."
Her tone was now much rougher, taking on that of a scream. "I said I tried to call the nurse again, but she's being a little bitch. I think I'll get out of here."
The lights shut off, but came back on with her next words. "Where I can run, just as fast as I can, to the middle of nowhere," she sang desperately into the mike. She kicked pills here and there in her fury. "To the middle of my frustrated fears.
"And I swear," she yelled over the crowd, slamming back down into the pills. "You're just like a pill: Instead of making me better, you keep making me ill."
She tossed the pills this way and that, forgetting about where they landed. "You keep making me ill!"
Wufei sat in shock.
- - -
New music came up, and Duo perked up. Nice beat, he thought.
Relena and Hilde walked onto the stage, giving it the aura of a runway with their classy walk. They began.
"Question:" the three sang together.
Areina took over. "Tell me what you think about me. I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings," she buzzed the catchy tune while posing.
"Only ring your cell-y when I'm feeling lonely," she protested. "When it's all over please get up and leave."
The stage burst into a flamboyant orange and red. The brass lit up with sound. "Question:"
"Tell me how you feel about this," they danced smoothly. "Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed. Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills.
"Always fifty-fifty in relationships," she hummed as she turned quickly. They walked three paces, perfectly together, and turned sharply once more.
"The shoes on my feet, I've bought it," they sang together, accompanied with a surprising salsa and a cheesy - yet amazingly suave - pose.
"The clothes I'm wearing, I've bought it. The rock I'm rocking, I've bought it."
Areina sang out again. "Cause I depend on me if I wanted-"
"The watch you're wearing, I'll buy it. The house I live in, I've bought it.
"The car I'm driving, I bought it," they twirled on with that hip whirl that Duo loved.
"I depend on me, I depend on me," Areina took solo once more, walking to the front of the stage with ferocity.
"All the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me," they sang as they swayed their bodies with their hands. However, the music stopped, and they tossed their heads down.
With the lighting finally down, Duo could clearly see the other two's clothes. Relena wore a tube top and miniskirt - typical of her. Hilde wore a devilish top hat, an unbuttoned blue trench coat that reached her thighs, a tank top underneath, black jeans, and gray sandals. He wondered where she had gotten it.
The next song began.
Areina sang with a renewed argument, but still gentler than before. Her eyes attacked Quatre. "Stop making me feel bad. I'm the best thing you ever had."
Why was it that she could get her message through so much more easily in a song? Duo shrugged, trying to enjoy the performance.
"The only thing I'm guilty of," the others joined.
Solo once more, Areina continued. "Is giving you too much love. Making you crazy."
They came together again. "Making you crazy, making you a wreck." Their hips shook as they went on. "Making you follow me, making me suspect.
"You seem to think I'm playing her game."
"Don't you know my name?" Areina questioned in song. "That was her.
"This is me," they intoned when pointing to themselves and shrugging to the beat. "We're different as can be," they shook on alternating beats, creating a peel-off.
"She and I are nothing alike," they chimed. First Hilde sidestepped, then Relena. Finally, Areina twirled. It all came in one motion.
"You're confusing day with night," the three voices echoed as each free-styled one after the other.
"That was then," they halted, and continued. "This is now.
"You want to trust me but you don't know how. I'm never gonna mess around, let you down, can't you see?
"That was her, and baby this is me."
"Get a grip," Areina finished off.
Silence, far too long.
Duo felt slightly worried, wondering what would come of it.
Suddenly, Heero got up and began clapping. It was quiet and awkward, but it was still support. Quatre followed, then Wufei, Trowa, and finally Duo.
The audience soon rejoiced as well in a tide of resounding cheers.
Every Good Musician
The next day, Areina did not come out of her room. The other roommates pondered why, although it was blatantly obvious.
They had all been in shock when she was booed offstage just the night before. It was as if the crowd had suddenly gone deaf of good talent, and shunned it. As soon as they had gotten home, Areina had flung herself into her bedroom and hadn't come out since.
A few of them had even tried coaxing her out of the room by yelling through the door, but no response was heard, not even a giggle when Duo would crack a joke.
Relena had said that Areina was just depressed about the booing incident, and that she'd be fine by that night's performance. However, Quatre sensed differently.
"I think this is more than just a one time thing, Relena," he had said with concern. "Areina's usually not this sensitive, even when people are mean to her."
"What I don't understand is why they booed her," Heero commented to the surprise of his roommates. "I mean, she wasn't that bad."
"Let me talk to her," Quatre said as he got up and moved to the door.
"Areina?" he yelled against the door, placing his ear to the knob to hear a response. Nothing.
"Areina, at least talk to me," Quatre exclaimed. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Heero walked to the door. "Areina, may I talk to you in private?"
A muffled response was heard, and the door opened from the inside. Heero was allowed in, but the door was promptly slammed in Quatre's face.
"Aw, poor baby," Trowa spat from a nearby wall. "Rejected by your new lover already?"
"Trowa," Quatre began irritably. "I already explained it to you! I'm not in love with Areina."
"That's not what my memory tells me," and with that, he walked away again.
- - -
He found Areina lying on the bed, still wearing her tank top and jeans from the night before. Her face was deep in her pillow, and her body dug itself into her bed's sheets.
"Areina, what is it?" Heero asked, knowing before the question was enunciated what the answer was.
"You were right, Heero," Areina said with a sob. "I'll never be a singer."
"Why do you say that?" Heero said with concern, again anticipating the answer.
She looked up from her pillow with tear stained cheeks. "Did you hear that crowd last night?" her voice cracked. "They hated me! I was awful." With that, she stuffed her head back into her pillow.
Heero placed his hand firmly on her shoulder. "That's not true," her murmured in his rough voice. "You're not awful. You were - and are - amazingly talented."
"Yeah right," she said into her pillow and at him at the same time. "Since when have you ever cared? You were the one who said I couldn't make it in the first place. So now you come to comfort me and bask in the truth? Don't screw around with me, Heero. I don't need your pity."
Heero closed his eyes and took a slow breath. "Areina, I'm not pitying you. I'm telling you the truth."
She snorted at him with disbelief.
"You're great!" he yelled at her, now with a flaming note of anger at her doubt of her own abilities. "You've got awesome dance moves, and your voice can move mountains! I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of one night!"
"They absolutely hated me."
Heero shook his head. "Why is it that people only notice it when bad things happen to them? When the audience cheered for you those many nights before yesterday, you shrugged it off, yet when they boo once, you go into tears."
"You don't know how I feel."
Heero admitted under his breath that he didn't. However, he continued. "Don't you see, Areina? Every good musician - every good artist! - is booed offstage at least once in their lives!
"For instance, Beethoven, possibly the greatest musician in history, was ridiculed and criticized for his music. Elvis, doubtfully the most revolutionary figure in the history of pop music, was booed and hissed at constantly for the way he performed!"
A pause filled the room, and Areina's sobs halted briefly.
He continued. "But do you know the difference between these great musicians and everyone else that's ever tried being a part of the musical world?"
Another pause. "They didn't let it phase them. They continued on, and ignored others' insults. And eventually, they made turning points in the history of music, and quite definitely in the world's history."
Areina sat up and smiled at Heero. "You know, when you try being nice to people, it really works."
Heero smirked, and she giggled before rising and walking out of the room.
- - -
Areina had pulled Relena and Hilde from the rest of them once again. The five Gundam pilots sat alone together in the room, and Duo knew that tension between Trowa and Quatre would soon arise.
Surprisingly, however, neither of them said a word. Then again, their exchanged glares said enough for the both of them combined.
"What's wrong with the two of you?" Duo said, finally fed up. "You guys are staring at each other like you hate each other!"
"No comment," they both replied at once.
"Sorry!"
- - -
Hilde walked out of Areina's room, unsure of what to think. Would Areina's performance idea really work, or would people boo her offstage again?
She shook off her concerns upon seeing Duo.
"Hey, baby," Duo said with a grin. "When we going dancing?"
Hilde winced uncomfortably. "Duo, I'm really tired," she said hesitantly. "I don't think I'll be able to dance after the performance with Areina."
Duo's face turned to anger. "Come on, Hilde! How can you be so tired? You sound like you're fifty or something!"
"Simmer down," Areina's familiar voice came from across the room.
"What concern is it of yours?" Duo intoned upon facing her.
"Hilde's my friend. I think she deserves a break, is all."
"She doesn't need it!" Duo shouted.
"Yes she does," Areina said softly but firmly enough to make Duo stop. The braided man walked off in a fit of rage.
"You need to learn to stand up for yourself some more," Areina said to Hilde. "Why do you let him push you around so much?"
Hilde shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."
- - -
Her fourth performance. It was quite scary to think that it was true. It was even scarier to think of what had happened the previous night.
Hilde and Relena stood by her in their costumes, fidgeting nervously. At least she wasn't the only intimidated one.
- - -
The show started almost immediately after Duo sat down. Hopefully it would be good, since he was in a pretty bad mood after before.
- - -
Quatre and Trowa sat at different tables this time, both equally pissed off at each other.
Trowa could not believe the selfishness of his ex! How dare he try to love both him and Areina! It was quite uncharacteristic of Quatre, especially considering that the competition was a woman.
- - -
Wufei sat alone, waiting for the show to start.
He was sick of everyone else's problems - Quatre and Trowa, Duo and Hilde, and now Areina's humiliation! At least Heero had no problems - then again, the Japanese soldier's entire life had been one big problem up to that point.
The show began, and Wufei sighed as he prepared for another sap-filled performance.
- - -
"Lying here," Areina sang into the microphone like an insane person. Her hair was streaked with blue and red, along with black glitter. Her clothes included a tattered, long sleeved, green shirt and a fish net shirt over it, along with tight red leather pants.
"On the floor where you left me, I think I took too much," she continued as the spotlight revealed a pile of pills, pink and yellow and blue, surrounding her on the floor. She kneeled into the large pile, coming up to her waist.
"I'm crying here, what have you done?" she practically whispered into the black sound maker in her hand. "I thought it would be fun."
She grabbed a handful of the pills, and with one quick motion threw it into the audience with rage. "I can't stay on your life support, there's a shortage in the switch."
She rose quickly and, with another two handfuls of pills, showered herself in the tiny plastic capsules. "I can't stay on your morphine cause it's making me itch."
Her tone was now much rougher, taking on that of a scream. "I said I tried to call the nurse again, but she's being a little bitch. I think I'll get out of here."
The lights shut off, but came back on with her next words. "Where I can run, just as fast as I can, to the middle of nowhere," she sang desperately into the mike. She kicked pills here and there in her fury. "To the middle of my frustrated fears.
"And I swear," she yelled over the crowd, slamming back down into the pills. "You're just like a pill: Instead of making me better, you keep making me ill."
She tossed the pills this way and that, forgetting about where they landed. "You keep making me ill!"
Wufei sat in shock.
- - -
New music came up, and Duo perked up. Nice beat, he thought.
Relena and Hilde walked onto the stage, giving it the aura of a runway with their classy walk. They began.
"Question:" the three sang together.
Areina took over. "Tell me what you think about me. I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings," she buzzed the catchy tune while posing.
"Only ring your cell-y when I'm feeling lonely," she protested. "When it's all over please get up and leave."
The stage burst into a flamboyant orange and red. The brass lit up with sound. "Question:"
"Tell me how you feel about this," they danced smoothly. "Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed. Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills.
"Always fifty-fifty in relationships," she hummed as she turned quickly. They walked three paces, perfectly together, and turned sharply once more.
"The shoes on my feet, I've bought it," they sang together, accompanied with a surprising salsa and a cheesy - yet amazingly suave - pose.
"The clothes I'm wearing, I've bought it. The rock I'm rocking, I've bought it."
Areina sang out again. "Cause I depend on me if I wanted-"
"The watch you're wearing, I'll buy it. The house I live in, I've bought it.
"The car I'm driving, I bought it," they twirled on with that hip whirl that Duo loved.
"I depend on me, I depend on me," Areina took solo once more, walking to the front of the stage with ferocity.
"All the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me," they sang as they swayed their bodies with their hands. However, the music stopped, and they tossed their heads down.
With the lighting finally down, Duo could clearly see the other two's clothes. Relena wore a tube top and miniskirt - typical of her. Hilde wore a devilish top hat, an unbuttoned blue trench coat that reached her thighs, a tank top underneath, black jeans, and gray sandals. He wondered where she had gotten it.
The next song began.
Areina sang with a renewed argument, but still gentler than before. Her eyes attacked Quatre. "Stop making me feel bad. I'm the best thing you ever had."
Why was it that she could get her message through so much more easily in a song? Duo shrugged, trying to enjoy the performance.
"The only thing I'm guilty of," the others joined.
Solo once more, Areina continued. "Is giving you too much love. Making you crazy."
They came together again. "Making you crazy, making you a wreck." Their hips shook as they went on. "Making you follow me, making me suspect.
"You seem to think I'm playing her game."
"Don't you know my name?" Areina questioned in song. "That was her.
"This is me," they intoned when pointing to themselves and shrugging to the beat. "We're different as can be," they shook on alternating beats, creating a peel-off.
"She and I are nothing alike," they chimed. First Hilde sidestepped, then Relena. Finally, Areina twirled. It all came in one motion.
"You're confusing day with night," the three voices echoed as each free-styled one after the other.
"That was then," they halted, and continued. "This is now.
"You want to trust me but you don't know how. I'm never gonna mess around, let you down, can't you see?
"That was her, and baby this is me."
"Get a grip," Areina finished off.
Silence, far too long.
Duo felt slightly worried, wondering what would come of it.
Suddenly, Heero got up and began clapping. It was quiet and awkward, but it was still support. Quatre followed, then Wufei, Trowa, and finally Duo.
The audience soon rejoiced as well in a tide of resounding cheers.
