1
Sixteen year-old Freddy Jones tapped his fingers on the fence railing as he
walked along the sidewalk. It was about 7:15 AM and it was the first day of
his sophomore year at Lawrence Hutchinson High School. He wasn't nervous.
He had gotten through his freshman year at the school after all, and with
all his body parts intact. He really didn't think it could get any worse
than being on the bottom rungs of the social ladder. So he grinned as he
strode along, still tapping out an upbeat rhythm.
His favorite thing to do in the world was play music. More specifically
drums. Ever since he was about two years old all he wanted to do was bang
on a drum set. The band that him and his classmates had started in fourth
grade, The School of Rock, was still going strong, as all of the members
were still together in one school. Their founder and leader, Dewey Finn,
who had once been unemployed and income less, had become a highly in-demand
music teacher. But his first and foremost commitment was, and had always
been, to the School of Rock.
Freddy sighed as he reached the courtyard. It was a sunny, cheerful day and
he had rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt because it was so warm but
that didn't make him feel any better. Just because he wasn't nervous didn't
mean he wanted to be there. He had never been the best student. The only
reason he had once been in a prestigious elementary school like Horace
Green was because his parents had hoped it would instill a sense in him to
work harder. But that had sort of been shot when Dewey arrived, pretending
to be a substitute teacher to earn some money.
Freddy laughed, thinking about it.
He looked down at his wrist. His watch read 7:18. He didn't live far from
the school, which was why he walked. But school didn't begin until 7:35, so
there was time to kill.
He plopped down at one of the picnic tables that dotted the courtyard and
pulled his drumsticks out of his back pocket. He began drumming
absentmindedly on the table, the clack of the sticks against the wood
echoing around the empty courtyard.
After a few minutes he looked at his watch again. It was 7:20. Freddy
groaned and banged his head on the table. He hated waiting for things; he
always liked to be in the middle of some action.
For a moment he thought about just going in early since the teachers would
already be in the classrooms. But than again no, thought Freddy, which
would be the sort of thing Summer would do just to suck up. Summer was his
friend, the smartest person he knew. She had gotten straight A's her entire
life, whereas if Freddy ever got even one his parents would probably die of
shock.
Slowly, more kids began trickling into the courtyard, as it got closer to
school starting time. Freddy got off the bench and sat on the table itself,
trying to see over the growing crowd, looking for his friends.
Pretty soon he saw some of his fellow band-mates, Summer, Marta, Zack and
Katie all coming towards him, smiling and waving.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Zack grinned, giving Freddy a friendly punch in the
arm.
"Not much, man," Freddy replied, "Been here being bored out of my mind for
a while."
They all laughed.
"Good old Freddy," Marta teased, "Can never just sit quietly, can you? I
swear, unless you're whacking a cymbal or something you are not content."
"So who's excited to begin tenth grade?" Summer asked happily, looking
around at them all, "Tenth grade is the grade in which you can finally
qualify for the Honor Society!"
They all rolled their eyes. They loved Summer to death, but she got way too
worked up over school.
"Save that energy for something useful," Freddy said, eyes twinkling
mischievously, "Like rocking, or making trouble or something. Just not
school. Please, Summer," he pleaded, making puppy dog eyes at her.
"Freddy Jones," she said sternly, "Do not tell me that you plan to cause
mayhem on your very first day of your sophomore year."
"Fine, I won't tell you," Freddy said nonchalantly, hopping off the table
and high-fiving Zack, who was sniggering.
"Freddy!" Summer gasped, "You can't! You already get in trouble enough for
all of us. It's your first day. First impressions are very important!
You're not a freshman or sophomore anymore, there are people below you who
are going to be looking at the upperclassmen as an example."
"They'd better not look at Spazzy, then," Katie whispered to Marta, calling
Freddy by his nickname, and they both giggled.
"Really, Freddy," Summer said, ignoring Marta and Katie, "I will be very
disappointed in you if you do something to get yourself suspended after
only being here for a few hours."
"Fine, Mom," Freddy said, squeezing her around the shoulders, "I won't
write obscene messages on all the chalkboards again."
"Oh that makes me feel so much better," Summer said dryly.
The bell sounded loudly, cutting into the din of the many students hanging
out in the courtyard and around the school grounds.
"Well, let's get going," Summer said briskly, "Got to get to the auditorium
to get our schedules first."
Everyone began walking after her except Freddy.
"I'll be there in a few," he said, starting back to the picnic table.
Summer gaped at him.
"You can't!" she cried, "You need to come now!"
"I'll be there in a few," he repeated, getting a little annoyed.
"Freddy-" Summer began again, but was cut off by Zack touching her shoulder
gently.
"It's not worth it," he said, shaking his head solemnly, "Once he's made up
his mind its no use trying to change it. Yes, yes, Summer, we know. If he
gets in trouble it's not your fault for not warning him."
Zack pushed her towards the school then looked back at Freddy.
"Let me know when you've come up with something fun to do, man!" Zack
whispered, then got lost in the crowd.
Freddy hitched his backpack higher up on his shoulders and ran his fingers
through his spiky blonde hair. He put his sticks back into his pocket and
walked in the opposite direction that everyone else was going. He didn't
really feel like beginning a new year, and it wasn't like he was hurting
anyone. He was always late; he had become rather infamous for it. Summer
was always on his case about something, but she would get over it. Well, at
least until he did something else that she didn't like. Good thing Zack was
cool about it. Him and Zack were best friends, and Freddy never thought
about pulling a prank of some sort without him. Zack was funny, nice and
everyone loved him, especially the girls. On top of his good looks that
attracted the chicks so much-Zack's ear length brown hair fell into his
eyes in a way that he had heard more than one girl call "dreamy"-he was
also an amazing guitar player. Dewey had always said that the two of them
made a great team.
As he walked, he was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice
someone hurrying in his direction, also not paying much attention to where
they were going.
It happened in an instant; the two slammed into each other, each gave a
shout of surprise and was knocked flat to the ground.
"Geez." Freddy sat up, rubbing his forehead.
"I'm really sorry!" the person said, groaning, "Ow. I wasn't looking where
I was going." They held out a hand and Freddy took it. As he stood up, he
found himself face to face with a girl. She was pretty, her hair long and
red, her green eyes friendly. Freddy grinned at once.
He had never seen her before, but chances were she wasn't new. The school
was huge, with a great number of students, so she had probably been there
the past two years and he had just never known her. Freddy had never been
able to have much luck with girls. Not that they didn't like him. In fact,
girls were always asking him out or hanging around him, it was just that
none of them could hold his interest. He just couldn't seem to find
someone...well, cool. The kinds at his school all seemed to be the kind who
giggled all the time and couldn't go five seconds without fixing their make-
up or something. Well, except for girls like Katie, Marta, Alicia, Tomika
or Summer, all members of the band. But they were all just good friends.
"It's all right," Freddy said, "I wasn't looking either." He was just about
to ask her what her name was when he got a good look at her.
She was wearing a white, lacy shirt and a pale pink skirt. Her feet were
covered in sandals with lots of little straps and her fingers, neck and
ankles were adorned in little silver necklaces and anklets and rings with
hearts on them.
Typical prep, Freddy thought. Geez. It wasn't fair.
"Well, see you," he said, quickly brushing past her without another word.
Just his luck.
With a heavy sigh he continued along, kicking at the dirt as he went.
When he finally made his way into the school, all the students were already
filing out of the enormous auditorium, schedules clutched in their hands.
Freddy ran to the front where Principal Richmond still stood, a few
schedules still in her hand.
"Yes," she was saying to her secretary, "You can take these, they are the
schedules of the students that are absent today. No, only a few. Peter
Smith, Liz March, Freddy Jones-"
"Actually, I'm here," Freddy said, coming up next to her and taking his
schedule from her hands.
"Principal Richmond planted her hands on her hips.
"Mr. Jones, late again?" she said, looking at him over the rims of her
glasses. I'll let it slide since it's the first day, but let's make it a
habit to be on time this year, shall we?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Freddy said, saluting. Principal Richmond patted him on the
head like he was some kind of five year old and walked away.
Freddy rolled his eyes and began to sprint after the line of kids, trying
to find Zach.
"What have you got first?" he asked, panting as he finally caught up to his
friend. He had been able to spot Zack immediately, as he was surrounded by
a bunch of girls who were all hanging on every word he said. As Zack saw
Freddy however, he immediately abandoned them to go over. Freddy noticed
that they all pouted at this, and he gave them a little wave. They turned
haughtily away, noses in the air.
"Algebra with Monrose. You?" Zack inquired.
"Yes!" Freddy punched the air, "I won't have to suffer through my worst
subject all alone!"
They walked off down the hallway and wound their way around the mass of
students and staircases until they came to their first class in room 146.
Freddy couldn't help but notice that when him and Zack walked in, a lot of
the girls who were already in the room started giggling and whispering to
one another, giving small waves to the boys. Freddy rolled his eyes and sat
down in the very back, but Zack smiled and waved back.
"Always the ladies man, aren't you?" Freddy said as Zack took a seat next
to him.
"I can't help it," Zack said, grinning.
"Of course you can," Freddy said, "I do it."
"That's because you're too stubborn and just haven't been able to find a
chick that will give you a run for your money," Zack smirked.
"Shut up, man. Naw, all of these girls annoy the hell out of me. How do you
stand all the giggling and all the lip gloss?" He gave a shudder.
"All right, class!" Mrs. Monrose stood at the front of the room, ready to
start the day.
Everyone grew quiet immediately. "It's time to take attendence!"
The class sat while Mrs. Monrose took attendance, calling out "Here!" when
she said their names.
"So only two people are absent," Mrs. Monrose said when all the names had
been called, "Jack Green and Adrian Kenshaw."
Freddy sniggered. "Miss Summer Hathaway would not approve," he said,
leaning over to Zack, "It's very important to be here on the first day of
school."
Freddy and Zack laughed until they noticed the class had grown very quiet,
everyone turned in their seats to look at them.
"I should let you know this instant," Mrs. Monrose said looking very
serious, "That there is a strict no talking policy in this class. This
means that you will not open your mouth unless to ask a question on the
material or answer a question on the material. And that is only if you
raise your hand, of course. One warning boys." She stopped and looked at a
seating chart, "Mr. Jones and Mr. Mooneyham."
She turned her back on them and began to walk towards the chalkboard.
"Geez," Freddy whispered, as quietly as he possibly could, "Do you think
she could have a bigger stick up her-"
"MR. JONES AND MR. MOONEYHAM!"
Apparently Mrs. Monrose had ears like a hawk. She glared down at the two
boys as though they were prey she was about to attack.
"Both of you out in the hallway now! I will not have you disrupt the
learning process in the classroom!" She led them up and shoved them out the
door. "And if I so much as hear one peep you will both find yourselves in
detention for a week!"
The door was slammed shut behind them. Freddy sighed and slumped against
the wall.
"Sorry I got you in trouble, man," he apologized to Zack.
"Naw, it's cool," Zack said, "I'd rather be out here than doing work
anyway." He sat down next to Freddy, who took his sticks out of his back
pocket and began to tap them against the floor so softly that they almost
weren't making a sound. Zack began to hum along to the beat quietly,
strumming and imaginary guitar.
It was so quiet in the deserted hallway that both boys jumped as a door
opened loudly across the hallway.
Someone emerged from the girl's bathroom, and not expecting to see anyone
sitting right across from her, jumped too.
"Think you could give a warning before you do that again? Could save us
from the shock," Freddy said with a sideways grin. The girl was pretty,
with bright red hair...
Wait a moment, Freddy thought, bright red hair...
Then it hit him; it was the preppy girl who he'd practically run over in
the courtyard! But it didn't look like her at all. Freddy looked at the
baggy jeans, orange high-tops and black and red striped t-shirt that had
replaced her skirt and blouse.
"Oh, it's you," she said unenthusiastically to Freddy, her orange backpack
slung over one shoulder, "Think you could warn us before you open your
mouth again? Could save us all the headaches."
Zack laughed, then looked confused.
"Do, uhhh, do you two know each other or something?"
"We ran into each other this morning," Freddy said, shrugging.
"Literally," the girl said, holding out her arm, "Look at this bruise I've
got now."
"Freddy's been known to do that," Zack said, "That's why he's so good at
football. He's got this unique ability to be able to hit people."
The girl looked surprised for a second, then laughed.
"What's your name?" she asked, smiling.
"Zack. Zack Mooneyham."
"Oh, so you're the one all the girls were drooling over in the auditorium
this morning," she said, smirking.
Freddy couldn't help but notice that Zack blushed a little.
"Yeah, Zack's got this unqiue ability to raise a girls body temperature
when he's around," Freddy said dryly.
The girl crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Freddy, then turned
back to Zack, smiled and outstretched her hand.
"I'm Adrian Kenshaw," she said, shaking his hand.
"But you're absent," Freddy said.
"Pardon?" Adrian's eyes widened coolly.
"I don't know," Freddy mumbled, "I guess you're supposed to be in that-" he
pointed at the closed door that led to their Algebra room- "class with us."
"Why didn't you go?" Zack asked.
Adrian sighed. "I was changing."
"That explains the wardrobe change," Freddy said, looking her up and down,
"This morning you looked like Back-To-School Barbie."
"Why thank you," Adrian said, "Don't even get me started on it."
"What?" Zack asked.
Adrian sighed. "It's for my parents. They've got this idea in their heads
that I'm this total little girl. If I so much as wear jeans they flip out
for God sake. If they had it their way, I'd still be wearing pigtails and
watching Sesame Street."
"Geez, that's rough," Zack said with a low whistle.
"Just try talking to them," Freddy said.
"Since when have you become my guidance counselor?" Adrian sneered, "They
won't listen, believe me I've tried. Every time I mention something about
growing up my mom goes into hysterics. She thinks that I'm going to get
into drugs and gangs or something." She rolled her eyes. "It's just better
to do what they want, then get to school and change into some normal
clothes."
She looked at the watch on her wrist.
"Well, I should probably get to class now."
"Careful," Zack said, "Monrose is one strict hardass."
Adrian laughed. "Thanks for the advice."
She opened the door to the room and went in. As it shut behind her with a
soft click, Zack leaned over to Freddy, who was leaning back against the
lockers, hands gripping his hair.
"Well, I think that one can give you a run for your money," Zack whispered.
"Shut up."
Before they had time to say anything else, the door opened again and Adrian
came out rolling her eyes. She slumped down against the lockers in the
space between Freddy and Zack.
"Got in trouble for disturbing the peace." She rolled her eyes. "What does
she think she is, a cop or something?" Adrian heaved a sigh and leaned
back, tangling her fingers in her hair just like Freddy was doing.
"Wanna get out of here?" Adrian and Freddy said at the same time. They each
looked quickly at each other and turned bright red.
"Get out of here?" Zack echoed, "You mean skip school?"
"Naw," Freddy said, "Just this period. I mean, there's about an hour of it
left. And I really don't mind missing it."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Adrian said, tapping her shoes on the floor.
"Did you just agree with me?" Freddy asked, in mock surprise.
"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head."
"Well, if we're going to play hooky this period, let's try not to rip each
other's heads off," Zack said cheerfully, getting to his feet. Adrian and
Freddy followed suit. They began walking down the hallway, and then quickly
ducked into a stairwell before they came to a spot where a hall monitor
would be patrolling.
"So where do you want to go?" Adrian asked, pulling a red baseball cap out
of her backpack and jamming it onto her head as the boys looked at her
quizzically, "Hey, we're already breaking rules, might as well break
another."
They reached the courtyard, empty and silent now that everyone was in
school.
"How fast do you think you could run from one side of the courtyard to the
other, going over the picnic tables too?" Adrian asked, suddenly
mischievious.
"I'm willing to bet I could do it faster than you," Zack said, standing on
his tiptoes in font of her, giving her a small shove backwards.
"Oh, now you're on, Zack Mooneyham!" Adrian said gleefully, throwing down
her backpack and shoving Zack back.
"Freddy, time us!" Zack yelled over his shoulder and he and Adrian ran to
the far side of the courtyard.
Freddy looked at his watch, pushing a few buttons so it became a stopwatch.
"On your mark, get set, go."
Zack and Adrian raced off down the courtyard, laughing the whole way,
jumping onto the picnic tables and off of them again as they moved forward.
As they passed Freddy, he pushed a button on his watch.
"14.67," he said, "Both of you, tie game."
Zack and Adrian both went back other to him, panting and smiling.
"That should be a new sport," Adrian grinned, picking her backpack up,
"Extreme table hopping."
"Let's try it next time Principal Richmond holds an assembly for the
teachers in the courtyard," Zack smiled.
"You're on." Adrian laughed.
"So now that you two have proven yourselves totally insane, what are we
going to do?" Freddy asked.
Adrian frowned. "Lighten up," she muttered. She began walking away towards
the other building of the high school that was across the street. Zack
shrugged his shoulders at his best friend and followed a few steps behind.
Freddy switched his watch back to normal and followed too, dragging his
feet. He didn't know why he was acting so weird. Normally he would have
gone and jumped over those tables in a second. It was usually just him and
Zack, no girls. It was easy to make fun of them for being so annoying. But
he couldn't make fun of Adrian because she wasn't like that. And it
bothered him. He didn't know why, but it did.
As they crossed the street and pulled open the door to the second building
of the school, they made sure to be very quiet. It was the arts building.
It was where all the technology, music and art classes were held, and
though there were no hall monitors, art classes tended to be very quiet as
people drew and so any disturbance in a hallway would almost undoubtedly
send a teacher to investigate.
"Hey, look!" Adrian whispered, peering in the glass on the band room door,
"There's no one in there!"
Zack and Freddy looked too. The band students didn't have class until third
period, so it was completely empty. Rows of chairs stood empty around the
room, music stands poised in front of them. Cabinets where kids stored
their instruments lined the back and sidewalls, and the percussion
equipment stood on mats in the back behind the chairs.
Adrian reached out to check if the door was unlocked; it was.
"Can't we get in a lot of trouble for being in the band room when we're not
supposed to?" Zack asked, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice, "I
mean, none of us are in band class...wait, are you, Adrian?"
"No," she said vaguely, stepping into the room, "And if you insist on
calling me by my first name, it's Adri."
Zack was about to come up with some more reasons why they shouldn't be
caught in places that could get them suspended, but it was too late. Adrian
was already sitting in front of the drum set.
Zack stepped into the room, looking around nervously.
"What in the hell..." Freddy muttered as he watched Adrian pull some
drumsticks out of her backpack.
Before Freddy or Zack could say or do anything, Adrian raised her sticks
high up in the air, like she was about to start slamming on the drums. Both
boys winced involuntarily. There was no way they were going to be able to
pretend they hadn't been in the band room playing around on the equipment
if there was a girl with bright red hair and drumsticks sitting at the set.
But to their surprise, as she brought the sticks down quickly, they hit the
drums very, very softly, so quietly in fact that they had to creep forward
a little to see if she was really playing.
She was.
Not only that, but she was good.
Even playing incredibly softly they could tell.
Freddy realized that his mouth was hanging open, and shut it at once. Where
was that little, lacy chick he'd bumped into that morning? The one with all
the hearts on her necklaces. The girl spinning the drumsticks in her hands
like a pro, the brim of her hat hiding her face, her hair flipping around
her shoulders as she rocked out wasn't her. No way in hell.
Freddy looked over at Zack. His best friend was watching her with a
surprised look.
"Dude." Zach's soft whisper as Adrian finally stopped playing was with a
tone of awe.
She looked up at them, beaming.
"That was fun," she said, getting up and shoving her sticks into her back
pocket, "Much better than the set I've got at home. Man, that thing should
be in an antique shop."
Zack didn't say anything. Neither did Freddy.
"What?" she said, wrinkling her nose, "Seen a ghost?" She walked out of the
room, motioning for them to follow. They did. She shut the door softly
behind them.
"Ta da! We didn't get caught!"
"Why didn't you tell us you could play?" Zack finally said, still looking a
little stunned.
Adrian looked at him skeptically. "I didn't know I was supposed to."
"You don't just have the ability to play like that and not tell anyone,"
Freddy said. Adrian shot him a dirty look.
"I'm sorry if I don't like to go around bragging all the time, geez, you
guys. It's not like I'm that good or anything."
"What are you talking about? You're awesome," Zack said, "Freddy can tell
you."
Freddy rolled his eyes, but took his own sticks out.
"I play too," he said reluctantly, "And yeah, you're pretty good...I guess..."
Zack shot him a sharp look.
"Real good," Freddy said quickly. Muttering, he added, "For a girl anyway."
Adrian scowled and pursed her lips. She looked like she was about to yell
at Freddy, but then she just walked away shaking her head.
"Stop it."
Freddy looked at Zack, who was frowning.
"What?"
"What is up with you?" Zack asked.
"Dude, nothing," Freddy said, hoping he sounded convincing.
"Well, you're doing a pretty damn good imitation of something," Zack
argued.
"Drop it," Freddy said through gritted teeth as he noticed that Adrian had
stopped a little ways ago. He didn't want her to overhear Zack telling him
off or anything. That was the last thing he needed. The first thing he
needed was to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.
Zack shot him one last look and walked away from the young drummer. Freddy
followed, not really listening as Zack and Adrian began chatting.
When they finally got back to the main building-they had walked around the
outer campus for a while-the bell for second period was just ringing.
"Right on time," Zack grinned, high-fiving Adrian, who laughed.
"Great, just what I wanted, more school," she said, hitching her backpack
up and pulling a piece of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans.
"Chemistry. Darn. My worst subject. Well, besides Algebra, but I didn't
really have to deal with that today." Adrian's smile was mischievous.
After seeing that they didn't have any more classes together that day, they
parted, Adrian going one way, the boys going another.
"Actually..."
Zack's voice made Adrian turn around.
"Yeah?"
"Want to hang out after school today?" Zack asked, "Come to band practice?
I know Dewey'll love to meet you."
"Band practice? Sounds great," Adrian said, "So I'll meet you in the
courtyard at three?"
"Deal," Zack said, and he and Freddy walked towards their next classes.
*****
"Detention. That's what you get at Lawrence when you skip class." Zack
slumped down in his chair in the middle of the noisy cafeteria, at a table
surrounded by pretty much all the members of the band.
"For a month," Freddy added, sitting down as well. "They were completely
unsympathetic to the fact that Mrs. Monrose is a total-"
"Freddy," Summer said warningly.
"A month?" Katie gasped, "Isn't that a little harsh for skipping one
class?"
"Oh come on." Summer rolled her eyes. "I warned them. I warned them. But
did they listen? No. Of course not! They got exactly what they deserved,
skipping class on the first day of school. It's an absolute disgrace."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Summer," Zack said dryly.
"YOU!" Summer rounded on Zack. "I can expect this kind of thing from Freddy
on a pretty much regular basis, but not you, Zack. I thought you were more
responsible!"
"Oh come on," Zack said with a grin, "Don't make me sound like such a good
boy, even I need to have some fun once in a while."
"Those two practically invented the phrase 'Double Trouble'," Katie said.
"Triple Trouble today," Freddy said, casually kicking his feet up onto the
table.
Summer shot him a cold look.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't just us, you're only looking at two thirds of Triple Trouble,"
Freddy said, smirking slightly. It was rather funny to see Summer getting
angrier and angrier. Which she definitely was. Her eyes were blazing, her
cheeks turning redder and redder.
"What...do...you...mean?" she forced through gritted teeth. Then she turned on
the rest of the table. "If I find out that any of you have gone along with
this...this idiocy-" she glared at them all-"Lawrence! If I find out that you-
"
The Asian pianist looked very taken aback.
"What?! I, I, I-" he stammered, shaking his head back and forth so hard his
glasses were in danger of falling off.
"Don't get your pantyhose in a twist," Freddy snapped, "Lawrence would
never skip so much as a second of a class. You don't know her, anyway."
"Who is "her"?" Summer raged, throwing her hands up into the air.
"The girl we were hanging out with," Zack said dismissively, "Geez, Summer,
breathe why don't you?"
"Ohhhh, a giiiiirl?" Katie asked, stretching the word out and poking Marta,
who snickered with her.
"Yes, a girl," Freddy said shortly.
Summer broke out of the temporary daze Zack and Freddy's announcement had
put on her and her rant.
"Oh psshh," she said with dismissal, "We all know Freddy can't stand
spending a minute with the girls that are always hanging on Zack."
"True," Zack said, "But it wasn't on of them, so I daresay Freddy was able
to handle himself reasonably well."
"Oh, like who?" Summer said coldly, "There's not one girl in this school
who would want to skip class with you two and risk the harsh punishment you
got. No one would be that stupid."
"Well, I don't consider myself stupid. Adventurous is more the adjective I
prefer." The new voice came out of nowhere. Everyone looked up at the girl
standing next to their table, smiling brightly at them, her hands in the
pockets of her jeans, her long red hair gleaming out from under her hat.
"And who are you?" Summer asked.
"Adrian. Or Adri, as a preference," Zack offered.
"The last member of the detention crew," Adrian added with a sly smile,
"But I'm sure you've already heard all about that." She held out her hand
to Summer, but the dark-haired girl did not shake it.
Instead, she said, "Yes, I've heard, and I must say I'm very disappointed."
Adrian's smile faltered a bit and she drew her hand back.
"Well, I hope you three are happy," Summer said, crossing her arms, "I hope
an hour of freedom is worth being locked up for a month."
"Actually," Adrian said slowly, dragging a chair from and empty table over
and straddling it, "We'll only be locked up, as you put it, for a week."
Freddy's feet fell to the floor with a thunk.
"I pulled a few strings and got us out of a few weeks," Adrian said with a
shrug, "No big."
"You actually managed to talk Principal Richmond into letting us off?" Zack
asked incredulously, "What do we have to do to compensate, donate a few of
our limbs to the sophomore bio classes to dissect?"
Adrian laughed.
"Something a lot less painful, as a matter of fact," she said, eyes
glinting, "All we have to do is clean up the band storage room for two
weeks."
"But..." Zack's brow was furrowed, "We don't have a band storage room."
Adrian's grin grew wider. "Exactly."
"Excellent," Zack said, reaching over to slap hands with her.
Freddy laughed. "Shows how much Richmond knows about her own school."
"I," Summer said, rather quietly and deadly, "Absolutely can not believe
you three. It is wrong. It is deception."
"It's cool," Freddy interjected.
"No." Summer's jaw was set. "No, Freddy, it is not cool at all. I have half
a mind to go and tell Principal Richmond what's going on right now. You
absolutely should not be able to get away with it."
"From what I can tell of you so far," Adrian said to Summer, "You don't do
anything with half a mind, so don't go doing something without thinking
about it."
"Don't even get me started," Summer snapped, looking uncharacteristically
stern and cold, even for her, "You are just as bad as them. What an
influence you must be making on the underclassmen. I won't allow you all to
ruin your years with nonsense."
She began to stand up purposefully, but Tomika, who had been very quiet
throughout everything reached out one hand and pulled her down again.
"Come on, Summer," she said gently, "It's not so bad. They're only getting
detention, not being arrested."
"Yet," Summer said bitterly, "It starts out innocent enough, but there's no
telling what the whole situation will grow into."
"If you leave it alone and just mind your own business, maybe it will give
us all a break," Freddy told her, rolling his eyes.
Summer opened her mouth to say something, but Katie beat her to it.
The pretty girl pushed her black hair behind her ears and said, "Summer
will not report you to any authority figures," Katie said, raising her
voice over Summer's noises of indignation, "Unless an occasion should
happen to rise where she has no other choice."
"In other words-when you get in trouble again," Marta offered.
"In other, other words-very soon," Tomika said, smiling a little.
Katie still seemed intent on not letting Summer say a word, since she
literally placed her hand over the girl's mouth, something that caused
Freddy, Zack and Adrian to all hastily turn their laughs into coughs as
Summer's eyes flashed dangerously at them over Katie's rings.
"Yes," Katie said, "Yes, she agrees to all of that. Now," she looked
pointedly at the trio who, by now, were all sitting in a similar manner,
with their feet kicked up onto the table, "Get out of here before we have
to listen to any more of this."
They did not need someone to tell them again. Freddy, Zack and Adrian were
out of the cafeteria faster than Summer could say "bad influence".
"Well, that was fun," Adrian said as soon as they reached the hallway
outside the lunchroom, "Do you guys seriously have to listen to that every
waking moment?"
"It's an unfortunate byproduct of being acquainted with Summer Hathaway,"
Zack said, trudging down the corridor, "Especially if you happen to have a
tendency to get in trouble." He gave Freddy a playful punch in the arm.
"Bummer," Adrian said, pulling her hat off as she saw a hall monitor at the
end of another corridor shoot her an angry look, "So I guess we'll just
have to keep any other situations we land ourselves in to, well, ourselves?
Unless we want the Good Influence Police on our tails, I mean?"
"That sounds about right," Freddy said, "I hope we can manage it."
Adrian chuckled, then looked quickly at Freddy, apparently a little
surprised.
"What?" Freddy asked.
"Nothing," Adrian told him, shrugging her shoulders, "You just seem, I
don't know, much more relaxed now. More normal."
"Because I wasn't normal before." Freddy rolled his eyes.
"Well, if you must know, you weren't," Adrian said, planting her hands on
her hips and looking him directly in the eye. He was about five inches
taller than she was, so she had to look up through her bangs. "You know you
looked at me like I was lower than dirt this morning when we met in the
courtyard."
"All right," Zack said, stepping in between them, "That's enough. I hate to
break off the little love-fest, but we can't stand here forever or we're
going to get busted for being in the halls without passes."
"Which is pretty much the last thing we need," Adrian said, nodding and
beginning to walk backwards down a hallway, still speaking to Freddy and
Zack, "So we're still on for after school, then?"
"Yeah," Zack assured her, "We'll all head over and you can meet Dewey. He's
in charge of our band. Oh, and bring your sticks. He's always excited to
meet a fellow musician."
Suddenly Adrian wasn't grinning anymore.
"Whatever," she muttered gloomily, turning back around and walking more
quickly.
When she turned the corner and was out of sight, Zack turned to Freddy.
"What was that about?"
"She doesn't have any confidence," Freddy said simply.
Zack looked at him. "What?"
"You heard me. She doesn't have any confidence."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Zack said, "She's really good."
"It doesn't matter," Freddy told him, "My guess is that she doesn't exactly
have the most supportive parents in the world. You know, the whole clothes
thing. If they don't even want her to wear jeans, how do you think they
react to her playing the drums?"
"Man," Zack was wide-eyed, "That sucks."
"Yep." Freddy hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders.
"Since when have you become so perceptive anyway?" Zack asked.
"Well, I had a good friend who went through the same thing a few years
ago." Freddy smiled at Zack.
"I love ya, man," Zack grinned as he realized that Freddy was talking about
an almost identical situation back when they were in elementary school.
Zack threw his arms jokingly around Freddy, clamping him in an embrace.
"Ahh, too much love!" Freddy shouted.
"So what are we gonna do?" Zack asked, releasing the blonde boy and growing
suddenly business-like.
"About what?" Freddy asked his friend.
"About Adri. I mean, she's got talent, and it would really be a shame to
let it go to waste just 'cause the chick has been brought up thinking she's
no good at much of anything."
"I agree, it majorly sucks," Freddy said, "But I don't think we're going to
be able to do anything about it ourselves. You've met her. Girl is
stubborn."
They looked at each other for a moment, and then identical grins broke out
over their faces.
"Dewey?" Zack asked.
Freddy nodded. "Dewey."
**********
"Welcome to the School of Rock headquarters!" Zack said, dramatically
throwing the door to Dewey's apartment open.
Freddy, Zack and Adrian stepped into the residence. Freddy and Zack had
just gotten through telling their new friend all about how their band was
started, how Dewey pretended to be a teacher and got them into the Battle
of the Bands back when they didn't even know what rock music was.
"You are going to love him," Zack said enthusiastically.
"I'm so excited!" Adrian gushed. She seemed to have gotten over her bad
mood in the time it had taken to walk to the apartment. "He sounds so cool,
just like an uncle I have!" She pointed to a wall that was covered in
posters picturing The Who, Led Zepplin, and The Ramones. "They even have
the same posters."
"Really, without Dewey I don't know what we'd do," Zack chuckled, "Lawrence
would probably go back to Bach or Beethoven or whatever it is he does."
Freddy laughed as they crossed the threshold into the room that they
practiced in.
"What the..." Zack muttered as his eyes were treated to a very strange sight.
Usually the room was filled to the brim with the kids of School of Rock.
Everyone. Including security, roadies and the like.
"Um." Freddy cocked his head to the side, confused.
Everyone was there all right, but no one was playing or setting up
equipment or anything. In fact, almost everyone was seated on the floor,
holding their heads in their hands.
"Ned?" Zack asked. Even Dewey's roommate and long-time friend was in the
room, which was unusual. At this time of day when the band practiced, Ned
volunteered teaching little kids how to play the guitar. Except that he
wasn't holding a guitar, just his head like everyone else.
Summer rose from the floor and walked quietly over to the trio who had just
shown up.
"Dewey..." she said, her voice a little shaky.
It was only then that Zack and Freddy noticed that not everyone was in the
room. One person was nowhere to be seen.
"Dewey." Summer's eyes were brimming with tears. Zack and Freddy were
amazed. Never, in all the years they had known Summer had they seen her cry
about anything.
But now they were flowing so hard she was practically standing in a puddle.
"Dewey is in the hospital," Summer announced.
Sixteen year-old Freddy Jones tapped his fingers on the fence railing as he
walked along the sidewalk. It was about 7:15 AM and it was the first day of
his sophomore year at Lawrence Hutchinson High School. He wasn't nervous.
He had gotten through his freshman year at the school after all, and with
all his body parts intact. He really didn't think it could get any worse
than being on the bottom rungs of the social ladder. So he grinned as he
strode along, still tapping out an upbeat rhythm.
His favorite thing to do in the world was play music. More specifically
drums. Ever since he was about two years old all he wanted to do was bang
on a drum set. The band that him and his classmates had started in fourth
grade, The School of Rock, was still going strong, as all of the members
were still together in one school. Their founder and leader, Dewey Finn,
who had once been unemployed and income less, had become a highly in-demand
music teacher. But his first and foremost commitment was, and had always
been, to the School of Rock.
Freddy sighed as he reached the courtyard. It was a sunny, cheerful day and
he had rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt because it was so warm but
that didn't make him feel any better. Just because he wasn't nervous didn't
mean he wanted to be there. He had never been the best student. The only
reason he had once been in a prestigious elementary school like Horace
Green was because his parents had hoped it would instill a sense in him to
work harder. But that had sort of been shot when Dewey arrived, pretending
to be a substitute teacher to earn some money.
Freddy laughed, thinking about it.
He looked down at his wrist. His watch read 7:18. He didn't live far from
the school, which was why he walked. But school didn't begin until 7:35, so
there was time to kill.
He plopped down at one of the picnic tables that dotted the courtyard and
pulled his drumsticks out of his back pocket. He began drumming
absentmindedly on the table, the clack of the sticks against the wood
echoing around the empty courtyard.
After a few minutes he looked at his watch again. It was 7:20. Freddy
groaned and banged his head on the table. He hated waiting for things; he
always liked to be in the middle of some action.
For a moment he thought about just going in early since the teachers would
already be in the classrooms. But than again no, thought Freddy, which
would be the sort of thing Summer would do just to suck up. Summer was his
friend, the smartest person he knew. She had gotten straight A's her entire
life, whereas if Freddy ever got even one his parents would probably die of
shock.
Slowly, more kids began trickling into the courtyard, as it got closer to
school starting time. Freddy got off the bench and sat on the table itself,
trying to see over the growing crowd, looking for his friends.
Pretty soon he saw some of his fellow band-mates, Summer, Marta, Zack and
Katie all coming towards him, smiling and waving.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Zack grinned, giving Freddy a friendly punch in the
arm.
"Not much, man," Freddy replied, "Been here being bored out of my mind for
a while."
They all laughed.
"Good old Freddy," Marta teased, "Can never just sit quietly, can you? I
swear, unless you're whacking a cymbal or something you are not content."
"So who's excited to begin tenth grade?" Summer asked happily, looking
around at them all, "Tenth grade is the grade in which you can finally
qualify for the Honor Society!"
They all rolled their eyes. They loved Summer to death, but she got way too
worked up over school.
"Save that energy for something useful," Freddy said, eyes twinkling
mischievously, "Like rocking, or making trouble or something. Just not
school. Please, Summer," he pleaded, making puppy dog eyes at her.
"Freddy Jones," she said sternly, "Do not tell me that you plan to cause
mayhem on your very first day of your sophomore year."
"Fine, I won't tell you," Freddy said nonchalantly, hopping off the table
and high-fiving Zack, who was sniggering.
"Freddy!" Summer gasped, "You can't! You already get in trouble enough for
all of us. It's your first day. First impressions are very important!
You're not a freshman or sophomore anymore, there are people below you who
are going to be looking at the upperclassmen as an example."
"They'd better not look at Spazzy, then," Katie whispered to Marta, calling
Freddy by his nickname, and they both giggled.
"Really, Freddy," Summer said, ignoring Marta and Katie, "I will be very
disappointed in you if you do something to get yourself suspended after
only being here for a few hours."
"Fine, Mom," Freddy said, squeezing her around the shoulders, "I won't
write obscene messages on all the chalkboards again."
"Oh that makes me feel so much better," Summer said dryly.
The bell sounded loudly, cutting into the din of the many students hanging
out in the courtyard and around the school grounds.
"Well, let's get going," Summer said briskly, "Got to get to the auditorium
to get our schedules first."
Everyone began walking after her except Freddy.
"I'll be there in a few," he said, starting back to the picnic table.
Summer gaped at him.
"You can't!" she cried, "You need to come now!"
"I'll be there in a few," he repeated, getting a little annoyed.
"Freddy-" Summer began again, but was cut off by Zack touching her shoulder
gently.
"It's not worth it," he said, shaking his head solemnly, "Once he's made up
his mind its no use trying to change it. Yes, yes, Summer, we know. If he
gets in trouble it's not your fault for not warning him."
Zack pushed her towards the school then looked back at Freddy.
"Let me know when you've come up with something fun to do, man!" Zack
whispered, then got lost in the crowd.
Freddy hitched his backpack higher up on his shoulders and ran his fingers
through his spiky blonde hair. He put his sticks back into his pocket and
walked in the opposite direction that everyone else was going. He didn't
really feel like beginning a new year, and it wasn't like he was hurting
anyone. He was always late; he had become rather infamous for it. Summer
was always on his case about something, but she would get over it. Well, at
least until he did something else that she didn't like. Good thing Zack was
cool about it. Him and Zack were best friends, and Freddy never thought
about pulling a prank of some sort without him. Zack was funny, nice and
everyone loved him, especially the girls. On top of his good looks that
attracted the chicks so much-Zack's ear length brown hair fell into his
eyes in a way that he had heard more than one girl call "dreamy"-he was
also an amazing guitar player. Dewey had always said that the two of them
made a great team.
As he walked, he was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice
someone hurrying in his direction, also not paying much attention to where
they were going.
It happened in an instant; the two slammed into each other, each gave a
shout of surprise and was knocked flat to the ground.
"Geez." Freddy sat up, rubbing his forehead.
"I'm really sorry!" the person said, groaning, "Ow. I wasn't looking where
I was going." They held out a hand and Freddy took it. As he stood up, he
found himself face to face with a girl. She was pretty, her hair long and
red, her green eyes friendly. Freddy grinned at once.
He had never seen her before, but chances were she wasn't new. The school
was huge, with a great number of students, so she had probably been there
the past two years and he had just never known her. Freddy had never been
able to have much luck with girls. Not that they didn't like him. In fact,
girls were always asking him out or hanging around him, it was just that
none of them could hold his interest. He just couldn't seem to find
someone...well, cool. The kinds at his school all seemed to be the kind who
giggled all the time and couldn't go five seconds without fixing their make-
up or something. Well, except for girls like Katie, Marta, Alicia, Tomika
or Summer, all members of the band. But they were all just good friends.
"It's all right," Freddy said, "I wasn't looking either." He was just about
to ask her what her name was when he got a good look at her.
She was wearing a white, lacy shirt and a pale pink skirt. Her feet were
covered in sandals with lots of little straps and her fingers, neck and
ankles were adorned in little silver necklaces and anklets and rings with
hearts on them.
Typical prep, Freddy thought. Geez. It wasn't fair.
"Well, see you," he said, quickly brushing past her without another word.
Just his luck.
With a heavy sigh he continued along, kicking at the dirt as he went.
When he finally made his way into the school, all the students were already
filing out of the enormous auditorium, schedules clutched in their hands.
Freddy ran to the front where Principal Richmond still stood, a few
schedules still in her hand.
"Yes," she was saying to her secretary, "You can take these, they are the
schedules of the students that are absent today. No, only a few. Peter
Smith, Liz March, Freddy Jones-"
"Actually, I'm here," Freddy said, coming up next to her and taking his
schedule from her hands.
"Principal Richmond planted her hands on her hips.
"Mr. Jones, late again?" she said, looking at him over the rims of her
glasses. I'll let it slide since it's the first day, but let's make it a
habit to be on time this year, shall we?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Freddy said, saluting. Principal Richmond patted him on the
head like he was some kind of five year old and walked away.
Freddy rolled his eyes and began to sprint after the line of kids, trying
to find Zach.
"What have you got first?" he asked, panting as he finally caught up to his
friend. He had been able to spot Zack immediately, as he was surrounded by
a bunch of girls who were all hanging on every word he said. As Zack saw
Freddy however, he immediately abandoned them to go over. Freddy noticed
that they all pouted at this, and he gave them a little wave. They turned
haughtily away, noses in the air.
"Algebra with Monrose. You?" Zack inquired.
"Yes!" Freddy punched the air, "I won't have to suffer through my worst
subject all alone!"
They walked off down the hallway and wound their way around the mass of
students and staircases until they came to their first class in room 146.
Freddy couldn't help but notice that when him and Zack walked in, a lot of
the girls who were already in the room started giggling and whispering to
one another, giving small waves to the boys. Freddy rolled his eyes and sat
down in the very back, but Zack smiled and waved back.
"Always the ladies man, aren't you?" Freddy said as Zack took a seat next
to him.
"I can't help it," Zack said, grinning.
"Of course you can," Freddy said, "I do it."
"That's because you're too stubborn and just haven't been able to find a
chick that will give you a run for your money," Zack smirked.
"Shut up, man. Naw, all of these girls annoy the hell out of me. How do you
stand all the giggling and all the lip gloss?" He gave a shudder.
"All right, class!" Mrs. Monrose stood at the front of the room, ready to
start the day.
Everyone grew quiet immediately. "It's time to take attendence!"
The class sat while Mrs. Monrose took attendance, calling out "Here!" when
she said their names.
"So only two people are absent," Mrs. Monrose said when all the names had
been called, "Jack Green and Adrian Kenshaw."
Freddy sniggered. "Miss Summer Hathaway would not approve," he said,
leaning over to Zack, "It's very important to be here on the first day of
school."
Freddy and Zack laughed until they noticed the class had grown very quiet,
everyone turned in their seats to look at them.
"I should let you know this instant," Mrs. Monrose said looking very
serious, "That there is a strict no talking policy in this class. This
means that you will not open your mouth unless to ask a question on the
material or answer a question on the material. And that is only if you
raise your hand, of course. One warning boys." She stopped and looked at a
seating chart, "Mr. Jones and Mr. Mooneyham."
She turned her back on them and began to walk towards the chalkboard.
"Geez," Freddy whispered, as quietly as he possibly could, "Do you think
she could have a bigger stick up her-"
"MR. JONES AND MR. MOONEYHAM!"
Apparently Mrs. Monrose had ears like a hawk. She glared down at the two
boys as though they were prey she was about to attack.
"Both of you out in the hallway now! I will not have you disrupt the
learning process in the classroom!" She led them up and shoved them out the
door. "And if I so much as hear one peep you will both find yourselves in
detention for a week!"
The door was slammed shut behind them. Freddy sighed and slumped against
the wall.
"Sorry I got you in trouble, man," he apologized to Zack.
"Naw, it's cool," Zack said, "I'd rather be out here than doing work
anyway." He sat down next to Freddy, who took his sticks out of his back
pocket and began to tap them against the floor so softly that they almost
weren't making a sound. Zack began to hum along to the beat quietly,
strumming and imaginary guitar.
It was so quiet in the deserted hallway that both boys jumped as a door
opened loudly across the hallway.
Someone emerged from the girl's bathroom, and not expecting to see anyone
sitting right across from her, jumped too.
"Think you could give a warning before you do that again? Could save us
from the shock," Freddy said with a sideways grin. The girl was pretty,
with bright red hair...
Wait a moment, Freddy thought, bright red hair...
Then it hit him; it was the preppy girl who he'd practically run over in
the courtyard! But it didn't look like her at all. Freddy looked at the
baggy jeans, orange high-tops and black and red striped t-shirt that had
replaced her skirt and blouse.
"Oh, it's you," she said unenthusiastically to Freddy, her orange backpack
slung over one shoulder, "Think you could warn us before you open your
mouth again? Could save us all the headaches."
Zack laughed, then looked confused.
"Do, uhhh, do you two know each other or something?"
"We ran into each other this morning," Freddy said, shrugging.
"Literally," the girl said, holding out her arm, "Look at this bruise I've
got now."
"Freddy's been known to do that," Zack said, "That's why he's so good at
football. He's got this unique ability to be able to hit people."
The girl looked surprised for a second, then laughed.
"What's your name?" she asked, smiling.
"Zack. Zack Mooneyham."
"Oh, so you're the one all the girls were drooling over in the auditorium
this morning," she said, smirking.
Freddy couldn't help but notice that Zack blushed a little.
"Yeah, Zack's got this unqiue ability to raise a girls body temperature
when he's around," Freddy said dryly.
The girl crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Freddy, then turned
back to Zack, smiled and outstretched her hand.
"I'm Adrian Kenshaw," she said, shaking his hand.
"But you're absent," Freddy said.
"Pardon?" Adrian's eyes widened coolly.
"I don't know," Freddy mumbled, "I guess you're supposed to be in that-" he
pointed at the closed door that led to their Algebra room- "class with us."
"Why didn't you go?" Zack asked.
Adrian sighed. "I was changing."
"That explains the wardrobe change," Freddy said, looking her up and down,
"This morning you looked like Back-To-School Barbie."
"Why thank you," Adrian said, "Don't even get me started on it."
"What?" Zack asked.
Adrian sighed. "It's for my parents. They've got this idea in their heads
that I'm this total little girl. If I so much as wear jeans they flip out
for God sake. If they had it their way, I'd still be wearing pigtails and
watching Sesame Street."
"Geez, that's rough," Zack said with a low whistle.
"Just try talking to them," Freddy said.
"Since when have you become my guidance counselor?" Adrian sneered, "They
won't listen, believe me I've tried. Every time I mention something about
growing up my mom goes into hysterics. She thinks that I'm going to get
into drugs and gangs or something." She rolled her eyes. "It's just better
to do what they want, then get to school and change into some normal
clothes."
She looked at the watch on her wrist.
"Well, I should probably get to class now."
"Careful," Zack said, "Monrose is one strict hardass."
Adrian laughed. "Thanks for the advice."
She opened the door to the room and went in. As it shut behind her with a
soft click, Zack leaned over to Freddy, who was leaning back against the
lockers, hands gripping his hair.
"Well, I think that one can give you a run for your money," Zack whispered.
"Shut up."
Before they had time to say anything else, the door opened again and Adrian
came out rolling her eyes. She slumped down against the lockers in the
space between Freddy and Zack.
"Got in trouble for disturbing the peace." She rolled her eyes. "What does
she think she is, a cop or something?" Adrian heaved a sigh and leaned
back, tangling her fingers in her hair just like Freddy was doing.
"Wanna get out of here?" Adrian and Freddy said at the same time. They each
looked quickly at each other and turned bright red.
"Get out of here?" Zack echoed, "You mean skip school?"
"Naw," Freddy said, "Just this period. I mean, there's about an hour of it
left. And I really don't mind missing it."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Adrian said, tapping her shoes on the floor.
"Did you just agree with me?" Freddy asked, in mock surprise.
"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head."
"Well, if we're going to play hooky this period, let's try not to rip each
other's heads off," Zack said cheerfully, getting to his feet. Adrian and
Freddy followed suit. They began walking down the hallway, and then quickly
ducked into a stairwell before they came to a spot where a hall monitor
would be patrolling.
"So where do you want to go?" Adrian asked, pulling a red baseball cap out
of her backpack and jamming it onto her head as the boys looked at her
quizzically, "Hey, we're already breaking rules, might as well break
another."
They reached the courtyard, empty and silent now that everyone was in
school.
"How fast do you think you could run from one side of the courtyard to the
other, going over the picnic tables too?" Adrian asked, suddenly
mischievious.
"I'm willing to bet I could do it faster than you," Zack said, standing on
his tiptoes in font of her, giving her a small shove backwards.
"Oh, now you're on, Zack Mooneyham!" Adrian said gleefully, throwing down
her backpack and shoving Zack back.
"Freddy, time us!" Zack yelled over his shoulder and he and Adrian ran to
the far side of the courtyard.
Freddy looked at his watch, pushing a few buttons so it became a stopwatch.
"On your mark, get set, go."
Zack and Adrian raced off down the courtyard, laughing the whole way,
jumping onto the picnic tables and off of them again as they moved forward.
As they passed Freddy, he pushed a button on his watch.
"14.67," he said, "Both of you, tie game."
Zack and Adrian both went back other to him, panting and smiling.
"That should be a new sport," Adrian grinned, picking her backpack up,
"Extreme table hopping."
"Let's try it next time Principal Richmond holds an assembly for the
teachers in the courtyard," Zack smiled.
"You're on." Adrian laughed.
"So now that you two have proven yourselves totally insane, what are we
going to do?" Freddy asked.
Adrian frowned. "Lighten up," she muttered. She began walking away towards
the other building of the high school that was across the street. Zack
shrugged his shoulders at his best friend and followed a few steps behind.
Freddy switched his watch back to normal and followed too, dragging his
feet. He didn't know why he was acting so weird. Normally he would have
gone and jumped over those tables in a second. It was usually just him and
Zack, no girls. It was easy to make fun of them for being so annoying. But
he couldn't make fun of Adrian because she wasn't like that. And it
bothered him. He didn't know why, but it did.
As they crossed the street and pulled open the door to the second building
of the school, they made sure to be very quiet. It was the arts building.
It was where all the technology, music and art classes were held, and
though there were no hall monitors, art classes tended to be very quiet as
people drew and so any disturbance in a hallway would almost undoubtedly
send a teacher to investigate.
"Hey, look!" Adrian whispered, peering in the glass on the band room door,
"There's no one in there!"
Zack and Freddy looked too. The band students didn't have class until third
period, so it was completely empty. Rows of chairs stood empty around the
room, music stands poised in front of them. Cabinets where kids stored
their instruments lined the back and sidewalls, and the percussion
equipment stood on mats in the back behind the chairs.
Adrian reached out to check if the door was unlocked; it was.
"Can't we get in a lot of trouble for being in the band room when we're not
supposed to?" Zack asked, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice, "I
mean, none of us are in band class...wait, are you, Adrian?"
"No," she said vaguely, stepping into the room, "And if you insist on
calling me by my first name, it's Adri."
Zack was about to come up with some more reasons why they shouldn't be
caught in places that could get them suspended, but it was too late. Adrian
was already sitting in front of the drum set.
Zack stepped into the room, looking around nervously.
"What in the hell..." Freddy muttered as he watched Adrian pull some
drumsticks out of her backpack.
Before Freddy or Zack could say or do anything, Adrian raised her sticks
high up in the air, like she was about to start slamming on the drums. Both
boys winced involuntarily. There was no way they were going to be able to
pretend they hadn't been in the band room playing around on the equipment
if there was a girl with bright red hair and drumsticks sitting at the set.
But to their surprise, as she brought the sticks down quickly, they hit the
drums very, very softly, so quietly in fact that they had to creep forward
a little to see if she was really playing.
She was.
Not only that, but she was good.
Even playing incredibly softly they could tell.
Freddy realized that his mouth was hanging open, and shut it at once. Where
was that little, lacy chick he'd bumped into that morning? The one with all
the hearts on her necklaces. The girl spinning the drumsticks in her hands
like a pro, the brim of her hat hiding her face, her hair flipping around
her shoulders as she rocked out wasn't her. No way in hell.
Freddy looked over at Zack. His best friend was watching her with a
surprised look.
"Dude." Zach's soft whisper as Adrian finally stopped playing was with a
tone of awe.
She looked up at them, beaming.
"That was fun," she said, getting up and shoving her sticks into her back
pocket, "Much better than the set I've got at home. Man, that thing should
be in an antique shop."
Zack didn't say anything. Neither did Freddy.
"What?" she said, wrinkling her nose, "Seen a ghost?" She walked out of the
room, motioning for them to follow. They did. She shut the door softly
behind them.
"Ta da! We didn't get caught!"
"Why didn't you tell us you could play?" Zack finally said, still looking a
little stunned.
Adrian looked at him skeptically. "I didn't know I was supposed to."
"You don't just have the ability to play like that and not tell anyone,"
Freddy said. Adrian shot him a dirty look.
"I'm sorry if I don't like to go around bragging all the time, geez, you
guys. It's not like I'm that good or anything."
"What are you talking about? You're awesome," Zack said, "Freddy can tell
you."
Freddy rolled his eyes, but took his own sticks out.
"I play too," he said reluctantly, "And yeah, you're pretty good...I guess..."
Zack shot him a sharp look.
"Real good," Freddy said quickly. Muttering, he added, "For a girl anyway."
Adrian scowled and pursed her lips. She looked like she was about to yell
at Freddy, but then she just walked away shaking her head.
"Stop it."
Freddy looked at Zack, who was frowning.
"What?"
"What is up with you?" Zack asked.
"Dude, nothing," Freddy said, hoping he sounded convincing.
"Well, you're doing a pretty damn good imitation of something," Zack
argued.
"Drop it," Freddy said through gritted teeth as he noticed that Adrian had
stopped a little ways ago. He didn't want her to overhear Zack telling him
off or anything. That was the last thing he needed. The first thing he
needed was to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.
Zack shot him one last look and walked away from the young drummer. Freddy
followed, not really listening as Zack and Adrian began chatting.
When they finally got back to the main building-they had walked around the
outer campus for a while-the bell for second period was just ringing.
"Right on time," Zack grinned, high-fiving Adrian, who laughed.
"Great, just what I wanted, more school," she said, hitching her backpack
up and pulling a piece of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans.
"Chemistry. Darn. My worst subject. Well, besides Algebra, but I didn't
really have to deal with that today." Adrian's smile was mischievous.
After seeing that they didn't have any more classes together that day, they
parted, Adrian going one way, the boys going another.
"Actually..."
Zack's voice made Adrian turn around.
"Yeah?"
"Want to hang out after school today?" Zack asked, "Come to band practice?
I know Dewey'll love to meet you."
"Band practice? Sounds great," Adrian said, "So I'll meet you in the
courtyard at three?"
"Deal," Zack said, and he and Freddy walked towards their next classes.
*****
"Detention. That's what you get at Lawrence when you skip class." Zack
slumped down in his chair in the middle of the noisy cafeteria, at a table
surrounded by pretty much all the members of the band.
"For a month," Freddy added, sitting down as well. "They were completely
unsympathetic to the fact that Mrs. Monrose is a total-"
"Freddy," Summer said warningly.
"A month?" Katie gasped, "Isn't that a little harsh for skipping one
class?"
"Oh come on." Summer rolled her eyes. "I warned them. I warned them. But
did they listen? No. Of course not! They got exactly what they deserved,
skipping class on the first day of school. It's an absolute disgrace."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Summer," Zack said dryly.
"YOU!" Summer rounded on Zack. "I can expect this kind of thing from Freddy
on a pretty much regular basis, but not you, Zack. I thought you were more
responsible!"
"Oh come on," Zack said with a grin, "Don't make me sound like such a good
boy, even I need to have some fun once in a while."
"Those two practically invented the phrase 'Double Trouble'," Katie said.
"Triple Trouble today," Freddy said, casually kicking his feet up onto the
table.
Summer shot him a cold look.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't just us, you're only looking at two thirds of Triple Trouble,"
Freddy said, smirking slightly. It was rather funny to see Summer getting
angrier and angrier. Which she definitely was. Her eyes were blazing, her
cheeks turning redder and redder.
"What...do...you...mean?" she forced through gritted teeth. Then she turned on
the rest of the table. "If I find out that any of you have gone along with
this...this idiocy-" she glared at them all-"Lawrence! If I find out that you-
"
The Asian pianist looked very taken aback.
"What?! I, I, I-" he stammered, shaking his head back and forth so hard his
glasses were in danger of falling off.
"Don't get your pantyhose in a twist," Freddy snapped, "Lawrence would
never skip so much as a second of a class. You don't know her, anyway."
"Who is "her"?" Summer raged, throwing her hands up into the air.
"The girl we were hanging out with," Zack said dismissively, "Geez, Summer,
breathe why don't you?"
"Ohhhh, a giiiiirl?" Katie asked, stretching the word out and poking Marta,
who snickered with her.
"Yes, a girl," Freddy said shortly.
Summer broke out of the temporary daze Zack and Freddy's announcement had
put on her and her rant.
"Oh psshh," she said with dismissal, "We all know Freddy can't stand
spending a minute with the girls that are always hanging on Zack."
"True," Zack said, "But it wasn't on of them, so I daresay Freddy was able
to handle himself reasonably well."
"Oh, like who?" Summer said coldly, "There's not one girl in this school
who would want to skip class with you two and risk the harsh punishment you
got. No one would be that stupid."
"Well, I don't consider myself stupid. Adventurous is more the adjective I
prefer." The new voice came out of nowhere. Everyone looked up at the girl
standing next to their table, smiling brightly at them, her hands in the
pockets of her jeans, her long red hair gleaming out from under her hat.
"And who are you?" Summer asked.
"Adrian. Or Adri, as a preference," Zack offered.
"The last member of the detention crew," Adrian added with a sly smile,
"But I'm sure you've already heard all about that." She held out her hand
to Summer, but the dark-haired girl did not shake it.
Instead, she said, "Yes, I've heard, and I must say I'm very disappointed."
Adrian's smile faltered a bit and she drew her hand back.
"Well, I hope you three are happy," Summer said, crossing her arms, "I hope
an hour of freedom is worth being locked up for a month."
"Actually," Adrian said slowly, dragging a chair from and empty table over
and straddling it, "We'll only be locked up, as you put it, for a week."
Freddy's feet fell to the floor with a thunk.
"I pulled a few strings and got us out of a few weeks," Adrian said with a
shrug, "No big."
"You actually managed to talk Principal Richmond into letting us off?" Zack
asked incredulously, "What do we have to do to compensate, donate a few of
our limbs to the sophomore bio classes to dissect?"
Adrian laughed.
"Something a lot less painful, as a matter of fact," she said, eyes
glinting, "All we have to do is clean up the band storage room for two
weeks."
"But..." Zack's brow was furrowed, "We don't have a band storage room."
Adrian's grin grew wider. "Exactly."
"Excellent," Zack said, reaching over to slap hands with her.
Freddy laughed. "Shows how much Richmond knows about her own school."
"I," Summer said, rather quietly and deadly, "Absolutely can not believe
you three. It is wrong. It is deception."
"It's cool," Freddy interjected.
"No." Summer's jaw was set. "No, Freddy, it is not cool at all. I have half
a mind to go and tell Principal Richmond what's going on right now. You
absolutely should not be able to get away with it."
"From what I can tell of you so far," Adrian said to Summer, "You don't do
anything with half a mind, so don't go doing something without thinking
about it."
"Don't even get me started," Summer snapped, looking uncharacteristically
stern and cold, even for her, "You are just as bad as them. What an
influence you must be making on the underclassmen. I won't allow you all to
ruin your years with nonsense."
She began to stand up purposefully, but Tomika, who had been very quiet
throughout everything reached out one hand and pulled her down again.
"Come on, Summer," she said gently, "It's not so bad. They're only getting
detention, not being arrested."
"Yet," Summer said bitterly, "It starts out innocent enough, but there's no
telling what the whole situation will grow into."
"If you leave it alone and just mind your own business, maybe it will give
us all a break," Freddy told her, rolling his eyes.
Summer opened her mouth to say something, but Katie beat her to it.
The pretty girl pushed her black hair behind her ears and said, "Summer
will not report you to any authority figures," Katie said, raising her
voice over Summer's noises of indignation, "Unless an occasion should
happen to rise where she has no other choice."
"In other words-when you get in trouble again," Marta offered.
"In other, other words-very soon," Tomika said, smiling a little.
Katie still seemed intent on not letting Summer say a word, since she
literally placed her hand over the girl's mouth, something that caused
Freddy, Zack and Adrian to all hastily turn their laughs into coughs as
Summer's eyes flashed dangerously at them over Katie's rings.
"Yes," Katie said, "Yes, she agrees to all of that. Now," she looked
pointedly at the trio who, by now, were all sitting in a similar manner,
with their feet kicked up onto the table, "Get out of here before we have
to listen to any more of this."
They did not need someone to tell them again. Freddy, Zack and Adrian were
out of the cafeteria faster than Summer could say "bad influence".
"Well, that was fun," Adrian said as soon as they reached the hallway
outside the lunchroom, "Do you guys seriously have to listen to that every
waking moment?"
"It's an unfortunate byproduct of being acquainted with Summer Hathaway,"
Zack said, trudging down the corridor, "Especially if you happen to have a
tendency to get in trouble." He gave Freddy a playful punch in the arm.
"Bummer," Adrian said, pulling her hat off as she saw a hall monitor at the
end of another corridor shoot her an angry look, "So I guess we'll just
have to keep any other situations we land ourselves in to, well, ourselves?
Unless we want the Good Influence Police on our tails, I mean?"
"That sounds about right," Freddy said, "I hope we can manage it."
Adrian chuckled, then looked quickly at Freddy, apparently a little
surprised.
"What?" Freddy asked.
"Nothing," Adrian told him, shrugging her shoulders, "You just seem, I
don't know, much more relaxed now. More normal."
"Because I wasn't normal before." Freddy rolled his eyes.
"Well, if you must know, you weren't," Adrian said, planting her hands on
her hips and looking him directly in the eye. He was about five inches
taller than she was, so she had to look up through her bangs. "You know you
looked at me like I was lower than dirt this morning when we met in the
courtyard."
"All right," Zack said, stepping in between them, "That's enough. I hate to
break off the little love-fest, but we can't stand here forever or we're
going to get busted for being in the halls without passes."
"Which is pretty much the last thing we need," Adrian said, nodding and
beginning to walk backwards down a hallway, still speaking to Freddy and
Zack, "So we're still on for after school, then?"
"Yeah," Zack assured her, "We'll all head over and you can meet Dewey. He's
in charge of our band. Oh, and bring your sticks. He's always excited to
meet a fellow musician."
Suddenly Adrian wasn't grinning anymore.
"Whatever," she muttered gloomily, turning back around and walking more
quickly.
When she turned the corner and was out of sight, Zack turned to Freddy.
"What was that about?"
"She doesn't have any confidence," Freddy said simply.
Zack looked at him. "What?"
"You heard me. She doesn't have any confidence."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Zack said, "She's really good."
"It doesn't matter," Freddy told him, "My guess is that she doesn't exactly
have the most supportive parents in the world. You know, the whole clothes
thing. If they don't even want her to wear jeans, how do you think they
react to her playing the drums?"
"Man," Zack was wide-eyed, "That sucks."
"Yep." Freddy hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders.
"Since when have you become so perceptive anyway?" Zack asked.
"Well, I had a good friend who went through the same thing a few years
ago." Freddy smiled at Zack.
"I love ya, man," Zack grinned as he realized that Freddy was talking about
an almost identical situation back when they were in elementary school.
Zack threw his arms jokingly around Freddy, clamping him in an embrace.
"Ahh, too much love!" Freddy shouted.
"So what are we gonna do?" Zack asked, releasing the blonde boy and growing
suddenly business-like.
"About what?" Freddy asked his friend.
"About Adri. I mean, she's got talent, and it would really be a shame to
let it go to waste just 'cause the chick has been brought up thinking she's
no good at much of anything."
"I agree, it majorly sucks," Freddy said, "But I don't think we're going to
be able to do anything about it ourselves. You've met her. Girl is
stubborn."
They looked at each other for a moment, and then identical grins broke out
over their faces.
"Dewey?" Zack asked.
Freddy nodded. "Dewey."
**********
"Welcome to the School of Rock headquarters!" Zack said, dramatically
throwing the door to Dewey's apartment open.
Freddy, Zack and Adrian stepped into the residence. Freddy and Zack had
just gotten through telling their new friend all about how their band was
started, how Dewey pretended to be a teacher and got them into the Battle
of the Bands back when they didn't even know what rock music was.
"You are going to love him," Zack said enthusiastically.
"I'm so excited!" Adrian gushed. She seemed to have gotten over her bad
mood in the time it had taken to walk to the apartment. "He sounds so cool,
just like an uncle I have!" She pointed to a wall that was covered in
posters picturing The Who, Led Zepplin, and The Ramones. "They even have
the same posters."
"Really, without Dewey I don't know what we'd do," Zack chuckled, "Lawrence
would probably go back to Bach or Beethoven or whatever it is he does."
Freddy laughed as they crossed the threshold into the room that they
practiced in.
"What the..." Zack muttered as his eyes were treated to a very strange sight.
Usually the room was filled to the brim with the kids of School of Rock.
Everyone. Including security, roadies and the like.
"Um." Freddy cocked his head to the side, confused.
Everyone was there all right, but no one was playing or setting up
equipment or anything. In fact, almost everyone was seated on the floor,
holding their heads in their hands.
"Ned?" Zack asked. Even Dewey's roommate and long-time friend was in the
room, which was unusual. At this time of day when the band practiced, Ned
volunteered teaching little kids how to play the guitar. Except that he
wasn't holding a guitar, just his head like everyone else.
Summer rose from the floor and walked quietly over to the trio who had just
shown up.
"Dewey..." she said, her voice a little shaky.
It was only then that Zack and Freddy noticed that not everyone was in the
room. One person was nowhere to be seen.
"Dewey." Summer's eyes were brimming with tears. Zack and Freddy were
amazed. Never, in all the years they had known Summer had they seen her cry
about anything.
But now they were flowing so hard she was practically standing in a puddle.
"Dewey is in the hospital," Summer announced.