AlannaBanana: Thanks! This is a cute story, isn't it? Lol!
Lilly: Yay, I'm evil! :)
The fourth wheel: Wonderful, huh? Thanks!
Speff-spiff: Yeah, it is sad about Freddy's sister. . .poor Lisa. . .
Purple wind: Thank you!
Mrskevinclark: Wow. Not just great. Not just really great. And not even really, really great. Really, really, really, really, really, really, really great!!!!! High compliments indeed!
Aldariel: That's okay! Thanks for commenting on all those little things in Katie's point of view - I was very proud of that piece! About your prelude idea (thingie-mi-jiger? Lol!), I've decided I'm almost certainly going to write it. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait until after this story is done! Sorry!
Kaos: OH MY GOD. Your story "Save My Soul" is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!! You HAVE to update it - and soon!!!
Cursed Parking Garage: Oh you poor thing. How did you manage to hit your head? BTW if you cross everything like that, you might not get untangled again in time for the next chapter!
FrozenFlames: Thank you so much for the wonderful review!
Chisara Notell: Lol, you're not weird! You were meant to focus on 'poor Katie'!
Nessa's Ruby Slippers: Great name! I like the sound of chocolate. . .and there is a possible Katie/Freddy pairing fic that I am aware of. . . .it's called An Angel To Change An Angel and it's by FaeryPaperPrincess. It's really good, so go check it out!
Wistful Gypsy: Your guesses weren't dorky, they were a little. . .hmm, shall we just say eccentric?!?!?!?!? LOL!
Funkychicken_cluck_cluck: Published? Er no, I don't think so! People like LAXgirl and Deana, they're the sort of amazingly talented writers who get stuff published! I'm not quite up to that kind of standard! But thank you anyway!
XXxSarahxXx: Thank you!
Megan aka Mystere: Thank you SO MUCH for writing to FF.net about the School of Rock category! I am now entirely in your debt!!!!!
High five: I hope I don't make it too angsty then! Thanks for reviewing!
Adriane: :) Thank you! I hope he's okay as well. . .you never know what kind of mood my muse is in!
JessieRose: Wow, thank you for your great review!
Picklesniper: Yay! I get a cookie! Is it chocolate-chip? LOL
Celebrian Arcamenal: Yay! I'm evil! BTW, was that really a cliff-hanger???
Disclaimer: No. . .I don't own anything. . .sob. Sob. Sob. Oh well. . .maybe one day! *daydreams about her and Freddy. . .*
You'd Better Get Me To School On Time: chapter 5
Riiiiiing. Riiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiing. "G'way," Katie mumbled into her pillow. Riiiiiing! "I said, go away," she hissed. Riiiiiing! CRUNCH. The alarm clock lay on the floor, no longer ringing. "Oh dear. . .I broke it. Never mind." She lay back down, facing the wall this time, snuggled underneath the bedcovers.
Riiiiiing! What the hell. . .she thought. "I thought I broke you," she snapped, turning over and glaring at the alarm clock. Riiiiiing! "Apparently not."
"Katie!" Her mother yelled from the hall. "Phone for you! It's Summer!" Ah, so that's what it was.
"I'm gonna get changed first mum - tell her I'll call her back."
"Okay!" Katie could hear her mum talking to Summer, then a few seconds later, there was a click as she put the phone back on the hook. Katie picked the clock up. 9.15 am.
"Why is she ringing so early?" Then - "Oh! The competition! I forgot. . ." She went over to her wardrobe, and pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt. She'd change into her competition outfit later. Tugging a brush through her hair, she left her room and went out into the hall.
"Morning sweetie," her mum said.
"Morning mum," Katie replied, putting her brush down and picking up the phone. "What did Summer want?" She asked, punching in Summer's number.
"She didn't say." Katie shrugged. "How's Freddy?" Katie froze with her thumb over the last number. "Katie?" Katie put the phone down.
"I forgot about that. . .oh God, how could I forget?"
"Come on. Come and sit down, have some breakfast, and you can tell me about it, okay?"
"Okay." She allowed herself to led to the kitchen, where she sat down at the table. Her mum busied herself filling two bowls with cereal and milk, before she sat opposite her daughter.
"So, what happened?" Her mum asked gently.
"Do you mean everything, or just the minor details?" Katie asked with a weak smile. Her mum smiled back. "Well. . .we were at band practise and everyone was with Summer because she'd said that we apparently weren't on the list. . .I asked Freddy to help tune my bass guitar. He looked really ill, and I told him that - then we kinda started arguing about it. ."
* * * * *
"You're ill!"
"No, I'm not."
"Freddy. . ."
* * * * *
"Then what happened?"
"He collapsed. It was like - oh, I don't know - he was saying something to me and then. . .he just fell. I don't really remember it to be honest," she continued. "I was just so scared for him. I do remember him waking up though - then he passed out again."
"I'm guessing that's when you took him to hospital then."
"Yeah. He had a really, really bad fever as well. . .and I think that it must have made him delirious or something. . ." Her mum frowned.
"Why's that?"
"Well, he started saying something over and over again. . .it was. . .he - I -"
"Katie?" Katie looked up from the swirl patterns that had been painted onto the tabletop.
"He kept saying Lisa." Her mum looked confused for a minute, then it dawned on her.
"Oh my goodness. . .that poor boy." Katie sniffled and wiped away a stray tear. "Don't cry sweetie."
"Sorry." Her mum put a box on tissues on the table. Katie took one and blew her nose. "And then we got to the hospital - and the doctors took him. . .and I was so scared for him. . .I still am! They said they'd come and tell us what was wrong. . .but they didn't - I mean, because we had to go. . .we left him there on his own!" She wailed.
"Hey, hey, hey." Her mum took her hand. "Don't think like that. You didn't leave him there alone, did you? I mean, his parents were there. And the doctors will take good care of him. They'll find out what's wrong, and he'll be okay." Katie smiled weakly again.
"I guess. Thanks mum."
"That's okay. Now, I think you'd better go and call Summer, don't you?" Katie nodded, then jumped down from the table out to the hall, where she quickly punched in Summer's number.
"Hello?"
"Summer?"
"Katie! I've been waiting for ages!"
"Yeah, sorry, I've been talking to my mum," she replied, winding the phone cord around her finger. "What did you want to talk to me about anyway?"
"Dewey thought we should get together and -"
"What's the point? We can't do the competition, can we?"
"If you would let me finish," Summer said pompously. Katie fell silent. "Thank you. Anyway, like I was saying, he thought we should get together and, you know. . . .see if there's anything we can do about the competition."
"Oh."
"And swing past the hospital - see what's up with Freddy."
"Okay. I'm in."
"All right. See you at Dewey's in. . .half an hour?"
"Sure. See you there."
"Bye." Katie hung up, and dived into her room to grab her bag, into which she flung her competition outfit, purse and keys. Pulling on her trainers and jacket, she ran out of the house at breakneck speed, only stopping to yell 'goodbye' at her mum.
*~*~*~*~*
Katie knocked lightly on the door. Dewey opened it.
"Hey Katie," he said. "Come in. Everyone else is already here." Katie walked inside as Dewey closed the door.
"Hi Katie," everyone chorused.
"Hey," she replied, sitting beside Tomika on the sofa.
"Why are we all here?" Zack asked, yawning widely. "I mean - we can't exactly do the competition, can we? We haven't got a drummer. . ."
"I know," Dewey replied quietly. "But I thought that maybe if we go to the hall anyway, we could see if there's anything we can do about it. . .and maybe swing past the hospital. . .see if Freddy's okay." They exchanged looks.
"Well, I'm definitely in," Katie said, slightly louder than what was necessary. "I don't care about the competition, but I want to see if Freddy's all right."
"Me too," Zack agreed.
"What about the rest of you?" Dewey asked.
"I think we all want to see how he is," Lawrence said.
"Everyone's in?"
"YES!" They all yelled.
"Okay, okay! Right. . .let's go." Everyone got up and filed down the stairs, eager to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, and see if Freddy was okay. . .
*~*~*~*~*
The hospital was too bright, Katie decided. Too white. White walls, white floors, white ceilings, white coats, white lights. . .it made her eyes ache. The only thing that stood out were the horrible orange plastic chairs they were sitting on. It wasn't just the colour that made them stand out, but the people sitting on them. Sad people. Scared people. People waiting for news.
"People like us," she thought out loud.
"Huh?" Katie looked up to see Marta staring at her.
"Sorry. Don't worry about it. I was just talking to myself." Marta raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, she sat up straight. Katie looked to see the female doctor from the day before standing in front of them.
"You were the people that came in with Freddy Jones yesterday, right?" She asked. They nodded.
"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" Alicia asked, worry showing in her eyes.
"He has a serious case of the flu," the doctor started.
"The FLU?!?!?!?" Zack said loudly, making the others jump. "No way. . .I mean. . .he was way more ill that that." The doctor smiled at him.
"He does have a very serious case of it," she repeated. "And his fever is still quite high. . ."
"But he is okay, right?" Tomika asked, looking very concerned. "I mean. . .he is going to be okay, right?"
"Hopefully." Alicia and Marta exchanged a worried glance. Hopefully? Katie zoned out completely. Hopefully? Hopefully? What was that supposed to mean?
"Hey." Katie jumped as Dewey lay a hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry. Are we going now?"
"The doctor said we could visit him for a few minutes." Katie's face visibly brightened. "Come on." The band trooped down the matching white hallways, led by the doctor, until they came to a stop outside a - what else? - white door. The doctor smiled and stepped aside.
"You can go in now. But please keep in mind that he's very ill - so please keep quiet." She opened the door for them, and they quietly stepped inside. . .
A/N: Hahahaha! A sort-of cliff-hanger! Well, I have some very sad news for you all - my brother is home from university, which means I won't be able to update NEARLY as often as I'd like. Hey, I'm not about to argue with him - he's twenty-one, over six foot tall, and he's in the frickin' army! So, I'm really sorry - but I promise I will try my best!!!!!!