A/N : Hi guys!! I'm sorry it's been ages! I just started uni or college if
you'd like. So it's been a kinda busy semester for me. Got a few days rest
now. So that gave me time to put up another chapter. This is kinda like a
chapter for continuity. More about description of the situation rather than
the Ducks' thoughts in detail. Nevertheless I hope everyone will enjoy that
as well! Please R&R !!
Connie + Paranoid
Connie's POV
"I am so totally screwed!!" I cursed as we walked towards the general notice board. A few students looked our way. "Got a problem?" I glared at them. They quickly walked away. I could be mean if I felt like it.
"I can't believe this! Why –" I turned to see Julie grinning silly behind me. "Hello? Jules? Are you with me?" I waved my hands in front of her face.
"Oh," she flushed. For the first time this morning I realized that she wasn't really herself. When we slid into the car this morning I'd noticed she'd forgotten to put on her socks just before we pulled away from the drive. Halfway through school she suddenly said she'd forgotten her tie and we had to go back to get it.
"Have you listened to a word I said?" I asked her. She flushed again. Obviously not.
"Well, no one's going to sign up if you act like that," she said helpfully as I glared at a girl who had knocked askew the flyers I was carrying.
Who cares? I thought as we bent to pick them up. I'm already in trouble. Early that morning during the first period, Ms. Jamison came by and asked to speak to me outside the classroom. She was the teacher in-charge of our dance club. If I'd expected anything, it wasn't what she had told me then. She said I'd been made the leader of the dance section for our school concert this year because Melanie, a senior who was in-charge had transferred away over the holidays and as assistant it "only made sense" that I took over. I'd been disappointed when I'd only come in second to Melanie last year during the committee elections but now, I'd give anything to have her back. The last time I counted, it was only about 5 weeks away from opening night and I had ZERO plans for the dance performances we, or should I say SHE was suppose to prepare. Other than that I had no dancers, well, not counting the old ones which only added up to 15 or 16 and I needed at least 25 for the 4 routines. I had barely 4 weeks before rehearsals and I had yet to hold tryouts.
"Argh! Replacing her is going to be a nightmare!" I growled as I pinned the notice on the board with a push pin. "No, wait. It IS a nightmare!" I corrected. "Julie..," I said slowly and looked at her earnestly.
"Oh no you don't. No no no no no," she started and held up her hands. "No way. I can't Connie. I'm already on the backdrop design committee. Sorry," she said.
"But you have to help me!" I wailed. "There are like, 40 of you doing that dumb backdrop. Come on.. please.. pretty please?" I begged. Then I reminded her, "It'll increase your chances of becoming a prefect." I knew she'd dreamed of becoming head girl this year. It's just one of the things on her list of "be top student", "get model student award" and all that.
"First of all, it's NOT dumb. Second, I'm going to audition for a part in the play. And third, I've got two left feet if you haven't noticed already," she pointed out. I stopped at that. She was right. I'd forgotten that tiny little fact. Believe it or not, Julie was pretty uncoordinated on the dance floor. To think she'd be a great dancer with her skills on the ice. People are built like that I guess. But Julie is near perfect. Anyhow, I knew she had a point.
"Ok, ok. But you promise to come watch the tryouts on Thursday?" I asked. "I need you to keep the guys in order," I pleaded.
"Alright, alright, anything to make Luis ticked off," she agreed and smiled. Yes, believe it or not. Luis happens to be one of the regular dancers. Other than him, Ken and Guy were also in the group. All three of them were pretty good. Of course, I was better. That's why I'm the leader. I sighed as the bell rang signaling the end of recess. I gathered the rest of the flyers back to class. Yeah, I'm the leader alright. And I'm cursed.
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Luis' POV
"Luis!" I heard a voice call out behind me. I turned around. Connie was booting down the stairs. When she caught up with me she took in a few deep breaths. Ok. Now this has got to be good, I thought.
"Ok –" I opened my mouth to say something.
"No! Not ok! Do you realize what this means? I'm doomed! We'll never be ready! Please tell me you're free Wednesday afternoon?" she said all in one breath. I stopped in front of the classroom door and stared at her quizzically.
"Uh? Connie? What are you going on about here? You paranoid or something? Ready for what? It's only the second week of school. No reason to get all worked up. We don't even have that much homework anyway," I shrugged and went into the classroom. She followed me hurriedly to her seat which was behind mine.
"That's not the point. You know when Ms. Jamison asked to see me this morning?" she started and looked at me expectantly.
"And?" I prompted using my hands. Sheesh, I swear she's getting more paranoid everyday. I always wondered how Guy used to deal with that.
"And??! And?!? And! She made ME captain!" she practically screamed.
NOW I was really confused. "That's a good thing right? Of course, I don't understand why she did that-," she glared at me, "only because Melanie's captain," I finished quickly.
"That's BECAUSE Melanie transferred over the summer and we have less than 4 weeks to come up with something that isn't going to embarrass us in front of the stupid school committee!"
Ok. Now I knew she is completely paranoid. And not to add the fact that now the entire class including Lorraine who was sitting beside me, was staring at us. We were just lucky that the teacher isn't here yet.
"Shhh.. ok.. shh.." I grabbed her arms to keep them from shaking. "Ok.. take a deep breath," I instructed. She sucked in a deep breath. In and out, in and out.
Just then the teacher came in and everyone else scrambled back into their seats. "Have you told the others?" I asked her as the class greeted the teacher. She shook her head in reply.
I said to her, "Ok, we'll figure this out later." Somehow.
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Guy's POV
I looked up from my textbook when someone knocked at the door. Ok. Every head in the classroom was focusing on the door. It opened. And.. Connie?? She had an 'Oh No' look on her face when she saw who the teacher was. Another head popped out behind her. Luis? Huh? I know for the fact that Connie can't stand Luis because.. well.. she thinks he's a pervert.
Mrs. Gardner, our History teacher was glaring at them from the blackboard. "Yes?" she asked. She hated being interrupted lessons. That's why the class is always deathly quiet during her period.
Connie gulped. "Ermm.. can we see Guy Germaine and Kenny Wu please?" she asked nervously, almost in a whisper.
"Speak up young lady. I can't hear you," came the reply. More scribbling on the board. She wasn't even looking at them now. How rude! I thought.
"I SAID COU-," she began but Luis covered her mouth immediately because Mrs. Gardner had looked over at the loud tone.
"Actually, she meant if we could please see Guy Germaine and Kenny Wu? It won't take a second, we promise. It's an emergency," Luis said sweetly and smiled that sickening smile he saved for girls. Oh boy. He's going to get it now.
To my surprise, Mrs. Gardner returned his smile! Oh wow.. that's.. unbelievable. Obviously that smiled worked on older women too. I really have to ask him for some pointers I thought as I got up from my seat. Ken followed behind.
"What's up?" I asked curiously as the door closed behind us. Connie opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead she just went red in the face, like she was about to burst.
"Ok, nevermind. I'll tell them," said Luis and he started explaining, "Melanie transferred over the summer."
"Who's Melanie?" Ken asked. Oops. Wrong question.
Connie glared at him, "Who is MELANIE?"
I could see several heads turn our way through the classroom window.
"Look, you've got to calm down. I don't see what the big problem is here. You've got some ideas right?" I asked her. She didn't answer me.
"Right?" I looked at Luis. He pursed his lips in a tight line and looked at me like a school teacher would look at an 18 year old who didn't know his tables.
"I see.." I said slowly, "Ummm.. how long do we have?" I asked. I didn't want to hear what I knew was coming. I wish Kenny would say something but he seemed deathly quiet. Like he didn't know what to say to that.
"4 weeks!" Connie yelled. She IS paranoid.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" several people hissed from inside the classroom. I caught sight of Adam's face. He raised his eyebrows as if to ask 'What's going on?'
I signaled 'Not right now'. Then Julie pulled him into a whispered conversation, waving her hands frantically.
I turned my attention back to Connie. She was breathing deeply in and out under Luis' instructions. He looked back up at us.
"We have tryouts tomorrow. In the gym. 2 on the dot. Can you guys make it?" he stared at us intently and pointedly back at Connie who was still slowly doing breath counts with her eyes shut.
"Yeah, sure," I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my trousers. Ken just nodded numbly. I think he'd gone mute.
At times like this, I had a lot to say. And I guess others just go dumb. However everyone else might react, I hope this news doesn't scare the others off. We're in a big enough trouble as it is.
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Ken's POV
I still could not register what Connie had just told us. I walked blindly back to my seat and sat down in a daze. I stole a glance at Guy. He was strangely calm. Well, for a time like this that is.
When the news sank in I knew all my plans were wrecked. Gone. Finished. I couldn't tell Connie I wasn't on planning to join the team this year. Now I decided, I'd rather face a pack of lions than tell her that. She was obviously not very stable right now and that is putting it mildly. If I get lucky she might just kill me quickly instead of drawing it out longer. But I won't find out I guess. There's no way I can let her know now if I know what's good for me.
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A/N : What do you guys think of the three guys I've put in the dance thingy? Is it just stupid (like, what the heck?) or different? =) Ok.. so I'm thinking now. Should Kenny quit? Let me know in the reviews!
Connie + Paranoid
Connie's POV
"I am so totally screwed!!" I cursed as we walked towards the general notice board. A few students looked our way. "Got a problem?" I glared at them. They quickly walked away. I could be mean if I felt like it.
"I can't believe this! Why –" I turned to see Julie grinning silly behind me. "Hello? Jules? Are you with me?" I waved my hands in front of her face.
"Oh," she flushed. For the first time this morning I realized that she wasn't really herself. When we slid into the car this morning I'd noticed she'd forgotten to put on her socks just before we pulled away from the drive. Halfway through school she suddenly said she'd forgotten her tie and we had to go back to get it.
"Have you listened to a word I said?" I asked her. She flushed again. Obviously not.
"Well, no one's going to sign up if you act like that," she said helpfully as I glared at a girl who had knocked askew the flyers I was carrying.
Who cares? I thought as we bent to pick them up. I'm already in trouble. Early that morning during the first period, Ms. Jamison came by and asked to speak to me outside the classroom. She was the teacher in-charge of our dance club. If I'd expected anything, it wasn't what she had told me then. She said I'd been made the leader of the dance section for our school concert this year because Melanie, a senior who was in-charge had transferred away over the holidays and as assistant it "only made sense" that I took over. I'd been disappointed when I'd only come in second to Melanie last year during the committee elections but now, I'd give anything to have her back. The last time I counted, it was only about 5 weeks away from opening night and I had ZERO plans for the dance performances we, or should I say SHE was suppose to prepare. Other than that I had no dancers, well, not counting the old ones which only added up to 15 or 16 and I needed at least 25 for the 4 routines. I had barely 4 weeks before rehearsals and I had yet to hold tryouts.
"Argh! Replacing her is going to be a nightmare!" I growled as I pinned the notice on the board with a push pin. "No, wait. It IS a nightmare!" I corrected. "Julie..," I said slowly and looked at her earnestly.
"Oh no you don't. No no no no no," she started and held up her hands. "No way. I can't Connie. I'm already on the backdrop design committee. Sorry," she said.
"But you have to help me!" I wailed. "There are like, 40 of you doing that dumb backdrop. Come on.. please.. pretty please?" I begged. Then I reminded her, "It'll increase your chances of becoming a prefect." I knew she'd dreamed of becoming head girl this year. It's just one of the things on her list of "be top student", "get model student award" and all that.
"First of all, it's NOT dumb. Second, I'm going to audition for a part in the play. And third, I've got two left feet if you haven't noticed already," she pointed out. I stopped at that. She was right. I'd forgotten that tiny little fact. Believe it or not, Julie was pretty uncoordinated on the dance floor. To think she'd be a great dancer with her skills on the ice. People are built like that I guess. But Julie is near perfect. Anyhow, I knew she had a point.
"Ok, ok. But you promise to come watch the tryouts on Thursday?" I asked. "I need you to keep the guys in order," I pleaded.
"Alright, alright, anything to make Luis ticked off," she agreed and smiled. Yes, believe it or not. Luis happens to be one of the regular dancers. Other than him, Ken and Guy were also in the group. All three of them were pretty good. Of course, I was better. That's why I'm the leader. I sighed as the bell rang signaling the end of recess. I gathered the rest of the flyers back to class. Yeah, I'm the leader alright. And I'm cursed.
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Luis' POV
"Luis!" I heard a voice call out behind me. I turned around. Connie was booting down the stairs. When she caught up with me she took in a few deep breaths. Ok. Now this has got to be good, I thought.
"Ok –" I opened my mouth to say something.
"No! Not ok! Do you realize what this means? I'm doomed! We'll never be ready! Please tell me you're free Wednesday afternoon?" she said all in one breath. I stopped in front of the classroom door and stared at her quizzically.
"Uh? Connie? What are you going on about here? You paranoid or something? Ready for what? It's only the second week of school. No reason to get all worked up. We don't even have that much homework anyway," I shrugged and went into the classroom. She followed me hurriedly to her seat which was behind mine.
"That's not the point. You know when Ms. Jamison asked to see me this morning?" she started and looked at me expectantly.
"And?" I prompted using my hands. Sheesh, I swear she's getting more paranoid everyday. I always wondered how Guy used to deal with that.
"And??! And?!? And! She made ME captain!" she practically screamed.
NOW I was really confused. "That's a good thing right? Of course, I don't understand why she did that-," she glared at me, "only because Melanie's captain," I finished quickly.
"That's BECAUSE Melanie transferred over the summer and we have less than 4 weeks to come up with something that isn't going to embarrass us in front of the stupid school committee!"
Ok. Now I knew she is completely paranoid. And not to add the fact that now the entire class including Lorraine who was sitting beside me, was staring at us. We were just lucky that the teacher isn't here yet.
"Shhh.. ok.. shh.." I grabbed her arms to keep them from shaking. "Ok.. take a deep breath," I instructed. She sucked in a deep breath. In and out, in and out.
Just then the teacher came in and everyone else scrambled back into their seats. "Have you told the others?" I asked her as the class greeted the teacher. She shook her head in reply.
I said to her, "Ok, we'll figure this out later." Somehow.
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Guy's POV
I looked up from my textbook when someone knocked at the door. Ok. Every head in the classroom was focusing on the door. It opened. And.. Connie?? She had an 'Oh No' look on her face when she saw who the teacher was. Another head popped out behind her. Luis? Huh? I know for the fact that Connie can't stand Luis because.. well.. she thinks he's a pervert.
Mrs. Gardner, our History teacher was glaring at them from the blackboard. "Yes?" she asked. She hated being interrupted lessons. That's why the class is always deathly quiet during her period.
Connie gulped. "Ermm.. can we see Guy Germaine and Kenny Wu please?" she asked nervously, almost in a whisper.
"Speak up young lady. I can't hear you," came the reply. More scribbling on the board. She wasn't even looking at them now. How rude! I thought.
"I SAID COU-," she began but Luis covered her mouth immediately because Mrs. Gardner had looked over at the loud tone.
"Actually, she meant if we could please see Guy Germaine and Kenny Wu? It won't take a second, we promise. It's an emergency," Luis said sweetly and smiled that sickening smile he saved for girls. Oh boy. He's going to get it now.
To my surprise, Mrs. Gardner returned his smile! Oh wow.. that's.. unbelievable. Obviously that smiled worked on older women too. I really have to ask him for some pointers I thought as I got up from my seat. Ken followed behind.
"What's up?" I asked curiously as the door closed behind us. Connie opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead she just went red in the face, like she was about to burst.
"Ok, nevermind. I'll tell them," said Luis and he started explaining, "Melanie transferred over the summer."
"Who's Melanie?" Ken asked. Oops. Wrong question.
Connie glared at him, "Who is MELANIE?"
I could see several heads turn our way through the classroom window.
"Look, you've got to calm down. I don't see what the big problem is here. You've got some ideas right?" I asked her. She didn't answer me.
"Right?" I looked at Luis. He pursed his lips in a tight line and looked at me like a school teacher would look at an 18 year old who didn't know his tables.
"I see.." I said slowly, "Ummm.. how long do we have?" I asked. I didn't want to hear what I knew was coming. I wish Kenny would say something but he seemed deathly quiet. Like he didn't know what to say to that.
"4 weeks!" Connie yelled. She IS paranoid.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" several people hissed from inside the classroom. I caught sight of Adam's face. He raised his eyebrows as if to ask 'What's going on?'
I signaled 'Not right now'. Then Julie pulled him into a whispered conversation, waving her hands frantically.
I turned my attention back to Connie. She was breathing deeply in and out under Luis' instructions. He looked back up at us.
"We have tryouts tomorrow. In the gym. 2 on the dot. Can you guys make it?" he stared at us intently and pointedly back at Connie who was still slowly doing breath counts with her eyes shut.
"Yeah, sure," I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my trousers. Ken just nodded numbly. I think he'd gone mute.
At times like this, I had a lot to say. And I guess others just go dumb. However everyone else might react, I hope this news doesn't scare the others off. We're in a big enough trouble as it is.
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Ken's POV
I still could not register what Connie had just told us. I walked blindly back to my seat and sat down in a daze. I stole a glance at Guy. He was strangely calm. Well, for a time like this that is.
When the news sank in I knew all my plans were wrecked. Gone. Finished. I couldn't tell Connie I wasn't on planning to join the team this year. Now I decided, I'd rather face a pack of lions than tell her that. She was obviously not very stable right now and that is putting it mildly. If I get lucky she might just kill me quickly instead of drawing it out longer. But I won't find out I guess. There's no way I can let her know now if I know what's good for me.
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A/N : What do you guys think of the three guys I've put in the dance thingy? Is it just stupid (like, what the heck?) or different? =) Ok.. so I'm thinking now. Should Kenny quit? Let me know in the reviews!