Disclaimer: School of Rock and its characters do not belong to me.
Author's notes: First I must thank everyone for their great reviews. They are much appreciated. Second, to all Freddy fans out there, I apologize. This chapter doesn't present him in a great light. Things will get better for him, I'm just not going to tell you when.
Ch1
Summer was singing. Not a happy tune, but not really sad. This was a now a common occurrence when she was alone or just with Zack in their safe house, which was a tree house. At age 12 Zack had discovered Summer really could sing, and had done bad on purpose when they first met Dewey. She had decided to stay out of the actual band. That way when her mother found out things would go easier on her. Now nearly 14, she was still only the manager of School of Rock, but was happy being out of the spotlight.
Zack sat across from her, strumming an unknown melody on his acoustic guitar that remained in the tree house. Summer was now one of his best friends. They had started unofficially dating at 11, when he had first kissed her. Now both had agreed they were official boyfriend and girlfriend, but were to keep it from everyone. The pact they had made when 11 was still in tact. Both knew if one of them wanted to tell about what went on at their home, the other would go and tell about theirs.
Summer finally stopped singing and looked at Zack. "What's that song?"
Zack shrugged, placing the guitar beside him. "Just something I've been working on. Don't have any lyrics for it yet though."
Summer pulled out her notebook from a navy backpack. "I have a poem, it sounds a lot like that. Well, you get what I mean. If you like it, we could alter it. I think it would go pretty well with that accompaniment." She opened the notebook to the right page and handed it to him, nervous. She often gave Zack ideas for his songs. It was how they worked. She'd help him with the idea, and he'd end up writing it out. This was the first time she had shown him something of her own.
This didn't surprise her. She was the brains of the operation of the band. Not one of the more artistic members. It was her job to arrange the gigs. Make sure people could get to rehearsals. This included her and Zack. She created the ruse to tell her mom and Zack's dad to be able to get to band practice. They thought she and Zack studied at the library together everyday after school. This had been their excuse for two years. She was proud of it.
Zack looked up. "This is really good. When were you gonna tell me you could write like this?"
"About two minutes ago when I handed it to you." She paused. "Do you really like it?"
"Yeah. I mean, its a bit dark, but so is the song. Besides, we need some serious songs."
"You want to use this?"
"Yeah. You remember Dewey's rule. No secret songs. Is that a problem?"
"Well, no, but its really based on me and you. What if someone figures it out?"
Zack moved so he was sitting next to Summer. "Its gonna be your song too. You can decide when you're ready to share it." He glanced at his watch. "We better head over to Dewey's. Practice starts in half an hour."
§ § §
In the mornings before school started it was not an uncommon occurrence for the seventh, soon to be eighth, graders of West Hedging Middle School to be talking outside by one of the many large oak trees on the grounds. The band had an unofficial claim on one tree, and most students knew it was theirs. But Zack Mooneyham knew that today he wouldn't find Summer with the band, because yesterday was Wednesday. While this didn't mean much to most, it did to Summer. Wednesday was one of the days that Summer's mother always brought someone home to cheat on her father with. Though Summer always knew this was coming, and was now used to it, she was still always a bit down about it the next day.
Summer was in her usual place after these days, the classroom. When it got closer to summer nobody went there early, so for Summer, it was the logical choice.
Zack walked in quietly and sat next to her. "Hey, Summer."
Summer looked up, a hollow look in her eyes. "Hey."
"I'm guessing last night didn't go so well."
"No it was fine. As fine as it can be anyway. Besides, did you see me at the tree house?" Summer noticed Zack's doubt.
"It doesn't look fine."
Summer didn't respond for a while. "Do you remember when we were first friends? Back when we were six?"
Zack gave a small laugh. "Yeah. You taught me to read, because my dad didn't care. And I taught you to tie your shoes."
"I didn't like the name Zack so I refused to call you anything but just Z. And what was it you called me?"
"Mermer." Zack inserted. "We were inseparable back then. But then you had to go and get cooties in the third grade."
Before they could continue, the bell rang. Students began flooding into the classroom, and Zack went back to his regular seat. Students were still chatting about the latest gossip, when the teacher didn't show up, and Summer took her usual practice of opening her book. Soon though, their principle, Mr. Haskins, entered the room. "Good morning class."
"Good morning Mr. Haskins." The class droned dully.
Haskins smiled broadly, as if this was a great achievement. "Class, your regular teacher, Mr. Morris, has taken ill and will not be here for the rest of the week. I was unable to find a substitute for today, so instead of your regular classes, you will be watching a documentary about abuse, and what to do if you suspect someone is being abused, or abusing themselves."
Marta was the first to raise her hand. "I think we watched this in the fifth grade."
Mr. Haskins nodded. "You might have. However, this is the type of thing that should always be fresh in your mind. The first segment of the video is about abuse from family members, whether it be mental, physical, or sexual. Does anyone have any questions while we wait for the AV equipment?"
§ § §
"Man, if that documentary wasn't the most pointless thing I've ever seen." Freddy sat down underneath the oak tree as school let out. The rest of the band surrounded him. "If in another two years I have to waste my time on that, I'm skipping school."
"What are you talking about?" Summer challenged. "That stuff's important. Just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean its pointless."
"It does at this school." Freddy shrugged. "No one here's getting beat up."
Summer glared. "First of all, you don't have to get beat up to get abused. Second, how the hell would you know if anyone's getting abused?"
"No one's said anything."
"So that means it's not happening? Didn't you pay any attention to that movie? Only one in three people report abuse when confronted with it." It was clear Summer was getting angry.
Freddy stood back up, leering. "If they don't report it, what are we supposed to do? We can't do anything. It's a waste of time to even be talking about it."
Freddy was barely finished with his sentence when Summer slapped him across the face. "Maybe you could get off your lazy ass and help someone! If you had an inkling of intelligence in that thick skull of yours you'd recognize a lot of those signs the video was telling us about in some of your friends! But the great drummer Freddy Jones doesn't have that inkling of intelligence, does he?! His lame ass thoughts consist of girls and rock and roll. That's it!" Summer stopped yelling for a moment, and spoke in a colder tone. "Stop acting like an ignorant bastard and join the real world." When the sentence was over, she stormed off, icily.
Freddy put a hand to his cheek. "What just happened?"
"I think Summer blew a gasket." Tomeka exhaled. "Never seen her swear before."
"I have once." Katie admitted. "But nothing like that. And she slapped someone. That's so...un-Summer-like."
"Maybe someone should go talk to her." Marta looked down the path concerned. "She was really upset."
Zack quickly volunteered. "I'll go. See you guys in an hour for band." He quickly took off down the path.
Freddy was still rubbing his cheek. "Damn. That friggin hurt."
Alicia smacked him upside the head. "Good."
Freddy turned to face Alicia. "What was that for?"
"I think Summer said it best. For being an ignorant bastard."
"Don't tell me you're taking her side." Freddy groaned.
"We don't take sides in the band." Katie pointed out. "We're just expressing a quick opinion. However, I'm sure if you don't apologize to Summer rather quickly, Zack just might be breaking that rule."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Marta smirked. "Never mind. Idiot." The girls all laughed.
Freddy sent a confused glance Lawrence's way. Lawrence, who had remained quiet throughout the scene said nothing. "Let's get to Dewey's and hang out."
§ § §
Summer sat on the elementary school playground swing, near tears when Zack approached her. Already her angry streak had ended and she was now upset. "Summer, are you OK?" He asked gently, kneeling in front of the swing.
"No." Summer stood and began pacing. "Freddy was just being his usual idiotic self and I exploded. I slapped him, and swore at him. If this gets back to my mother I'll be in so much trouble. And what if I'm turning into my mother? Already. I don't want to be like her. Ever. If I snap at someone who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about, what's going to happen when someone who does makes me angry?" Zack stood as she ranted. Soon she found herself in his arms sobbing.
"Hey Mermer, it's gonna be OK." Zack soothed, rubbing her back lightly with one hand. "You aren't going to turn into your mother. You are too smart, and kind, and beautiful to do that. And nobody in the band is going to be talking to their parents about this. Freddy's too embarrassed. He got put down by a girl. Everything's going to be OK Mermer, I promise. This will all be blown over by rehearsal."
Summer pulled back wiping her face. "And what if it's not Z?"
He smiled when she used his old nickname. "Then I'll owe you another charm for your bracelet."
"You've already given me five."
"There's always more room on that thing." Zack paused. "Are you gonna be OK?"
Summer nodded. "I want to show the band the song."
It had been three days since they had combined his music and her poem, and they had spent a lot of time in the tree house, working on it. "Are you sure? I don't want you to think you have to just because we finished it."
"No. I'm ready. It's time to let them hear it."
"OK, I'll ask Dewey if I can show it to the band when we get there."
"Thanks. You know, I don't think I would have made it this long if we hadn't become friends again."
"What do you mean?"
"Before Dewey made the band and really brought us together, I was... thinking about doing things. Things that would be considered dangerous."
"Things?" Zack was clearly nervous. He had never heard about this, and had thought Summer had told him mostly everything about her situation.
"Cutting, suicide." Summer rattled off, looking at her charm bracelet nervously. "I was just so miserable. I didn't have friends, my dad didn't even know I was alive and my mom beat me up. I really thought I didn't have a purpose to be on the planet. Then, the band happened and so did we. It really turned me around. Well, kinda. My parental situation is the same. But I have friends now. That helps."
"I-I don't know what to say." Zack stammered, his eyes wide.
"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to thank you."
"You're welcome."
That's the end of that chapter. I hope you like it as much as you liked the prologue. Coming up next chapter, we finally get to see Dewey, and "hear" the song Summer and Zack have worked on. It will cause quite the stir in the group.
Random Quote of the Day: "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut." – Ernest Hemingway
And now, a final thank you to my reviewers.
ILuVkEvInClArK
Swimmerkitti
Phish Food
Xo Miss Riley Xo
writerdude3000
Author's notes: First I must thank everyone for their great reviews. They are much appreciated. Second, to all Freddy fans out there, I apologize. This chapter doesn't present him in a great light. Things will get better for him, I'm just not going to tell you when.
Ch1
Summer was singing. Not a happy tune, but not really sad. This was a now a common occurrence when she was alone or just with Zack in their safe house, which was a tree house. At age 12 Zack had discovered Summer really could sing, and had done bad on purpose when they first met Dewey. She had decided to stay out of the actual band. That way when her mother found out things would go easier on her. Now nearly 14, she was still only the manager of School of Rock, but was happy being out of the spotlight.
Zack sat across from her, strumming an unknown melody on his acoustic guitar that remained in the tree house. Summer was now one of his best friends. They had started unofficially dating at 11, when he had first kissed her. Now both had agreed they were official boyfriend and girlfriend, but were to keep it from everyone. The pact they had made when 11 was still in tact. Both knew if one of them wanted to tell about what went on at their home, the other would go and tell about theirs.
Summer finally stopped singing and looked at Zack. "What's that song?"
Zack shrugged, placing the guitar beside him. "Just something I've been working on. Don't have any lyrics for it yet though."
Summer pulled out her notebook from a navy backpack. "I have a poem, it sounds a lot like that. Well, you get what I mean. If you like it, we could alter it. I think it would go pretty well with that accompaniment." She opened the notebook to the right page and handed it to him, nervous. She often gave Zack ideas for his songs. It was how they worked. She'd help him with the idea, and he'd end up writing it out. This was the first time she had shown him something of her own.
This didn't surprise her. She was the brains of the operation of the band. Not one of the more artistic members. It was her job to arrange the gigs. Make sure people could get to rehearsals. This included her and Zack. She created the ruse to tell her mom and Zack's dad to be able to get to band practice. They thought she and Zack studied at the library together everyday after school. This had been their excuse for two years. She was proud of it.
Zack looked up. "This is really good. When were you gonna tell me you could write like this?"
"About two minutes ago when I handed it to you." She paused. "Do you really like it?"
"Yeah. I mean, its a bit dark, but so is the song. Besides, we need some serious songs."
"You want to use this?"
"Yeah. You remember Dewey's rule. No secret songs. Is that a problem?"
"Well, no, but its really based on me and you. What if someone figures it out?"
Zack moved so he was sitting next to Summer. "Its gonna be your song too. You can decide when you're ready to share it." He glanced at his watch. "We better head over to Dewey's. Practice starts in half an hour."
§ § §
In the mornings before school started it was not an uncommon occurrence for the seventh, soon to be eighth, graders of West Hedging Middle School to be talking outside by one of the many large oak trees on the grounds. The band had an unofficial claim on one tree, and most students knew it was theirs. But Zack Mooneyham knew that today he wouldn't find Summer with the band, because yesterday was Wednesday. While this didn't mean much to most, it did to Summer. Wednesday was one of the days that Summer's mother always brought someone home to cheat on her father with. Though Summer always knew this was coming, and was now used to it, she was still always a bit down about it the next day.
Summer was in her usual place after these days, the classroom. When it got closer to summer nobody went there early, so for Summer, it was the logical choice.
Zack walked in quietly and sat next to her. "Hey, Summer."
Summer looked up, a hollow look in her eyes. "Hey."
"I'm guessing last night didn't go so well."
"No it was fine. As fine as it can be anyway. Besides, did you see me at the tree house?" Summer noticed Zack's doubt.
"It doesn't look fine."
Summer didn't respond for a while. "Do you remember when we were first friends? Back when we were six?"
Zack gave a small laugh. "Yeah. You taught me to read, because my dad didn't care. And I taught you to tie your shoes."
"I didn't like the name Zack so I refused to call you anything but just Z. And what was it you called me?"
"Mermer." Zack inserted. "We were inseparable back then. But then you had to go and get cooties in the third grade."
Before they could continue, the bell rang. Students began flooding into the classroom, and Zack went back to his regular seat. Students were still chatting about the latest gossip, when the teacher didn't show up, and Summer took her usual practice of opening her book. Soon though, their principle, Mr. Haskins, entered the room. "Good morning class."
"Good morning Mr. Haskins." The class droned dully.
Haskins smiled broadly, as if this was a great achievement. "Class, your regular teacher, Mr. Morris, has taken ill and will not be here for the rest of the week. I was unable to find a substitute for today, so instead of your regular classes, you will be watching a documentary about abuse, and what to do if you suspect someone is being abused, or abusing themselves."
Marta was the first to raise her hand. "I think we watched this in the fifth grade."
Mr. Haskins nodded. "You might have. However, this is the type of thing that should always be fresh in your mind. The first segment of the video is about abuse from family members, whether it be mental, physical, or sexual. Does anyone have any questions while we wait for the AV equipment?"
§ § §
"Man, if that documentary wasn't the most pointless thing I've ever seen." Freddy sat down underneath the oak tree as school let out. The rest of the band surrounded him. "If in another two years I have to waste my time on that, I'm skipping school."
"What are you talking about?" Summer challenged. "That stuff's important. Just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean its pointless."
"It does at this school." Freddy shrugged. "No one here's getting beat up."
Summer glared. "First of all, you don't have to get beat up to get abused. Second, how the hell would you know if anyone's getting abused?"
"No one's said anything."
"So that means it's not happening? Didn't you pay any attention to that movie? Only one in three people report abuse when confronted with it." It was clear Summer was getting angry.
Freddy stood back up, leering. "If they don't report it, what are we supposed to do? We can't do anything. It's a waste of time to even be talking about it."
Freddy was barely finished with his sentence when Summer slapped him across the face. "Maybe you could get off your lazy ass and help someone! If you had an inkling of intelligence in that thick skull of yours you'd recognize a lot of those signs the video was telling us about in some of your friends! But the great drummer Freddy Jones doesn't have that inkling of intelligence, does he?! His lame ass thoughts consist of girls and rock and roll. That's it!" Summer stopped yelling for a moment, and spoke in a colder tone. "Stop acting like an ignorant bastard and join the real world." When the sentence was over, she stormed off, icily.
Freddy put a hand to his cheek. "What just happened?"
"I think Summer blew a gasket." Tomeka exhaled. "Never seen her swear before."
"I have once." Katie admitted. "But nothing like that. And she slapped someone. That's so...un-Summer-like."
"Maybe someone should go talk to her." Marta looked down the path concerned. "She was really upset."
Zack quickly volunteered. "I'll go. See you guys in an hour for band." He quickly took off down the path.
Freddy was still rubbing his cheek. "Damn. That friggin hurt."
Alicia smacked him upside the head. "Good."
Freddy turned to face Alicia. "What was that for?"
"I think Summer said it best. For being an ignorant bastard."
"Don't tell me you're taking her side." Freddy groaned.
"We don't take sides in the band." Katie pointed out. "We're just expressing a quick opinion. However, I'm sure if you don't apologize to Summer rather quickly, Zack just might be breaking that rule."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Marta smirked. "Never mind. Idiot." The girls all laughed.
Freddy sent a confused glance Lawrence's way. Lawrence, who had remained quiet throughout the scene said nothing. "Let's get to Dewey's and hang out."
§ § §
Summer sat on the elementary school playground swing, near tears when Zack approached her. Already her angry streak had ended and she was now upset. "Summer, are you OK?" He asked gently, kneeling in front of the swing.
"No." Summer stood and began pacing. "Freddy was just being his usual idiotic self and I exploded. I slapped him, and swore at him. If this gets back to my mother I'll be in so much trouble. And what if I'm turning into my mother? Already. I don't want to be like her. Ever. If I snap at someone who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about, what's going to happen when someone who does makes me angry?" Zack stood as she ranted. Soon she found herself in his arms sobbing.
"Hey Mermer, it's gonna be OK." Zack soothed, rubbing her back lightly with one hand. "You aren't going to turn into your mother. You are too smart, and kind, and beautiful to do that. And nobody in the band is going to be talking to their parents about this. Freddy's too embarrassed. He got put down by a girl. Everything's going to be OK Mermer, I promise. This will all be blown over by rehearsal."
Summer pulled back wiping her face. "And what if it's not Z?"
He smiled when she used his old nickname. "Then I'll owe you another charm for your bracelet."
"You've already given me five."
"There's always more room on that thing." Zack paused. "Are you gonna be OK?"
Summer nodded. "I want to show the band the song."
It had been three days since they had combined his music and her poem, and they had spent a lot of time in the tree house, working on it. "Are you sure? I don't want you to think you have to just because we finished it."
"No. I'm ready. It's time to let them hear it."
"OK, I'll ask Dewey if I can show it to the band when we get there."
"Thanks. You know, I don't think I would have made it this long if we hadn't become friends again."
"What do you mean?"
"Before Dewey made the band and really brought us together, I was... thinking about doing things. Things that would be considered dangerous."
"Things?" Zack was clearly nervous. He had never heard about this, and had thought Summer had told him mostly everything about her situation.
"Cutting, suicide." Summer rattled off, looking at her charm bracelet nervously. "I was just so miserable. I didn't have friends, my dad didn't even know I was alive and my mom beat me up. I really thought I didn't have a purpose to be on the planet. Then, the band happened and so did we. It really turned me around. Well, kinda. My parental situation is the same. But I have friends now. That helps."
"I-I don't know what to say." Zack stammered, his eyes wide.
"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to thank you."
"You're welcome."
That's the end of that chapter. I hope you like it as much as you liked the prologue. Coming up next chapter, we finally get to see Dewey, and "hear" the song Summer and Zack have worked on. It will cause quite the stir in the group.
Random Quote of the Day: "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut." – Ernest Hemingway
And now, a final thank you to my reviewers.
ILuVkEvInClArK
Swimmerkitti
Phish Food
Xo Miss Riley Xo
writerdude3000