A/N: Glad everyone liked the last chapter. It's the long weekend, so I'm hoping to get up one more chapter after this one. Yay long weekend! Lol. Oh, I meant to mention this: MoonlightPhoenix3, those Tomika/Lawrence bits were for you!! Hope you liked 'em! Everyone has been asking for Zack's bit - well, it's coming after this chapter! But I think you guys will all like this chapter anyway. This chapter tells us why such a kick-ass band BROKE UP!!!!

Chapter 9: The breaking of the band

Ten days later, Jordan, Marissa, Rory, Aaron, Carmen, Leah, and Nikki rushed into band practice. They'd all sent off their letters, but so far, only Marissa and Aaron had received replies. They knew the story about why their parents stopped playing their instruments (and Dewey had confirmed the truth to the stories) but nobody knew exactly why the band broke up. They were hoping to convince Dewey to tell them.

When Dewey walked into the staff lounge, seven children immediately jumped on him. They managed to tackle him to the ground and, while he was being held down, Carmen said, "Dewey, we want to know, and we want to know NOW!"

"All right, all right!" came Dewey's muffled answer from beneath Jordan's hand. Jordan removed his hand at once, and Dewey went on, "I'll tell you, but you've all gotta get off me!" The kids scrambled to their feet.

"Now," said Dewey, straightening his bow tie, "I was expecting to have heard from all your parents by this time. But since that hasn't happened, I'm gonna let you in on their secret. You guys deserve to know."

All seven of them lowered themselves onto various chairs or amps, awaiting his words.

"How the band broke up..." said Dewey thoughtfully. "How 'School of Rock' broke up..."

FLASHBACK

Rehearsal was supposed to start at 8:00 pm that night. But somehow, two of their band members, plus one band manager, had failed to arrive on time. It was no surprise to Freddy hadn't shown up on time - although he had asked to have rehearsal pushed back, he wasn't known for his promptness. Everyone, especially Tomika, noted the absence of Lawrence sadly - although he had been missing practices for quite awhile, they still half-expected to see him at each rehearsal. But Summer was a surprise. Where was she? She should have been there - never, in the history of School of Rock, had she missed a practice.

By 8:15, however, she breezed in. "Guys, I am so sorry," she said, out of breath. "I was writing my entrance essay to Yale and I got so caught up in it..." she trailed off.

"It's okay, Summer," said Zack, "you're not the only one who's late, anyway."

She looked around. "Oh," she said feebly. "Well, I'm not too surprised about Freddy. And I guess we shouldn't count too much on Lawrence, either."

"It's not fair!" burst out Katie, slamming her fist onto a nearby table.

Everyone turned to look at her in shock. She wasn't prone to outbursts. "Woah there, Posh," warned Dewey.

"Come on! We all make time in our lives for this band, yet we're being dragged down by these guys. I hate it! If they're not going to be loyal to the band, why not just kick them out?!" she yelled. Dead silence followed her suggestion.

"Kick them out?" replied Alicia, her voice wavering. "Are you serious? We've been together for seven years - don't you think we can get through this?"

"I don't know!" cried Katie. "Face it, guys, this sucks, big time. Our friendships are going down the tubes, and if we don't do something about it, the band will too. It already is," she said quietly, looking around at everyone else. They all seemed to be agreeing with her - at least, their body language told her that she was right. Tomika was biting her lip, Zack was staring at the ground, Marta was fiddling with her mike cord, Alicia was scuffing her shoe into the carpet, and Summer was picking at a spot on her finger. Dewey was the only one who'd meet her eyes.

"Don't worry, Katie," he said soothingly. For a punk-rock guy like Dewey, he could still be pretty sensitive sometimes. "Things will work out - you guys are too good to let it all slip."

Katie smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Now," said Dewey, standing up. "Let's get to work on some stuff! Alicia, let's work on that song you wrote a few weeks back, 'On Fire'." The band plugged their instruments and mikes in, and began to play.

Right in the middle of the bridge, Dewey's telephone rang. Marta, who wasn't singing at the moment, picked it up. She didn't want the band to stop playing.

Marta listened for several minutes, saying nothing but "Uh-huh. I see. Mm-hm, okay" over and over. Eventually, this caught the attention of the band members, and the song faded off in the chorus. Eventually, Marta hung up the phone and sat down on the nearest surface - Katie's amp.

"Marta? Are you okay?" asked Tomika.

"What's wrong?" Zack wanted to know.

Eventually, Marta looked up. Her eyes were very red, as if she was trying very hard to keep from crying. "That was Freddy's mom on the phone."

"Freddy's mom?" asked Alicia, confused. "What did Freddy's mom want?"

"She wanted to tell us something," said Marta.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense!" said Katie. "What is it?"

Marta took a deep breath, and paused before answering. "Freddy was out at a club tonight. Eventually, he decided to leave and come to band practice. He had some girl with him - Chrissy, I think her name was. Anyway, they were driving really fast, and they - crashed."

"Crashed?!" gasped Katie. "Oh my God... is Freddy okay?"

"Yeah, Freddy's fine," said Marta. "But Chrissy's not. Chrissy was - Chrissy is dead."

Complete and utter silence.

"Dead?" muttered Summer quietly.

Marta nodded.

Zack wanted to say something, but he didn't trust his voice to speak. It may just start him crying, which was never a good thing around his friends. Eventually, he had to ask, "What's going to happen with Freddy?"

"They're taking him to court fairly soon," said Marta. "Depending on their verdict, he could get a pardon, community service, or even some time in a detention centre."

Nobody spoke after this. They all turned and looked at Dewey, their eyes asking the same question: what was going to happen to the band?

At that moment, the door to the apartment banged open. In ran Lawrence, looking extremely excited.

"Guys!" he exclaimed. "I got in! I got into Julliard!"

He paused, seeing everyone's distraught faces. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, unsettled by their upset looks. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

"Sit down, Lawrence," said Marta soothingly. Lawrence sat down. He noticed that Freddy wasn't there, and that everyone looked as if their favourite pet had just died.

"Freddy was - in a car accident," said Marta, her voice breaking. "He's all right, but the girl he was with, Chrissy, was killed. He's being taken to court soon."

Lawrence blinked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Of course she's sure!" burst out Tomika. "Lawrence, would we lie to you about something like that?" Lawrence remained silent, looking at his shoes.

"Hey, guys," said Dewey softly. "It'll be all right. Freddy will serve his punishment, and then we can get back to normal rehearsals again. I thought we'd try and tour this summer."

"No," said Zack. Everyone turned around to look at their shyest guitarist. "Guys, don't you see it? Look at us. We're a mess. Freddy's just killed a girl. Lawrence has missed practically every practice for three weeks. Summer's trying so hard to get into Yale. We're all busy with jobs and college applications. And what about after the summer? Yeah, it'll be great, but then we'll all be going off to different places. What's the chances of us keeping it together when we're in different cities, if we can't do it now? Doesn't anyone remember us when the band first started in fifth grade? It was all about the music. And now? Now we're putting the band on the back burner for everything. It's not going to work," he finished, looking at each person in turn.

"What are you saying, Zack?" asked Katie quietly.

"I'm saying... I'm saying..." Zack swallowed. "I'm saying we should take a break."

"You think so?" asked Tomika. She had tears in her eyes.

"I really do. I don't think we're going to be able to keep it going," Zack nodded sadly.

"Maybe you're right," said Alicia quietly.

"Well, we should take a vote," Dewey broke in. "All in favour of - of -" he couldn't seem to say the words 'breaking up' "of taking a break?"

Zack's hand was the first in the air. It didn't shoot up, but Zack put it up with extreme certainty.

Katie's hand was next. She looked as if her life was ending.

Next came Lawrence's. He didn't meet anyone's eyes as he did so.

Marta put her hand up after this. She sighed a very long sigh.

Tomika, crying straight out now, put hers up as well.

Alicia followed suit, thinking her heart would break.

Summer put up her hand next. She looked at the pencil in her hand, seriously considering stabbing herself with it.

Lastly came Dewey's hand. He looked around the room, counting the hands. "Well, that's it then," he said.

"School of Rock is over."

END FLASHBACK

"After Freddy's trial, we all half-thought that we'd get back together," Dewey told the members of Eclipse. "But nobody had the guts to start it up again. So everyone went off to college, and that was that."

"Wow," said Rory softly. "That sucks."

Everyone nodded. There was nothing left to say; Rory had put it perfectly.

A/N: Wow, that was the hardest chapter I've ever had to write. I hate the thought of the band breaking up, so it was really tough for me to actually go through with it and write it. Hopefully everyone felt at least a little sadness at this event. But on the upside, I got 23 reviews for chapter 8! You guys rock, you really do. I'd like to thank everybody, and give you all cookies!

BabyRose129: I love chocolate muffins, you're my hero! Lol. That's weird that your music teacher was Mrs. Greer too. Veeeery interesting... pokes You're not Lawrence, are you?

PheonixFireBlack: Yay, I'm original! Wahoo! Zack's bit is next chapter, I promise!

Camera-obscura: I'm glad to be back, as always. You live in Coquitlam? We didn't visit there, but I have heard of it! That's so cool - your province rocks! Have you ever been out to Ontario?

stickit2da-maniosis: Yes, I will write more, I promise! Wow, I'm so glad you think I rock! You rock too, for reviewing! gives you a cookie

mellowyellow36: Glad you like my Kevin pic, I do too. :)

flatfoot-92: Thanks! Tsk tsk indeed.

EviL PunK NoT: Actually, Freddy's chapter is the chapter before Lawrence's... check it out!

Desiree: Glad you like it!

MoonlightPhoenix3: Hopefully you saw my comment in the opening author's note. Poor Freddy and Lawrence - poor everyone!

quitesirius: Yes, you're right, Zack's was because of his dad. Zack is next chapter!

JustVisitingUKgirl: Wow, you're from Surrey? That's so cool! I love everything English, I can't wait to visit there! (Yes, I know I'm a dork). You've never met Tom Felton, have you? Lol j/k.

chocl8chps: Nice to see you again! Can't wait to read ur next chapter!

wyverna: Yeah, I knew that Joey was discovered for his part as Zack at a rock camp. That's pretty cool, eh?

fanficgirl1: Glad you liked my update!

Jenny: No, we don't see enough of Lawrence... I love that guy!

The CheezHead: Yeah, I noticed while re-reading that I said 'Aaron' instead of 'Lawrence'. So sorry! Good of you for catching that, though.

sk8erpunkGCpnay: You're a keyboardist? Very cool. I play piano, but I'm not very good blush. Yeah, I do like Kevin... blushes even more. Just curious by one of your comments (hopefully I don't offend you) but are you a girl or a guy?

ocean-princess-91: I always try to be original, so I'm glad it's appreciated. You guys rock!

tmrwspromise: Hang on, I'm getting to everyone else! Lol.

Swimmerkitti: Glad you like it! Thanks!

Freddy'sGirl01: Nice name!! I love Zack too, he's next chapter!

BlackFloyd03: Wow, I almost brought you to tears???? You almost brought me to tears by saying I almost brought you to tears! (Did that make sense??..) Lol. No, I don't live in New York, I'm from Canada. Why?

You know what to do... read and review! (Hey, that rhymes!)