Note: chapter 4 edited! (July 21 04)
Chapter 4 - The Aftermath
The door to Zack's house clicked open as the remaining members of School of Rock trudged into the lovely home. Too distracted to notice the gorgeous décor, the teens kicked off their shoes and followed Zack to the living room.
The group had chosen to skip the film that had been planned; they decided it would be a waste of money and time, as none of them would really be paying attention to the movie. On the bus ride back to Zack's place, the reality of the band's situation had sunk in, and the meaningless banter between the kids slowly died. By the time they had reached the house, no one had said a word for fifteen minutes.
The remaining seven kids plopped onto the couch. Summer scanned everyone's faces, and realized they all shared a certain complicated feeling: an intense sadness, mingling with both regret and anger. Zack's face, which Summer's eyes had lingered on for a little longer than the rest, showed a deep sense of betrayal. He was really insulted by what Dewey said, thought Summer, her face softening a bit at the vulnerability of his expression.
"So," Eleni broke the silence, "what's for dinner?"
"Shut up, Eleni!" Came the response from two different people in perfect unison. Summer looked up sharply as she noticed the slight colouring in both Freddy and Marta's cheeks. They both looked up tentatively, and the moment they caught each other's glance, looked away hastily.
Summer smirked to herself. She had quickly realized exactly what Marta was thinking. She's ECSTATIC, thought Summer, privately chuckling to herself in excitement for her best friend.
Eleni raised a single eyebrow at the two, narrowing her eyes at Marta. "Well, sorry, guys, didn't know I wasn't allowed to be hungry." Eleni continued to grumble to herself, causing Summer to want to slap the girl across the face because of her selfishness, but carefully restrained herself.
"Umm…" Katie spoke up. "Guys, what are we going to do?" She asked simply.
"What do you mean by this?" asked Lawrence.
"Well, I mean, at the beginning of practice today we were already missing a singer, and now, we're missing three singers and a guitar player."
"Well," Summer started slowly, "we have to figure out exactly what we need, like --"
"Yeah!" interrupted Zack. "Like, a lead guitarist, and a --"
It was Summer's turn to interject. "Excuse me, Zack, I was talking." She projected her words with a certain harshness that no one in the band had ever really heard before. Even Marta, who knew Summer better than anyone else in the room, was looking open-mouthed at Summer with a confused expression. Crap, was all Summer could think.
If he hadn't brought Eleni, this never would have happened, thought Summer. Although she knew she couldn't blame it all on Zack, she kept a firm resolve and didn't back down from what she had said, deciding that even if she did adore him, she couldn't show it by being soft.
Zack had turned a light shade of pink, and muttered, "Sorry," with his head down, eyes focusing on the cream-coloured carpet. His apology tore Summer apart, but she couldn't allow herself to dwell on it any longer. As she lifted her head to speak, she saw Eleni looking at her with an unreadable expression. Summer continued on.
"Anyway, we're probably looking for at least 2 or 3 additions to the band. What do you guys think?"
"Yeah!"
"A lead guitarist --"
"A new singer!"
"Back-up vocals, maybe?"
Eleni murmured under her breath, "A new manager, perhaps?" Marta, who was unwillingly sitting beside her, shot the blonde a deadly look.
At that moment, however, Marta couldn't tell if Summer herself had heard the remark or not, as an expression of realization spread across the girl's face. Oh shit, thought Summer. "Guys," she began, "where are we going to practice?"
All the talking in the room came to a halt immediately, as they all figured out that because Dewey wasn't in the band anymore, they couldn't use his apartment as their HQ.
"Fuck," Freddy cursed simply, "she's right."
"Hey, I know!" Eleni chirped. Marta and Summer simultaneously rolled their eyes. "My daddy's garage is humongous! He wouldn't mind us using it, and there's plenty of room for all of us! And plus, when we want a break from practicing, I have a huge trampoline in the --"
Katie cut her off. "Thanks… but no thanks, Eleni. We don't need a place to practice; the band does. And," Katie continued, "the band can figure it out on its own." The implication of Eleni's obvious non-existence in the band was crystal clear.
Eleni shot Katie a glare, that scared the bassist slightly, but not enough to back down.
Summer looked at Katie's intensity, and suddenly felt a newfound respect for the girl. She actually felt jealous of Katie for her perfectly executed outburst at the blonde. Plus, thought Summer, she showed the bimbo up right in front of Zack. Another opportunity to impress him down the drain. Even still, Summer turned to Katie and gave her a quick smile of appreciation. Katie returned the smile with a short, inconspicuous wink.
"I have an idea, it may work…" Lawrence brought Summer back to reality. "It may be possible to use the basement in my house to continue our practices temporarily."
Summer felt a wave of relief. "That's awesome, Lawrence, great idea!"
Lawrence's cheeks turned a deep red, as he stammered, "T-thank y-you, Summer."
An awkward silence followed the exchange between the band's manager and keyboardist. It was eased, however, by Mrs. Mooneyham, who stuck her head in the door, and beckoned the teens for dinner.
The band, and Eleni, walked in the dining room, with a table full of what looked to be delectable eats. Mrs. Mooneyham was standing beside the table, beaming brightly at her tantalizing creations.
She was a beautiful woman, Summer noticed, and it was obvious that Zack got his extremely gorgeously handsome, heavenly adorable good looks, thought Summer, from his mom. Shut up, Summer, she quickly thought to herself. When Zack's mom turned to face the table, however, Summer noticed a rather ugly bruise on the side of Mrs. Mooneyham's jaw. The girl averted her attention to the dinner, she didn't want to it seem like she was staring.
"Sit wherever you guys like," smiled Mrs. Mooneyham, as the teens began to take their places around the food. Marta and Summer looked at each other, and hastily attempted to get seats together, and far from Eleni. To Summer's dismay, Eleni beckoned Zack to sit beside the blonde, and he… accepted? Are you joking me? There must be something going on, if he's going to sit beside her… Summer was, all of a sudden, in a very horrible mood.
To Marta's satisfaction, Freddy pulled out the seat beside her, and tentatively asked, "Is anyone sitting here?" Marta blushed, and shook her head. Freddy smiled, an excited glint in his eyes, as he began to sit down. "Can I sit here, then?" He looked at Marta for approval.
Marta looked up and smiled. "Yeah, of course!" As Freddy smiled again and sat completely, she murmured to herself, "Finally…"
As Summer concentrated on the food in front of her, she heard Mrs. Mooneyham explain, "I've made you guys some steak and tortellini, just tell me if it's not up to par, alright kids?" She smiled and turned to leave the room.
"Actually," Eleni piped in, stopping Mrs. Mooneyham in her tracks, "I'm a vegan. I don't eat anything that has a mother… To be killed just for the sake of nourishing other beings who can easily be satisfied with other food kind of disgusts me, you know?" She finished in a sing-song voice.
Holy crap, Summer thought as she turned her head to Marta, whose face reflected her own thoughts, did she really have to go on like that? She can't actually get away with that…
Mrs. Mooneyham's smiled faltered, but only for a mere moment, as the pleasant looked quickly returned to her face. "No problem; I'll just go whip you up a salad, is that okay?"
Eleni smiled innocently. "That'll be fine, I guess," she said in a sickeningly sweet, yet rather ungrateful tone.
Mrs. Mooneyham left the room. Zack persisted, asking, "Is there anything else you need, Eleni? What can you have, then?"
Summer realized immediately he was only offering out of obligation, and mumbled, "Shit all…"
Zack seemed to overhear her comment, and smirked to himself, holding back laughter.
"I have a small question," said Lawrence. "Should we not practice again soon? I would not ask, except we did not get anything done today."
"Totally," Katie put in.
"Okay then," Freddy started. "Let's practice next week - next Thursday."
Summer shook her head. "Can't, it's my last day of summer school. How's Friday?"
The other band mates nodded their heads in compliance, and they ceased conversation while moving on to dinner.
All of a sudden, Summer let out a frightened squeal. "What was that?! There's something under the table!"
To Summer's surprise, Zack laughed. As everyone looked under the table, Zack explained, "That's August, my dog… Sorry if she's bugging you, she always hopes someone'll drop some food during dinner for her. Are you afraid of dogs? I can get her to leave…"
Summer blushed deep red, laughing at herself. "No! I'm not afraid of dogs at all! It just surprised me, that's all!"
Zack smiled. "It's all good, no worries."
----
The time had come to go home, and Summer, Marta, Eleni, and Zack were the only kids remaining, as Lawrence and Katie had already left. Freddy was next, and he gathered his things and said good-bye to the remaining members of the band. And Eleni.
"Alright, well, see y'all on the flip --" Freddy quickly stopped, as Dewey's parting line had hit a sour note. Hastily, he recovered. "Zack Attack, Tink… Marta…" He unknowingly put emphasis on Marta's name, causing the girl to blush. Realizing he had her attention, he quipped, "We really need to get you a new nickname, dude."
Marta laughed and sighed inwardly. Zack finished the exchange with the pair's secret handshake. Freddy turned to leave, but was distracted by a small, intentional cough. "…Bye Eleni."
No one said anything until Freddy called back into the room. "There's a silver Volvo sitting outside, someone else's parents are here!"
Summer sighed. "That's our ride, Marta." She cursed to herself; she wanted to be the last one left with Zack. Instead, Eleni would be left alone with him. Damn.
Marta said her quick good-byes and left the room. Summer turned to Zack awkwardly, who gave her a reassuring smile. "Sorry for… before…"
Zack helped her out of the situation, and exclaimed, "Don't worry about it, Tinkerbell. I'll catcha next Friday, eh?"
Summer smiled, said, "Thank your mom for me," and turned to leave. Before she exited the room, however, Eleni spoke up. "See ya later, Tink."
Summer turned to talk back to the blonde, but Zack beat her to it. Rolling his eyes slightly, he said slowly, "It's Summer."
A/N - Hopefully this was entertaining - I have to give props to my cousins, Kaitlyn and Lauren, for the co-comingupwithideas on this chapter... and, well... many to come! A couple seeds were planted here, R&R!!