Note: Okay, I say it's about time I thank some people, because everyone that has reviewed has really kept me committed to this story. So, in general, thank you all so, so, so much!! Especially for all the kind words! Which they pretty much all are, so I guess that goes without saying...
rockin awesome x - I'm glad you hate Eleni has much as I do, stay tuned, it gets so much better!! You'll want to laugh in her face... Or maybe that's just me.
Sandy-Pandy - Thanks so much, I try to update as often as I can!! Gimme a shout, tell me if I take too long!
crazyknarf / you know who / sweeet - Excellent, because I happen to love cheese!
writerdude3000 - Thank you so, so much for all your kind words, and encouragement to get the hell going!! I've planned it all out, there's about 7/8 more chapters in "You Never Know" before I get on to a sequel, I hope that's okay!
sonofpitchesfangirl - I can't thank you enough for reviewing my story! I love all your stuff, and it's so great to know that you at least pretend to like mine too!
Strokes - I'm so flattered!! And I'm glad you've grown to hate Eleni, that means I'm doing my job ;) Thanks!!
Nanners-77 - I say one of these days we just gang up on Eleni (and Michelle too)... You use the shovel, and I'll find some innanimate sharp object, and blow them to oblivion! lol... Or not. Thanks so much for always checking out my story!!
MilleniumMarauder - I love the idea, thanks for the suggestion!! It'll all come together soon!...
sweetcaroline3313 - The sequel's a comin'! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Laura - Yeah! I'm glad you found it! I'm really happy you like it, and post yours soon, dummy!
Xo Miss Riley Xo - I'm so glad I haven't travelled so far as to make my story an angst tale.. I mean, nothing against angst, it's just that that's not what I want for this story... Thank you so much for keeping me in check!
chocl8chps - I'm glad you like the Tink/Twink idea... You have no idea how long it took me, either! Thanks so much!
DancingDreamer08 - It gets a lot better for Summer, don't worry; thanks for checking out my story!!
mellowyellow36 - Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters: they all, along with School of Rock, belong to Mike White and Paramount Pictures. I own the plot and a couple names, but other than that, nada.
Oh, quickly, before I get on with the story (I know, I know, "SHUT UP!!"), I just wanted to bring up a bone that's been picked. Someone, who shall remain anonymous, as to their request, asked me what I had against blondes. Okay, let's get this straight: I'm a blonde. So I obviously have nothing against them, or else I'd just be contradicting myself to no end, yes? However, Summer Hathaway is not me, she is a character (not mine, by the way: Mike White's), who's personality I have manipulated to have an immature distaste for people with blonde hair. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, but it really isn't meant to be read into! Okay, on with it!
Chapter 12 - The Solution
"So, explain to me again why we're taking the bus home?" Marta said, annoyance apparent in her voice.
"It's not that complicated, Twink," explained Summer as they walked down the stone steps in front of Horace Green. "My mom was sick today… It's actually really gross, she said she puked, like, seven times last night. Anyway, she's working from home today, and her 1:30 may stay longer."
Marta pouted. "She wouldn't let her 1:30 run long if she had to pick us up."
Summer sighed. "She wouldn't pick us up either way, Marta. She'd either be with a patient, or squatting over the toilet, ready to throw up. Or both."
Marta grimaced. "She must be pretty comfortable with her patients if she can just be like, 'Excuse me, I have to vomit.'"
Summer laughed. "Yeah, I guess."
"So," said Marta, changing the subject, "did anyone tell you about Eleni's party?"
Indeed, everyone had gotten Eleni's email the day before, and it certainly showed at school.
A couple people, like Frankie and Alicia, didn't seem to want to tell Marta and Summer about the party, creating a bit of tension whenever any of them talked. Alicia wanted to keep it from the two for obvious reasons, Summer reckoned, and Frankie had always preferred Eleni and Michelle over Summer, so he definitely wouldn't tell them.
Katie and Lawrence, however, had bombarded the couple together right at the start of class, telling them about the party right away. Eleni also seemed to forget that loyalties lie within the band, and not with annoying ditzes.
Summer had been glad the two band mates had told her and Marta about Eleni's little get-together, but in truth, they weren't the ones Summer was waiting for. All day, she had bore holes into the back of Zack Mooneyham's head, begging him silently to show her priority over his girlfriend. She had almost given up hope, until about an hour before school ended.
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"What's this?" Summer whispered. Zack, without turning around, had slipped a note onto her desk.
Zack only turned his head halfway around, and didn't take his eyes off Mrs. Teltrin, who was lecturing about Tibetan culture.
"Just read it," he hissed hastily. (A/N - alliteration unintended)
Summer snorted and gave Zack one of her looks, but he didn't notice, as he had already turned back around. Slightly insulted, Summer opened the note.
eleni's having a party at the end of september… u and marta weren't invited but i thought u should know. i never told u, k?
Summer stared open-mouthed at the note. If she had been slightly insulted before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. The note wasn't only short, but it wasn't exactly the "hero's warning" she had been expecting.
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"Tink? Hello?" Marta was waving her hand in front of Summer's face, her expression highly amused.
Summer shook her head. "Sorry. What was the question?"
Marta snorted. "Before you decided to fly off to Never Never Land, Tinkerbell, I had asked if anyone other than Katie or Lawrence told you about Eleni's party."
"Oh, right," said Summer. "Well, Zack sent me a note… Not exactly the support we were looking for, though…" Summer pulled the note out of her blazer pocket and handed it to Marta.
It didn't take long for Marta to read the miniscule scrawl, her face looking extremely scandalized.
"'Thought you should know?' What the hell? By the sound of that note, it's like he's only telling us because he has to, or something."
Summer nodded. "Exactly, like he didn't actually want to tell us."
Marta rolled her eyes, her pace becoming a little more aggressive. "What did you do after you read it?"
Summer scoffed, matching her pace with Marta's. "I did jack. You should have seen how he gave it to me - he practically threw it over his shoulder, and then acted as if he was embarrassed to talk to me."
Marta looked appalled at the news. "God, is this the same Zack Mooneyham that you jammed with yesterday?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm still mad you didn't tell me you could play, by the way."
Summer chuckled. "Yeah, yeah… Well, I knew we were hardly going to talk today, as usual, but I didn't know he was going to act as though he hated me."
Marta just shook her head. "Whatever dude… Shit, there's the bus. Run!"
----
"Okay, that's everyone," Summer noted as Katie ran into the garage.
"Sorry I'm late, guys, my brother had to drive me, and he couldn't find his keys," she apologized.
"No worries, people aren't going to show up until 5:00 anyway, we still have fifteen minutes,"
said Marta.
Katie looked at the girl with disdain. "Thanks," she said shortly.
"Break it up, you two," said Summer. "We have to figure out what we're going to do with the people waiting to audition while we're listening to someone else."
"That is if there are any people waiting," Freddy pointed out.
"Let's be hopeful, okay?" Summer suggested. She was expecting a fair amount of people to show up for the School of Rock auditions. All week, she had seen groups of people huddling around the posters, and a couple times she could have sworn she heard conversations in the halls about what song people were going to try out with.
"Zack, do you have a table or something where we could all sit?" Marta asked.
Zack seemed immersed in thought for a moment. "There's a couple tables in the basement we could bring up that would seat all six of us… But it'll be risky, we have to get them downstairs again before 8:00, and exactly where we found them."
"Done," proclaimed Summer. "Zack and Freddy, go get the tables. I'll go find chairs."
"Yes, ma'am," answered Freddy, as he and Zack exited the garage.
"Ask my mom where the fold-up chairs are," Zack said before he left the room.
Summer made her way out of the garage door and up the front steps of the house. After knocking, she made her way through the open front door, and went to the kitchen, where Mrs. Mooneyham was sitting at the table, reading the paper.
Zack's mom looked up and smiled. "Hey, sweetie, how are you?"
Summer smiled politely. "I'm excellent, Mrs. Mooneyham, and yourself?"
"Oh, please, dear, call me Laura - 'Mrs. Mooneyham' makes me feel old."
Summer laughed. "Alright."
"What can I do for you, darling?"
"Oh," began Summer, "I was just wondering if you knew where any fold-up chairs were? We need six, if you have that many."
Laura nodded. "You bet we do, follow me, okay?"
As she got up from the table, Summer couldn't help but notice a large bruise on the side of
Laura's face. Didn't she have one last time I was here, too? And right around the same spot?
"Here you go, hun," Laura said. Summer quickly averted her eyes to the ten or fifteen chairs Zack's mom pointed out in a back closet.
Summer beamed. "Perfect, thanks so much!" She grabbed six, and pulled them back out to the garage, where Freddy and Zack were setting up the second of the two tables.
As Summer began to unfold the chairs, Katie and Lawrence ran into the garage. "There's a few people coming down the street with guitars," Katie stated, "I think they're headed for the auditions!"
Summer couldn't help but be excited. "Perfect! Places, people!"
----
"Thanks, we'll be in touch," Freddy droned for what felt like the billionth time.
The teens in School of Rock, whether or not they had admitted it, had all been a little excited to be holding the auditions. The idea of people trying to impress them was a bit of a spectacle, and they couldn't wait to get started. And Summer had indeed been right, there were a lot of people trying out for the two spots available.
Unfortunately, the people auditioning were slight disappointments. They all realized it was going to be a long couple hours when the third guitarist that came in tried to wow them with his own rendition of plucking the strings for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
Summer tried desperately to hide her frustration as yet another guitarist started to set up his amp. She leaned over to Lawrence, who was sitting beside her. "Could you go see how many people are left outside. Lawr?"
Lawrence nodded his head, and made his way quietly around the side of the garage. As she waited, Summer tried to block out the off-tune noise that was being emitted from the guitar in front of her. She looked at her fellow band mates, and saw she wasn't alone in her chagrin.
Lawrence appeared again, and quickly walked back to his seat. "There's approximately ten to fifteen people still waiting outside," he said.
Summer sighed in relief. Almost over.
As the boy, who said his name was Scott Hardy from ninth grade, finished his original song, Freddy let out a sigh.
"Thank you, we'll be in touch."
----
"What are the odds," Katie asked, massaging her forehead, "that out of seventy-three guitarists and singers, there is absolutely no talent?"
Summer groaned in agreement. "That was painful. Painful and useless."
Freddy's expression suggested he was about to lose his mind. "What do we do now? We still need a singer and guitar player, and pronto."
Marta tutted as she moved behind her boyfriend to give him a massage. "We'll figure something out, sweet pea."
"Don't call me that," he snapped.
"Calm down," Marta snapped right back. "I'm not a stress ball, don't take your frustration out on me."
A tense silence filled the room. Despite the mood, though, Summer had to hold back a laugh as she saw the smirk on Katie's face. Her "Eleni" is Marta, and Katie acts the exact same way I do… We're not that different…
"…So?" exclaimed Freddy, obviously waiting for an answer. "What are we going to do?"
Summer glanced over at Zack, and was surprised to see him looking pointedly back at her. It took Summer a moment to realize why he was staring. He wants me to say something about playing guitar. Summer quickly looked away.
Lawrence let out a rare sigh. "It seems as though we will have to look for additions to the band outside of school."
Marta looked downcast. "Yeah,… So there isn't anyone we know that could do the job?"
Silence overcame the garage once again. Summer couldn't look any of her band mates in the eye, feeling too guilty that she wasn't saying anything. It's for their own good, though, right? I mean, if I start playing and can't deliver, they'll all hate me.
Although she was looking down, Summer could sense Zack burning holes into the top of her head, he was staring at her so hard. Summer looked over at Marta: she was either performing very well, or hadn't made the connection between Summer and the guitar position.
Freddy yelled in disappointment, breaking the silence, before wrapping his arms around his head. "So, where are we going to put up posters now? I need answers, people."
"I'm band manager, I'll figure it out, Freddy," said Summer coaxingly. "We can put up posters at other schools and th--"
"Or we can not put up posters at al," interrupted Zack boldly. "We don't need to audition another guitarist, we already have one."
Katie laughed. "Thanks, Tips, but we need two guitarists, not one."
Zack rolled his eyes. He gave a look of slight apology to Summer before saying, "Summer can play the guitar."
Heads snapped every which way to look at Summer. A look of comprehension dawned on Marta's face. "Yeah, she can!"
"Are you good?" Freddy asked bluntly.
"She's awesome," answered Zack. "I mean, I'm still better, no offence, but I could always take the difficult parts… And plus, she has about twenty times the talent that the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' guy had."
"You think she could play for the band?" Katie asked Zack.
Zack nodded. "Hell yes, man, no doubt."
Summer cleared her throat distinctively, bring the attention back to her. "Funny how I'm the one being discussed, but as of yet I've had no say in the matter."
"Tinkerbell, listen to me," Zack said rather impatiently, "the only thing holding you back from wanting to be play in the band is your self-doubt. But you have to believe me what I say that you have talent. You can do this."
Zack looked Summer straight in eye when he said this, sincerity radiating from his coffee-brown orbs. Summer opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out.
"Tink, if Zack says it…" began Marta. "Hands up for Summer to play in the band."
The vote was unanimous. I can't believe this! "You guys have never even heard me play!"
"It's called having faith, Tink," replied Freddy, "and we have faith in you."
Summer hesitated. There's no going back… Do or die. "Alright."
"Yes!" exclaimed Katie with joy. "One down, one to go! And we didn't even have to reach outside of the band!"
Summer could see Zack smiling. His smile seemed to falter, however, when he looked at the clock in the garage. "God, guys, it's take-down time."
The members of School of Rock took to their assigned jobs: Zack and Freddy disassembled the tables for the trip to the basement, Katie and Summer began to fold and stack the chairs, while Marta and Lawrence started to put away the instruments.
Soon after the chairs were put away, a honk could be heard outside. Katie looked quickly. "Oh, that's my broth--" She stopped herself, her eyes going wide. "Oh my God… My brother!" She rushed out of the garage.
Before Summer and Marta could so much as exchange confused glances, Katie was back in the room. This time, though, she looked a lot more excited, letting out a squeal.
"What's up with Posh?" asked Freddy, looking apprehensive, as he and Zack re-entered the garage.
Katie was getting giddy. "Guys, my brother's band broke up about a month ago, and he did back-up vocals. What would you say to him being the singer for School of Rock?" She bit her lip in anticipation.
No one said anything for a moment. "What were their influences?" Zack asked hesitantly.
"Umm…" Katie started. "…Well I know his favourite bands are Cream and the Ramones."
"Cool dude," said Freddy. "What's his name? Can you bring him down to practice next week?"
"His name's Kaleb, but everyone calls him Kale. I'll ask him if he can come, but he has no life, it shouldn't be a problem!"
"How old is he?" Summer asked. A car beeped outside.
"Seventeen, grade twelve. When he was younger, the parentals couldn't afford Horace Green, so he's in the public system." Katie looked at the group nervously. "So, whaddya think?"
Lawrence beat everyone to it. "Perfect."
A/N - My longest chapter yet! How was it? I hope it was okay and I didn't ramble on for too long. Next chapter: Summer and Kale's first practice! And after that... Well, we'll see!! Please review, tell me what y'all think! And thanks so much once again!