Note: Chapter 13 edited! (July 22 04)

Don't you guys hate that stupid word counter when you upload your chapters? I wish they wouldn't count how many words there are, it makes me feel like my shorter chapters are just too short. And that was my confession for the day.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters: they all, along with School of Rock, belong to Mike White and Paramount Pictures, except for Kaleb Brown and Mrs. Teltrin. They're mine. I also own the plot and a couple names, but other than that, nada.

Chapter 13 - You Didn't Want It

Ding dong.

"Coming!" Summer called to whoever was behind the front door. There was no doubt in her mind, though, as she rushed down the stairs, that it was Marta.

Indeed, Marta was smiling as the door opened. "My mom can drive us."

"Hey to you too," said Summer with a smirk. "Come with me upstairs, I need to grab my guitar."

Marta smiled in anticipation as she stepped into the house. "Where is it? I've never seen it before."

Summer shrugged as they ran up the stairs. "It's nothing special. My uncle Roy gave it to me for my birthday, back in May." She opened a closet across from the staircase. She moved a couple blankets and towels to reveal her guitar.

"Wow," Marta revered. The guitar was a glossy acoustic, light wood with a dark, marbled pick guard. It had an unusual shape, one that would be associated with an electric guitar. "That's awesome."

Summer smiled proudly, looking down at her prized birthday present. A loud honk outside brought the two girls back down to Earth. "Oops," said Marta, "my mom's waiting for us… You ready for your first practice?"

Summer smiled, a determined look on her face. "Bring it on."

----

The car ride to Zack's house seemed to take forever for Summer, who was incredibly anxious to see what the band would think.

As she looked out the window, she tried to imagine different reactions. She could see Lawrence's neutral expression turning sour in discontent at Summer's abilities, or lack thereof. She could imagine Freddy's thoroughly disappointed face, looking ready to kill, or Zack's--

"What do you think this new guy'll be like?" Marta inquired, interrupting Summer's sinking thoughts.

Summer took her eyes off the window, and directed them to Marta. "I don't know… I think him and Katie are pretty close, so he can't be that bad."

Marta nodded, now turning her eyes towards the window. "True... I hope he's cute."

Summer's jaw dropped as she looked appalled at her best friend. "You have a boyfriend," she hissed.

Marta giggled, but said nothing. Summer shook her head again.

Summer was no psychic, she couldn't read minds. However, her and Marta were best friends for a reason. She chose her words carefully before addressing Marta. "Twink, just remember how happy you were when you found out Freddy liked you back. Remember how you told me that you have never been this content before."

"What are you saying, Summer?" Marta asked innocently.

Summer rolled her eyes. "Just… Be careful."

----

Summer closed the car door behind her, just as the Mooneyham's garage opened. As Zack's figure appeared in the garage, he waved.

"You guys are the first to get here, other than Freddy," he said in greeting to the pair.

Freddy made his way from the back of the garage, and after giving Summer a wave, picked up Marta in a hug and gave her a rather intimate kiss, which she readily returned.

Zack made a noise of impatience and turned to Summer. "You ready?"

"Oh yeah," she replied, biting her lip. "Just nervous."

Zack shook his head. "Don't be," he said.

"So the plan today is for the band to check out Kale, right?" Marta asked, pulling away from Freddy. Freddy scowled.

Zack nodded. "You bet."

A car slowed to a stop in Zack's driveway. Lawrence promptly exited the vehicle, and with the help of his father, brought his keyboard into the garage. "Hi guys," Lawrence said, as his father walked back to the car, "where shall I put my keyboard?"

"Over there." Zack pointed to a certain part of the garage. "Right to the left of the drums."

As the group began to set up the keyboard and microphones, a loud engine could be heard making its way down Zack's street. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch a copper brown clunker park in Zack's driveway, Katie waving from the front passenger seat.

"Hi guys!" she exclaimed, as she got out of the car. As the driver's side opened, Katie said, "This is Kale!"

Summer had a hard time keeping her mouth closed when Kaleb made his way out of the car. Wow. The boy had black hair, which was long enough to look messy, but short enough not to look unkempt. He was wearing a tight fitting black shirt which simply read "White Room," and a pair of faded jeans with rips in both knees. Summer's eyes finished with his black and pink Adidas.

"Hi," said Marta in a wondrous whisper.

"Hey," said Kale, as he took in his new practice space. "So, this is it, huh?"

Katie whacked him in the stomach. "Shut up." She turned to the group. "I told him about the band after our last practice, and he was cool with it, he's heard 'School of Rock' before, and he helped me out when we had to practice 'Hardcore' back in grade five, so I know he likes the stuff."

Kale nodded. "It's not bad, I like it more than what my old band used to play. I did back vocals and bass, but Katie won't let me take her spot."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Duh." She walked in to the garage, beckoning Kale to come with her, who slowly complied. "So, how's this going to work?" she asked.

It seemed as though no one really knew. "Umm…" started Summer, "…Do you know the words to 'School of Rock?'"

Kale nodded.

"Perfect. Then… Maybe you and Marta can sing together, and then we can figure out when we want solos and when we want both of you singing, sound good?"

Kale nodded again, Marta just stared at Kale.

"And Summer, are you okay with Dewey's guitar?" Katie asked.

It was Summer's turn to nod. "Yeah… Let's get started."

----

An hour later, it seemed that both Zack and Katie had made the right choice, suggesting the two new people who should be in the band. Summer, despite her ominous thoughts, was frankly a lot better than anyone could have imagined. She was quite proud of herself, even if there were still a couple parts she couldn't do. Zack had taken both solos, but that was fine with Summer. More time staring at his butt while he's up front.

After their seventh time going through "School of Rock," Summer felt pretty happy with her own play, and with Marta and Kale's collaboration. She was about to open her mouth to congratulate everyone, when a cell phone started playing "Anyone for Tennis," by Cream. Kale fumbled with his jeans' pocket before picking up his phone.

"Hello? … Oh, hey man, what's goin' on? … Cool… Yeah, I'm jamming with my new band… Bullshit!" He laughed. "Oh fuck you, Marshall, you thought I was going to sit at home crying? We sucked, dude!"

The band stood watching Kale, bemused, as his eyes opened wide at what Marshall was telling him over the phone. "Okay, I'll be over there in five." As he hung up, he looked to his new band mates.

"Sorry, I got stuff I gotta do, I have to go. But same time next week?"

"Kaleb!" Katie yelled. "You can't do that, you're not allowed to cut out early on such short notice! And plus, I don't want to leave yet!"

Kale shook his head. "Sorry guys, but this is kind of an emergency… And Kate, well, I got the wheels, dude, so if you want to walk home, that's all good with me." He began to walk to towards his car.

Katie stamped her foot in frustration. "Guys, I'm sorry, this won't happen again, I promise." And with that, she hurried after her brother.

"Bye Kale!" said Marta, lifting her head to watch him leave.

"Well," said Zack after the junker had left, "that was a pretty awesome practice for your first time, eh Sum?"

Summer couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, I was pretty surprised, to tell you the truth."

Lawrence nodded in agreement as well. Neither Freddy nor Marta said anything, however. It seemed that once Kale left, Marta's attention had turned back to the boy she was seeing. Summer cleared her throat, trying to get the couple's attention, but it was nothing doing.

"God, get a room, you two," Zack said, staring.

Marta pulled up, laughing cheekily. "We'll be in the backyard, okay?"

Freddy just laughed. Summer grimaced as she realized he was walking hunched over as they left the garage. "Ew."

"They're fairly boisterous, those two," commented Lawrence while he pulled apart his keyboard.

"You said it, dude." Zack nodded.

As if right on cue, the Tsai's sedan pulled up in front of the Mooneyham's house, and after saying good-bye, Lawrence took his keyboard, got into the car, and left.

The following awkward silence was broken by Summer. "You did really awesome with Dewey's solo, Zack." He smiled. "I mean," she continued, "I would have taken it, but I wanted you to feel important and all."

He laughed. "Well, thanks for your honesty and consideration, Tinkerbell."

All she could do was smile as she looked up at him. She had always known he was tall, but it was only now that she realized Zack was at least five inches taller than her.

"Is practice over?" came a voice from the front of the garage. Summer turned around to see her favourite person in the whole world.

"Eleni! What are you doing here?" Zack asked, as he went to go give her a hug.

"Mmm… I just came over to visit! I'm allowed, right, Tink?"

"Summer," the girl replied, eyes closed, head tilted to the ceiling. "It's Summer."

Eleni shrugged as she grabbed hold of Zack's hand. "So," she asked him, "what are your plans for the evening?"

"I don't know," was his reply. "Why?"

"Oh… Just wondering," she said coyly. "I was thinking maybe we could do something… Just the two of us… Something romantic, intimate, you know…" Her hand began to crawl up Zack's arm.

"Oh, for God's sake, let me out of the fricking room before you start feeling him up, would you?" Summer said in anger.

It seemed to be exactly what Eleni wanted. "Why do you always act so jealous whenever you see me and my boyfriend together, Tink? I mean, it's a good thing you look the way you do, or else I'd have to believe I had some competition, or something."

"Whatever, you're such a ho," was Summer's weak, but bitter, reply. Both Zack and Eleni's jaws dropped. She flipped Eleni off as she turned around to go out the back door to grab Marta.

Summer's best friend, along with Freddy were doing what they did best, making out quite passionately, when Summer came to break them up. "We're getting out of here, now. Meet me in five minutes at the corner of Brale and Downsworth. I'll let you finish up." Before either of the couple had time to reply, Summer marched right back into the garage to collect her guitar.

When she went in there, however, Zack was waiting for her, without Eleni.

He looked her straight in the eye. "Why are you such a bitch to her?"

Summer knew she couldn't answer the question truthfully without making things extremely complicated. "I think the question here, is why do you let her boss you around? Have you ever noticed how passive you are around her? Like, she could do anything to you, and you wouldn't say anything about it. It's like you're her pet or something."

Zack shook his head, taking his time to reply. "Listen, Tinkerbell, you're my friend, but Eleni's my girlfriend, and you need to show her respect."

Summer couldn't believe she was hearing this. "Don't listen to me then. If Eleni means that much more to you than your friends do, than just listen to whatever the hell she tells you." Summer threw her hands up in the air. "It's not like I care, anyway. Do whatever you want, Mooneyham."

Zack's eyes narrowed. "Listen, Summer, you're not my girlfriend you can't--"

"Yeah," she interrupted, "I'm not. I'm quite aware of that." And with that, she picked up her guitar, and began to walk out of the garage.

Before she could make her way out though, Zack got the last word in.

"It's not like you wanted to be my girlfriend, anyway."

A/N - Summer, Summer, Summer... Hard to be mad at her though, Eleni totally provoked her. Stupid Eleni. Next chapter's going to be the bomb, I swear, I've been waiting to write it since the beginning of this story, I hope you guys'll like it... I hope you guys liked this chapter (nevermind something I haven't even written yet). Thanks for reading, guys, and please review!