Disclaimer: School of Rock and its characters do not belong to me. Neither
do any pop culture references I may chose to include.
Author's notes: Wow, that was a lot of reviews last chapter. I thank you. Oh yeah, I made up a word for Dewey to say a lot. It's based on Ned's last name, based on the fact that Ned's done a lot for Dewey since the movie. It basically means sweet, or awesome.
Ch13
No one moved. The three teens jaws nearly dropped in shock. "I mean seriously." Dewey continued. "You were rocking out. What was that?"
"Just something I wrote." Summer answered uncomfortably putting the guitar back.
"You wrote that? Schneebs!" Dewey took his coat off. "Hey Zack, Freddy. Been quite the long time."
Zack didn't move from his seat. "I wonder why that is."
Summer sent him a quick look. "Well, lots of things have happened in the past four years. I wouldn't be too surprised."
Freddy nodded, following Summer's example. "Yeah. Life's had us pretty busy."
"I want to hear all about it." Dewey sat down. "The others aren't here yet."
"Why don't we wait until the others do get here?" Summer suggested, wheeling closer to Zack. "That way we won't be repeating ourselves, and it's a good starting point."
"Of course." Dewey agreed.
The room was engulfed in a silence, an awkward one at that. Freddy stared at his hands, Summer fiddled with the guitar pick on her necklace, and Zack seemed fascinated with a spot on the immaculately white wall. Dewey on the other hand was looking at each of them, one at a time, in a cycle. Summer, then Zack, then Freddy, then back to Summer. Summer, falling into take charge mode, was the one to break it. "Maybe we should get something ready for the others. You did get food for this right? Some of them have had long flights, Tomika is coming from Hawaii."
"Yeah we can do that." Dewey nodded. "Follow me to the kitchen." Everyone followed, though again silently. "OK, soda and stuff is in the fridge, chips and other munchies are in that big closet." He pointed.
Everyone found their own assignment, Summer loading soda into cups, Freddy getting the different types of chips out and into bowls, and Zack got the soda out of the fridge for Summer. Dewey seemed to be standing doing nothing when the doorbell rang. "That'll be Tomika, Marta and Alicia, they scheduled their flights so they could meet up at the airport and share a taxi." Summer announced. "We'll finish up here. You go get the door."
"Gotcha." Dewey exited the room.
"This is gonna be interesting." Freddy remarked.
Summer paused her pouring. "Well, yeah. What could be expected though? Right?"
Zack closed the fridge. "I don't know if I can do this. I think I'm gonna end up losing my cool, instead of just doing what we talked about."
"We're here man." Freddy grabbed a cup of soda. "We'll keep you in line."
"Yeah. We can calm you down." Summer nodded. "Maybe it would be good if you didn't say what you felt, but played the song you wrote. Put all the anger with the music."
Zack gave a half smile. "If things get out of hand I will. Thanks guys."
Before the two had a chance to respond, a new voice spoke. "Oh my god! Its so good to see you guys!" Before Freddy knew what was happening, he was engulfed in a bone crushing hug.
"Marta, oxygen is an issue with me. I haven't developed super powers or anything." He choked out.
"Sorry." Marta sheepishly apologized, pulling back. "Zack, you've changed so much. Is your hair longer? It looks it. And I'm totally digging the flaming converse." She referred to his sneakers, gushing, and giving him a hug. "Summer, oh my god. I thought I had prepared myself for this, but it is so much more different than I thought. How are you doing? I mean I know it happened four years ago, but are things working out? I love your necklace, and your hair looks so great with that red in it. Is it permanent or just like hair mascara or something. Because it should totally be permanent. And Freddy, you need to spike that hair of yours again, it looked much better. Where's Katie?" When no one answered her, she looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No." Alicia shook her head. "You just spoke faster than they can hear."
"Oh." Marta flushed and giggled. "Sorry, bad habit."
"I'm sorry, how much caffeine did you have today?" Summer remarked.
No one answered her just went on talking. "Wow, Marta's right. I thought I was ready to see you." Tomika said.
"Don't worry about it people. It was four years ago." Summer changed the subject. "Let's get this reunion started. We have a lot to cover."
Alicia nodded. "Yep. It's definitely the same Summer under the black eyeliner and hair dye."
Dewey clapped his hands together. "OK, grab what you want to eat or drink, and let's go to the living room and get this shindig rolling."
Everyone just took a boll of chips, and found a soda they liked before moving into the living room. "Summer, do you want to sit on the couch or in the chair?" Zack asked her.
"I'll take the couch." She answered, and that was soon where she found herself.
Dewey clapped his hands together again when everyone was sitting. "We need to clear the air before we can have any fun at this reunion. So, what's gonna happen is you're all going to get a chance to tell me what you think, and then I'll give you my explanation. Before you start though, give us like, a quick recap of what's gone on in your life since, well, we split. Everybody got it?" They all nodded. "Schneebs! OK, Freddy, why don't you go first?"
"Uh, sure. Basically since the band split, I've been hanging with Zack and Katie. I'm going to Brown where we met up with Summer. I'm studying to go into television production, and Katie and I have been dating since September. Now I do the feelings thing, right? Well, when the band split, things sucked for a while. Band kept me on track. I was staying on track and my grades were staying up. It was a good way to keep me concentrated. I wanted to do good so I could stay with the band. But when I didn't have the band it was a lot harder. The music was my life, and a way to keep life together. I guess that's why I'm so mad."
Dewey nodded. "Who's next?"
"I'll go." Summer volunteered. "Obviously since the band split I've gotten in the chair, but I've also learned to play guitar and keyboard, and taken vocal lessons. I'm also studying at Brown, to become a Pathologist. Yes, I want to cut open dead people. I've been dating Zack, also since September, and my aunt makes me see a shrink. OK, feelings on the band breakup. Well, up until I ran into these guys, I didn't even know the band had broken up. It makes my feelings pretty limited. But the band held a special place in my heart. It was a place where I could be myself instead of what everyone wanted from me, And it was pretty great knowing I'd always have real friends there. But that's about it for me. Katie's not here, because that's how angry she is. The band was a second family to her. Her first family had already been torn apart because of her parents divorce. Having the band break-up hurt her, a lot."
"Are you done?" Tomika asked. Summer nodded. "Well, I'm in Hawaii, not in college, but helping my grandfather run his inn. And doing some small singing gigs here and there. The band was really cool for me. I got teased a bit back then, but when the band started up everything stopped. It was awesome. When the band broke up though, things went back to the same way, only the band sticking by me. It sucked."
"I hear that." Alicia took a sip of her soda. "Well, the part about life after the band sucking. I didn't have the same problem. I'm currently going to school in Vermont. It's a small place you wouldn't have heard of, and I haven't decided what to go into yet. The band was cool. Everyone had a place, and my being full of attitude didn't matter, because we were able to work it into the music, and I got into less trouble, because I worked it out in the music. After the band split, I had more attitude then I knew what to do with. And I got into a lot of trouble with teachers and stuff. Not my idea of fun."
Marta pulled her hair down. "I'm studying at Juliard, dancing ballet. When the band was together, I wasn't really into the whole rock music thing. Sounds pretty strange considering all the fun I had, but it's true. I thought for a while that it was good that the band broke up, I could explore singing things that I really liked, like in a girl group or something. But the more I worked on it, the more I realized rock was my passion, but by then, we had lost it."
"I guess that just leaves me." Zack looked at his hands quickly then back up. Summer put a reassuring hand on his, "Well, I'm at Brown, looking to become a writer, and as you heard dating Summer. The band breaking up hurt me. A lot. It had done a lot for me. Got me freedom from my parents, introduced me to some great friends, and gave me something to be passionate about. I learned that I can't just take no for an answer from it, and a lot more. But you decided to give up, without even asking us. That's what hurt the most. You had promised that you would never make any big decisions without asking us what we felt, and then you went ahead and made the biggest decision of all, without knowing what we felt about it. The passion that we held for the music, and just the unity of the band itself, we had that, and we wouldn't have just let the band go. But you made the decision for us. That's the worse part about what you did. You threw away everything that you taught us and just gave up. It hurts."
Dewey was silent for a moment. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. "OK, what all of you said is true. I was a jerk, and did what only I wanted. It wasn't fair to you guys. The reason it even happened was because I gave up. Even when Summer was with us, we couldn't get anything more than a bit gig. Nobody thought we were serious. I thought that I should find a way to do what I love but actually be successful at something. My only goal was about me. I didn't know the band or the music meant that much to you, I just thought I was bringing you down, making you stay with the band. I should of talked to you, and I can understand if you guys still hate me, but I am sorry."
"Well, I'm still mad, but I can see where you're coming from." Freddy put his soda down. "I accept."
"So do I." Most of the room chorused.
"Zack?" Summer gently nudged her quiet boyfriend. "What about you?"
"I-I forgive you." Zack finally said his words.
Dewey grinned. "Schneebs! All right, lets get rockin!"
Alicia stood. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well, I rented out the movie theater with the couches for us, and you guys can chose a movie, and then it'll be time for dinner at the great American staple of Sonic drive ins." Dewey explained.
Zack helped Summer back into her chair. "I'm gonna follow in my van, with Summer, and whoever else wants to come."
Everyone paired off into the two vans agreeing they'd switch around a bit on the next trip, and at the drive in they would sit in between the vehicles and have a picnic like smorgasbord.
§ § §
Summer waited behind the group as they filed into the theater, Zack promising to save her a seat, because Marta wanted to talk to her one on one while the previews were playing. Marta stood by her, both girls in a shadowed area. "So what did you want to talk about?" Summer asked.
"I just thought you should know, I've learned to compete." Marta was pulling her hair back up.
"What do you mean, compete?"
"To get what I want." Marta clarified. "Juliard is a competition heavy school. If you want something you've got to work hard, and I'm not afraid to work hard to get what I want."
"And what is it that you want?"
"Like you don't know. Zack. I'll have to admit, you have put up a hard act to follow."
"What the hell are you talking about Marta?"
"Well, not only are you able to play the cripple card, you've learned to do a few things that he loves. Even if you did learn to do them just so you could compensate for not being able to walk. But don't worry. I have more than just good looks, which you can't measure up to, that'll make Zack mine. I know how to roll with the punches. I'd enjoy you're last few days with him." Marta sauntered into the theater.
Summer took a minute to compose herself the best she could before entering after her, and going towards Zack. The theater was still dimly lit, so he was easy to find. He helped her get out of the chair, and into the seat next to him on a plush love seat. "Hey, what did Marta want to talk to you about?"
"Oh, it was nothing." Summer's voice betrayed her though.
"It doesn't sound like nothing. What happened?"
"It's nothing, OK? Let's just watch the movie." She leaned her head against his shoulder, closing the discussion.
Freddy, who sat in a recliner nearby sent Zack a look, asking what was going on.
Zack shrugged back. He could feel tears seeping through his shirt though, and found himself unable to concentrate as the opening credits for the first Ghostbusters played.
Well, chapter 13 is complete. Again, I'm getting pretty evil with where I end these.
Random Quote of the Day: "There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves."—Will Rogers
Thank You to
Harry Potter's Crazed Stalker
m-fashion
Steffff
maroonedpirate11
Pannalid
SarahLou
crazyknarf
kittygal-meow
Sandy-Pandy
Nanners-77
Corita-Duval
wiseoldman
manic-panic626
Author's notes: Wow, that was a lot of reviews last chapter. I thank you. Oh yeah, I made up a word for Dewey to say a lot. It's based on Ned's last name, based on the fact that Ned's done a lot for Dewey since the movie. It basically means sweet, or awesome.
Ch13
No one moved. The three teens jaws nearly dropped in shock. "I mean seriously." Dewey continued. "You were rocking out. What was that?"
"Just something I wrote." Summer answered uncomfortably putting the guitar back.
"You wrote that? Schneebs!" Dewey took his coat off. "Hey Zack, Freddy. Been quite the long time."
Zack didn't move from his seat. "I wonder why that is."
Summer sent him a quick look. "Well, lots of things have happened in the past four years. I wouldn't be too surprised."
Freddy nodded, following Summer's example. "Yeah. Life's had us pretty busy."
"I want to hear all about it." Dewey sat down. "The others aren't here yet."
"Why don't we wait until the others do get here?" Summer suggested, wheeling closer to Zack. "That way we won't be repeating ourselves, and it's a good starting point."
"Of course." Dewey agreed.
The room was engulfed in a silence, an awkward one at that. Freddy stared at his hands, Summer fiddled with the guitar pick on her necklace, and Zack seemed fascinated with a spot on the immaculately white wall. Dewey on the other hand was looking at each of them, one at a time, in a cycle. Summer, then Zack, then Freddy, then back to Summer. Summer, falling into take charge mode, was the one to break it. "Maybe we should get something ready for the others. You did get food for this right? Some of them have had long flights, Tomika is coming from Hawaii."
"Yeah we can do that." Dewey nodded. "Follow me to the kitchen." Everyone followed, though again silently. "OK, soda and stuff is in the fridge, chips and other munchies are in that big closet." He pointed.
Everyone found their own assignment, Summer loading soda into cups, Freddy getting the different types of chips out and into bowls, and Zack got the soda out of the fridge for Summer. Dewey seemed to be standing doing nothing when the doorbell rang. "That'll be Tomika, Marta and Alicia, they scheduled their flights so they could meet up at the airport and share a taxi." Summer announced. "We'll finish up here. You go get the door."
"Gotcha." Dewey exited the room.
"This is gonna be interesting." Freddy remarked.
Summer paused her pouring. "Well, yeah. What could be expected though? Right?"
Zack closed the fridge. "I don't know if I can do this. I think I'm gonna end up losing my cool, instead of just doing what we talked about."
"We're here man." Freddy grabbed a cup of soda. "We'll keep you in line."
"Yeah. We can calm you down." Summer nodded. "Maybe it would be good if you didn't say what you felt, but played the song you wrote. Put all the anger with the music."
Zack gave a half smile. "If things get out of hand I will. Thanks guys."
Before the two had a chance to respond, a new voice spoke. "Oh my god! Its so good to see you guys!" Before Freddy knew what was happening, he was engulfed in a bone crushing hug.
"Marta, oxygen is an issue with me. I haven't developed super powers or anything." He choked out.
"Sorry." Marta sheepishly apologized, pulling back. "Zack, you've changed so much. Is your hair longer? It looks it. And I'm totally digging the flaming converse." She referred to his sneakers, gushing, and giving him a hug. "Summer, oh my god. I thought I had prepared myself for this, but it is so much more different than I thought. How are you doing? I mean I know it happened four years ago, but are things working out? I love your necklace, and your hair looks so great with that red in it. Is it permanent or just like hair mascara or something. Because it should totally be permanent. And Freddy, you need to spike that hair of yours again, it looked much better. Where's Katie?" When no one answered her, she looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No." Alicia shook her head. "You just spoke faster than they can hear."
"Oh." Marta flushed and giggled. "Sorry, bad habit."
"I'm sorry, how much caffeine did you have today?" Summer remarked.
No one answered her just went on talking. "Wow, Marta's right. I thought I was ready to see you." Tomika said.
"Don't worry about it people. It was four years ago." Summer changed the subject. "Let's get this reunion started. We have a lot to cover."
Alicia nodded. "Yep. It's definitely the same Summer under the black eyeliner and hair dye."
Dewey clapped his hands together. "OK, grab what you want to eat or drink, and let's go to the living room and get this shindig rolling."
Everyone just took a boll of chips, and found a soda they liked before moving into the living room. "Summer, do you want to sit on the couch or in the chair?" Zack asked her.
"I'll take the couch." She answered, and that was soon where she found herself.
Dewey clapped his hands together again when everyone was sitting. "We need to clear the air before we can have any fun at this reunion. So, what's gonna happen is you're all going to get a chance to tell me what you think, and then I'll give you my explanation. Before you start though, give us like, a quick recap of what's gone on in your life since, well, we split. Everybody got it?" They all nodded. "Schneebs! OK, Freddy, why don't you go first?"
"Uh, sure. Basically since the band split, I've been hanging with Zack and Katie. I'm going to Brown where we met up with Summer. I'm studying to go into television production, and Katie and I have been dating since September. Now I do the feelings thing, right? Well, when the band split, things sucked for a while. Band kept me on track. I was staying on track and my grades were staying up. It was a good way to keep me concentrated. I wanted to do good so I could stay with the band. But when I didn't have the band it was a lot harder. The music was my life, and a way to keep life together. I guess that's why I'm so mad."
Dewey nodded. "Who's next?"
"I'll go." Summer volunteered. "Obviously since the band split I've gotten in the chair, but I've also learned to play guitar and keyboard, and taken vocal lessons. I'm also studying at Brown, to become a Pathologist. Yes, I want to cut open dead people. I've been dating Zack, also since September, and my aunt makes me see a shrink. OK, feelings on the band breakup. Well, up until I ran into these guys, I didn't even know the band had broken up. It makes my feelings pretty limited. But the band held a special place in my heart. It was a place where I could be myself instead of what everyone wanted from me, And it was pretty great knowing I'd always have real friends there. But that's about it for me. Katie's not here, because that's how angry she is. The band was a second family to her. Her first family had already been torn apart because of her parents divorce. Having the band break-up hurt her, a lot."
"Are you done?" Tomika asked. Summer nodded. "Well, I'm in Hawaii, not in college, but helping my grandfather run his inn. And doing some small singing gigs here and there. The band was really cool for me. I got teased a bit back then, but when the band started up everything stopped. It was awesome. When the band broke up though, things went back to the same way, only the band sticking by me. It sucked."
"I hear that." Alicia took a sip of her soda. "Well, the part about life after the band sucking. I didn't have the same problem. I'm currently going to school in Vermont. It's a small place you wouldn't have heard of, and I haven't decided what to go into yet. The band was cool. Everyone had a place, and my being full of attitude didn't matter, because we were able to work it into the music, and I got into less trouble, because I worked it out in the music. After the band split, I had more attitude then I knew what to do with. And I got into a lot of trouble with teachers and stuff. Not my idea of fun."
Marta pulled her hair down. "I'm studying at Juliard, dancing ballet. When the band was together, I wasn't really into the whole rock music thing. Sounds pretty strange considering all the fun I had, but it's true. I thought for a while that it was good that the band broke up, I could explore singing things that I really liked, like in a girl group or something. But the more I worked on it, the more I realized rock was my passion, but by then, we had lost it."
"I guess that just leaves me." Zack looked at his hands quickly then back up. Summer put a reassuring hand on his, "Well, I'm at Brown, looking to become a writer, and as you heard dating Summer. The band breaking up hurt me. A lot. It had done a lot for me. Got me freedom from my parents, introduced me to some great friends, and gave me something to be passionate about. I learned that I can't just take no for an answer from it, and a lot more. But you decided to give up, without even asking us. That's what hurt the most. You had promised that you would never make any big decisions without asking us what we felt, and then you went ahead and made the biggest decision of all, without knowing what we felt about it. The passion that we held for the music, and just the unity of the band itself, we had that, and we wouldn't have just let the band go. But you made the decision for us. That's the worse part about what you did. You threw away everything that you taught us and just gave up. It hurts."
Dewey was silent for a moment. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. "OK, what all of you said is true. I was a jerk, and did what only I wanted. It wasn't fair to you guys. The reason it even happened was because I gave up. Even when Summer was with us, we couldn't get anything more than a bit gig. Nobody thought we were serious. I thought that I should find a way to do what I love but actually be successful at something. My only goal was about me. I didn't know the band or the music meant that much to you, I just thought I was bringing you down, making you stay with the band. I should of talked to you, and I can understand if you guys still hate me, but I am sorry."
"Well, I'm still mad, but I can see where you're coming from." Freddy put his soda down. "I accept."
"So do I." Most of the room chorused.
"Zack?" Summer gently nudged her quiet boyfriend. "What about you?"
"I-I forgive you." Zack finally said his words.
Dewey grinned. "Schneebs! All right, lets get rockin!"
Alicia stood. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well, I rented out the movie theater with the couches for us, and you guys can chose a movie, and then it'll be time for dinner at the great American staple of Sonic drive ins." Dewey explained.
Zack helped Summer back into her chair. "I'm gonna follow in my van, with Summer, and whoever else wants to come."
Everyone paired off into the two vans agreeing they'd switch around a bit on the next trip, and at the drive in they would sit in between the vehicles and have a picnic like smorgasbord.
§ § §
Summer waited behind the group as they filed into the theater, Zack promising to save her a seat, because Marta wanted to talk to her one on one while the previews were playing. Marta stood by her, both girls in a shadowed area. "So what did you want to talk about?" Summer asked.
"I just thought you should know, I've learned to compete." Marta was pulling her hair back up.
"What do you mean, compete?"
"To get what I want." Marta clarified. "Juliard is a competition heavy school. If you want something you've got to work hard, and I'm not afraid to work hard to get what I want."
"And what is it that you want?"
"Like you don't know. Zack. I'll have to admit, you have put up a hard act to follow."
"What the hell are you talking about Marta?"
"Well, not only are you able to play the cripple card, you've learned to do a few things that he loves. Even if you did learn to do them just so you could compensate for not being able to walk. But don't worry. I have more than just good looks, which you can't measure up to, that'll make Zack mine. I know how to roll with the punches. I'd enjoy you're last few days with him." Marta sauntered into the theater.
Summer took a minute to compose herself the best she could before entering after her, and going towards Zack. The theater was still dimly lit, so he was easy to find. He helped her get out of the chair, and into the seat next to him on a plush love seat. "Hey, what did Marta want to talk to you about?"
"Oh, it was nothing." Summer's voice betrayed her though.
"It doesn't sound like nothing. What happened?"
"It's nothing, OK? Let's just watch the movie." She leaned her head against his shoulder, closing the discussion.
Freddy, who sat in a recliner nearby sent Zack a look, asking what was going on.
Zack shrugged back. He could feel tears seeping through his shirt though, and found himself unable to concentrate as the opening credits for the first Ghostbusters played.
Well, chapter 13 is complete. Again, I'm getting pretty evil with where I end these.
Random Quote of the Day: "There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves."—Will Rogers
Thank You to
Harry Potter's Crazed Stalker
m-fashion
Steffff
maroonedpirate11
Pannalid
SarahLou
crazyknarf
kittygal-meow
Sandy-Pandy
Nanners-77
Corita-Duval
wiseoldman
manic-panic626