Disclaimer: School of Rock and its characters do not belong to me. Neither do any pop culture references I may choose to include.
Author's notes: Well, play is over, and went rather well, and now I can update as much as I want. At least until school starts up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
ch2
Summer walked into school that Friday, already yawning. Off in one corner she could see Marta whispering and giggling with Leonard. She went directly to her desk, were Zack and Freddy were already talking. She took her seat, fumbling with a piece of paper in her hand nervously. "Hey Zack." They shared a quick kiss. "About tomorrow, do you still want me to come with you?"
"If you want to." Zack nodded almost eagerly. "Did you change your mind or something?"
"Uh, yeah." Summer half smiled. "So I'll meet you at the mall tomorrow?"
"I'm sure Mrs. Brown would pick you up." Zack looked away briefly to pick up his notebook, only to find it not there.
"Either way is fine." Summer yawned again.
Zack began standing. "I have to run back to my locker and grab my Self-Development notebook. Be right back."
Freddy immediately looked to Summer. "If you want you can spend the night tonight." He offered quickly.
"Why would I want to? It's not like I don't have a house to sleep at."
"It's not like you actually sleep there." Freddy countered. Summer avoided his eyes, picking up her notebook. "It would be a good idea, at least for a night or two. Just so you can catch up on your sleep. Maybe actually be rested so you can handle a hyperactive eight year old tomorrow."
Summer sighed. "Freddy, I know you're worried. But I don't need to put your family out."
Freddy cut her off. "You wouldn't be Summer. We have a guest room for this very purpose. Just please come over for tonight, and get some sleep. I have a reason to be worried if you're this tired."
"Does Zack know you're doing this?"
"Not exactly. But he's worried too. You haven't been talking to him as much lately. Or so he tells me."
"I know. I'm gonna work on that. I guess I'll pick my stuff after band tonight."
"Thanks Tink."
Zack walked back, taking his seat next to Summer. "Thorngood's on her way. Managed to wrangle Katie in the hall to talk about yesterday's lab report. And she doesn't look too happy. I'd behave yourself today, Freddy."
"Thanks for the heads up." Freddy sat low in his seat. "What are we supposed to do today anyway?"
Zack shrugged. "With Thorngood, who knows?"
§ § §
"Summer." Zack hissed at his girlfriend. "Summer!" Summer however remained asleep, and the teacher was slowly approaching from the back of the classroom. "Summer, wake up."
Summer shook her head, almost in protest. "I did everything I could." She murmured.
Zack quickly glanced around before gently shaking her shoulder. "Mermer, wake up."
Suddenly her eyes opened and Zack retracted his hand quickly. "OK class. Everyone may go to lunch." Mrs. Thorngood clapped her hands together, and the class eagerly stood and left the classroom. Summer and Zack were the last to leave, noticing Mrs. Thorngood giving them a look as they stood.
"Summer, what's going on? You never fall asleep in class." Zack asked as they made their way to the cafeteria. "And you were talking in your sleep. Were you having another nightmare?"
Summer avoided his gaze as they walked. "I might have been. I don't really remember it that well."
"Did you really get that little sleep last night?"
"Yeah. Things have just been a little worse lately. That's why I saw Dr. Phillips yesterday. But he says it's natural and not to worry."
"Don't you think if you're this tired then there is something to worry about?"
"Doesn't this sound familiar?" Summer muttered.
"Summer if you're gonna help with Dani tomorrow, you're gonna need to be well rested. And the rest of the band is worried too."
"I've seen that tree before." Summer paused. "I'm staying at your place tonight. Freddy is just as worried as you and is making me. I'll get some sleep tonight, and you'll be there to make sure I get it."
"I guess so."
"Look, I promise if I have anymore problems I'll talk to you. We haven't kept any secrets from each other since we were eleven, and now seems like a real crappy time to start. And I'll tell you what, after Mrs. Brown takes Dani back, why don't we go out for an ice cream in the park or something, and spend some good quality time alone together? We haven't had much time for that lately." She brightened her expression as well as her tone, hoping his would persuade Zack.
Zack's expression changed from a concerned frown to a smile. "That sounds good."
"OK." Summer nodded. "So what did I miss in class? Anything important, or the normal drabble?"
§ § §
Zack opened the door to the guest room at his home hurriedly. The lights were already on, but dimmed. The sheets on the bed were tangled and half off the bed, somewhat concealing Summer's body. She was face down on the floor, one hand still clinging to the sheet that was hanging from the bed. She was quietly crying out and murmuring things every once and a while in her sleep. He walked over and knelt by her, carefully touching her shoulder. "Summer? Summer wake up."
It didn't take much for her to bolt upright, breathing heavily, eyes darting in every direction. They settled on Zack for the briefest of seconds before she curled up in a ball.
"Summer, it's me Zack. You just had a bad dream."
Summer popped her head up. "What?" She asked in a small voice. She looked more confused at him. "What are you doing here Zack?" Her voice grew stronger and she sat up straighter.
"I heard a noise from in here. You fell off your bed. You were having a nightmare. I was already awake. I don't think you woke anyone up. Are you all right?"
"I'm used to it." Summer shook it off. "You should go back to bed."
"Not until you tell me what your dream was about."
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"Summer you promised. Remember?"
"It's not that important Z."
"Mermer, I want to be able to help you. I can't if you don't let me know what's going on."
"It was about your dad, OK?" Summer looked down at her hands. "Every once in a while, I still have one about him. When he was with my mom in the kitchen. It's no big deal, but..."
"You still didn't want me to find out." Zack finished. "Why not? You've let me know about the other ones. Why didn't you let me know about this one?"
"Because it's so stupid. Nothing actually happened. And it's your dad. You already hate him. You don't need anymore reasons for hating him. I don't need to give you another reason."
"No offense or anything, but that's the stupidest reason you've ever given me for not telling me something. You can always tell me about my dad. The hate isn't going to go away, even if you don't give me anymore reasons to hate him. And if what happened in that kitchen was nothing, I would have hated to see something. Mermer, you have every right to be upset about what happened there."
"I don't get it. How are you so understanding?"
"I'm coming from it too. Not nearly as bad. But I'm coming from it too." He began standing. "Come on. Why don't we try getting some more sleep?"
"I guess we could. But I normally don't have much luck after dreams."
"I'll stay until your asleep."
§ § §
Dani was bouncing around in the back seat of the Brown's van between Zack and Summer the next day around noon, her light brown hair swishing around. "Did you hear?" She asked excitedly. "I climbed the rope in PE. I was the only kid in my class who made it to the top. All the other kids were too scared. I thought it was fun. And they're talking about letting me skip second grade. That would be so cool. I'd get to dissect a cow's eye before everyone else my age. And then yesterday I was running on the playground and Jimmy tripped me. I scraped me knee up really bad. It was oozing blood and everything and Mr. Corvin made me go to the nurse. I didn't want to but he made me because Susie saw the blood and she threw up. Later I found out Jimmy got three demerits. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, on Tuesday at my piano lesson, Miss Nancy went into labor. I called 911 and everything, but by the time the paramedics got there, they had to deliver the baby there. It was so cool. I got to see a baby being born right in front of me. Miss Nancy was screaming a lot for her husband, who only showed up just as the baby was born. It was a girl. Miss Nancy named her Elizabeth Danielle. All for me. Isn't that cool?" Her brown eyes were wide and saucer like as she looked back and forth between Zack and Summer, grinning.
Zack and Summer shot each other a look above Dani's head and replied together. "Definitely."
Mrs. Brown shot her daughter a look as she pulled the van up to the entrance of the mall. "Dani, you behave yourself. I don't want any reports of your pranks or you causing any trouble for Zack and Summer. Zack, you have the money right?" Zack nodded. "I'll meet you three back here around 3:00, OK?"
"That sounds good." Zack nodded again. And the three stepped out of the car.
"You three have fun."
As soon as the van was gone Dani looked at the two teenagers. "So, do you two make out like Katie and Freddy do? Jimmy says that making out will give you cooties. Of course I don't believe him because I know that there is no such thing as cooties, but Jimmy has the rest of the grade cootie crazy. I read Katie's diary. She says she wants to marry Freddy. Wouldn't that be cool? Freddy would make such an awesome brother. Don't tell her I read her diary by the way. She would be so mad at me if she knew. Do you want to marry Zack, Summer? Because as soon as I pick out my sneakers, we could look at the wedding dresses. They have some really pretty one's here. We went when my aunt got married for the third time."
There's chapter two. Finally. Let me know what you think.
crazyknarf- You were very enthusiastic in your review. I'm glad you like it that much.
augur-cursed- Remind me to thank the friend who recommended me to you. I'm glad you liked the first two. I myself thought it was a little hard to believe the plot of the second, and it's probably going to be a little hard to believe the major plot of this one, but I really wanted it to happen so...
Holly13- I would so totally do a band sleepover, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the ideas I have planned for this one. Perhaps in the near fic future...
Nanners-77- I'm glad you like that I have a lot of dialogue. Some people don't like that as much. My friend recently got pretty much flamed on another site for having a lot of dialogue, so I like that some people can respect others writing styles.
writerdude3000- Glad you're continuing to read, even if you don't think I need a sequel, and it's always good to hear that people have faith in me!
ottiredhead- Thanks for wishing me luck. The play went rather well, only a few mistakes, which was pretty good considering we ran three shows. I hope like the rest of the story.
SarahLou- It does seem that Summer can't get a break, but it does make it a bit more realistic, like you said. Don't worry. Eventually, something good has to happen to her, but until then...
sweetcaroline3313-Thanks for the great review. Glad you think it wasn't dull, and I hope you like this one as much as you liked the first one.
Swimmerkitti- See above.
Rust Red- Hey, how's it going ole chum....p? Thanks for the review. Whenever you bother finishing the next chapter of yours, I'll be sure to check it out. In the meantime, I might start working on my Harry Potter that I've yet to debut. Just maybe. Or I'll just keep myself busy with obsessing over Sons of Pitches. It is one of my favorite passtimes...