Hi everyone! Sorry that it is taking so long, but I've been really busy. And, sadly, the next chapter won't be up in a while, either. I am leaving for a vacation tomorrow. Then, every weekend until school starts, I'll be gone. But I'll try to get it up soon. I'm trying to get another story started, but I haven't had much time too. And, I want to change my screen name. It will probably be something with 'Joey' in it, because I like a certain guitarist that a certain drummer now. Just to let you know. But on to the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: (Do I always have to do this?) I don't own School of Rock. Or the characters. I just own the plot. And the original characters. So, yeah.
Chapter Eight
Out She Goes
Kristi took one look at Zack and went to leave. Freddy stopped her, but he didn't blame her for trying to leave. Zack looked worse than he had ever looked. His left arm was in a cast from his hand to his lower shoulder. There were lots of different monitors and instruments connected to him, like an IV.
His hoarse voice sarcastically said, "Oh, it's you two. That just makes my day." He let out a little moan in pain and added, "This stuff really hurts."
Kristi couldn't help but saying, "Boy, you look terrible."
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"Sorry," Kristi mumbled. Freddy sat down in a chair. Kristi sat in one next to him.
"Why are you two here?" Zack asked.
"We came here to see you, and to cheer you up. I heard that the band members haven't come to see you yet," Freddy replied.
"You're the first visitors I've had."
"Then why aren't you glad to see us?" Kristi asked.
"Because, it's you two who are the visitors. Freddy gave me this black eye; I thought he was my best friend, but friends don't give each other black eyes. And you, Kristi, you caused this accident thing to happen."
Freddy jumped up angrily and yelled, "She didn't cause the accident. You were the one that wasn't paying any attention to the road. If you would have looked both ways, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"But if you hadn't asked her out in the first place, we wouldn't have been mad at each other. So, it's her fault."
Everyone in the room was yelling. Kristi screamed, "Well, Freddy, maybe he's right, so just shut up you two."
Freddy gave Kristi a confused look. "Why is it your fault? What did you do?"
"Well, if I hadn't come we wouldn't have won that contest; the band had lots of trouble with the stupid song. Then you wouldn't have kissed me, and gone out with me. And I am the lead guitarist of the band now, since someone with a crappy attitude decided to quit because they thought that I was better than them! So he was mad and got himself run over by a truck!" she yelled. Kristi then realized what she said. "I didn't mean to say that. It slipped out. I'm-"
"So the truth comes out," Zack said, with a shocked look on his face. You really think that you are better than me, and that you are better for the band?"
"No, don't take it like that. Honestly, I-"
"How am I supposed to take it? It sounds like someone never liked me, even as a friend, from the beginning. All you think about is yourself, your guitar, yourself, your boyfriend, and did I mention yourself? You don't care about anyone's feelings, or their talent. You just think of you and what you want. I can't believe that anyone in the band likes you, you're so selfish. And I'm right, aren't I?"
"I didn't mean to sound like that," Kristi tried to point out. She realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she said, "Oh, forget it," as she ran out of the room with tears in her eyes.
"She's so selfish," Zack said as he shifted to a more comfortable position.
Freddy watched Kristi leave. He then turned to Zack and said, "How come you keep doing that-making her feel like crap? You know, she felt really bad that you got hit. She sat next to you on the bloody pavement while you were unconscious. She cried when she found out that you won't be able to walk again. And she was the one that wanted to come and visit you. How come you are so mean to her?"
"She kicked me out of the band," Zack replied stubbornly.
"No, you were the one that walked out on us. We had nothing to do with it-it was your crappy attitude."
"Everyone thinks that she plays better than me. She is a lot cuter than me. I was voted out. Everyone raised their hand for her."
Freddy thought of something to say. Zack was being so stubborn, in Freddy's opinion. He suddenly said, "Lawrence."
Zack gave him a confused look. "What does he have to do with this?"
"He didn't raise his hand for her-"
"Great," Zack satisfactorily said. Freddy scowled at him.
"You didn't let me finish. He didn't raise his hand for you, either."
Zack tried to lift his hands up, but with the huge cast, it didn't work to well. "I hate this thing. It's so huge. And the stuff in my back-that's pretty painful."
"And you can't walk?"
Zack let out a small yell of frustration and angrily shouted, "You heard the doctor! Do you think that I really want to say it? I mean, it's really fricken hard to accept it, that I can't walk. Ever. Again. That fricken stinks. I can't do track, or football. I won't even be able to jump when I play my guitar! My legs are a huge part of the crappy mess that I call my life. I can't do anything I ever wanted to anymore! My dreams have been crushed, by the breaking of my fricken back!"
"You seem really stressed, in this hospital bed."
Zack almost blew up at this remark that's answer seemed so obvious. "What's up with all these stupid questions? Yeah, I hate it, and I'm stressed. The bed is so stiff. Nurses won't leave me alone. My mom cries when she sees me. My dad won't talk, and if he does, it's always about how I never pay attention, and what it did to me. They never spend the night. It's so lonely. And my brother-I don't think that he even knows. He's on a trip with the tennis team. My mom doesn't have the guts to contact him and tell him what happened. I feel alone and upset, and no one comes to visit me. That makes it worse."
"Dude, Kristi came to see you, and-"
"I have said this one million times, and I'll say it again. I didn't want to see her, I don't like her."
Freddy bit his lip, trying to hold in the nasty words he didn't want to say. He managed to do that, and said, "Don't say that. You never let me finish. I also came to see you. Doesn't that mean any thing?"
Zack closed his eyes as he said, "Should it? Maybe I hit my head really hard in the accident, 'cause it doesn't mean anything. You went behind my back, and asked Kristi out. You started a fight with me. You raised your hand for her, so I was thrown out of the band. I still don't see why I would have wanted to see you."
Freddy stood up, feeling really hurt. "I thought you were my best friend, and then you would have been glad to see me. I guess I wrong about both of those things." He left the room, leaving Zack really confused about everything that had just happened.
Freddy found Kristi sitting on the floor in the hallway. Together, they started down to the hospital cafeteria, both silent. They met up with Dewey half way. He looked confused when he saw their upset faces. Kristi said, "C'mon, let's go."
As she walked past, he said, "What's the rush? I haven't even gotten to talk to Zack yet."
Freddy grabbed his arm and dragged him along. "Believe me man, you don't want to."
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Kristi threw open Dewey's apartment door. "He said some really rotten, selfish things," she told him. "I couldn't stand to see his face again."
Dewey walked in after her. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."
"He's been saying crap like that for weeks, Dewey. I can't stand him anymore."
"Do you really mean what you're saying?" Dewey asked as he went over to his phone to check if there were any messages.
Kristi was about to reply, but Dewey said, "Wait a second; I have to hear this message."
She sat down on her bed as he played the message. They were both shocked as to who left the message, and what it said.
"Hi Dewey, its Lawrence. Even thought you're not here, we need to talk. About what happened. I don't think that Zack should have left the band. He left because Kristi is playing, and slowly taking over the band. Even though it sounds crazy, it's true. Her coming cost us our best player. I say we kick her out of the band. Then Zack can come back. I don't like her, and I think that the band might side with me. We need to have an emergency band meeting, to decide what to do. Call me back when you get home. Thanks, bye."
"What a message," Dewey said as he looked at Kristi. It looked like she didn't care. "You look like it didn't bother you."
"It kind of did," she replied. "But I'm leaving next week, so it really wouldn't matter."
"But Zack can't play, and we have that big gig. I can't play for that."
"What big gig?" Kristi asked.
"I was going to tell everyone about at the next practice. A really famous band, whose hometown is our town, is having a concert here next week. The band that was going to open for them had to cancel. They want us to play, since we are really good, and we are from this town, too. I don't know any of the lead guitar music. We have to have you there, since Zack can't play. Or we'll stink really bad."
"Well, hopefully no one will side with Lawrence."
"Yeah," was all Dewey could say.
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Everyone filed into Dewey's apartment. There was no need for an emergency band meeting; there was already a band practice scheduled for that night. Kristi said hi to everyone as they came, except for Lawrence. She just glared at him, and then went sit on a guitar amp. Kristi figured that there was no need to plug in her guitar, since she might get kicked out. Everyone was silent, which was strangely odd.
"Why's no one talking?" Dewey asked to break the silence.
"It's just weird, that Zack's not here," Alicia said.
"Katie and Marta aren't here either," Tomika added. "I wonder why that is."
"Well, we can't wait for them," Lawrence said. "Dewey, don't you have something to talk to us about?"
"Yes, I do," he replied. He told the band about the concert. They were really excited.
After a few minutes of talking about the concert, Lawrence said, "I thought you were going to tell them about kicking Kristi out of the band."
"What?" Freddy asked. "Why would we do that?"
"She bothered Zack, so he left. Zack is so much better than her, her guitar playing sounds a lot different. And in a bad way."
"No it doesn't," Freddy objected. "Her guitar is supposed to sound a little different, that's all. It's the way it's tuned. And she's just as good as Zack."
"No, he's way better," Tomika said. "I hate to break it to you Kristi, but you aren't half as good as he was. I'm siding with Lawrence. You just upset Zack and made him feel unwelcome."
"Same here, I'm siding with Lawrence," Alicia said.
Kristi, Dewey, and Freddy were shocked and confused. Those three knew the least about Kristi, and they wouldn't even give her a chance.
Lawrence looked around. "It looks like she's out. Its three kids against one. Kristi and Dewey don't count, since Dewey's an adult, and Kristi's the one that were voting about."
"But that's not fair!" Freddy and Dewey cried.
"Everyone isn't here!" Freddy added.
Dewey was just about to tell them about how he probably wasn't going to be able to learn all of the lead guitar music when Katie came in.
"Sorry I'm late. I went to the hospital to see Zack," she said.
"Was he alright?" Tomika asked.
"Well, sure. He was really glad to see someone, and he was extremely cheerful. I had a good visit."
"That's surprising," Kristi said. "He was really grumpy when Freddy, Dewey, and I stopped in for a visit. I wouldn't want to go back up there, even if my life depended on it."
Freddy thought, She sounds just as nasty as he did.
"What about Marta?" Dewey said. "Was she up there with you?"
Katie shook her head as she got out her bass guitar. "I'm afraid not. You see, her dad was one of the guys who hit Zack. She said that she couldn't face his friends, because of what her dad did. And her dad had to go to a court thing; he might have to be arrested for hitting Zack. So she had to go with."
"That's too bad," Lawrence said. "But what about Kristi?" He filled Katie in on voting Kristi out.
"I don't want her out. She's one of my best friends, and we'd need her for the concert."
"It's tied, then," Alicia said.
"No, she's out," Lawrence gleefully said.
"How so?" Katie asked. She was getting really upset.
"Zack would probably be on our side," Lawrence explained. "And Marta's not here. Sorry, but it's for the best."
"Fine," Kristi said as she ran out of the room and into where her bed was. She pulled the curtains shut and didn't want to be near anyone.
No one wanted to practice, so everyone eventually left. Kristi just sat on her bed, lost in her thoughts.
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Katie sighed and looked at the clock. It was the day of the concert, which was about a week from when Kristi was kicked out of the band. She had to be at Dewey's apartment in an hour. She had decided to stop in and see Zack, but he was sleeping. She had been sitting there for fifteen minutes, and he was still sound asleep.
Zack suddenly woke up. He noticed Katie and said, "Hi. I didn't know you came in."
"I've been here for fifteen minutes," she replied.
"So, what are you doing this weekend?"
Katie smiled. "It going to be so cool. We get to play at a real concert! For this punk rock band! I'm so excited!"
"Cool. I'd be going if Kristi hadn't shown up."
"She's not going. She was kicked out of the band by Lawrence, Tomika, and Alicia."
Zack smiled and said, "Great. She totally deserved it. But who's going to play the lead stuff, since the guitarists were kicked out?"
"Dewey is trying to play the lead stuff. Hopefully we will be able to pull it off. He's not doing to good with it. But don't say that stuff about Kristi. I don't know if she did anything to you, but that's still mean of you to say that."
"She made me leave the band."
"Whatever. And if she did, can't you forget it? She wants you in the band, I know it. You won't give her-or Freddy-a chance to say sorry. You shouldn't stay mad at someone because of an accident. It was an accident-no one wanted it to happen. That's stupid to be all upset about it."
Zack sighed. "I guess you're right. But how do I tell them?"
"The band is coming to see you tomorrow, which is Saturday. You can tell them then."
"Sounds great."
"Good," Katie said as she got up. "I have to get over to Dewey's for the concert. Bye." Katie walked out of the room.
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Freddy opened Dewey's apartment door. He heard a sudden clatter coming from the kitchen. He set down the bags he was carrying and went to see what had made the noise. It was Kristi. She had dropped a large pot on the counter. She turned around to see who it was, and realized that it was Freddy.
She let out a small sigh of relief and said, "Sorry. You startled me."
"What are you doing?" Freddy asked. "And where's Dewey?"
"He went down to the van to load some guitars, amps, and stuff in the van. As for me, I'm looking for something. You startled me, and I dropped the pot."
Kristi silently put the pot back in the cupboard. As she did this, Freddy asked, "Don't I get a hug or somethin' from my girlfriend? After all, I haven't seen you in a week. At school, since it's the end of the year, we've been taking exams, and I needed to study if I wanted to be in seventh grade next year. I wish I had gotten to spend more time with you."
"Of course you do." Kristi ran over and wrapped her arms around Freddy. He went to kiss her, but Dewey came in silently, since Freddy left the door open.
As Freddy brought his lips closer to Kristi's, Dewey yelled, "So this is what you two do in your spare time!" That startled the two kids. Kristi blushed and turned away. Dewey startled laughing.
"Oh, shut up," Freddy said. "Anyway, where do you want me to put my stuff?"
"Your stuff?" Kristi questioned.
"Freddy's mom isn't home tonight," Dewey explained. "So he's going to spend the night here. I'll drop him off at his house after the band goes to visit Zack tomorrow."
"Even though I don't want to go." Freddy grabbed his bags. "I'll just set my stuff on Kristi's bed. Then I can roll out my sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed."
Kristi smiled. Seeing the dreamy look on her face, Dewey said, "Oh no. You, Freddy, will be sleeping on the couch, away from Kristi."
"Why?" she asked. She thought for a second, and then asked, "You don't think that we'd do anything, do you?"
"You can never be too sure."
"C'mon man," Freddy complained. "I'm thirteen, it's not like I'm in high school. You can trust me, and her."
"Well, whenever you two are alone, you kiss, hug, etcetera. If you two were alone, at night, with a bed insight-hey, that could be a good song-who knows what you two would do."
Kristi sighed and turned to Freddy. She said to him, "I guess he's doing this for the best. Let's just give it up, Freddy."
Freddy went over to the couch and tossed his bags down. He got his drumsticks out of one of them and started banging a rhythm on the coffee table. Kristi sat next to him. Freddy noticed that Kristi was wearing a long sleeve shirt. He asked her, "Why are you wearing a long sleeve shirt? It's really warm outside."
"I don't know, I just felt like wearing it," she replied.
Just then, the band came in the room. Freddy ran over to talk to them. Kristi just sat there, watching them talk and feeling upset. Billy passed out uniforms. Dewey gave them a little prep talk. Then everyone went to the van. Dewey was about to follow them, but Kristi stopped him. She asked, "Can I come too?"
"No," he replied. "Why would you want to?"
"To see the concert. I don't want to stay here, all alone. That would be too much like home."
Dewey gave her a confused look. "You're never home alone at your home. Someone's always there."
"Well…"
"And you can't go. I don't have the money for a ticket, and I don't have the room in that van of mine. Sorry."
Kristi sighed. She said good-bye to Dewey and sat on her bed. She watched the band leave through the window. Then she laid down on her bed, extremely bored, and stared at the ceiling, thinking absolutely nothing.
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Kristi woke up to someone rubbing her back. She flipped over on the couch to see Freddy. "Hey sleepyhead," he said.
"Hey, what time is it? How was the concert?"
"The concert was okay. We could have played a lot better. The main band was awesome. As for the time-it's ten forty-five. Dewey wants us to go to bed."
"This early?"
Dewey came in. He said to Kristi, "It's going to be a busy day tomorrow. You need your rest, even though you took a nap. What else did you do while we were gone?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothin', really. I just took a nap. I forgot to eat dinner."
"There's cold pizza in the fridge, help yourself," he said as he headed over to the door. "I have to go get my guitar out of the van." Dewey left the apartment.
"You look tired," Freddy said. "I'll go get you the pizza. Do you want one slice or two?"
As he walked into the kitchen, Kristi replied, "One, I'm not that hungry."
Freddy didn't reply. "Freddy, are you ok?"
Kristi got up and walked into the kitchen. Freddy was at the kitchen counter. He was looking at something on it, with a piece of pepperoni pizza in his hands. Kristi came over to him and saw what he was looking at.
A really sharp knife lying out in the open, as if it had just been used.
"What's this here for?" Freddy said. "It wasn't here before Dewey and I left. What were you doing with it?"
"Nothing, honestly," she quickly said. "I washed some dishes and put them away. He had this bread knife out to clean. Not wanting to mess with it-I don't like knives-I rinsed it off, and I guess I forgot to put it away, sorry." She picked up the knife and gently tossed in into the sink. Freddy gave her a weird look and went to set up his sleeping bag. Kristi went into the bathroom and put on a pair of pajamas with rubber ducks on them. When she came out, Freddy started snickering.
Kristi said, "What? My sister gave me these. They're my favorite. And I think they're cute, don't you?"
"Yeah, you are," he said. Dewey burst into the room as Kristi went over to Freddy.
"NO!" Dewey yelled. "None of that. It's time for bed."
Kristi jumped onto her bed. She mumbled something about not being tired, but she fell asleep as soon as she laid down on the bed. Freddy was going to strip down to his boxers, but Dewey said no. So he just kept his clothes on and went to bed.
Kristi woke up at five in the morning. It was still dark outside. She got up to go to the bathroom. As she was walking over to the bathroom, she tripped on a big object. As she sat up on the floor, she realized that it was Dewey.
"Dewey," she whispered. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"I fell asleep, I guess," he said. "What are you doing up?"
"I have to use the bathroom. Why are you sleeping on the floor?"
"I was doing laundry and watching you two. I was tired, so I guess I fell asleep."
Kristi gave Dewey a confused look. "You never do laundry. Why the sudden change?"
"It's not my clothes I'm washing, it's yours. I forgot to tell you-I've been really busy-but you are leaving for your home in California today. The plane leaves at seven in the morning. You have to get packed."
Kristi looked a little angry. "You better be kidding."
Dewey shook his head.
"But that's not fair! I don't want to go!" Dewey put his finger to his lips, since Kristi was starting to raise her voice.
He said, "Sorry about the short notice. But be quiet," he gestured to Freddy and added, "He's still sleepin'"
Kristi frowned. "What about Freddy? Is he coming to the airport, too?"
"His mom says he is a hard sleeper. I'll be back before he even knows you are gone. Now get packing, and I'll get the rest of your stuff."
Kristi started packing. She didn't notice that Freddy was stirring in his sleep. About a half an hour later, he woke up. Sun was pouring through the windows near Kristi's bed. She was packing something. And she was wearing normal clothes-a blue and black striped tee-shirt with jeans and her skull and crossbones wristband. It was six in the morning, and she wasn't in her pajamas. He walked over to her. As she shut her suitcase, he sat on her bed. She jumped a little. Freddy chuckled.
"What are you packing a suitcase for?" he asked.
"Oh, do you really want to know?" she asked, turning away.
"Yeah, sure. It's not like it's a bad thing if you spend the night at a friend's house."
"I'm not going to a friend's house," she said firmly.
"Well, then," Freddy crossly said. "Why won't you tell me?"
Kristi turned to face him. She tried to hold back her tears. "I'm going home."
Freddy looked at the floor. "Oh."
"I don't want to go back though. My home-well, it's not the best place, I guess. I would rather stay here, with you and Dewey, and the band, and my friends."
She grabbed her suitcase. "I guess I'd better go. I'll email you, and tell Katie, Summer, and Marta that I left."
Kristi brushed a tiny tear away from her eye and turned towards the door. Freddy shouted, "Wait!" She kept on going.
Freddy grabbed her wrist. She pulled her arm away. But where he was grabbing her wrist was her wristband. It slipped off, revealing a cut, almost an inch and a quarter long.
Kristi had a look of real terror on her face. "You weren't supposed to see that."
Freddy wondered what caused it. Then he remembered the wristbands and long sleeved shirts. And that she was looking for something in the kitchen. And the 'clean' knife that she threw in the sink. It all added up to one thing in his mind. "You're...you're a cutter," he stammered. "Why would you do that to yourself? Do you have problems?"
"No, I was just really upset, and maybe a little depressed. When Zack said that it was my fault-y'know, that he got hit- that was one thing. And I thought it was my fault, too. I still do. And he was really mad at me. I made him feel really bad. And I was kicked out of the band, and I wanted the band members to like me. I don't want to go home, and when I get really stressed, I sometimes do really crazy things. But it's not like it hurt really bad-"
"You need to tell Dewey and your parents."
"NO! No one can know. And you didn't let me finish-you never let me finish. And, I was afraid that, if I left, that you would want to break up with me. I like you, and I have no problem with a long distance relationship-"
Freddy looked shocked. He thought that she was going insane, is a smaller sense. "Sorry, I don't do the long distance thing. I mean, I would, if you lived across the state. But you live across the country. I live in New York, and you live in California. I like you, but you are acting really weird, and I don't like it. Sorry, but I want to keep my options open-you know, to be able to go out with other girls. Sorry."
Kristi's eyes filled with tears. "We can still be friends," he added. "You're a cool kid; I like you and all-"
"Then why would you dump me?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer she said, "Just forget it. I guess you think that it's for the best, when it's not."
Kristi brushed her hair out of her face, wiped away the tears that were falling down her cheeks, and stormed out of the room. She ran back in, only to get her guitar and amp. Freddy tried to say something, but she left. Freddy sat on her bed, thinking that he had made a huge mistake.
Kristi got into the van, where Dewey was sitting with it running.
"Let's go," she said. Dewey figured what had happened, so he didn't press the matter. They got to the airport in fifteen minutes. They went inside, and Dewey gave her her ticket.
"Your parents will be at the airport in California. You will be riding one plane all the way, by yourself. I will miss you."
They hugged. Kristi said good-bye and headed on the plane. As it flew over New York, Kristi watched the buildings pass bye. She saw the hospital that Zack was in, and that the band was going to be at it in a half an hour. She wondered if they would miss her, and if she could survive at her old home.
So, how was it? I hope you liked it. Now if you did, or if you didn't, please click on the button labeled 'GO' on the bottom corner of the left hand side. Then, you can type me a review. If you do, I will respond and give you and invisible Dum-Dum sucker. (Even if it is a little weird, just review.) I realized that I didn't give out Dum-Dums. I am very sorry. So, you get two invisible Cream Soda Dum-Dums today. They're cream Soda because Joey Gaydos Jr. (and I) like to drink cream soda. So, here are my responses.
Legolas-Aragorn-r-hot- I put the wristband in there because of yours-it's so cool!
Mellowyellow36- You're welcome, sorry I didn't post in such a long time, but I've been busy.
Shadowfaxgal7- Thanks for the really long review, mellon nin! Could you send me the twins' address? I want to write to them too! And, u said the 'S' word. Shame on you! But I used it in the beginning of this chapter, so I can't talk.
Fea- Thanks for the review. The walls in Freddy's room are plaster, and they break easily. And, Kristi was trying to make herself feel better.
xORockNRollOxO- Thanks. I hope I spelled you name right. I love your story, but you haven't posted in a long time.
Gabrielle- Yeah, Zack is my favorite character. I can't believe I hurt him.
SweetestDreamer- Sorry this took so long to post. As for Kristi, it's okay to hate her. She's not the best, or nicest, person.
Wow!!- Thank you. There's going to be at least fifteen chapters total, I think. And how come you sent me two identical reviews?