DAY BY DAY By Chinsky

Disclaimer: Mike White, is an unbelievably talented man that came up with amazing characters for an amazing movie. Chinsky, is a not as talented girl that came up with absolutely nothing but the plot. Mike White: winner. Chinsky: loser. Oh well.

Chapter 3

Freddy lay in bed that night, still thinking of what he'd say to Katie if he ever had the chance.

The chance. Ha.

The chance to not screw up in front of Katie would come in a million years.

But still...was he really going to waste his life away, pining unhealthily for Katie?

In reality, the odds weren't that bad. Katie didn't have a boyfriend. They'd remained close friends over the past 5 years. She had always said she couldn't like someone that didn't rock out. And, goodness knows, there were no other rock bands at Horace Green. That didn't leave a large selection.

And there was that Fourth of July...

Freddy sighed and rolled over, covering his face in the pillow.

He was scared, that's for sure.

But what else could he do?

Surprisingly, Freddy found himself on Katie's porch the next evening. What am I doing here? He thought incredulously to himself. He sighed, exasperated. I'm crazy. Freaking crazy. He turned and walked back down the driveway. Then he stopped. He took a breath and remembered what Zack had told him earlier.

"The worst thing that happens is you go back to admiring her from afar. Which, I'm sure, you've had years of experience with." His voice replayed in the blonde drummer's head. "The best thing that happens is...well, I'll leave that to your imagination." Freddy smirked. His friend always knew what to say to reassure him. As he realized how familiar that sounded, his smile faded. He sat down on the curb and looked up at the stars. Once again, thoughts of Katie had interfered with logical thinking.

The stars were unusually bright that night, he noticed. He thought for a second. He remembered what he used to do when he was little, and before School of Rock came along. Sure it was cheesy, but desperate for help, luck, anything, he picked the brightest one and wished so hard he almost forgot where he was. He wished that...well, he wished that everything would go work out. He wished he could forget all his fear, he wished he could just get over the nervousness, the pain, the anger, the frustration. He wished that for once in his life, he would get what he wanted. That everything would just go perfectly...right.

He stared at the star until all the others blurred and disappeared. He knew, thousands of light-years away it was nothing but a great big ball of fire. But how could humans know such a thing? Had humans ever been close enough to a star? That star? No. They hadn't. He knew there was something in that star that was different. That's how he believed it would help him. And that's how he mustered up the courage to walk up and knock on Katie's front door.

Scared as hell, he closed his eyes and took a quick breath. He raised his fist to the door...and then brought it back down. He shook his head nervously and knocked before he could change his mind again. Once, twice, three times. He heard footsteps and adrenaline rushed through him. Opening the door, staring at him through the screen was...Katie's dad.

He spoke fast. "Uh Hello Mr. Brown is Katie there?" He gulped.

Mr. Brown sneered at him before calling Katie from upstairs. "KATIE! GET DOWN HERE! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!" He didn't wait for Katie to come down; he went back to sitting on the couch drinking beer.

As Freddy saw Katie jog down the steps, his pulse quickened, his mouth went dry and his fingers sweaty. Katie looked puzzled to see him.

"Hey Freddy..." She looked outside behind him, to see that no one else was there. "Is something wrong?"

"What?" He asked. "Oh, no, nothings wrong. Just...Katie, could you come out so I could talk to you for a minute?" That's it. There was no turning back now.

She smiled at him. "Sure Freddy." She closed the door behind her and sat down on the porch. Freddy followed suit.

"Katie..." He choked out. Even now he was seeing how beautiful she looked. Her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked at him with quizzical eyes.

"Katie." He said again. This time, determined to say what he needed to say. He thought about what he'd imagined saying the night before. He seemed to have forgotten it all. Finally, he took a deep breath and made a giant leap he'd never imagined he'd make.

"I came here tonight because I had to tell you something. This something has...been on my mind for...well...about, 5 years. I've kept it...it's been...inside of me for..." his voice got quieter, "for...ever." He was shaking, yet he knew what he was feeling had to come out somehow. He continued. "But every time I...I look at you, every time I...I see you smile, I know...it has to come out." He paused and took a breath. No regrets, no mistakes, no promises, He thought to himself. Zack had told him this earlier. He hadn't known what he was talking about, but it all made sense now. No regrets, no mistakes, no promises. His new mantra. No regrets, no mistakes, no promises. He went on. "Katie, I love to see you. I love to be with you. I love talking with you...God Katie...being around you just makes me feel...makes me feel...alive." No regrets, no mistakes, no promises. "I'm a different person." He stopped again to look at her. Her eyes were wide and she looked almost scared...but just then she raised her hand to meet his face. His eyes half closed and then opened again. Her eyes dared him to go on, so he did.

"I don't know what to do when I'm with you. But at this point...it's hard for me to just be friends with you." Internally he was scared beyond reason, but he wasn't going to let that phase his tough punk rocker image. "Every time I see you I think about how beautiful you are. ...About how much you mean to me. Sometimes...I think about, life, without you and I know I...I wouldn't be able to handle it." He slowed, but he knew he wasn't done. Not yet. "Katie," He said, his eyes wide and scared, "Katie, I think...I love you."

Katie's touch was still warm and on his face. Please please please please please please please...help me. His eyes remained locked on her eyes. Her hand pulled his face closer and his pulse quickened yet again. She had a slight smile on her face. He realized how close they were getting. He realized she had closed her eyes. He realized her warm breath on his face. He realized...He realized that he was doing what he'd always dreamed of.

He realized he was kissing Katie.

A/N: Hehe. I like this chapter. Is this opinion agreeable? Weird sentence. Sorry. Please review...It took me a while to get the whole 15-year-old-punk-rocker-confessing-love image down, haha...Hope you like!

P.S. Thanks to my few reviewers!! I appreciate it!!