Thanks for the lovely reviews! I realized I forgot something in my last chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I'm only writing one of these. I don't own anything relating to the Original Movie "School Of Rock" I do, however, own a few of the characters and the plot line so please don't steal those unless you come up with a wicked sequel and contact me first. I also do not own any restaurants they might go to, or Arista, which is a real record Company. I will only post disclaimers if I have forgotten something on this one. Thanks and much love to the peeps of "School of Rock" for letting us all write wicked cool stories about you! you all rock!
Chapter Two: Which One Made the Worst Mistake?
Freddy flipped, irritated, through his World Civilization textbook, trying to find the article Mr. Herry was talking about.
"Mr. Jones, I have told the class three times to turn to page 365. Tell me, do you really have the mental capacity of lint, or are you just so arrogant you think you are above turning to the page assigned?" Mr. Herry's cruel gray eyes glittered at him evilly.
Freddy ignored the comment and turned to the page. No article. "Sir, Please, it's not here."
Mr. Herry walked sternly over and studied the page, "Mr. Jones, have you overlooked the fact that this is your CHEMISTRY textbook?" The class broke out in laughter.
Freddy felt himself turning red and tried not to gag as the overwhleming smell of Mr. Herry's cologne engulfed him, "Er...yes? Beg your pardon sir, but they all look alike."
"That IS unfortunate for you Mr. Jones. But it isn't a good enough excuse. This is the third time in one class I have had troubles with you, and frankly my patience is waning. Take the hall pass and perhaps the principal can help you find the difference between the Chemistry textbook and the World Civilization textbook."
Freddy furrowed his eyebrows and grudgingly stood up and walked to the front of the classroom, picking up the hall pass on his way, "Yessir." he choked out between gritted teeth, trying to ignore the chuckles of the class behind him.
Before reporting to the principal, Freddy decided to recollect his thoughts by taking the route past the courtyard. AKA, the LONG way around. He passed the gym on the way and peeked inside. There was the teacher, counting off, "32, 33, 34, 35..." and there was Katie.
Freddy paused and watched her do jumping jacks. She was wearing the appropriate gym dress code (White tee shirt and black shorts or pants.) with the short shorts, (Seeing as it was mid august and really hot even with the AC on.) He took time and watched in pleasure as she worked up a sweat. Then her eyes noticed him and she raised a curious eyebrow.
He waved and she smiled before looking back at the teacher. Freddy didn't have Gym this semester, but he wasn't looking forward to having it in the spring, either. He turned and continued down the hall, dawdling as much as he could. Taking two or three five minute drinks ( It WAS really hot) and then using the bathroom twice (All that water has to go SOMEWHERE, right?) and finally studying the mural opposite of Mr. Tweeds office (what kind of name is Tweed? He probably got confused with clothes every once and awhile). When Freddy finally felt relaxed, he walked to the door and knocked twice.
"Come in Mr. Jones." Freddy stepped in and saw a small, round , bald man sitting behind a dark desk with nothing on it but an Apple Laptop and some pencils. "I've been waiting for about twenty minutes. I'm not going to give you a pass, so you had better hope you aren't late for your next class, otherwise that might result into a detention." The mans thin lips curved into a menacing smile.
What a lovely day THIS is turning out to be, Freddy thought humorlessly. "That wouldn't be very nice" Freddy agreed. Maybe if he turned into a suck-up like Zack, High school wouldn't be so bad.
The man simply nodded nonchalantly, "Mr. Herry told me you were having troubles with 1) A stapler, 2) The Summer assignment and..." His eye brow went up with sarcasm, "A chemistry book? Well, we might have a new hit Soap Opera on our hands, Mr. Jones."
Freddy just sat in silence, trying not to think about the stupidity of the joke Mr. Tweed had just cracked.
"Now lets start with the stapler. Mr. Herry said you were using it as a distraction to use up time." Freddy opened his mouth in protest, "He said you refused to do the Summer Assignment because of the vacation you took all Summer with your mom, and then turned in a forged note pardoning that" Freddy opened his mouth wider, "And then used a Chemistry book to get out of doing the reading. My My My, we have the new Jerry Frye on our hands."
"Who?"
Mr. Tweed leaned back in his chair, "Jerry Frye used to get out of everything that was assigned to him. he went to class and got straight A's without doing any work. Unfortunately, this skipped past our teachers. We are lucky we have such a dedicated new teacher like Mr. Herry to pin down people like you and him."
"Sir, may I plead not guilty?" Freddy asked timidly, ignoring the staleness of the joke.
"Mr. Jones, I WOULD like to hear your side of the story." Mr. Tweed nodded his head, telling Freddy to start talking.
"Well, the stapler...Mr. Herry told us to staple our assignments that he had assigned yesterday together, and when I went up to staple mine, it was out of staples. I only offered to run to the office to get some more in hopes of being helpful. The assignment...we went skiing in the Alps all summer, and my mom DID write a note, you can call her, and I am willing to do extra makeup work for extra credit for the late points, and the book, well sir, they all look the same once you put the covers on and passing time is only two minutes so I have to hurry and rarely get a chance to look at which book I'm grabbing. I'm willing to make an effort to try and organize my locker so it wont be a problem." Freddy's suck-up speech seemed to be working. The Principals mouth twisted into a smile
"Well Well Well, you may be even MORE convincing than Jerry Frye himself. However, I SHALL check up with your mother about the note. I shall call your father too."
"That's not possible sir."
"Whyever not? Is your father hearing impaired?"
Freddy looked at his feet, "No, sir. He died when I was twelve."
It was the PRINCIPALS turn to redden, but with ANGER? "Frederick Jones! You come in here and lie about all those things and thats enough! But to FAKE that your father's dead is so outrageous I am giving you detention for the rest of the week and calling your parents right now! I'm not sure why you're afraid of telling your father that you are in trouble, but it's too late! I'll not fall for the guilt trip!"
Freddy turned pale. His father WAS dead, that hadn't been a lie. And if Mr. Tweed did call his mother, she would come, and they would have a meeting, which Mr. Tweed would come out of barely alive.
Mr. Tweed furiously dialed his mothers work number and said, "Yes, Mrs. Jones, there is no need to worry. There is just a situation that has occurred involving your son, and I'm afraid that he might need some parent discipline to knock some sense into him. Yes, please come as soon as you can. Yes, thank you for understanding. Good-bye." Mr. Tweed looked at Freddy's file and said, "I see your father is out of work. How unfortunate, I'll call your house..." Freddy heard the answering Machine and cringed as Mr. Tweed left a message. "Hello, Mr. Jones. This is the principal of Freddy's high school, and we have been having some issues with him. I understand you are not able to get to the phone right now, but please come by my office as soon as possible. Thank you, Good-bye."
Freddy watched with awe. Was Mr. Tweed really that daft? Had he been paying attention to the message at all? It clearly said, "Hello, you've reached The home of Annie and Freddy Jones. We are not able to get to the phone right now..." and so on.
Mr. Tweed hung up the phone and turned back to Freddy with a tight smile. "Don't worry, Mr. Jones. You aren't getting out of this one easy."
Just then Freddy's mother came in in her work clothes, looking slightly disgruntled. "What's he done now?" She sat beside Freddy andwinked at him reassuringly.
"Well, to start, he has been a distraction in his World Civilization class." Mr. Tweed told the story, and Mrs. Jones sat, nodding her head calmly, used to the Freddy distractions. "And then...then he has the gull to tell the most outrageous lie that I have heard in all my 16 years of working here." Mrs. Jones nodded for him to go on. "He said...well he said that Mr. Jones had died when he was twelve."
Freddy stiffened and awaited his mothers reaction. Her lips pressed into a hard, thin line, and then her eyes darken, "Mr. Tweed, we have a VERY serious problem here, one that you can be sure I shall be taking action on very soon."
Mr. Tweed's eyes danced in glee, "Precisely, Mrs. Jones, as I was saying, you're son is-"
"Oh no, my son is not the problem. It is YOU who is the problem. I come here ready to defend you and teach my son a lesson, and you can sit and tell ME that you have not listened to a word he said? I was willing to believe about the book and the stapler, because I DID write the note, but now, I can only believe HIM over you! Because if you had read more deeply into his file, you would have noticed he has gone under serious psychiatric help over the MURDER of his father, which was right before Frederick eyes, and he has only just begun to recover!" Mr. Tweed's face paled, "My son may not be perfect, but he is very intelligent, and I have no doubts whatsoever about his kindness and honesty. We've all told a white lie to get out of something or other...but you honestly think an innocent child would lie about something like that!? And not only that, you can sit there and smirk in hopes to impress me with your Oh-so-godly notations and inferences. If I can say one thing, it is that you will not have to worry about him interrupting any of your classes again because immediately I will be pulling him from this high school and sending him to a more...whats the word, 'Intelligent?' School. I will not have him being educated in a school which is run by a vile, insipid, and ugly man!"
Freddy reddened when he heard his mom call Mr. Tweed 'ugly'.
Mr. Tweed was a very unbecoming gray color and was leaning stiffly back in his seat, trying to stammer out an apology. "I-I-I-a-am v-VERY sorry, about this, M-Mrs. Jones! I-It will NOT H-Happen again!"
She glared at him, "You bet it won't," then told Freddy to go get his stuff and meet her at the car. "Don't bother stopping in your World Civ Class, Freddy. I'll get your things and return the Hall Pass myself." She gave a bitter smile,"Mr. Tweed will be obliging to write you a hall pass personally. Oh," She said before leaving the room"and Mr. Tweed, you can count on the school board hearing about this"
"O-Of course, Frederick." Mr. Tweed scribbled something down hastily on an important looking sheet of paper. Freddy grabbed the paper and stuck his tongue out at the Principal defiantly as a last chance at rebellion. He practically skipped down the hall when he realized something. By moving to a different school he would have to stop seeing all his friends so frequently....and Katie. He groaned inwardly then walked to his locker as one condemned.
He tried to think of good things as he twirled the combination one last time. There would still be practice, and the monthly movie. Summer had said they were about to close that record deal with Arista, once they knocked another band out of the running. Mom said that she was almost done convincing the landlord to let them get a dog.
He tossed his notebooks and pencils into his bookbag and hefted all his textbooks into one arm while slamming his door shut. "Bye only lcoker in the whole school that is painted blue." He mumbled while pulling his lock of the hangle, throwing it in his bag,and turning back to the office to return the books.
"Need some help there, Freddy?" He turned and smiled as Katie hurried to his side.
"Thanks. Guess what?"
She took the top three,"I'm not in the mood for guessing, Just tell me."
he frowned and said grudgingly, "My mom's transferring me to a different school."
She nearly dropped the books, "WHAT? Why?"
He shook his head, "IwashavingtroubleinWorldCiv,andIgotsenttotheoffice.Mr., Uh, TweedthreatenedtocallmyfatherandItoldhim...youknow... andhegotmadanddidn'tbelievemeand," Freddy took a breath, "mymomcameandgotallangryandtoldhimoffandcalledhimnamesandispullingmeoutimmediatly."
Katie let out a low whistle, "Lots of info Freddy. I think i got half of what you just said. Did she say where she was moving you?"
He shook his head, "No. She said to a more "intellegent" school."
"Hey! Maybe she'll send you to St. Jons! That's the neighbor of that school Tara goes to, right? Then you'll have her to talk to."
"I guess. She said she was going to tell the school board about this, so maybe he'll be fired and I can come back."
They had reached the office. Katie handed him to books and said, "Whatever happens, Freddy Jones, keep your chin up. Things could be worse."
He nodded and said, "Yeah, they could be. You and I could hate eachother like we used to."
She laughed and said, "There you go. It's amazing how things have changed since fifth grade, isn't it?" He nodded and she said, "See ya at practice tonight."
"Yeah" He watched her wave good bye and retreat down the hall. When she rounded the corner he walked out the fron doors and saw his mom's Jetta pull up
"C'mon sport, I gotta get back to work."
"Sorry mom. I had a few goodbyes to say."
She looked sorry and said, "I realize that pulling you out without warning is a bit unfair, but with luck, the commitee will get rid of that disgusting man and you can go back."
He smiled as they pulled away from the school, realizing he had hoped the same thing.
"So, mom, who do you think told the grearest lie, me or him?"
"I thought you weren't lying!" She said in surprise.
He just smiled and looked out the window, fingering the long row of staples in his pocket.
End Chapter Two
Whew! How'd you like it? I liked how it ended. Review please. Flames not wanted, Constructive Criticism appreciated.
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