Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of School of Rock, etc.
Saturday meant that Lawrence wouldn't have to face anyone at school, including Alicia. The night before, she cried in front of him. He had never witnessed a crying girl, and he never had to comfort one either. It was strange to watch someone who seemed like she could take on the entire world let down her guard and cry. However, he still didn't rightly understand why she was crying in the first place.
When she had left him there standing in the stairwell of Dewey's apartment, he sat there a little longer thinking. He had told her thank you. He said it for multiple reasons, one being that she was willing to help him. She was willing to put whatever she was dealing with to the side to deal with him instead. No one had ever done that before, besides Dewey.
Whatever Alicia was dealing with was obviously making her alienate herself from people. Lawrence had alienated himself all on his own with no excuse at all. It made him feel guilty that he never really tried to interact.
Was he ready to deal with Eleni and the hurt she had given him? No, he wasn't. But would he turn into another Alicia because of it?
He was relieved when Summer showed up around 1 o'clock to go over English terms for next week's 'pop quiz'. Studying would get his mind off of everything. He liked that feeling.
"Hey, Lawrence," said Summer, waving her mother off and coming inside his house. "Sorry I'm late. I was on the phone all morning with the label."
"It's ok," said Lawrence escorting her into the living room where they usually studied. His father was at work and his mother was in the kitchen helping his sister bake cookies for her scout meeting later that night.
"I heard about practice last night," Summer gave him a look of sympathy. "Is everything alright?"
Summer was actually interested in what was going on with him? That was a first. It was worth a shot to tell her. Maybe she could make sense of things.
"Well, actually..." he started off, but Summer's cell phone went beserk.
"Hold that thought," she held a finger up to tell him to hold on and answered her phone.
Why was everyone always so quick to interrupt him? The boys did it, the girls did it, even Dewey did it sometimes. He sighed and opened up his English book and notebook to start without her.
"No, we've went through this," Summer talked into her phone, "My dress is green. Not blue, not yellow. Green. It's not that hard to find a tie! We have to match if we want to win Spring Fling King and Queen."
Lawrence was used to Summer's cell phone being her extra body part. It rang at least five times every time they got together to study. It was always an important business call, and he was usually very patient about it. It was her job as band manager to handle what Dewey was too lazy to handle.
"Sorry about that," she snapped her flip phone shut. "It was my date. He's freaking out over the dance."
"Oh."
"He's the entire reason this dance is even happening. He's amazing," Summer smiled dreamily.
Ok, thought Lawrence, if everything went horrible at the dance, he'd blame it on Josh or Jamie or whoever he was.
"By the way, I can't believe you're going with Alicia. She doesn't seem like the fun type," Summer made a face, opening up her books and taking out her notecards.
Hearing her name put Alicia back into Lawrence's head and how that one lonely tear had slid down her cheek. He wondered what she would be doing on a Saturday afternoon like this.
"Alicia's actually--"
Summer's cellphone interrupted him again, and this one was the manager of some venue downtown. She once again gave him that 'hold on a second' finger and excused herself into the entrance way of his house.
Now he was annoyed. Any other time he'd be ok with it, but it was like the cellphone was out to get him this time. Maybe it was a sign that he shouldn't talk about Alicia at all.
After Summer had wrapped up her phone call, they decided to skip small talk and jump right into studying. They studied for a good hour, her phone going off four more times. Two hours in, he was getting really tired of her Weezer ringtone. Finally, they were wrapping up and Lawrence was relieved.
The study session hadn't went as planned. The entire time, he was becoming irritated with Summer, which made him think about school, which made him think about everyone else in the band. So Eleni thought he was a dork? That meant that everyone else did too. This whole time, he had been fooled into thinking he was apart of something. It seemed ridiculous to conclude to this all because of some dance that he probably wouldn't remember in a couple of years, but now he didn't know what to think.
Everyone had gotten what they wanted out of the band hadn't they? Summer got her superiority, Zack got a chance to really express himself, Katie got a chance to expand her love in music, Tomika got confidence, Freddy discovered punk rock, Marta found her talent, and Alicia found another way to use her voice without snapping at someone. Hell, even Dewey got the awesome band he had wanted. But what did the band do for Lawrence, himself?
After the study session is when Summer would talk about all of her current grades with him. He usually sat there and listened, but when she started off complaining that she just knew she had failed her Latin test, he found himself itching for a way to politely tell her to leave. He had a lot to think about, and Summer's false worries weren't on the top of his list.
Lawrence's mother came in, and Summer stopped mid-sentence. "Lawrence? Phone, Honey," she said, handing him the cordless.
"Huh?"
"The phone."
No one ever called for Lawrence, except Summer. He took the phone apprehensively and said hello.
"Lawrence, hey, it's me, Alicia," the voice on the other end spoke.
Oh.My.God. His body tensed up, and he completely froze.
"Lawrence?"
"Oh, uh, yeah?"
"Sorry to call like this. Listen, are you busy?"
He looked up at Summer, who gave him an impatient look, wanting to finish their conversation. "No. Not at all."
"Good 'cause I was thinking we could start on your moves today. My mom wants to meet you, too. Is that ok?"
"Um, well my mother is baking with my sister so she can't drop me off," he replied, turning away from Summer and his mother. They were trying to ease drop on his conversation.
"Well, you see, that's why I called," Alicia now sounded timid, "I'm kind of right outside your house."
Lawrence jumped up and went to the window. When he pulled back the blinds, he saw a yellow cab outside of his house. Alicia snapped her phone shut and gave a quick wave. He felt so relieved to see her for some reason. So much for having an Alicia-free day.
He clicked off the phone and turned to his mother. Both her and Summer were staring at him expectantly.
"Mom," he started off slowly and cautiously, "Can I go over to Alicia's today? We're working on a... project."
"Lawrence, I'm in all of your classes. We don't have any projects," Summer chimed.
"It's something Dewey wants us to do," Lawrence tried, but Summer was too fast for him.
"Dewey runs everything about the band by me first. He never said anything about a project."
"Umm..." he tried to think of something. His mother was smiling at him oddly.
"Lawrence, honey, if you want to visit your girlfriend, all you have to do is say that," she said kindly.
Lawrence blanched. Did his mother just say what he thought she just said? Alicia was not his girlfriend last time he checked, but maybe it would relax her to think so in order to let him ride in a cab back to her place.
"Ok, fine, you caught me," he said lamely. "She's right outside with a cab waiting,"
He waited for his mother to instantly say no, but instead, she and Summer hurried to the window. The doorbell rang, and they rushed to the door. As soon as Alicia stepped a foot in the door, Lawrence had already put on his shoes and was ready to go.
"Wait a minute," said his mother, turning on her motherly tone. "I want to know where you're going, when you'll be back, and if you have enough to pay the cab driver. I also want a phone number so I know where to reach you, and--"
Alicia stepped up to the plate. "I live on Broad St. downtown, and he'll be back definitely before dinner, unless he wants to stay over for dinner. My number is 555-1285, and my mom will be around so we'll call if anything is up."
"What about me?" Summer spoke up. "How am I suppose to get home?"
Alicia shrugged carelessly, and Lawrence wanted to laugh.
"But my mom's not due for another half hour. I told her that we were going to hang out and chat for a bit," she sounded betrayed.
"You have a cell phone. Use it. You do any other time," said Alicia with no remorse, and Summer shot her an insulted look.
"Uh, Summer," Lawrence's mom broke in, "How about you finish baking with Sarah and I until your mom comes."
Summer was about answer when her phone rang. She flipped it open, completely forgetting about everyone around her.
"Hello? What do you mean you're having problems with the graphic Ts?" she went off on whomever was on the other end. "You can design an entire projection background, but you can't make a design on a T-shirt? Then call Billy. Come on, Gordon, make my job a little easier. I don't care! I said I wanted 300 T-shirts in my possession by tomorrow. Do it or I'll fire you. Oh yes I can!"
Alicia looked at Lawrence lamely, "Is she serious?"
"Trust me, it's been worse," Lawrence whispered back, as Summer was now threatening Gordon's life.
Lawrence didn't wait til Summer got off the phone to leave. As soon as his mother gave him the go ahead, he left as fast as he could with Alicia. They drove around in silence, Lawrence staring out the window and Alicia staring out the other. It was uncomfortable, but free at the same time.
Finally Alicia broke the silence. "So what was Summer doing at your house?"
He turned from the window to her, "We were studying."
"I thought you said you weren't busy."
Lawrence smiled timidly, "Would you want to spend an afternoon with Summer and her cellphone?"
He couldn't believe he had just said that about the one person who actually was somewhat like a friend to him. When Alicia laughed at his comment, he shrugged and glanced out the window again.
There was another silence, as he watched the large houses start to get smaller as they went deeper downtown. Lawrence had never been downtown besides to Dewey and Ned's apartment. He and many of his classmates lived on the more wealthy part of town, but some of them lived in the middle class part of town. Zack Mooneyham lived in a brownstone other than a large house, but Lawrence figured it must've been more fancy inside.
"Why were you in front of my house?" he blurted as the cab turned the corner.
"I dunno. I was going for a ride, and I saw your house and decided that I had some free time."
"Your parents let you take a cab all by yourself around town?" he asked her.
"I'm not three years old. I dont need a grown up to help me cross the street," said Alicia, shrugging, "As long as I have money to pay, I'm good. I like being independent."
He respected that Alicia was so independent. She most likely could handle herself in a difficult situation, but he, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even begin to know how to use public transportation.
About twenty minutes later, they arrived at Alicia's brownstone. It was a sunny day outside, and many of the neighborhood kids were outside. Some were jump roping, some were just sitting outside talking, and some were racing bicycles up and down the street. It had a homey, warm atmosphere to it, something that his neighborhood lacked.
A little girl, who looked no older than seven, came running up to Alicia, hugging her around her legs. "Leisha, my mommy wants to know can you french braid my hair later."
"Ok, I got you at, like, eight tomorrow night," Alicia said in the kindest voice Lawrence had ever heard from her. "Tell Miss Sharmayne it's 10 dollars."
"Ok," said the little girl, and she went running the way she came from to join some girls who were playing double dutch.
"Hey, Alicia!" one of them called. "You up for some double dutch?"
"Nah, not today," shouted Alicia to them. "I got company."
"You're not going to introduce us to your boyfriend? I see how it is," the other sounded like she was pretending to be offended.
Lawrence felt himself blush. Alicia gave him a sympathetic look and pulled him along. "Come on. I'll introduce you to some of the girls on my block."
Lawrence followed her two brownstones down to meet these very tough, yet friendly looking girls, who had stopped their game of double dutch.
"Lawrence, this is Tay Tay, Nikki, and Jordan. And this is Jordan's little sister, Jamie," Alicia pointed out the little girl who had hugged her. "Guys, this is Lawrence. He's in the band with me."
"Oh, you're one of those Horace Green rich kids," said Nikki.
Lawrence didn't know how he should answer that. The way she had said it sounded like going to Horace Green was a terrible thing.
"Ignore them," Alicia shook her head. "They go to Forest Hill Public. They make fun of me for going to Horace Green all the time. Stop picking on him, guys. He's kinda shy."
"It's cool, it's cool," laughed Tay Tay, shaking Lawrence's hand and giving him a quick hug. "Nice to meet you."
They said their goodbyes and went back to Alicia's house. She had her own key and everything. His parents would never trust him with one. When they entered, the house had a warm feeling to it, and the living room was right off on the right. The walls were tan and the curtains were the same color, in which the sun was shining through, giving everything a creme color. Before Lawrence saw anything else in the living room, he saw an exquisite piano sitting in the corner.
"You have an old Baldwin?" he asked, lighting up. "Can you play?"
"Yeah right," said Alicia moved to his side. "I can play, like, one song. Nothing special. It was my grandmother's. She wanted us to have it, but it's been collecting dust."
Lawrence made his way over to it and sat down on the wooden seat, running his fingers across the keys lightly, feeling completely at home. A song popped into his head, and he let himself go, the music taking him away from the world.
Alicia listened as Lawrence started to play something grand and beautiful without any music at all. It sounded like something Beethoven worthy. His fingers looked as though they were barely touching the keys, and he looked like he was completely in his own world. He never looked like that when he played keyboard. Never. She walked over to the side of the piano and watched him play, feeling at ease.
He sure didn't look like that when she had shown up at his house. Well, he did look a mixture of boredom, shock, and relief, but she supposed she would've felt the same if he just randomly showed up at her house. She hadn't meant to. She had awaken that morning, needing time to think about the night before and had decided to go for a cab ride around uptown to look at all of the large houses. She usually did this with Tomika when they were bored.
She wasn't as rich as Katie, Lawrence, Summer, and even Zack for that matter, and she enjoyed riding around for an hour to see how the other side lived. She wasn't exactly poor or anything. Her father was in the military, and that's how they paid for her to go to Horace Green. She often liked to point out their houses to herself, except for Zack's, because he only lived about six blocks over in one of those hot shot brownstones.
She was feeling a bit lonely and desolate, and when she had saw Lawrence's house, something in her happened, and she told the cab driver to pull over. She had called him from her cell phone, praying that he was home and that she wasn't making a fool out of herself. She used teaching him how to dance as an excuse to get him to hang out with her because if she hung out with Tomika, all she would do is talk about Zack.
When he finished off the song, it was quiet for a moment until she found her voice again. "That was beautiful? Mozart or something?"
Lawrence chuckled a bit. "No. I actually wrote it. It's not brilliant or anything. It's actually very--"
"No, it was really, really beautiful. How did you learn how to play like that?" she asked him.
"Practice," he said shrugging.
Alicia scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. I've taken piano lessons before, and I could never do what you just did... without reading the music especially."
She really thought this kid was amazing. He looked happy, like he felt right at home. She liked to see him like that.
"Well," Lawrence started off timidly. "It's like when I feel the keys, I feel everything else fade away. I can just be myself, and as long as I'm true to the music, I have no problems at all. Stupid, huh?"
Alicia sat down on the wooden seat next to him at the piano. "No. It's actually pretty cool. I feel like that when I sing. Like all of my worries and problems just disappear, and no one is trying to hurt me. I just close my eyes and pretend that everyone wants to hear me sing to give them that same feeling."
"Is that why you're still in the band?" he asked her.
"Yeah. Isn't that why you're still in the band?"
"No," he admitted. "I just like feeling apart of something, which I guess I really don't. I don't love the keyboard as much as I love the classic piano."
"Me and you, we put up with a lot in the band, huh?"
"At least you get to make up the dances and sing, even though Dewey's always telling you about hogging the mic."
"Hey, stupid ass, I don't hog the mic. The microphone just loves me," Alicia laughed, "And that's not really singing and dancing. This is singing an dancing."
She grabbed up the remote to the living room TV and kicked off her shoes with a big smile. She spun around dramatically to him and began singing the beginning of 'Rollin' on the River'.
Lawrence started cracking up as she walked seductively toward him, singing to him. She was just kidding with him to loosen him up for their little dance session, but she was actually having fun. She liked to see him laugh when yesterday he had been really upset.
To finish off, she playfully climbed on top of the piano with much struggle and layed down on it like a lounge singer. She smiled at Lawrence, who started clapping. "Bravo! Bravo!"
"Tomika isn't the only one who can belt it, you know."
"Alicia Danielle, if you don't get off of that piano," came her mother's voice.
They immediately stopped laughing, and Alicia hopped off, straightening her shirt. "Sorry, Mom."
"And this must be Lawrence," beamed her mother, brushing past her to hug Lawrence. Alicia couldn't help but notice how awkward he looked in her mother's embrace. She wanted to laugh so bad. "Nice to meet a band member. Alicia never introduces me to any of you kids. I knew it couldn't have been her down here playing the piano like that."
When she pulled away from him, Lawrence said, "Nice to meet you, ma'am."
"Awh, you're so polite. Alicia, keep this one," her mother smiled cheerfully. "He's marriage material."
"Mom!" she cried in embarrassment.
Her mother dismissed her and asked Lawrence if he wanted anything to drink, and he declined. Alicia helped herself to a soda in the kitchen, and when she came back, Lawrence was looking at all of her family pictures on top of the fire place. This made Alicia pretty nervous, considering there were so many pictures of her when she was younger. Her teeth were really crooked in some, and she remembered those horrible school pictures of her with her glasses.
"Um... we can head upstairs to my room right now and get started. Is that ok with you?" she asked him, hoping to get him away from the embarrassing photos.
"Sure," he said quietly, following her out of the living room and up the stairs.
Lawrence made his way up the stairs to Alicia's room feeling pretty...well... afraid. He had never been in a girl's room. He barely went into his sister, Sarah's room.
Alicia stopped at a door on the left and opened it. He didn't know what he was supposed to expect, but he hadn't expected light purple walls and a bed full of fuzzy stuffed animals. He figured Alicia liked baseball bats and punching bags, not stuffed animals.
He took a look around her room, taking in the purple and green poka-dotted bed spread, posters of Alicia Keys, Usher, and the one that really stood out was Linkin' Park. Her room was medium sized. The black fluffy rug on the floor was fuzzy and felt good under his socks, and a vanity with miscellaneous beauty products on top of it was sitting the corner.
"What's wrong?" Alicia asked him.
"What?" he turned his attention to her. "Oh. Nothing."
"Are you surprised?"
"About what?"
"About my room. Be honest," she plopped down on her bed.
"Well, it's not very... Alicia like," he admitted. "It's very... girlie."
"Just because I'm a so-called witch to all of those stupid asses at school doesn't mean I'm not a girly-girl."
Lawrence laughed a bit. "You know what that reminds me of?"
"What?"
"The 'Legend of the Rent' song Dewey had us doing a few years ago. You know?" he said, starting to sing timidly and off key, "You're not Hardcore, unless you live hardcore."
Alicia exploded into a fit of laughter at his horrible singing voice. He felt himself blush and added, "This room definitely isn't hardcore."
"And neither is your singing voice," she retorted, laughing even harder. "Should I school you on that too?"
"No. Just stick to the dancing."
They stopped and just stared at each other for awhile, laughs subsiding. He was actually having fun, and he knew she was too. He had never openly joked with someone before or laughed openly. Everything had happened so unrealistically fast, and he could already see the changes made in himself. He hadn't meant for it to happen, but it was like he was becoming more of who he wanted be. He decided that he liked being around Alicia. Her mere presence brought out the best in him.
Alicia hopped up from her bed and went over to her stereo, turning it on. "Let's start off with the basics."
A slow song that he had never heard of came on, and Lawrence could feel his heart beating in his chest. A slow song? He hadn't thought of that.
Alicia looked nervously at him as she made her way back to him. She stood directly in front of him, and he grew stiff when she reached for his hands.
"Lawrence, relax," she told him. "I'm not going to attack you. Just... just put your hands on my waist like this."
She lightly placed his hands around her waist, and he could feel the curve of her hips. She slowly looped her arms around his neck, and with a foot in between them, they began to move back and forth awkwardly. Alicia was looking up at him with her wide brown eyes, and he was trying to concentrate on the song, his feet, and his hands on her petite body all at the same time.
Thoughts immediately filled his head. Would he feel this nervous at the dance? Would they dance closer? Should he move in closer? Alicia looked at him and then looked away. He felt his cheeks turn red. Surely he could not be gaining a crush on her.
As much as he hated to admit it, he still liked Eleni. He couldn't just get over her overnight as much as he wanted to. He closed his eyes and started to pretend Alicia was Eleni. 'Lawrence, you're the most awesome keyboard player ever' she was saying. Then Eleni had turned back into Alicia saying 'the way you play the piano is so wonderful'. Then back to Eleni, then back to Alicia, then back to Eleni, who was saying 'how graceful he was dancing with her'. Then Alicia...
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He opened his eyes and found himself inches away from Alicia's face. He had been leaning in to kiss her.
"Oh, um, I didn't... I'm sorry," he mumbled, dropping his hands from her waist.
She stepped away from him and gave him a sad look. "I thought I told you that I didn't like you like that."
"I know," he tried to explain himself. "I just... I was thinking of something else."
Alicia plopped down on her bed. "Let me guess... Eleni. Sit down so I can educate you on something."
Lawrence took a seat next to her on her bed apprehensively. It seemed like Alicia's mood was about to change back into the Alicia he'd known for two years.
"Having crushes on people is a waste of time. Having a crush means you're weak for someone, but they're not weak over you. You secretly admire them from a distance when really you want to just make a stupid ass out of yourself and confess everything, but you know if you did, you'd never hear the end of it from that person because they wouldn't even bother to feel the same," she started to ramble on, Lawrence slightly dodging her hand movements. "Then they make your life a living hell, and all you can do is just say 'screw it, I hate you' and then... where was I? Oh, crushes are a waste of time. Sometimes you gotta look out for number one if you don't want to get hurt."
Lawrence simply blinked. "Oook?"
Alicia looked at him and then shook her head, "You know what? Just forget about all of that. My point is, get over Eleni. Now come on. Let's learn how to fast dance."
For the rest of that day, Alicia and Lawrence did less talking and more dancing. She taught him how to feel the beat of the music in order to adjust his body. He was stiff, and she'd start shaking him, trying to get him 'loosey goosey'. One hour went by, then two, then three. By that time, her mother was calling her and Lawrence down for dinner.
There were four plates sitting out which meant one thing. Her father was coming home.
"Hey, Sarge!" she shouted when he walked in the door, dressed in his military uniform. She ran up to him and gave him a large hug.
"Hey, little girl," said her father, "Sergeant reporting for dinner. What are we having?"
"Mashed potatoes, corn, chicken, and sweet potatoes," Alicia told him, leading him into the kitchen where her mother and Lawrence was.
"Mmhmm, I could smell those sweet potatoes from down the street," he smiled.
Alicia's dad was a rugged looking guy who was built like a truck. He was tall and muscular and looked like he could eat steel for breakfast. He had that look that someone had made him very upset, but Alicia knew he was just as soft as a teddy bear.
She had learned a lot of her discipline from him, right along with her temper and attitude. She wouldn't dare give her parents attitude, but they had no problem with her standing up for herself.
"And who is this?" her father asked as soon as he saw Lawrence.
"This is Lawrence," said Alicia, noting how scared Lawrence suddenly looked. "He's taking me to the Spring Fling dance."
"Attenhut!" her father roared.
Alicia motioned for Lawrence to stand up. Lawrence understood and stood up timidly.
"Stand up straight, boy!" ordered her father.
Lawrence did as told and shot a nervous glance over at Alicia.
"About face!" shouted her father.
Alicia again helped him out and motioned for him to turn around and face her dad. He did that and her father paced past him, eyeing him intensely, checking him out.
Finally he looked Lawrence square in the eye and said, "So you're going on a date with my daughter, correct?"
"Yes."
"Yes Sir!"
"Yes, Sir."
"And how is it that you know my daughter, Son?"
"We are in the band together, Sir," Lawrence barely whispered.
Alicia's father narrowed his eyes. "State your purpose."
"I'm here to have dinner, Sir," answered Lawrence.
"I meant your purpose in the band, School of Rock, Son," her father spat.
"Um, I play keyboard, son, I mean, Sir," Lawrence fumbled.
Alicia held in a snicker. Her father had acted that same way when he had met Dewey after their first rock show ever two years ago at Battle of the Bands.
Her father considered Lawrence for a moment before saying, "You may not kiss my daughter, you may not touch my daughter, you may not--"
"Dad, how are we supposed to dance if he can't touch me?" Alicia broke in, smirking.
"Honestly, Antoine, sit down and let the girl enjoy her company. You're scaring the poor boy," chimed her mother, giving him a kiss.
He smiled at his wife, then looked at Lawrence and said "You're lucky my wife and daughter are here, or I'd eat you alive, Son. At ease."
Alicia told Lawrence that he could sit down now, and the rest of dinner went on peacefully. After dinner, Alicia told her parents that she was taking a cab back to Lawrence's house. Her parent's could've taken them, but she wanted to have a nice peaceful drive with him.
Lawrence sat there in the taxi cab, laughing with Alicia over her father's actions at dinner. He found out that it was rare when her father could make it home for dinner, considering he was so busy with his job in the military. He often traveled without the family because her mother wasn't very eager to pick up and move from place to place. Alicia told him that she was a daddy's girl, and the fact that he was away so much of the time made her kind of sad.
"I thought I was going to wet myself," Lawrence shook his head amusingly, and Alicia cracked up.
"Me too. The look on your face was priceless. I think I actually saw a drop of sweat," said Alicia. "He's just very protective over me. Give him time, and he'll recognize you as one of my best friends."
They exchanged looks and looked away.
"I mean," she shrugged, "you're a lot cooler than I thought. I like being friends with you."
"I like being friends with you too, Alicia," he replied timidly, "I never thought you'd be this much fun to hang out with."
"Lawrence, I'm only like that at school 'cause stupid people annoy me and bother me all the time. At home, in my neighborhood, I'm just Alicia. Not 'Witch', not 'Braceface', not 'Babe', just... Alicia."
"You know, this may sound stupid, but today is the only time I've seen you so... laid back and happy, other than when we're doing a show," Lawrence admitted, as they passed by their middle school.
"'Cause that's the only time I am happy and not... thinking about stuff."
"Are you ever going to tell me what 'stuff' is?"
"No."
Lawrence shrugged and stared out of the window the rest of the time. When they reached his house twenty minutes later, they casually walked to his front door. It was already dark out, and a couple of lights were on inside.
The two stood at the door, rocking back and forth on their heels.
"Thanks for coming over today," said Alicia. "I had a lot of fun. We should get together after practices too so we can get you ready for next saturday."
"Was I horrible?" asked Lawrence, referring to his dancing.
"Honestly?" smiled Alicia, "You were worst than horrible."
They both started to laugh and she added, " but it's ok. We have all week minus Wednesday. Are you excited to record?"
"Sure, I guess. You?"
"Oh yeah. Dewey deserves this. He's always been there for us, and it's kind of like a gift to him that we finally got a record deal."
"It's a gift to all of us. It seems like it was just yesterday that he had us at the front of the classroom playing 'Smoke On the Water'," said Lawrence.
"Listen, about the band," Alicia started off hesitantly, "Even though we don't exactly mix with everyone, the point is, we're all a team. If one person was missing, School of Rock would be incomplete. I try to remember that whenever I just want to storm out on everyone."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is... don't quit the band. I know you've been thinking about it since yesterday. We need you just as much as Zack or Katie, even Marta. So don't go thinking that it's not worth it, ok?"
Lawrence understood and nodded. "Just as long as you're there to go chasing after me after I've flipped out on everyone."
"Of course. Besides, now that you got Eleni and Michelle banned from practice, who else is going to go fetch me water?" she jokingly punched him in his arm.
They hugged each other goodbye, and Alicia kissed him on the cheek. Lawrence felt himself blush and said goodnight to her as she walked away and got back into the taxi cab. Suddenly, the dance couldn't come soon enough.
(AN: Two more Chapters to go! Yay? This chapter is dedicated to Robert Tsai! Did everyone know that he writes his own music? I read it somewhere on some remote website interview with him, and I think that it's pretty cool that he's such a wonderful piano player and has a great talent. That entire piano scene was inspired completely by him. Now about this chapter, I wanted to show Alicia's house and where she comes from. That whole cab thing is a little far fetched, but hey, he needed to escape from Summer didn't he? I basically just wanted a chapter of them spending time together and getting to know the true people they are. Thanks everyone for reading, and please don't think I'm stuck up for not responding to your reviews and things. Believe it or not, I'm a very busy girl :-D... next chapter won't be posted for a couple of weeks :-( sry Review please! Positive, and if not positive, then helpful.)