a/n: So I know you're probably like "Quick updates my ass!" right now. But a few days after my last update one of my best friends died.
I hope this isn't crap for you. I had to re-read the story to figure out what I wanted to do this chapter. Italics are thoughts, things in '' are written or typed usually. The songs in this chapter are "Where'd You Go?" by Fort Minor and "Morningstar" by AFI.
The week came and went. The script readings were nothing special, but everyone was already shocked at the plot line. It was Friday morning and an early morning for the G Major crew, all of which were ready for another read-through of the script in the Rolling Tape studio. Tommy, Jude, Kwest, Sadie, Damien, Lacey, Kyle, Wally, and Vin were all seated in a circle of desks with scripts, notebooks, pencils, and Starbucks. Portia and Geneva stood in the middle of the sleepy crowd with stern looks.
"Today I want to start writing songs for the movie. We've already rehearsed the script once, so you should have an idea of the emotions needed." Geneva pulled two sheets of paper out of a manila folder she held in her hands and handed one to both Tommy and Jude. "That is a list of the parts of the movie that need songs. Tommy and Jude will be writing and singing most of the soundtrack. Damien," She extricated another sheet of paper and handed it to him, "You have a few songs yourself. Everyone else can help if needed, but rehearsal comes first."
Jude was scanning through the list. The script was hardly what the real situation was like, so she was looking forward to putting a bit of the true story into her lyrics.
"Tommy and Jude, you may leave to start working on lyrics. I expect you back here by three." Portia chimed.
They both gladly gathered up their materials and left the room. The lobby was crowded and full of people running back and forth.
"Thank god I don't have to sit through another session of Kwest's horrible acting." Tommy breathed out heavily and kissed the top of Jude's head.
Jude smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind the read-throughs, but I miss the music."
"How about going to a café?" Tommy suggested with a grin.
Jude felt a breeze of fresh air sweep her hair as she left Rolling Tape and walked into the parking lot. "Sounds fabulous, I'm starving and there's no poptarts here."
He chuckled. "So what 'situations' were you assigned to?"
Jude smiled goofily. "Well I don't know if I should tell you, you might get jealous."
Tommy just shrugged. "Let's walk; it takes to long to drive anywhere."
Jude nodded, shifting her paperwork so that she could hold his hand.
They walked for twenty minutes before deciding to enter a small internet café a few blocks from the studio. They took spots at the computers and paid for two hours and some coffee. Jude could have sworn she saw the man behind the counter before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Ooh." Jude mused over her list. "I think I'll work on this one."
Tommy leaned over and Jude snatched the list out of his site. "Oh, come on." He pleaded.
"Nu uh." A smile played on her lips as she opened Microsoft Word.
"Why keep it a secret? We might be working on it together." He waved his list at her with a sly grin on his face.
She sighed, relenting and handing him her list.
"What one were you planning on starting?"
Jude craned her neck and pointed to the bullet that read 'Tommy is gone in California (pages 28-33.)'
Tommy quirked his brows. "Alright, I'll work on the leaving song then…" He sulkily handed the list back to her and started to work on his own computer.
Jude rolled her eyes. "Well maybe I'll just work on one of the many sex scenes." She was aggravated that the writers had put so many in. The very first scene was one of her and Tommy. Apparently they were 'secretly dating' before he left.
He snorted. "Which one; the one with me, the other one with me, the one with Kwest, or the one-night stand with Damien?"
"Ah... So many choices. I don't know, Full Throttle might work for the one-night stand." Jude mulled the idea over for a few minutes and decided that it would. It was in a car, first of all, and it was with Damien, who was getting more attractive every minute he spent as a rising star. She took a pen that was chained to the counter and scribbled 'Full Throttle' next to the scenario on her list.
"How many songs do they expect on the soundtrack, anyways?" Tommy took the paper from Jude's hands and compared it with his. "We're writing five songs together. Then we have three songs separate, and Damien is writing a few. So that's…" He looked at Jude.
"Don't look at me. Remember 'schools are for fools?'" She laughed lightly.
He ignored her comment. "That's like 14 or 15."
"So?" Jude grunted and snatched her list back.
"So, I'm just saying, we're going to be making 14 or 15 songs in a couple months period. That's like you making an album in one fourth the time you usually take."
She grimaced. "Stress city, here I come."
Tommy brushed her hair behind her ear tenderly. Jude shivered promptly at the delicate touch. "At least we're together, right?" He mimicked her previous reasoning.
She nodded with a chuckle. "Right."
"We only have an hour and a half left." Tommy suddenly snapped back into work mode. "We better get started."
Jude nodded again. She was going to start typing out lyrics when she stopped and turned back to him. "What song are you working on?"
Tommy hadn't even opened word, yet. He was sitting in deep thought. "'Tommy finds Jude in bed with Kwest. Pages sixty through sixty-three.'" He recited.
"Nice." Jude sighed, turning back to her computer screen.
When Tommy left…When Tommy left how did I feel? She thought, tapping the counter with her nails. I felt alone. I was mad but mostly lost. And I missed him, and I didn't know where in the world he was…
'Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.'
A nice start, I think. But it's too sappy. What about how mad I was…I just, felt like quitting. I wanted to quit. I felt like…shit. Yes. That's a little profane, isn't it? Oh well, the sex kind of gave up the innocence of the movie.
'She said "Some days I feel like shit,
Some days I wanna quit,
And just be normal for a bit,"
I don't understand why you have to always be gone,
I get along but the trips always feel so long.'
Oh yes! But it doesn't feel like a song…Well, the first part. Maybe someone else can sing the verses. What else? If only I had my journal. Oh, I know!
'And, I find myself trying to stay by the phone,
'Cause your voice always helps me to not feel so alone,
But I feel like an idiot, working my day around the call,
But when I pick up I don't have much to say.
So, I want you to know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting, at times debating,
Telling you that I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"'
Chorus time? Jude pondered a moment what the chorus should be. She saw that Tommy had finally started typing away. The first few lines and then some would work.
'I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home.'
Now what? What about G Major and everybody. He missed my eighteenth and all the little parties. But I still thought about him. God, I was pathetic. Hmm. Here's something.
'You know the place where you used to live,
Used to barbecue up burgers and ribs,
Used to have a little party every Halloween with candy by the pile,
But now, you only stop by every once and a while,
Shit, I find myself just filling my time,
With anything to keep the thought of you from my mind,
I'm doing fine, I plan to keep it that way,
You can call me if you find that you have something to say.'
Repeat time.
'And I'll tell you, I want you to know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting, at times debating,
Telling you that I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home.'
I feel kind of pathetic. Jude re-read her lyrics and realized they were all begging him to come back to her, even though she was in pain. Maybe one more verse. A little bite!
'I want you to know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting, no longer debating,
Tired of sitting and hating and making these excuses,
For why you're not around, and feeling so useless,
It seems one thing has been true all along,
You don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone,
I guess I've had it with you and your career,
When you come back I won't be here and you can sing it.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home.
Please come back home.
Please come back home.
Please come back home.
Please come back home...'
"I love it!" Jude squealed. She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized she had said that out loud.
"You love it?" Tommy smirked and briefly glanced at her. He continued his furious typing afterwards.
"I love it. I don't think I can sing it, but I love it." She pondered her options. I can have Tommy sing it, Damien sing it…What about Kwest? He was always there when I was feeling like this. "Can Kwest sing?"
Tommy gave a gruff laugh. "Not at all, but he can rap."
Jude frowned briefly, but then she jumped up. "I need to print this!"
"That good, eh?" Tommy leaned over and read her lyrics. When he was finished he clutched his stomach and leaned back into his chair. "I guess I've had it with you and your career? Low blow."
She just shrugged. "It's for the movie." It's how I felt.
"You were never a good liar." He sighed and stared down his computer screen.
Jude shook her head. "Well, let me see what you've got."
"I'm not finished."
"Just a little taste?" She tried to use her best puppy dog eyes on him.
Tommy looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "Don't do that." He moaned.
Jude jutted out her lip. "Come on, please?"
He folded his arms and tried to ignore her gaze, but it didn't work. "Alright, but it's rough."
She jumped up and stood next to him and began to read his lyrics.
'I saw a star beneath the stairs glowing through the melting walls.
Who will be the first to begin their fall?
Or will we become one?
Am I the star beneath the stairs?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
I saw a star beneath the stairs glowing right before descent.
And in the moment there is nothing left,
But what's inside of me.
Am I the star beneath the stairs?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
Am I the star beneath the stairs?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
And I don't want to die tonight.
Will you believe in me?
And I don't want to fall into the night.
Will you wish upon, will you walk upon me?
I don't want to die tonight.
Will you believe in me tonight?
Am I the star beneath the stairs?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
Am I the star beneath the stairs?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?'
Jude was silent for a moment. It truly was beautiful, as if Tommy really had walked in on Jude cheating on him. "It's amazing, Tommy." She said breathlessly.
Tommy scratches his head. "Uh, thanks." He seemed slightly embarrassed.
"I think that you could change it so it would fit the situation…" Jude tried to break the momentary awkwardness.
"I know; it's a rough copy." He repeated. "Actually…" Tommy surveyed his lyrics and began to make a flurry of changes. When he finished he leaned back for Jude to read over.
'I saw a star beneath my stares, glowing through the melting calls.
Who will be the first to begin their fall?
Or will we become one?
Am I the star beneath the stares?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
I saw my star beneath the stares, glowing right before descent.
And in the moment there is nothing left,
But what's inside of me.
Am I the star beneath the stares?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
Am I the star beneath the stares?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
And I don't want to die tonight.
Will you be leaving me?
And I don't want to fall into the night.
Will you wish upon, will you wish upon me?
I don't want to die tonight.
Will you be leaving me tonight?
Am I the star beneath the stares?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?
Am I the star beneath the stares?
Am I the ghost upon the stage?
Am I your anything?'
"Perfect." Jude nodded with her syllables. She pursed her lips a moment and turned to face Tommy. "I love you." She kissed him suddenly.
Tommy wasn't expecting it, but he welcomed it all the same. When she broke away he smiled at her. "I love you too." Just then a timer beeped and interrupted their moment.
"Let's print these and get out of here." He sighed.
Jude nodded and printed her lyrics out, confident in their two new songs.
