"Ms. Hatheway, the mayor will see you now." The assistant told Summer in the hallway. Summer got up excitingly and walked into his office.

"Oh hello Summer. How's your father?" The mayor asked her. Her father worked closely with the mayor, so she'd known him since she was very young.

"He's fine thank you for asking. "

"If you wanted to speak with me, you didn't have to go through the trouble of scheduling like this."

"I'm aware and I thank you, but I wanted to do this as a professional. I understand that Kale's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I believe that I have the perfect group to provide the entertainment."

"Do you now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As you may know, a few years ago my class and I formed a band and participated in The Battle of the Bands. While we didn't win, we did win over the crowd. A few days ago, we decided to come back together. I was thinking, that School of Rock would be perfect for Kale's fifteenth birthday party."

"I see," He said before falling silent in thought. "I'll let you know." He told her. She nodded and exited his office. She was picked up outside by her mother.

"How did it go sweetheart?" She asked.

"Well...he didn't say no. He said he'll let me know." She said, half disappointed.

Zack was sitting in his room doing his homework when he got a text from Freddy.

F: Hey babe, is it ok to call you that? It's totally fine if you don't want me to. Anyways, my mom's giving me a ride to school tomorrow. Do you wanna ride with us?

Z: Go ahead. I actually can't wait to hear it in person. But I'm fine with walking.

F: Ok, I'll see you tomorrow at school then. Babe.

Zack smiled to himself and was about to go back to working when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," He called. The door opened and his older brother Ashton walked in. Zack became slightly annoyed. "What do you want Ash?"

"What, I just wanna talk." He told him. Zack looked at him curiously. "Look, I just have a question."

"Ok, what's up?" He asked him. Now he was starting to worry. Ashton always picks on Zack for the smallest things.

"So, a couple of my friends saw something pretty interesting today. They told they saw you eating alone with that Jones kid." Zack swallowed hard. "And they said you two were...kissing. Is this true?" Zack looked terrified. There was reason he hadn't told Ashton his was gay.

"I...I…" He couldn't think of a reason that wouldn't sound like a terrible lie.

"Come on. You can tell me." He said, sitting on the edge of Zack's bed. "Zack, you're gay aren't you?" Zack's shot wide. He covered his mouth and was breathing hard through his nose. He couldn't for any words and just started nodding sporadically. Ashton sat closer and put his arm around his little brother. "Hey, hey, it's ok. You know, to be honest I always thought you were anyways. Remember how surprised I was when you dated Michelle for awhile?" Zack looked surprised that this was happening. He thought that if Ashton found him out he would kick his ass for sure, but instead he was actually comforting him. "But did out have to choose Freddy? You know the kind of reputation he has."

"Hey, he's changed." Zack told him.

"If you say so," Ashton got up and headed for the door. "Later dweeb," He chuckled and left. Zack laughed a little and went back to his work.

The next morning, Lawrence arrived at school just as Tomika was dropped off by her mom. "Hey Tomik," Hey said running up to her.

"Morning Larry, how's it going?" She asked, yawning.

"Guess what?" He asked her, excited.

"It's too early for guessing, can't you just tell me?" She asked, walking past him and heading inside the school.

"Ok, ok. Tonight, I may be in line to get my black belt!" He told her, jumping up and down.

"Really? That's great Larry! I'm really happy for you." As they were talking, Zack walked in and continued past them. "Hey, you should invite Zack to come watch."

"Oh, Zack. Um...I don't think he'd be interested in coming." He said, hesitantly.

"Really? I would think he'd really enjoy that." She told him.

"Well, you know...he's busy and everything."

"You're still not talking to him, are you?" She asked. He looked away from her confirming her guess. "You know, he doesn't blame you. You can still be friends with him." Lawrence, instead of talking to her, walked off towards his first class.

"Please tell me you told him yesterday." Gordon said as he and Zack walked to class.

"Of course I did. What reason would I have to not?" Zack asked him.

"You're a wuss?" Gordon suggested to which he got a slap on the shoulder. "So, what did he say?"

"Well…" Zack thought back to the kiss. Freddy's kiss. "Ok, ready for this? He said that he actually likes me too. And he even kissed me."

"Seriously? That's awesome dude! So, are you two official or what?"

"I don't know. I don't think so." He called me 'Babe.'

"Well, at least you're out to him." The bell rang over their heads. "Guess we should get to class."

Freddy was rushing through the halls of the school. Crap, late again. My teacher's gonna kill me! "Freddy!" He heard a girl's voice shout at him. An all too familiar voice. He turned around to see the face of Taylor. One of his ex's from middle school and easily the most obsessed one too.

"What do you want?" He asked, annoyed.

"I saw you yesterday." Her high pitched voice accused. At least, Freddy thought she was accusing him of something.

"Well yeah, we have third period together." He told her.

"Not what I meant. I meant I saw you with that Mooneyham kid. So what? You like boys now? Couldn't you have at least picked one that was better looking to fill out you little phase with?" Freddy's clenched his fists so hard his knuckles began to turn white.

"Piss off Taylor, I'm already late." He spat, before turning around and continued to his class.

"Just you wait Freddy Jones, you'll be mine again soon." She said to herself with a smile.

Katie and Frankie were talking all throughout first period. Mostly about the band, home stuff, and so on. When class got out, Frankie continued to walk with Katie to her locker. "So, did you hear about Freddy?" He asked.

"What about him?" She asked.

"Everyone's been saying they saw him kissing a guy yesterday." He told her.

"Freddy didn't tell you?" She asked him surprised.

"Tell me what?" He seem confused.

"That was Zack he kissed. Zack's liked him for awhile and he said that when he told Freddy yesterday, Freddy responded by kissing him." She explained.

"Freddy didn't tell me he liked dudes. I thought he dated bunch girls back in middle school."

"He did, but I guess he likes guys too. Or at least Zack."

"You're pretty close to Zack right? Did you know?" He asked.

"Of course, he told both me and Gordon that he was gay after he broke up with Michelle." Frankie began to think, why didn't Freddy tell him? Did he not trust him? Were they not best friends anymore? "Well, I'll catch up with you later." She said with a wink.

"Uh, yeah." He said waving goodbye.

Later at lunch, Frankie was still thinking about it while Freddy was trying to talk to him. "Frankie?" Freddy asked, waving his hand in front of his face. "Are you there?"

"What? Sorry man, spaced out."

"No biggie. Anyways, do you think Summer got us the gig? I can't stop thinking about it." He said, excited.

"Right? This'll have to put you guys back into the public eye."

"You too, man. Just cause you're not in the band, doesn't mean you're not in the band. We couldn't have gotten this off the ground with you and Leonard watching our backs."

"I guess you're right." Frankie smiled, feeling better before he remembered he was talking to Freddy. "Hey, how come you didn't tell me you like Zack?" He asked him.

"Huh?"

"Katie told me that Zack told her and Gordon his secret. I thought we were best friends, why didn't you tell me?" He asked again.

"We are, I just...didn't know how to tell you. I spent the last three years telling you all about a bunch of different girls, I guess I was scared of how you might react to me saying I was into a guy." Freddy told him, scratching the back of his head.

"Dude, I don't care what you put in your mouth, we're bros. Bros stand by each other." Freddy smiled.

"So, you and Katie?" Freddy teased.

"We're just going on a date this weekend, that's all." Frankie tried to explained.

"Uh-huh, suuuuurrrrre."

"Oh shut up!"

"Just talk to him, Larry." Tomika edged on.

"No. He wouldn't want to talk to me anyways."

"Hey guys," Lawrence turned his head and saw Zack standing behind him. "What're you talking about?" He asked.

"Nothing-" Lawrence started to say.

"Lawrence might be getting his black belt tonight." Tomika interrupted, resulting in a death glare from Lawrence.

"Really? That's awesome dude!" Zack congratulated him.

"Uh, thanks. No big deal or anything." Lawrence said, trying to subtly hint that he wanted Zack to leave.

"No dude, super big deal! I'm just happy you invited me to come watch." Tomika told him. Lawrence looked at her and started shaking his head. "Say Zack? Would you like to go?" She asked.

"Um, I would love to. If that's ok with you Lawrence?" He asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great." He said through gritted teeth, not breaking eye contact with the girl across from him.

"Cool, thanks. I'll see you both tonight then." He said walking away.

"Look what you made me do!" Lawrence said once Zack was out of earshot.

"Yeah, I made you talk to him. Boo Hoo." Tomika shot back.

"You know why I can't be friends with him."

"No. I know why you want to avoid him and I'm sick of it. You're going to talk it out with him."

"Fine," Lawrence said, caving in.

After school, the band had gotten together and were practicing on their instruments when Summer walked in. Everyone looked over to her, waiting for her to tell them the news. "The mayor said he'll call me." She told them.

"Not the worst thing that he could've said." Chiaki piped up. "Now everyone, back to practice." He said, shifting his attention towards the class.

"Billy, we need you to make outfits. Can you do it?" Summer asked.

"Does a mall babe eat chili fries?" He asked rhetorically. Summer looked back at him confused.

"That's bad 90's for yes." Chiaki said from the other side of the room.

"Could've just said that." She said, walking away.

Lawrence and Tomika were waiting for Lawrence's mom or dad to pick them up outside of the school to go to Lawrence's karate tournament when Zack came running up to them. "Sorry I'm late, Freddy had something to show me."

"It's fine, our rides not even hear yet." Tomika told him.

"Thanks for saying I could come Lawrence," Zack said, walking closer to him.

"Don't mention it," He muttered turning away. His parents showed up a minute later and picked the three of them up. It was a very awkward car ride, with mostly silence and stares between the three. They were dropped off and walked inside the building. Tomika and Zack found their seats while Lawrence left to change. The first few rounds went by before it came down to Lawrence's turn. He stepped up and and took his stance. He looked back up at Zack and Tamika and saw Zack wave at him. He scowled and looked away, before just blocking a an attack, but was quickly tripped buy his opponent. The point was called as he got back up.

"Come on Lawrence, you can do this!" Zack called out. Lawrence looked back up at him before turning his attention back to his match. His opponent was attacking fast, Lawrence was finding it difficult to block everything, but he saw an opening and took that quick moment to strike. He forced his palm against his opponents stomach and pushed him back and tripped him over.

"Is Lawrence mad at me for something?" Zack asked Tomika.

"He better not be." She said quietly.

"What?"

"I mean, he shouldn't be. Why don't you talk to him?" She suggested.

"Well, I've been trying to. He just seems so distant." He said with a pout. Back in the ring, Lawrence earned his second point and was one away from winning. They took their stances and Lawrence threw punch and over his arm he saw Zack's concern face and froze for a second, allowing his opponent to catch his fist and turn him around before kicked the back of his knee. Lawrence cried out and hopped back to his side of the mat. He looked up at Zack once more and took a deep breath before raising his arms above his head as well as one of his legs. When his opponent ran at him he quickly switched feet and high kicked his opponent in the face, knocking to the ground and winning the match.

After the tournament, Tomika and Zack watched as Lawrence's teacher handed him his black belt. "Hey, great job dude!" Zack said raising his hand to give him a high five. Lawrence just gave him a look. "Ok what? Can you just tell me what I did wrong already? I'm tired of getting the silent treatment and weird looks."

"Why can't you just hate me?" Lawrence yelled back before running off.

"Wait!" Zack called out, but he didn't turn around or stop.

"Go after him." Tomika said.

"You really think that's a good idea?" He asked.

"Trust me, he needs this." Zack nodded and ran after Lawrence. When he found him, he was sitting down on the steps outside and brooding.

"Lawrence, what's going on? I thought we were friends. I want to be friends. What did I do?" He asked him.

"You didn't...do anything. I did." Zack walked over and sat down next to him. "Remember back in middle school? I thought I was the baddest guy around. I mouthed off to everyone without thinking of what could go wrong. Why? Because I was 'Mr. Cool' I was in a band so that made me better or something. And one day, it went to far. I mouthed off to some of the biggest bullies in the school. Easily the worst thing I ever did. I was getting my asked kicked hard and then you showed up, I was stupid enough to think they wouldn't hurt you too."

"Larry,"

"That's why we can't be friends. I'm just going to get you hurt again. It's all my fault that happened. I can't imagine having to go home and explain what happened to your dad."

"Lawrence, it wasn't your fault." Lawrence looked up at him confused. "I ran in to help. I chose to try to do something. You didn't make me be there, you didn't ask for my help. I tried to help because you're my best friend. I wanted to be there for you and I still do if you're willing to be friends with me." Zack finished up. Lawrence was quiet for a minute before he looked up and smiled at him.

"You sure you'll still willing to have me?" Lawrence asked.

"Of course I am." Zack confirmed. They both smiled and did their secret hand shake..

"Can I crash this weekend?" Lawrence asked.

"Please do," Zack responded.