AN: Hey there! Sorry for not updating sooner. I went on a short vacation and ended up dropping my laptop. The outcome is that the thing ran so dang slow and I had to get it repaired. Now it runs like a charm.
Anyways, onto the story!
'You can do this.' Elliot runs a hand through his coiffed jet black hair, careful to not ruin the 'I totally got out of bed looking like this, even though it took me at least 20 minutes to get it looking this good' style he had going on. He takes a deep breath before letting out with a quiet whoosh, trying to calm himself. The school day ended without much trouble and he'd like to keep it up.
He opens the door and smiles at the rather intimidating looking principle... Or rather, her back. She's facing the windows of her office and the only thing he gets to see is long blonde locks along with the back of her chair. "You wanted to see me, Kiera." His voice is meek and remains standing, careful not to enter without further prompting.
"Indeed. Come take a seat, Elliot." He all but scurries to the two seats that are on the opposite of her desk. Elliot Zhang had been working at Kelser High for about three years now and Principal Watson still terrified him just a bit.
Kiera turns her chair and looks rather regal (and just as terrifying). Her blue eyes seem to bore into Elliot's and for someone who's in her fifties, she doesn't look older than forty. "Now I'm just going to get this out of the way. We received a generous sum of money from an anonymous donor, however there are some stipulations." She cleans the nonexistent mess from the top of her desk, no longer looking at Elliot.
"They requested that the school start and glee club. The board agreed to this." Elliot only quirks an eyebrow at the mention of the condition, still a bit lost with how this deals with him. Her attention finally returns to the man. "We would like you to coach the club."
"I'm sorry what?" His tone is incredulous and he's staring at her, slightly slack-jawed. "Kiera, I think you're mistaken. I'm a biology teacher. I think you should be talking to Tim." Timothy Moritz was quite the band director and would know everything about music. Although, he probably shouldn't be dancing. The poor man walked around with quite the limp, but the students would probably get a kick out his toupee flying off his balding head in the middle of a dance step. Shiny things were quite the distractor, even with what little graying locks he had left.
"Now Elliot, while the school district does little to look into our staff previous employment, I like to be more prepared." With that, she turned her monitor around and the image on screen made Elliot cringe on the inside. There in all his platinum blonde glory was Elliot circa '03. God, he knew that his career (if one could even call a single EP a career) would come back to bite him. He's wearing possibly the baggiest black pants with a pair of garish Nike gold diggers and a rather sheer gold top. His almond shaped eyes hadn't changed much in the years outside of the slightest crow's feet now, but he was wearing circle lens in this photo and the normally brown irises were a very bright blue. Just looking at the photo made his head hurt.
Elliot's head hits the desk with quite some force as he lets out a quiet groan. "Careful now, this is mahogany." Kiera easily quips with no real weight in her words as she leans over to pat him on the back.
"Ma'am I mean this in the most respectful way possibly, but I don't think the school can even afford a mahogany desk." Is the muffled reply she receives, eliciting a chuckle from the principal. "I suppose not. But yes, I do know your past as 'L'. Interesting stage name might I add."
'Ugh god, please no more reminders.' He was very much into Japanese pop culture back then (and not in a good way), with a certain manga being the inspiration for the name. L was similar enough to his own name, not to mention Light was just too odd. "You aren't trying to blackmail me are you, Kiera?"
She lets out a laugh at his words, tossing her head back and Elliot lifts his head and simply squints his brown eyes, careful to school his features back to something close to neutral when she starts to calm down. "Excuse me." KIera coughs as she straightens herself. "No, I am not trying to 'blackmail' you. Your career is not something to laugh at and I would love to have you lead this club. I see no one better for the job."
More like no one qualified wanted said job and the newest teacher was basically going to have to accept the position. He sits up straight and scratches the back of his head. "Well I can't say no to that, now can I?"
"Perfect!" Is the exclaimed response he receives and the principal begins to rifle through her desk before handing him a sheet of paper. Upon further inspection, it's a flyer for the club listing information such as sign up deadline along with audition date and location. "I can't wait to see what you do with the students."
He looks at the piece of paper, a lump in his throat. "Yep, me either."
"And that's all we have for you this week on Kelser Social! Tune in next week as we'll take a look at the latest sports with Donnie Howell." The sophomore finishes with an eye smile and finger guns.
"And that's a wrap! Nice work Em. But uh, take it easy on the hand gestures next time." Jess pipes up from behind the camera. Emilia gives her some vigorous nods before she hands the microphone over to Josh and scuttles off.
"I think they're endearing." He says after the sophomore was off the stage and nearly out of the auditorium. He's wrapping cables around his forearm and elbow as Jess packs away the camera.
"They're distracting and we'll have to edit around them." Her tone is matter of fact, ignoring the frown Josh gives her as she snaps the camera case close. "But I suppose they are a tad endearing."
Josh's pout morphs into a grin at her words and nudges his friend. "More than a tad and you know it." She only rolls her eyes at that. "So I have a favor to ask. I need to meet up with Margot, we're doing some website maintenance."
She knows where this is going and finishes his request before he can get it out. "Yea, go ahead. I'll lug all of this heavy equipment. On my own. Like a poor damsel, even though her knight should be doing this." Jess lifts her hand to her forehead, faking distress as she pretends that the equipment case is far too heavy for her to carry.
Josh laughs at her antics and she joins in eventually. "Yes, yes. I apologize princess. I'll clean it up next time." He grabs his backpack before sprinting off the stage.
"I'm holding you to it and don't forget to shut the doors." She calls out to the white streaked blur before shaking her head. Luckily a good portion of the equipment is packed away, with only a couple of chords left. Jess surveys the mess of tangles before shaking her head and pulling out her phone. This calls for some detangling tunes.
With the volume turned up, Jess starts the task.
I can't help it if I make a scene,
Stepping out of my hot pink limousine.
I'm turning heads, and I'm stopping traffic,
When I pose, they scream, and when I joke, they laugh.
Her voice starts off soft, but it begins to rise in volume as she continues the song. She even begins to act out parts of the lyrics, posing and abandoning her task.
I've got a pair of eyes that they're getting lost in,
They're hypnotized by the way I'm walking,
I've got them dazzled like a stage magician,
When I point, they look, and when I talk, they listen, well,
Everybody needs a friend,
And I've got you and you and you
So many, I can't even name them,
Can you blame me? I'm too famous.
She's lost in the song, having more fun than she'd ever publicly admit. Jess executes a spin, not seeing that she's got an audience. Elliot is leaning against the door frame as he watches his student, a small grin begins to form on his lips.
Haven't you noticed that I'm a star?
I'm coming into view as the world is turning.
Haven't you noticed I've made it this far?
Now, everyone can see me burning.
Now, everyone can see me burning.
Now, everyone can see me burning.
Now, everyone can see me burning.
She finishes the song with the cellphone in her hand, acting a faux microphone, clasped between both of her hands. Jess is looking upwards, brown eyes appearing glazed and she's still oblivious to Elliot's presence. That is, until he starts clapping.
The noise makes Jessica jump and her phone goes flying out at her start. It takes a comical amount of fumbling to keep the device from hitting the floor as she seems to swat it upwards with every attempt to catch it.
Elliot stifles a chuckle as he watches before apologizing. "Sorry about the scare, Jessica. I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
Jess is blushing rather profusely at this point, her pale skin taking on a bright red. At the moment, she's torn between hiding her face by using her chestnut brown hair as a something of a curtain and throttling her biology teacher along with a few veiled threats to ensure no one learns of her little 'show.' Instead, she smiles sheepishly at Elliot knowing that the former choice won't do much for her at this point and the latter will probably land her in detention.
"Hey, Mr. Z. Didn't see you there." Her words are stilted and her laughs sounds incredibly awkward to her own ears. "What brings you to the auditorium? I don't think we have an interview with you scheduled." The question has a tinge of accusation as Jess feels mortification crawling all over her skin right now.
"Ah, so that's what all the camera equipment is for. But no, I'm not here for that. I just happened to be passing by the auditorium on my way out of campus when I heard you. You sound quite nice." It was a good thing that the doors just happened to be opened, as Elliot just found some talent for the glee club. What luck!
"Uh, thanks Mr. Z." Jessica tries her very best not to let her murderous thoughts seep into her smile. She and Josh were going to have a serious talk after this. That conniving rat better not have told their teacher to take the long way out to the school parking lot too. If so, she'd probably up their 'talk' to murder.
Joshua Casper. Loving son and terrible best friend. Will probably be missed by like, three people. Maybe four.
"I'm not sure if you heard, but the school is starting a glee club this year and I just so happen to be the coach. You should sign up for auditions!" If the girl does end up joining, he'll have at least one friendly face in the club. This will hopefully make the whole experience (and maybe the year) just a tad less awkward.
"Oh, um yea I saw the flyers. Looks like a great time, but I'm not sure if it's my scene." My scene? Really? In all honesty, glee club is not part of her four year survive high school plan in any way shape or form. Ok yes, one of her more tolerable teachers is the coach and maybe she really needs another music outlet outside band, but lord it is not worth it. Probably.
"Just give it some thought. Actually, here." Elliot digs up the flyer Kiera gave him, now with a few wrinkles as he folded the piece of paper up to fight into his breast pocket, and hands it to the other. "It has the date and everything. Who knows, this might be your 'scene' and it'll be fun!" He wants to add an 'I promise' at the end of his statement, but he can't even guarantee that enough people will show up for auditions. "I'll see you tomorrow." He waves as he leaves, hoping that he just found his first recruit.
She stares at the piece of paper, not bothering to reply to Elliot as he leaves. And she continues to look at it long after her teacher is gone. That voice from this morning is a bit louder now and it whispers words of encouragement. That this club will be worth it.
This time she folds the flyer up carefully and tucks it into one of her jacket pockets. She turns back to the previously forgotten chords, humming the tune of the song she sang before.
Songs featured in this chapter:
Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star) - Olivia Olsen
I'm not used to writing so much, but I hope the length of this chapter is to everyone's liking.
Still no donor character, so if anyone would like to send one in that would be great! Also more boys, please. I have received more girls so far. Nonbinary characters are also encouraged!
I have a few submissions so far but not enough for me to post a full character list. And so I pose a question to you, the readers. Would you like to me to start writing the next chapters with characters I have intentions of accepting or would you rather I wait for a full cast list before the next update? I'll have a poll on my profile that you can respond in.
I currently don't have a close date for character submissions so please send more!
Be sure to check out the tumblr for this story and feel free to follow my writing twitter for miscellaneous updates. Both of these are listed on my profile.
Oh, if you have any questions, please leave them in the tumblr i nbox or ask me on twitter. PMing me here will also work just as well. Reviews generally aren't a good way as I can't respond.