Disclaimer: I still don't own 'School of Rock'. Got it? Song is 'Bling (Confessions of a King)' by The Killers
Certain Things
K
School of Rock
One-Shot/Song Fic
Summer Hathaway
(for Michael)
Summer knew that in this life there were very few certainties.
One was death.
Everyone knew it was coming for them and all they loved.
It was sad but true.
The end was always nigh.
They said the second was taxes, but Summer knew many of the richest people in the world had never once payed their taxes, so how was it a certainty for them?
Rather, Summer believed, life's biggest certainty was loneliness.
Loneliness struck everyone, whether it was the loneliness of having no one to talk to on a train or the loneliness that lasts forever your life having never filled the All-America quota of perfect house, perfect life and perfect family.
The American quota that made no sense to her.
She'd heard the clichés: 'Everyone in America has the same thing, just some people's things are shinier' or the one her Year 7 teacher had spouted when Summer refused to do a speech on why America was the greatest country in the world: 'If you'd been born anywhere else young lady you wouldn't've had the opportunities America and it's great democracy has given you', to which Summer had replied that she'd better call the delegates of Canada, Britain and Australia and tell them to go home because their democracy wasn't good enough.
The stupid woman had shut up then.
When I offer you survival,
You say it's hard enough to live,
It's not so bad, it's not so bad
How do you know that you're right?
I awoke on the roadside,
In the land of the free ride,
And I can't pull it any longer,
The sun is beating down my neck
Even with her strong views, Summer had never been the kind of lonely that most recognised: physically.
She'd always had someone to talk to on the train, and she did have the perfect life, but no one she talked to were her real friends and family was a different kettle of fish.
Summer, in her mind, had only three real friends, but they were so far away right now, so her heart stayed cold and alone.
So I ran with the devil
Left a trail of excuses,
Like a stone on the water,
The elements decide my fate,
Watch it go..."bling".
She should've been incredibly happy. She was living a life that was bordering perfection.
While her friends Katie, Freddy and Zack were at home in rainy, cold and always mopey Long Island, Summer was spending her days basking in nice weather and the smell of the ocean at her campus at South Carolina University.
She was doing a business degree.
It wasn't the best in America, she had let her grades slip slightly since joining the band, but still in the Top 5 business courses in America.
She'd once dreamed of Harvard and Law. But she soon got bored just by the idea of it.
'South', as the students lovingly called it, had a fun atmosphere with outdoor concerts and competitions.
It made her time away from home a little more bearable.
When I offer you survival,
You say it's hard enough to live,
Don't tell me that it's over,
Stand up
Poor and tired,
But more than this
Summer had once tried to explain to her new Uni friends what her old life had been about, but they hadn't understood.
She'd tried to explain Dewey- they just thought that was weird. She'd tried to explain what she and Katie had. "Best Friends Forever" they'd called it, but she and Katie didn't use those preppy words.
The hardest to explain though was Zack.
The first time she'd mentioned him they'd automatically said "your boyfriend" but that wasn't what he was.
"So, just a friend?" They'd asked, but he was more than that.
Instead of looking for empty words, she decided to just explain.
When Zack and Summer formed their parts of the band, guitarist and band manager respectively, they'd become friends.
A few years later they each realised it was a bit more so they tried their hand at a bit more, but each time they kissed it just felt weird and when Freddy, always eager to cause trouble, and one day asked them whether it was love they'd each looked at the other and gave a flat 'no'.
So what was it?
There simply wasn't a word for it. It was odd, but good.
How do you know that you're right?
If you're not nervous anymore,
It's not so bad, it's not so bad
I feel my vision slipping in and out of focus,
But I'm pushing on for that horizon,
I'm pushing on,
Now I've got the blowing wind against my face
Freddy was silently an addicted romantic and was convinced that what they had was true love, often referring to them as each other's girlfriend/boyfriend but they didn't believe that. They played along anyway.
Freddy was constantly high on his whirlwind romance with Katie, so Zack and Summer rather preferred he stayed love-obsessed, for Katie's sake.
Summer could remember when Katie had first told Summer about how she felt about Freddy.
Summer had nearly died.
Katie, her best-friend, A student had fallen for Freddy Jones, quick-witted troublemaker.
Sharing a band was one thing, but love?
But soon Summer saw that Freddy felt very serious about Katie, and she suddenly couldn't imagine anyone else for her best-friend.
So you sling rocks at the rip tide
Am I wrong or am I right?
I hit the bottom with a "huh!"
Quite strange,
I get my glory in the desert rain
Watch it go..."bling".
But now, sitting in her dorm room with piles of homework in front of her, Summer hurt when she thought of them.
Katie was doing a teaching degree at Long Island's local; Freddy was working part-time as a mechanic with his uncle while he repeated his final year at school and Zack was working full-time at a record company as a junior assistant. He loved it.
Summer put down her pen and picked up her phone, starting to call Zack.
Zack picked up a second later.
"Hey Zack! It's Summer…" She started.
Zack cut her off. "Sorry Tink, I'm busy. I'll call you back okay?"
"Uh, okay." Summer replied. She hung up.
Next she tried Katie. No answer. Then Freddy, nothing there either.
Summer frowned and put the phone back down.
'Why bother. They're moving on without me'. She thought.
It hurt.
She picked up her pen again.
When I offer you survival,
You say it's hard enough to live,
And I'll tell you when it's over,
Stand up
Shut up poor and tired,
But more than this
A week later Summer was back in her dorm. It was 5pm and still no one had called her back.
Summer had never felt so pathetic.
Not once before had anyone ever ignored her, least of all her friends.
Summer frowned at the finished assignment sitting on her desk and wondered if al this: the work, the loneliness, the assignments; were they worth it?
Just as she was stapling the assignment together there came a knock on her dorm room door.
Summer went over and lazily pulled it open.
To her shock, there stood her friends.
"Surprise!" They called, laughing.
Summer grinned. They hadn't forgotten her after all!
How do you know that you're right?
If you're not nervous anymore,
It's not so bad, it's not so bad...
Higher and higher,
We're gonna take it,
Down to the wire,
We're gonna make it,
Out of the fire,
Higher and higher.
"Well, Zack said 'road trip', Freddy said 'it won't be the same without Summer' so I said 'road trip to see Summer!'." Katie explained.
Freddy started to talk over her. "See my idea. I miss ya' Sums." He grinned.
Katie glanced at him. "It was totally my idea. I was the one that told you she'd called. You forgot."
They started bickering so Summer turned her attention to Zack, who was sitting at her desk reading her assignment.
He grinned up at her when she realised she was looking at him. "This is great Tink." He said.
Summer smiled. "Yeah?"
Zack nodded. "Yeah. We're all so proud of you."
Summer blushed. "Thanks."
Zack just smiled.
Higher and higher,
We're gonna take it,
Down to the wire,
We're gonna make it out,
Whoa-oh-oh Higher and higher...
It ain't hard to hold,
When it shines like gold,
You'll remember me.
That night, after they'd all headed off, promising to return soon, Summer smiled as she lay in bed.
Good friends, good fun and good future.
Could anyone ask for anything more than that?
The End