So! I got reviews on the first chapter, which surprised me a little bit. But! Anyway... There's sort of a counterpart to this on my page, called "RENT Poems". Some of them tie in, some don't, you'll be able to tell pretty easy. But, that's enough shameless advertising on my part.

I own nothing. It is all from the amazing mind of one Jonathon Larson, with the exception of the plot and the song lyrics I add in.

To days of inspiration...

Homeroom on the first day of school, in any year, is the most dreaded time. Because odds are, you have some teacher you've never seen before in your life calling your name out, incorrectly mind you, to the entire class, and then they hand you a little piece of paper with your destiny for the year written on it.

Jesus, that was a poetic statement.

Anyway, I walked into homeroom, expecting the usual room full of faces I had never spoken to, but had filmed way too many times to not know the names associated with them. I panned the camera around the room, taking in all the students as well as the teacher, before taking a seat toward the back. Just as the bell was ringing, Roger walked in, smiling in what was supposed to be an innocent manner.

For once, I knew someone in homeroom. Shock. I moved my camera from the desk next to me, since it was the only empty one left, and the blond man sat next to me. As roll was called, I turned the camera back on inconspicuously, turning it back to the front of the room. The teacher's animated gestures would make it into the senior class film, surely. Soon, however, my attention returned to the blond musician next to me.

Roger had a notebook out on his desk and was tapping a beat with his left hand while he wrote on a slightly messy page. By the time the teacher was done with roll, he had filled the page with a mix of words and scribbles, in the form of what I figured was a song.

The schedules circulated the room then, and I looked at mine with a grin. I had Gym, English, Calculus, Photography and Film, and... Music? They put me in music?

I must have looked confused, because Roger spoke. "Got a class you weren't expecting?"

I nodded. "They... They put me in music."

The man laughed a bit, taking the page with my schedule on it from me. "Sweet, we have three classes together."

I took my schedule back, taking his with it, and compared. We had music, gym, and... "You're taking Film class?"

He smiled. "Yeah. They said it would round out my creativity. I think they just want me to be behind a camera for once instead of in front of it."

I snorted, handing him his paper back. "Well, this is going to be an... interesting year in film then."

Roger shrugged, sitting back in his desk a little more. "It very well may be, Camera Boy."

I raised an eyebrow, about to correct him when the bell rang. "Uh... well, then, let's get to gym. Guitar Man."

He put an arm over my shoulder as we walked down the hallway. "Guitar Man, huh?" He put on a contemplative expression. "I think I might like that. It's like Piano Man..."

XsXeX

I hated running. I've never once liked gym class, and the only time I ever ran outside of it was when I was trying to keep that damn homeless woman from taking my camera. Which she would have succeeded in if not for the fact that Roger caught up with me right then. But there I was, in gym class, running around the track breathless. It took all I had not to glare at Roger as he turned around and started running backwards so he could talk to me.

"So, I guess you don't like running then," he said with a smirk.

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head, panting slightly.

He laughed. "C'mon Marky, it's not that hard." He turned back around and slowed a bit so he was behind me. "Maybe you just need motivation..."

I was not expecting to feel his fingers deftly trying to tickle my sides. I scurried away, turning my head to glare at him full on. When he was starting to pass me again, I returned the favor.

The musician doubled over, squeaking as he sped up to avoid the tickling. I laughed to myself as the teacher decided to have pity on us and allow us to walk. When I caught up with Roger, he was still blushing. "So you squeak when you get tickled, huh? You're pretty ticklish man."

He leaned close to me for a moment, eliciting a blush from me as well as he whispered in my ear, "Not a word, Mark. Not a word."

XsXeX

Film class was expectedly simple. The teacher went over the basics. He set me to work with Roger, since he was the only one who'd never taken the class, and went to work on his newest piece. It was music that really got interesting.

I walked in from Calculus, looking around to find Roger already with a guitar in hand, plucking out a song I didn't know. After a few chords, he started singing, "In time with the rain, the heart beats so strong, there's no way this feeling can be wrong..." He trailed off thoughtfully before shaking his head. "Jesus, that sucked."

I took a seat next to him with a laugh. "It was actually pretty good, if you ask me. What was it?"

He looked up, almost surprised. "Uh... A song I'm working on for the band. I started it after gym class, when I was supposed to be working on an English thing."

I shook my head. "That's bad for you. Not doing your work."

"I don't really need it anyway," he mumbled, strumming absentmindedly. "I'll pass with my winning smile like I always do."

Just then, the teacher closed the door and walked to the front of the class. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, causing Roger to stop playing. "Hello class. Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to pair you up in twos, and one will sing while the other plays. You can pretty much do whatever you want as long as it's not going to make me cringe. If I cringe, you lose. But, if it's good, Mark here will film it for us, and we'll watch at the end of the semester. Agreed?" Two dozen heads nodded, and he paired us off. As luck would have it, I was coincidentally paired with Roger. Go figure.

I turned to him with a shy smile. "Uh... I don't sing. Or play."

Roger laughed. "I do both. You'll do the singing part, 'kay?"

I nodded. "Sure. So... what's the first thing we're working on then?"

He thought for a moment before starting to pick out a different riff than the earlier one. He pulled out a tattered red notebook, placing it on the stand before him, and flipped through it quickly. "This is the lyric for it. It's called Confused." He looked down at the words before starting to sing quietly. "Looking at her across the room, knowing she will be my doom. There's no feeling here, no attraction at all. This will be my fall." He paused, playing a longer riff before starting again. "Across the room, that boy I know. I never thought I'd see him at my show. His bright blue eyes pierce my soul in the end. Against him I cannot defend." He stopped, looking down. "That's all I've got right now. I've... I've worked on it today, some of the most recent lines detailed and all that..."

I was surprised, and smiled wide. "That's really good. So... we're gonna do that one?"

Roger shrugged. "If you want to... You can add some to the lyric if you want. We can sing it together so you don't have to all alone."

I nodded. "Yeah. That sounds cool. I'll... I'll need the guitar part to listen to if I want to work on it, or... We'll have to work on it outside of school. Something like that."

He smiled. "Yeah. An excuse to hang out, heh." He laughed a bit, putting the guitar down next to him as the bell rang. "Well, that's it for the day, Marky." He picked up his bag, putting the Fender carefully back in its case. "Do you wanna, maybe, go get some pizza or something? I'll pay."

I smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that."

End part two. Heheh, don't you hate endings like that? So! REVIEWS please! I like them. They make me feel good about myself.

There's only now, there's only here...