New Chapter! Chapter 2. Chapter 3 will be up soon :)
Through The Years
Freshman Year
Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening.
The holidays went by too fast for Summer's liking. She had not seen all of the School of Rock members together since Eleni, Lawrence and Leonard's farewell party. Summer was practically busied by her mother whom had signed her up for extra dance lessons and numerous other task such as reading and studying to which she despise. Most people thought that Summer Hathaway loved studying. What they didn't know was that she was rather neutral to it. It was her mom that pushed her for perfection. She could hear her mother's voice at the back of her head whenever she had to do something. Her mother's word were like a mantra now. Nothing less than perfection. Sure she liked burying herself in books but there were times when she just wanted to be with her friends.
Occasionally during the break she would see some of them, like Tomika. Summer was in the mall with Emily when she spotted Tomika with her parents. She also so Gordon and Frankie at the arcade while on the way home after dance lessons one day. Nevertheless those were the only encounters she saw of them after the final band practice for the holidays.
In fact the only people she saw more constantly were Zac and Freddie who were forced by their parents to a certain auction or get together. It was no secret that people in whom went to Horace Prep Middle School had rich parents or something of that sort. Zac's, Freddie's and Summer's parents had been getting together ever since the three of them were little. Summer had the privilege of their companies as well as the other pros and cons of growing up together. She knew most of Zac's and Freddie's embarrassing childhood stories as she was there when it happened and knew some of their deepest secrets and they knew hers.
Emily, Summer's older sister, had taken her shopping for clothes, books and whatnots. Stamford High had no uniform but there was a strict dress code. Summer had been told by Emily, that the teacher's did not hesitate to give detention or reprimand anyone who did not follow the school rules. Stamford was something like Horace Prep even though it was a high school, it was still prestigious.
Summer had received a package from Stamford High that not only held the book of school rules, a list of need to knows and her class schedule but also a document that she had to sign to signify that she had read the book of school rules and will abide them.
So on the first day of high school, Summer was anxious and excited. She took a deep breath and tried to slow down her heart rate. She hated how her heart was beating too fast. It was high school, she shouldn't have to be nervous. Things were going to be fine. She had Zac and Freddie. It was no biggie.
She was going to another school, where she will spent the next four years learning. There was no reason to blow things out of proportion. She put a calm face and stepped into the halls of Stamford high.
In one word Stamford High was bigger. The hallways were endless and at the sides were lockers. The main entrance held displays of awards and trophies. There were banners and posters, some welcoming them to Stamford High, others asking her to join clubs. The people there were also bigger. The senior students were tall and confident looking. She tried not to feel intimidated and focused on searching on her locker.
She made her way to the hallway lockers assigned for the freshman year. She spotted some people from Horace Green and smiled to herself. At least there were some people that were familiar. A voice shook her as she was settling the contents of her locker.
"So having fun yet Miss Hathaway?" a familiar voice said.
Summer turned around and her heart beat slowed down. Someone familiar. Zac was at her side opening the lockers two rows down from her.
"Nope, I'm scared out of my mind. You? " she asked.
"I'm okay," he shrugged, "What homeroom do you have for first period? Let's compare class schedules."
Summer looked at his class schedule against her own. They not only had the same homeroom but also English and Maths period. She had at least found someone she had classes with. It made it bearable. Unfortunately she did not have the second period with him. It's okay she thought, she'll have the opportunity to make new friends.
"So to homeroom?" Zac asked as the bell rang.
"To homeroom," Summer agreed.
Zac and Summer chatted all the way to their homeroom about what they did in the final days before school started. When they arrived, they spotted Michelle talking several girls at the back of the classroom. Michelle waved at them before continuing on her conversation with the girls.
Summer took a seat by the window, three seats from the back of the class. Zac slid down to the seat next to her, ever relaxed.
"She's going to be downright popular," Zac noted as he looked at Michelle who was now giggling alongside the other girls. At that moment his hand phone buzzed and he checked on the text message he received, "Looks like Katie and Freddie have a different homeroom."
Summer was about to reply when a teacher walked in. Unlike most of the teachers she saw as she passed the hallways, this teacher was somewhat particular. She did not wear suits but floral shirts and skirts like a twenty-first century hippie gone wrong. She wore large spectacles and had blonde hair.
"Hand phones away, all of you," she said as she entered the class, "My name is Miss Diana Lewis, you can call me Miss Diana or Miss Lewis. I will be your homeroom teacher for this year. Throughout the year, I will be in charge of you all, so I am looking forward to getting to know all of you and I would like to welcome all of you to your first day of high school. High school will be different from middle school so it will take all of you time to adjust. If you encounter problems or need someone to talk to please feel free to approach me."
Miss Diana stopped to look at her students who stayed silence before continuing, "Okay let's begin."
Homeroom passed by quite quickly and Summer found herself heading towards the science lab. She was about to sit down at one of the counters when a book slammed down at the desk. Summer looked to find Brittany Andrew sneering down at her.
"Sorry this seats taken," Brittany smirked. Summer had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Brittany, she was blonde, blue eyed and seemed to grow over the holidays. Summer knew her from Horace Prep, where Brittany had tried and somewhat failed to top Summer in something. Summer nodded and took a seat elsewhere, she didn't want to get pissed any time soon.
Summer was the opposite of Brittany, she was petite, had straight brunette hair, brown eyes and could not get a tan to save her life. If her mother didn't make her try so hard, Summer knew she would fade into the background.
"So how was break? Did you get a life?" Brittany asked innocently. The group of boys and girls around her snickered as if she told them the most incredible joke. Summer ignored her and was glad when the teacher finally showed up.
"Good morning class, my name is Mr Andrew and I will be teaching general science. When you are in your Junior years in this school you will be studying science more in depth," Mr Andrew introduced. He was about to continue when a blonde boy entered the classroom.
"What is your name young man? And why are you late?" Mr Andrew asked, the irritation in his voice was clear.
If the boy noticed, he hid it well. He gave a winning smile before replying, "Freddie Jones, sir. Sorry, I got loss."
The fact that Freddie used the word 'sir' seem to affect Mr Andrews. Summer could see Mr Andrew relax before replying, "You're excused this time around. However please not that I do not accept lateness nor tardiness. Take a seat."
Freddie nodded and sauntered his way to a seat. It surprised Summer that he choose to seat beside Brittany instead of her. Freddie after all hated Brittany in Horace Prep. He didn't even acknowledged her. What was going on?
Summer didn't have the chance to talk to Freddie at all during science and neither did she after words as he completely disappeared after class. She shrugged it off, Freddie probably had to rush off in order to be able to get to his next class on time. She placed the thought of Freddie away from her mind as she moved off to her next period.
The first day of high school went by. Summer found it a relief when she stepped into her final class where she knew Zac also had. Who cared if it was Maths? The day went on somewhat horribly, she ate lunch alone, got called on at geography (the answer she gave was also wrong) and everyone around her seemed distant as if they didn't like her. She had made conversation with a few people but all of them seemed to be uncomfortable. Did she smell bad? Was there something about her that made people turn the other way?
Nevertheless she was quite relief with the idea of sitting beside a familiar face. However when she got there, she visibly stopped. Fred was at the table beside Zac and was talking quite cheerfully. The seats surrounding them seem to be filled with people who were listening on with rapped attention. The only sit left was upfront. Summer sighted and took her seat. She couldn't wait for the day to end.
The following days that followed up for the freshmen were to memorize the hallway, class schedules and class locations itself. By the end of the first week not only did Summer realise that Freddie was avoiding her but doing all he could to make sure that they were not associated with each other in school.
He could joke with her when their parents all got together, he could converse with her during the breaks of band practice. However he couldn't talk to her in school. She didn't tell anyone, thinking that they will tell her that she was over reacting, so she kept her mouth shut as she watched not only Freddie but Katie drift away from her. She knew that Zac, who was probably the only close friend she had currently, knew that she was holding something back. But Zac didn't seem to say anything, and for that Summer was grateful.
By the end of the first week she had learned that the only class she had with Katie was Home Economics while she had Science and Maths with Freddie. She cringed when she found out that not only did she have to suffer the company of Brittany in Science but in Art as well. Brittany also had the same lunch period as her.
Brittany had no problem sneering and telling Summer exactly what she thought of her. But the thing that irritated her most would be that Freddie was there but he didn't help. He just played dumb. Trying to talk to him alone was difficult. Freddie made it difficult. He was constantly around people. When Summer finally cornered him, she was shocked at the hostility in his voice.
"What?" He asked harshly. There was no one in the room except him and Summer.
"Why are you acting this way?" Summer asked trying to mask the hurt she felt at his tone. This was coming from the guy she grew up with.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said defensively, looking everywhere else except her.
"You're not only avoiding me in school but your also avoiding having a one on one conversation with me. What's going on?" Summer snapped.
"Look can you just drop it," he said, "I'm late for my next class so I have to go."
Having said that, Freddie quickly left the class room leaving a dumbfounded Summer. Things were changing between her and her friends, she realized. The worst part was she didn't know what to do about it.
A/N: Okay I know I'm probably fast-forwarding in this chapter. But I can't help it. I'm still trying to get all the decide which character is doing what. I'll try to put more SoR characters and band practices in the future. So till Chapter 3 :)