The loud ringing of an alarm shook Johnny from his sleep. Jerking slightly, he pushed an arm out to slam the alarm until it shut up. Succeeding, he snuggled back down into his covers. He had fallen asleep after a measly dinner of soup and shower. Shaking the sleep from his eyes, he sat up. Today was going to be terribly awkward, but there was no hiding from it.
His morning routine was soon over, and he hopped on his skateboard to head for the theatre.
If anyone had looked at Ash when she trudged up to the theatre, they might have been physically injured by her glare. Dark eyeliner rimmed her eyes in hopes of hiding the bags left from a frankly shit night's sleep. She was going to fucking well kill Lance. Bloody koala and his 10 am starts. They were hard enough for her without adding in only 3 hours sleep. Nobody better get on her wrong side today, or so help her, she'd rip them a new one. Entering the theatre, she immediately aimed for the kitchenette. Thankfully it was clear. One extremely large cup of coffee later she was locked away in her practice room. It had minimal windows (only one side), which is why she had nabbed it.
Today that became an advantage. Taking a drag of coffee, she pulled out her guitar and started strumming tunelessly. Slumping against the far wall, she shut her eyes. God how she wanted to sleep. Once again, she cursed her ex. What twat shows at his ex's house at 2am to try and win her back? Full of,
'Babe, you know you need me.'
'Common, I ditched Becky for you.'
'You won't last without me, 15 minutes of fame wears out fast. And no one else is going to want to deal with you when they realise how mediocre and pathetic you are!'
That last one had been screamed through the door before he gave up and left. Ash was usually tougher than that, but it had stung. Flinching at the memory, Ash tried to push it from her mind. But is worked as well as it did last night. Thoughts flooded back of how the others would get fed up with her, leave her like everyone else had. Memories of family and friends turning against her, especially after she got with Lance, determined to follow her dream. How long would it be until the others left as well?
She tried not to think about it, but it was impossible. Each other member had their own problems to deal with, and would tire of her pessimism and prickliness. They were all so optimistic and cheerful. Well, except Mike, but she and the mouse never could see eye to eye. Johnny's smiling face drifted into her head, but she shook it away. What was she thinking, falling for a guy so soon after the hell with Lance? It had only been half a year. No to mention Johnny was way too nice for her to deserve. She would ruin the guy. He didn't need a disappointment like her in his life.
Knocking drifted into her subconscious. Meena was at the glass door, tapping it lightly. The girl's friendly smile slide of her face as she took in Ash's expression. Ash herself knew she was probably right sight. Nearly black eyes, mouth twisted in a permanent scowl, fire in her eyes. Meena's ears slowly slid to hide her face. There was no reason for the elephant to know that the anger was directed nowhere but towards herself. How could ash have been so stupid, so trusting? Had she learnt nothing?
Meena was tapping again, looking highly worried. Huffing a sigh, the porcupine opened the door, raising an eyebrow. Meena shuffled for a bit before speaking.
'Heyy, Mr Moon wanted us by the stage for a meeting… are you ok Ash?' the question grated upon her frayed nerves. She was so close to breaking down….
'I'm fine.' Was Meena's response. More snappish and harsh than Ash wanted to direct at her friend (stupid, stupid), but she was too tired to worry about it. Best the elephant left her be, she didn't want to really loose it at the girl. They shuffled towards the stage, Meena looking timid (I'm so sorry) and Ash pissed off to all hell. Just as they reached the group, Johnny appeared.
''Ello guys, how ar- Ash are you alright?' came from the gorilla. Shit, great, now the attention was on her.
'Absolutely peachy' came from gritted teeth. God, how she wanted to scream at them to stop looking at her. Johnny had lost his morning smile, instead gaining a concerned look.
'You sure? You look a tad-' but he was cut off.
'Drop it Johnny' she seethed. She didn't want to be angry at him, but the attention was getting to her. She felt even worse when she spied the gorillas hurt expression. Luckily Buster spied the tension.
'Right team, I want to begin by casting the roles. The other reason I picked this story was because of the perfect fit with your various personalities. We have the kind motherly friend, trying to keep her friend out of trouble, whilst dealing with her out suppressed wild side,' he glanced at Rosita, who blushed. 'We have the smart, suave and goal minded father' the next look was for Mike, who snorted, 'our eccentric unorthodox parent' Gunter grinned. Rosita piped up then,
'Buster, I'm sorry, but I remember it being a mother in the original.' Buster just grinned.
'Ah, yes, but we are modernising, and musicalizing. Nothing wrong with some gender switching.'
'Ja, Rosita, I shall sparkle, no?' Rosita just shot Gunter a smile.
'Right, and we've got our obvious main guy. Big tough looking guy with a secret sweet side that no one's given a chance, huh Johnny?' Johnny's head shot up from where he had been staring at the floor.
'Uh, yeah, sounds great…' he trailed off. Buster just shook his head before turning to Ash and Meena.
'Now for the hard part. Our main girl is ordinary, almost invisible to the crowd, yet contains a sassy rebel that only her friends have seen. Not afraid fight back but rarely gets to, as she is often over looked. But under all that, she hides a softer side, one unknown to anyone but herself. Her best friend, secretly talented, hiding behind a strong no nonsense front, despite the encouragement she receives. Now who is who?' the koala paced in front of them, occasionally glancing up. Ash was grinding her teeth again. This was so damn stupid…. But strangely, the idea of Meena playing the love interest of Johnny, made her heart burn hotter.
'Got it! Ash is main, Meena the best friend. Yes, that will work perfectly. Right, I can start working on the score now. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!' and with that, he toddled off. The others began chattering, excitement overcasting the words. Ash just turned and stormed back to her practice room. Digging in her bag, she found her headphones. Plugging them in and ramping up the music was the best plan she had. Her coffee was now cold as ice, and she almost threw it. Squeezing herself into the corner by the amp, she knew no one would see her.
Great, she now had to play Johnny's love interest. When it would've hurt to see Meena do it, this spelt out nothing but disaster for the porcupine. Her fate was rushing at her even faster, more chances to let them see how she was a fuck up. Not to mention, she couldn't act for shit.
Ash didn't know how long she sat there, eyes shut against the world, heavy metal blasting her ear drums. It was almost peaceful, removing herself like this. No holding up an act. To think she had been so happy yesterday in the car with her friends, only to know realise, like most her dreams, it was stupid and wouldn't last. She huffed out a sigh, opening her eyes. Only to be greeted with the sight of wide chocolate eyes looking back, grey hand outstretched. To say she panicked would be putting it lightly.
She shot up, arm tangles in headphone wires, pulling one bud free. She hit the amp hard enough that it shook the cold coffee to the floor, smashing the cup. Johnny who had shot back looking afraid flinched at the noise.
'Oh bollocks, sorry Ash, I didn't mean to… lemme just… I'll clear this up,' came tumbling from his mouth and he leant forward, picking up pieces of broken porcelain. Ash did the only sensible thing she could think of in her condition. She screamed.
'What the fuck Johnny?! Are you trying to scare the living shit out of me? Can't you tell I'm fucking busy?!' Johnny dropped the pieces with a violent flinch (whether at her volume, or language, Ash didn't know). His eyes zipped between her furious face and the broken mug, looking unsure of what to do. They finally locked on her as he began rubbing his neck.
'I'm sorry Ash,' was nearly a whisper. Ash could feel her face heat up. 'I was just worried, you don't seem yourself. I wanted to know if I could help….' those word simultaneously broke her heart and set her anger alight.
'Don't seem- don't seem myself,' she sounded like a broken record. 'You think I don't seem myself. Well I've got news for you Johnny boy.' He glanced at her nervously, hand stilling on the back of his head. 'This, this person here, is exactly who I am. I don't know what misconceptions you have that thick head of yours, but you'd best ditch them.'
She could almost feel the fire that was surely shining in her ice blue eyes. Johnny looked like she had slapped him. His mouth was opened, brown eyes wide.
'Ash… that's not true.' Her fury rose, a cruel laugh spilling from black lips.
'How would you know? We barely know each other! So don't act like you know everything about me. And if you want to help, you can do so by leaving me the hell alone!' not even sparing him a last glance, she grabbed her guitar case and shot out of the door. She barely noticed the others crowded near her practice room. Storming out of the theatre, she didn't look back.
