Jess glanced at her associates. Girls Dead Monster's Drummer and Bassist, Irie and Kate, grimaced back.
"You're very… energetic," Irie noted politely.
Julie grinned and performed an impromptu scale on her instrument, missing the second to last note, and failing to notice.
Kate blanched. "You sound like Miley Cyrus trying to play Nirvana. Seriously, that guitar work sounded like something an eleven year old would bang out in her bedroom."
"Hey, let's all just take a chill pill," Jess ordered before Julie could go into hysterics. GirlDeMo's lead guitarist leaned against the blackboard of the classroom they commandeered to practice in. Eyeing their candidate singer skeptically, she took a chug of black coffee.
"Actually… Her vocal performance was fairly skilled. Nothing like Hayley, of course. Hayley was classical rock. A female Freddie Mercury, with Melissa Etheridge for texture. I'd say Julie here is more of a modern style singer. Definitely high energy, almost comparable to Hayley Williams."
"Hayley Williams," Irie breathed.
"And yeah Kate, her accuracy defiantly leaves much to be desired," Jess continued. She paced around the quivering Julie. With a bouncing of her eyebrows, Jess scratched her chin.
She's enjoying this, Kate groaned to herself.
"However, she can hold a rhythm. It may not be the most stable, but it holds up. We could work with it, if we supported the rhythm guitar a bit with base and lead. More work for us, of course."
The other three girls watched Jess attentively. After Hayley, she was the most senior member of the band. She was also the only one who'd actually been in a professional band in life.
Jess dropped down into her chair, taking another chug of coffee. She shrugged. "What the hell. It's not like anyone else at this school knows how to play guitar. We'll give you a test run, kid."
"Oh, uh thanks, I, oh…" Julie melted onto the floor.
The door slid open. Bridget stepped in, and stared around blankly. "Hey guys, we need to send a representative of the band. Winnie's having a meeting."
The members of GirlDeMo stared at the Julie puddle expectantly.
Winnie gazed out the window, looking off into the distance. She sniffed a spinning breeze as it blew by, and her eyes narrowed. "It's coming," she proclaimed deliberately. Her jaw set.
Mike sat forward to the edge of his seat. "Uh, Winnie? What's coming?"
She whirled around to face them. "Angel's rampage. It's almost here."
As the Battlefront members issued exclamations of dismay, Mike gulped. His imagination, unnecessarily active as usual, immediately set to creating a slideshow of images to describe "Angel's rampage," each more bloody then the last. The last was a colorful image of Angel, politely wielding a chainsaw, chasing him and his companions down the art hallway.
"But… why is she going… on a rampage?" Mike gasped.
Winnie leaned over her desk heavily. Her fists clenched. "Because, she's the Student Body President. And… semester exams are here. She's going to do her best to encourage everyone to study hard and do their best."
As the others nodded solemnly, Mike sunk his head in his hands. Again. They'd gotten him to over react again.
The lights dimmed. The projector blinked on, sending a table of exam block schedules flashing onto the screen.
In front of the image, Fred steepled her hands on the desk, tucking her chin into her fingers. Her eyes gleamed out like a predator's in the gloom. "We shall be taking full advantage of this time to continue our endeavors to defeat Angel… And so, this semester, we shall actually take part in our exams. We shall place ourselves in all of Angel's exams… and sabotage her tests." Fred tapped her slight chin thoughtfully. "As the Student Body President, receiving zeros on all of her tests will be a shattering blow. It would reflect badly on the whole school, damaging what Angel apparently works toward, and causing her to loose support from the students and teachers."
The others nodded, gradually comprehending. Harry scratched his scalp lightly. Richie the fifth mowed through a bag of apples quietly. TK muttered something about a yellow submarine.
Jake snorted suddenly, stepping back to slouch against a wall. "I see," he slurred lazily, "A stealth mission. That kind of sneaking around isn't for someone like me. I think I'll sit this one out."
"Actually," Winnie clarified, "only some of us will be necessary to complete Mission: Total-Burnout. The Battlefront members who will be participating are: Luke, Harry, Elly, Leonard, and Mike.
"Whaaat? Why me?" Mike cried. Tests were stressful enough. Tests with Angel sounded about as enjoyable as gargling coals.
"Please, call me Chri-"
"I merely chose people who look normal. You guys look like normal enough guys. Put Emmanuel in there, and all the normal students will feel like they're about to get mugged.
Emm smiled like a cat with the canary.
"Okay? All right. Operation: Total Burn-out, start!"
Mike took in the atmosphere as the six of them entered the class room that Monday. Fearful perspiration, people last- minute cramming n the corners, yep, this was the right place. Almost at the front sat Angel, quietly studying her material. There was one empty desk in front of her.
"Right," Winnie commanded, sweeping in. She indicated a box by the blackboard near the front of the room. "The seating for this test is decided by random lottery. Try to draw the desk in front of Angel, or at least close to her, all right?"
"That doesn't even make sense…" Elly muttered, confused.
Harry went first. "Yes! I get a window seat! I-OWW." He limped away, complaining unnecessary violence.
"Hmm," Elliot frowned, scrutinizing his seat assignment. "I will be seating quite far away, it appears."
After half a minute of scrambling around, Luke finally managed to procure a slip of paper. "Oh… Looks like I'm not in front of her either! Sorry guys," he laughed, failing to hide his relief.
Mike gazed down at his slip in disappointment. Back of the class. That wouldn't help at all.
"Yes! I got seat number one!" Winnie cried out joyfully, throwing her seat assignment into the air. But as it flew, her thoughts caught up. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Did anyone get a seat anywhere near her."
"I got the seat in front of her," Leo declared subtly. He smiled.
"Excellent! Great work, Leo," Winnie declared as they hurried to the back of the class to plot.
"Hey, I said, call me Christ-"
Winnie plunked down in a desk at the back corner, as far away from Angel's studying form as possible. "All right gang, here's the plan. Leo, you take two answer sheets when they're handed out. Then, when we hand the tests in, substitute Angel's with a blank one- wait, no. That would look suspicious… Ah! Just write down on the answer sheet what you want to do when you grow up."
Leo pushed up his glasses. "But… this is a physics test."
"Precisely…" Winnie purred. "Write about how she wants to be a professional dolphin trainer when she grows up. Angel will look ridiculous! All right Harry, when the time comes, I'm relying on you to create a distraction to cover Leo. Got it?"
"What?" Harry cried, affronted. "That's all I'm here for, a distraction?"
Winnie rolled her eyes. "You're goofy enough."
Harry pouted. "But… I'm more than a class clown…"
Winnie looked around happily as Mike patted Harry comfortingly. "All right," she asked, "That's it. Anyone got any questions?"
"Err, yes…" Leo muttered, gazing at her curiously. "What do I put on the test for Angel's name?"
Outside the window, leaves from a oak drifted past.
Elly broke the confused silence carefully. "I guess… she actually does have a real name, doesn't she?"
"Could we call her Student Body President? I mean, if she's stupid enough to put that she wants to be a dolphin trainer…" Luke proposed with uncertainty.
"No! That's ridiculous! We can't do that to her," Mike protested. "I mean, we can't be that mean."
Winnie bristled. "Well, if you care so much, then you go find out. Go to the office and check the class roster. Hurry!"
He started off, muttering to himself. "This whole situation is ridiculous. I can't believe they've been here for years and never even bothered to learn the name of their en-"
He came to a stop, a step away from the classroom door. Something was holding onto his coat. He turned back, and his heart leapt.
"Are you all right?" Angel asked softly, gazing up at him. "The test is about to start. Is anything wrong?'
"N-no, I…" Mike stuttered, unable to look away from her. Despite the fact that he was frightened out of his mind, he couldn't help but thinking how bad he'd feel if someone screwed up his exam, and then didn't even bother to put his correct name on the test…. "I just… don't feel that good."
Angel tilted her head, watching him sweat. "Are you really that worried?" She let go of his coat and stepped back a little bit. "It will all be all right. Please, do not be worried."
A breath involuntarily escaped him. "Uh, right. Right. Umm, thanks." He blinked. "Hey, uh, I'm Mike, Mike Carter," he continued. His name, simply by introducing himself to her, he'd remembered his full name! "Uh… What's your name, Miss Student Body President?"
"I am Miss Robinson," she replied simply.
"Yes, but what's your first name?"
For a moment, Mike almost thought he saw an emotion cross her pale face, as if she was taken back. "My first name… Is Emily. I'm Emily Robinson."
Mike made his way back to his friends. They stared as him as one might stare at a fellow who swam through a shark tank. "Her name's Emily Robinson," he announced as he reached them.
"Great. Perfect. Good job, Mike," Winnie muttered darkly. Her gaze was fixed on the table in front of her.
"Whew!" Luke exclaimed, looking around the room peacefully. "This is getting exciting!"
The door flew open. Their physics teacher loomed on the threshold, gazing at the startled students ominously. 'All right, kiddos… let's go on ahead… and get started with the test."