Beacon High and what changed me

Chapter X

"And the band not seeing us next week, is..." Mr. Forlan reads out a piece of paper inside an envelope. "...The Sugarcanes! I'm sorry, it was a valiant effort. Maybe next time!" Somehow, we all got through. Fef, Us, The Disco Girls, and the others. The crowd was not very active at all. We have to try a lot harder next week. New songs, new techniques, new everything! And not to forget motivation, morale and attention! We'll need to corner the market, beat the other four! Amelia doesn't seem too happy about her blackmail scheme not going as planned. I smell a dirty trick up her sleeve. All she did was sing one of those booty-rhyme songs. You know the ones. Ugh. Lyle falls onto the couch, Skyler nearly implodes across it, Chloe sits down on another and I flop onto the one where Chloe is. "Chloe get your butt out of my face." She smirks. "Get your face out of my butt." Lyle and Skyler snigger. "Oh please, like you're in a less awkward position!" They stare at each other and then, unexpectedly, Skyler comes down onto Lyle's face and kisses him. Lyle just lays there, obviously trying to keep the charade of that not meaning anything to him up. Skyler laughs, Chloe giggles and I smile. "Get a room, you two!" Skyler rolls his eyes. "Oh, puh-leaze. Just because a guy likes another one!" He sighs and pretends to be offended. Lyle manages to bring up a giggle. "Skyler, won't your girls be very very very disappointed?" He shakes his head. "Nah, according to the fanfiction I've read that just makes you more desirable." Chloe, Lyle and I roll our eyes. "This is getting a little ridiculous."

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"Brendan, what on earth is wrong with you?" He snarls. Oh shit. "Penelope, stop asking super stupid questions!" He stares at me with an unhappy look. "Why must you know every single last thing?" I stare at him, a single tear rolls down my cheek. "Brendan, stop... You're scaring me..." He looks at me, face turning from anger to shock. "I... I'm sorry Penelope..." I get up and show him the door. "All I wanted was for us to play some video games..." Brendan stares at his feet. "I'm sorry." He walks up to the bus stop and I close the door. I walk up to my room and lie down on my bed and call Lyle on Skype. "Hey Chloe, what's up?" I sniff. "Well, uh... It's a long story..." Lyle smiles. "Tell me, I have time..." I swallow hard. "Well, um, it's about Brendan. He's become angrier and angrier over the last weeks and he's been starting to scare me. I mean, raising his voice, staring at me with anger... I just was shocked. I had him over today and it didn't end well..." Lyle nods. "Hmm... I kinda know that feeling. So what did you do?" I stare at the keyboard. "I told him to leave. I shooed him out of the house. I just hope nothing of his is left here." Lyle scowls. "Well, if he was scaring you that much, then I can understand." I sigh. "It's just, I thought we had something really nice there... but now, I'm not so sure..." Lyle nods. "Yeah, I know that. When you feel like you mean so much to them, and then they just..." I finish his sentence. "... Scare you away..." We both stare silently downwards. I break the silence. "So what's up with you and Skyler?" He rolls his eyes. "Skyler? He likes to joke that he once had a crush on me. Or that he really really likes me. But of course he's too hetero for the metro. It was just a silly inside joke anyway." I nod. "I see, so his way of affectionately riffing on you." He nods. "Exactly." I smile. "So what's up with you and Chester?" He rolls his eyes. "Geez, that boy can't make his mind up at all, it's like he's got schizophrenia or something. Always flip-flopping from one to the next." I laugh. "We loves Lyle, we loves him so much! No, we hates him, we hates him so much!" Lyle giggles. "Yes, basically like that! You know, I was thinking, how about we go shopping? We both could do with some retail therapy." I laugh. "Yup, I could do with some new outfits, maybe I can get you something cute. I can already see. Something that will make all the boys jealous." He smirks. "Please, I thought my face already does that." I roll my eyes and laugh. "Oh puh-leaze, you're so very full of yourself." He gives me a look that says 'oh yes I know that' and tells me that he has homework to do and I hang up. So it's true. Talking about stuff really does help. I turn on the TV and tune into Cartoon Network.

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"¡Buenos Dias, Señorita Caseto!" We sit down and open our spanish books. "¿Lena, por favor?" We all know what
she means by that. We need to state a current news item in Spanish. Usually nobody gets the sentence quite right, much to Señorita's disdain. Lena stands up and starts mumbling. "Cuba es en un grande... bibliotheca..." Señorita facepalms. "¡No, Cuba es en grandes elecciones regional! Lena, no me gusta. Allister, please read the text on page 112." Oh what a joy this class is. There's nothing like a class full of eternal damnation for the student body. There's a reason Spanish class is so hated. Not only is there only one teacher, but she's not a very good one. To kill both boredom and time in one fell swoop, I start writing some song lyrics. "Don't do something, just stand there..." I scratch my head and chew my pencil. Ideas, ideas, ideas! Where on earth did they go? I had so many just a moment ago! Gah, curse writer's block. I stare out of the window. The trees outside had turned red, yellow, brown, every colour other than green. It was quite pretty, to be honest. Winter was coming soon, and with it, the conclusion of the Battle of the Bands and the Christmas Ball. I don't even know who I'll dance with. Brendan is kinda out of the question, Lyle I have no clue... Ugh, there's more important stuff. More important than the Christmas Ball, more important than Señorita's class. I really have to start thinking for the next round of the Battle of the Bands. What can I really do? Not much, really. I just hope I can make it out of this class ALIVE. It's the last class of the day, and for some reason, Chloe decided to not choose spanish class. Why did I even choose it do begin with? Urgh. It's like this class is just endless. I've heard of filibustering, but this is ridiculous!

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"So you guys didn't manage to write another song either?" Chloe, Lyle and Skyler nod in unison. "Nope, nothing. Nothing in the slightest. Just a few lines and that's literally it. We could smash them all together into a short, disjointed mess, but that won't even be worth listening. We've still got a few, but you can't go without new stuff." Lyle shakes his head. "Chloe, we can do this, we've gotten so far, we can't quit now!" Skyler sighs. "I guess we'll just have to use the songs we have." We all stare blankly at the table. "Our future is looking a little bleak right about now." We lean back in the couch and reflect on how little we wrote as songs recently.

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Author's note: A shorter chapter this time around, sorry. Just had a load to do so I couldn't get around to writing.