Beacon High and what changed me

Chapter XI

A few rounds have passed. This time, this round is the super important one. This one decides who goes through to the face-off against Amelia Rothkirch and her gang. "And the band that will not be seen next week is..." The tension, oooooh the tension! It's like the headmaster wants us to chew our nails into nonexistence! "...The Scissors! That means that Transcendence and The Disco Girls will be in the face-off next week!" Did he really just say that? I can't believe it. He did. We're through. We did it. I have to sit down. This is just unbelievable. Not even Amelia's blackmail attempt killed our popularity among the voting populous. Autumn came and went, with Winter starting to take it's place. Next week, the winner will be voted, and that winner gets to play at the Christmas Ball. I hope it's us. I really do. We'll have to rock the halls like we've never rocked any kind of hall before. Burn the floor like we've never burned a floor before. Put our heart, soul, sweat blood and tears into the performance. And all that other soulful stuff. To be honest, we'll just have to give it our all and even more. Please the audience, please the judges and not to forget, ourselves. We have to love our performance too. It may not be foretold who wins, but then again, nothing is. We make our own future, not anybody else. "We have to bring out our piéce de resistance, people!" Chloe snorts. "Yeah, that's true, Lyle. But something tells me that we already may have that up our sleeves. Penelope does have that unfinished song, right?" I nod. "Yeah, true, only would have to finish it. And Skyler, stop grinning like a Cheshire cat." He frowns. "I was just trying to suppress my joy at the fact that we nearly won." I see Brendan walk past in the hall. Our eyes lock for a moment and then he looks away. Hmm. I wonder what he was thinking about. As the others leave, I stay behind with Chloe. "Chloe, I was looking at your drawings the other day. I wanted to ask you something. Are you bulimic or anorexic?" She sighs and stares at the floor. "It's true. I used to be bulimic. Then I just stopped eating outright. My weight dropped right down and with that, my energy. And somewhat, my self-esteem. I started thinking I was too thin. I stayed that way until I passed out one day. I decided I had to start eating again. And since, my energy and my self-esteem has returned. Massively. So that's it. My story. And all was caused by a desire to appear as pretty as possible. Kinda stupid, now that I think about it." I nod. "Yeah..." Unsure what next to say, we walk up to the bus stop in complete silence until Chloe gets off the bus and said goodbye. The bus drives past a few stops and as the sky starts to darken slightly, I get home. Mom greets me, obviously the lawyer's office closed early. Tired with no end, I collapse onto my bed and fall asleep. Who knew that the american school system was so exhausting?

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Yawn. Saturday. I look at my bedside clock and sigh. 8:00am. What even. I can't believe I woke up so early. What on earth was I thinking. I lay down onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. I open up my laptop and start chatting to Chloe on AIM. She's the only other person that is awake at 8:00am on a bloody Saturday. What were we thinking? It's like we're trying to be exhausted all the time. I sigh and stare at the TV. Hmm, my Dreamcast has been collecting dust recently. Haven't played on it for a long, long time. Jet Set Radio or Crazy Taxi? Sonic Adventure 2 or Daytona? I remember I have that Chao on Sonic Adventure 2 that I have to care for. I turn on my Dreamcast and the VMU beeps. Loudly. I walk into the kitchen and search through the battery drawer to find the right battery. "Mom, where's the VMU button-cell thingies?" She groans. "We're out, dear." She walks down the stairs with a coffee in her hand. "Good Morning..." After a hefty yawn she makes herself some cereal. "The agency called me up late at night for some really important stuff. I left you a note. But then they said meh, I can do it today. So I'll be gone." She rubs her eyes. "Sorry, I have to go soon." She eats her cereal and walks up the stairs. I take a piece of paper from the notes pile and write down that I need to get one of those batteries in town. Now who do I drag into town with me so I don't come across as forever alone? Hmm. I haven't met up with Skyler in like, ever. I'll call him. I dial his number and it rings. "Hey, how are you?" I smile. "I'm fine. So Skyler, wanna go to town today?" I stare across the room. "Yeah, sure Penelope. Meet me in the George Street Underpass at two, okay?" I nod. "Okay."