~Rising, Shooting, and Falling Stars~

~Chapter 2~

[Time Skip to after the meeting]

I unlocked the front door, and as always, Spike was there to greet me. This time he wasn't covered in coffee, so he must've gotten a bath. I gave him a quick pat on the head and ran up the stairs to my room. Everyone who knows me calls it my cave, even though the walls are white. Apparently I'm a cave dweller, but I'm not complaining. I rush through my homework, like I always do. Thankfully, since its the first day, most of it is just easy-peasy stuff that only takes five minutes. I generally don't try to rush my homework, I just work faster than most people. Just let me listen to my music, give me my assignment and required materials, and watch me go. I finished everything I could, and left all the "parent signature required" stuff on the kitchen table. As I was cleaning, Spike started barking loudly, so I went to see what the nut job was on about this time. As per usual, it was just a bird in front of the glass door. I went back upstairs and pulled out my song binder. Its been months since I organized it, and since I was in a productive mood, I figured why not. As I was organizing my binder, I found a bunch of old songs I tried to learn a while ago. I pulled them out and left them separated. After I was all done, I picked up my Fender Squier Affinity Series Strat. A nice shiny black with a white pick guard for contrast. I sat down, and began playing.

[Time Skip to a few hours later]

"Damn it Dave! Why do you have to be so good at guitar! I just wanna learn sooooo bad!" I yelled after my millionth attempt at playing "Stop" by Jane's Addiction. My mother had apparently come home, and I didn't hear her.

"Scarlett Rose! Don't make me come up there with soap!" She yelled up at me.

I didn't respond, as I didn't need to. I sat my guitar back on its stand and went downstairs. I grabbed the signed school papers and a pop tart for my dinner. I looked over at the clock on the wall and it said it was 7:43. I went back upstairs, and packed up all my school stuff and ate my dinner. I went to play guitar again, given that I had an extra hour to blow. Well, instead I ended up watching videos of Dave Navarro play live. I studied every video and analyzed every move his fingers made, and I still couldn't replicate his playing. As I was adjusting the tuning on my guitar, I accidentally tightened the string too much, and it snapped. Out of all 20 some spare strings I had in my case, not a single one was a B string. I grunted, knowing that my playing was halted, and I decided to take a shower and call it a night.

[Time Skip to the next day]

It was a usual morning of grunts, groans, and yelling. And a usual school day of misery and suffering. My last period dismissed a few minutes early, so I got a head start on the track practice. Today was a lifting day, which was easy on me, since I didn't have the will to run in the awful weather outside. I was the first one in the weight room, which was unusual since the coach was normally there. I still got myself ready and I got the weights on the bar. I didn't overload myself, since today was day one of any work. Plus I was alone, and I didn't want to have a 40lb barbell bar and the extra 25lbs of weights falling on me. I got into position, and got my earbuds in, and set my motivational playlist on shuffle. I started off slow, and once my eyes closed, there was no telling how many reps I did. When I finished I set the barbell bar back on the rack and opened eyes to see the whole track team standing there staring at me. I pulled my earbuds out and began to shake.

"What do you think you were doing, Miss Scarlett?" my coach asked in a stern and curious tone.

"I-I was just.... early... and wanted... a h-head start..." I managed to whisper-speak.

"Okay. Just make sure you wait until there is someone here to spot you, understand?" he said, calmly instead of sternly.

"Yes... sir..." I whispered.

After that, everyone dispersed through the room and began to exercise. I stood there, still shaking. A few minutes later, Tobias came to knock some sense into me, and before I knew it, the practice was over, and I was home free. But, I knew I needed a new string, so I called my mom to come get me from school to take me to the guitar store.