LOWLIFE - [Rodrick Heffley fanfiction]

CHAPTER 1

"There's no fucking way your parents agreed to this!" Tobby yelled happily when he found out that Sydney's parents agreed to them turning their garage into a music studio.

"Well, they did! They said it's all ours and that we can clean it out during the weekend." Syd stated, smiling widely at the curly-haired boy. She has never seen him this happy in her entire life. Maybe one time, when his crush agreed to go on a date with him.

"We have to tell everyone! Oh, imagine the look on the boys' faces when we tell them. They'll be so fucking happy!" Tobby let outin one big breath, watching his best friend put up posters for the upcoming 'battle of bands'.

'The battle of bands' was a thing the group of friends made up as an invite to other bands. It was free to join by any band in the whole town and the winners got to pick out music equipment worth 500 dollars at the local music store. For starting bands it was a good thing and since Syd's dad was the owner of the music store, he agreed to this idea, saying that it is good marketing. Sydney's dad was one of the main reasons why she got into music in the first place.

Christopher Parks was the best dad in the whole world. At least that's what the girl thought. They had a strong bond that never seemed to fade or fail in any way. Chris was a funny, kind, positive, and sarcastic man that loved his wife and daughter more than anything. Music was his biggest passion ever since he was young, so he wasn't surprised when he found out that his daughter was the same. What did surprise him was the fact that she chose the drums. He himself was the guitarist of his old band, The Black Rooftops.

When Sydney and her best friend started their own band, The Hollowed Cheeks, Chris was so happy he even let them practice in the store. When James and Frank joined, he was even happier and told his wife they should let them turn their garage that they never used into a studio. Hannah, Sydney's mother, was hesitant at first. When the band members themselves came to ask if they could do it, she decided that it wasn't such a bad idea.

As the duo barged into the classroom they found their friends in the company of Frank's little sister, Tonya.

"Come on, Frank. I really need it. Please." Tonya exclaimed as her brother looked at her with a look of disagreement.

"No, I told you a million times that you can't go," Frank said as James stood awkwardly next to him. James' eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Syd and Tobby making their way to the desk.

"Thank god you're here. They've been fighting like this for twenty minutes. I don't think I can take it any longer." Tobby looked over at the bickering siblings. He didn't like seeing his crush so distressed with their sibling.

"What is happening, guys? Why are you fighting?" Tobby asked them with a slight look of concern. It wasn't normal for the two to be fighting.

"She wants to go to Heather's party and crash it. But she needs thirty dollars to buy the shit she wants to use. Thirty dollars that I don't have." Frank expressed, moving his hands around like a mad man.

Tobby just chuckled. He knew very well how tempting Tonya could be when she wanted. God, he dated her for two weeks and three days in 8th Grade and it was the worst relationship of his life.

He sighed and reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed Tonya some dollar bills and the girl eagerly took them. "Here you go, take it as a payback for last month."

"Hell, I thought I'd never see this money again." Tonya laughed and slid the money into her bra.

"Where'd you get the money?" Jamie asked.

"Dad, it was lunch money." the curly-haired boy said with a shrug.

"I still sometimes forget that your family is ugly rich." James exclaimed.

"What are you talking about? Tonya? Tonya! TONYA!" Frank screamed as his sister happily skipped away. He gave his best friend a questioning look.

"Let's say that your little sister is better at more things than just crashing Heather's parties." He thought back to last week and how the younger was able to get him some good pot in under twenty minutes. She always had the best shit at parties, but he never saw her take it herself. She was a smart girl.

"Don't tell me she's in that shit again. I told her multiple times to stop it." Frank angrily said, pissed off that his best friend was helping the girl in her horrible hobby.

"Frank, you can play dad later, I have something important I need to tell you." Syd smiled at her friends and bandmates. She was so happy to tell them that her dad said yes to their long time wanted wish.

"My parents, mostly dad, let us use the garage as our studio. We can clean it up this weekend." Frank was stunned, Jamie cheered and hugged Syd and then went over to Tobby.

"Frankie, you okay?" Tobby asked the boy. It took him a moment to break out of his trans.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Too much information at once. BUT HOLY SHIT WE HAVE A STUDIO!" Frankie laughed and hugged his best friend, Tobby, and then pulled all his friends into a group hug.

Rodrick was watching this whole exchange with a scowl on his face. His two friends and bandmates, Bill and Chris, were standing next to him and carelessly chatting among themselves.

"This is ridiculous. How can they have a studio sooner than we do? It's impossible, I bet they can't even play." Rodrick was fussing. He had this unspoken beef with Syd since kindergarten. It all started when everybody was racing and Syd, a girl, won against him. It continued and kept getting worse the older they got. At first, it was friendly teasing throughout middle school but soon turned more dramatic. It was dumb pranks, like putting a pin on the other's chair or putting buckets of water above doors. But in 9th Grade, it was the last straw for Syd.

She got asked out on a date by this guy called Jacob. He was really nice and seemed like a good guy and Syd really liked him, at that time. But Rodrick seemed to have an opposite impression. He knew Jacob, he liked to ask clueless girls out on dates and then ruin their lives. He wasn't the good guy everybody thought he was. So, he stopped the date.

He went over to the restaurant where the date took place, called out Jacob for what he was doing, and then poured lemonade all over him. Syd thought this was one of Rodrick's dumb pranks, and it was the worst by far. She screamed at him for ruining her date, screamed at Jacob for being an utter and complete asshole, and stormed out. She cried the whole night.

Jacob's family soon moved away and Rodrick tried to apologize to Syd multiple times, but she never listened. So, he pretended to hate her too, even though he knew very well he never could.

"Rodrick, Syd's father owns a music store. It's obvious he will support her and her friends' music careers more than our parents ever will. Get over it.

"Bill said. He was tired of Rodrick's constant talking about the girl. It was like everybody knew he liked her except for Syd.

"But-but-" Rodrick tried to talk before Chris spoke up: "Dude, we get it. You obviously like her, wanna fuck her into the oblivion and then marry her and let her have your babies after the most rock-filled wedding ever, but life just doesn't always work like that, man. Get over it."

This left Rodrick speechless. His friends knew him all too well.

author speaks!

holy shit! i completely forgot i had a book to publish but here we go, i got my inspo back and im ready to continue wtitting for u guys! i hope u enjoyed the chapter!

love u guys!

anna <3