Simple As A Song (School of Rock)

seventeen -- madhouse

THE BOILER ROOM IS slowly but surely on its way to being an amazing recording studio. Lawrence and I have been working seamlessly (ish) on making the room the best we can, but things have taken a bad turn. We realized that we don't have that much money combined, so it's been hard getting decorations, couches, and actual recording instruments. I found out that Lawrence is amazingly (and scarily) skilled at building things from scratch, so that'll definitely help. 

I take one last look around the boiler room, imagining in my mind's eye what it could look like. Lawrence has already left, saying something about Esme. After I helped him plan a great date the other day (they went bowling, and she totally beat him), he sort of warmed up to me, but there is still a little distrust on his end. I don't blame him, but it hurts that my friends think that Riley and I are going to suddenly turn on them and steal their music. 

Shaking my head, I tighten my grip on my backpack strap and move over to the door. I swing it open, wondering why it's so heavy, and then I pass through, allowing the door to slam shut behind me. It doesn't take me long to join the throng of students trying to get to their classes, Clark yelling commands at everyone who passes by him. I make sure to avoid him since my skirt is on the shorter side today. I don't want him to yell at me in front of the whole student body. Keeping my head down, I hurry forward.

And then I run directly into someone's back. A noise escapes my lips when I see Freddy glancing over his shoulder, a smile working its way across his face when he sees me. I'm not sure if I would be smiling if someone ran into me, but to each their own, I guess. 

"You got stuck, too?" he asks, and I nod quickly. "I've been going here for a while now, and I still get lost in the mess of people."

"This is why I try to get to class early," I mutter, coming to a stop behind a huge group of people. Standing on my tippy toes, I try to see above the crowd of people, but I'm too short. Freddy's doing the same thing, but he's not that much taller than me. "God, this is annoying."

"Where were you before this?"

My eyes flash open. Lawrence and I agreed that we wouldn't tell our friends what we're doing until we're done, and now Freddy is asking me where I was before this. He's looking at me so innocently, like a cute little puppy, so I say, "Um, the library. With my mom."

"Nice," he says, nodding once. He totally believes my lie, and I suddenly feel so guilty about lying to him. "I think it'd be cool to have my mom work at the school."

"Not when she starts flirting with your teacher."

"What?" Freddy's smile falters, but there's a mischievous glint in his eyes. I don't like that look at all. "Your mom flirted with Mr. Finn?"

"Actually, he was the one who asked me if my mom was free, so I sent her to him. I wasn't going to start setting them up after class last week." I shake my head, my anger growing with the amount of time we've been standing here, not moving. I get on my tippy toes again and sigh when I see how close to the classroom we are. "It's time to start shoving through people."

Freddy gives me a funny look, but I steel myself and start pushing my way through the massive crowds blocking my way into the classroom. I don't bother checking to see if Freddy's following me or not, and finally, I make it to the classroom. I pause by the door, sucking in a deep breath, and Freddy appears beside me. 

"You're scary," he says, shaking his head. "I would have never done that if I was by myself."

I flash him a grin. "You're welcome."

Then, we walk into the room, greeted by the overlapping chatter. My eyes roam over the classroom, stopping on Zack for a moment. He's wearing a huge grin on his face, looking cute. Riley is perched next to him while Tomika and Summer stand next to Lawrence, who has a strange machine on his desk.