Damned if I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't) Alex Gaskarth Fanfic

I'm Too Punk Rock For You Anyway

I wake up the next day and stare at the ceiling. This had to be a record. I'd only known Mr. Gaskarth two days and already he had held me in his room, and tricked me into doing so.
I bite my lip. Was this a bad thing? Definitely. It's illegal. It's wrong. It's healthy to have a little crush on a teacher and normal for a teacher to have favorites, but him holding me like that, and me enjoying it- that wasn't right.
It had felt... Good though, and that was the problem. Do I like my teacher? And what about his thoughts on me?
I sigh and get out of bed to face today.

"Mr. Dawson for Contemporary Musical Study?" I ask as Mariana and I walk to it a few hours later. "Sounds fun."
"It's really cool. He drums, didja know?"
"How could I?"
We walk into CMS. The room is really cool, like a band room, but with posters, or bands like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and then posters of bands like Green Day and Blink-182. A collection of nice looking instruments sit on a small stage looking thing at the front. We sit in foling chairs and wait until a harried looking Mr. Dawson comes in.

"Hey girls, it's me, Mr. Dawson, and I'm teaching this class today. So contemporary music...can anyone give me a comparison between a rock band and a popular music group?"

My hand shoots up, making Mr. Dawson give me a pleased expression. "Yes Ella?"

"A rock band is a group of members in which they each have a role of some sort- guitarist, singer, bassist, pianist, and drummer are the most common- and their music has not necessarily a heavier, but more instrumental sound. More than often they write their own songs. A pop group is members that don't play musical instruments a majority of the time, and there are few that can write their own music- however, most of the time, the case is that they don't write their own songs. Example of a rock band: Blink 182. Pop group: One Direction."

Everyone kind of stares at me for a second. Mr. Dawson just looks impressed.

"Great analysis. Now, students that have been here for multiple years, have studied at least one of these instruments. Have you studied any of them in the past?"

"Uh... I can play drums. Kind of." I shrug.

"Drums, huh?" He grins and rubs his hands together. "Can you play a song?"

"Uh, sure..." I step up, out of my chair and onto the mini stage, to the drum set. I pick up the drumsticks.

Suddenly I relax slightly. I feel...at home. Calm. I wish I had my own drums, my own drumsticks, but still, I twirl these ones between my fingers. "Uh...I think I'll do Bulls in the Bronx. By Pierce The Veil. It would be easier if there were an actual band but...yeah." My voice squeaks and I shut up, turning red and sitting at the drums. I tap them before starting the song.

I lose myself in the rhythm of the song, nodding my head in time, my hands flailing out as I play. i feel like some otherworldly being has taken over, seizing control of my limbs, and coaxing the sound out of me. I can almost hear Jaime Preciado on bass, Tony Perry, on guitar; Vic Fuentes is singing. Mike Fuentes is watching me, smiling, adjusting my hands. I realize I'm muttering the words to myself, to help my timing. Got to stay on time, got to play on.

Soon enough, the song is supposed to fade out, and it stops sounding so loud as I decrescendo, nodding slowly until I cut off.

Then I set the drumsticks down and look out at everyone. Then immediately want to cower behind the bass drum, because everyone, including Mr. Dawson, is staring at me, gaping.

I get up and walk down off the mini stage, all but running to my seat.

"That was...very impressive," Mr. Dawson says approvingly. "You're very advanced."

"Thanks," I say, blushing and smiling kind of awkwardly.

For the rest of the class we seperate into individual groups to work on skills.I notice I'm the only drummer. I tap quietly on the rim of the snare before Mr. Dawson comes over.

"That was quite a show you put on there," He says, grinning.

I blush. "I've been playing drums for years. I don't have my own drum set, but I make do. I have my own drumsticks at least. I played drums at my other schools."

"Well that's a start at least. 'Bulls in the Bronx', eh?" He kneels down slightly, so he looks me in the eyes. "Kind of a weird thing to be on a seventeen year old's playlist."

"I've always liked rock music, whether it's like AC/DC or more recent, like Green Day and then even less old, like Pierce the Veil."

"Did you ever have a real drum teacher?"

I shake my head.

"How did you learn to play songs then?"

"I taught myself. I found a website, and I used the music from that website. I also have an app thing on my laptop that seperates frequencies, and instrumental sounds. I seperate them and listen. I interpret and play, and if it sounds wrong, I listen more."

He nods. "Impressive. You know, I play drums."

I start to say "I know" but stop myself. "That's awesome. You know, it's really sad, but everyone always blows off the drummer, and the band is nothing without them."

Mr. Dawson grins. "You're very right, Ella. Only you're a very talented female drummer. I don't think anyone could ever forget you."

I blush. He grins a little more and says "So what skills do you think you need to work on?"

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Thanks for being patient and reading more!!!!

I could do with some more reads, though, so keep passing it on and read on! Four reads to find out what happens over the next few weeks. Can Mr. Gaskarth control himself...?

Thanks for reading, keep passing it on!!!!

~Emma