Raised On Dust n' Dirt; Once In A Lifetime

[Midnight Maiden]

Welcome to Clariton High for the musically gifted!

~~~~~~~~~~~

A soft sigh came from Dragomira as she quietly rested her head on her desk, staring boredly at the teacher from her place in the back corner of Miss Morice's Honors- or, advanced -English classroom. It was just another boring day, another boring lesson... And luckily, the last class of the day. Considering there was only ten minutes until class was dismissed, and that she had the best reputation in the class, she pulled out her phone. Miss Morice trusted her more than the other students, and usually let little things she did like using her phone towards the end of class, or chewing gum, slip. However, the other students in the class frequently despised her for this. But hey; even though she cared, she acted as though she didn't. After all.. She was too shy to talk to any of them, anyways. Silently, she glanced through her messages, nonchalantly. Though, her face lit up when she spotted a new group message between her and her fellow Deviant Dragons and the manager of a small local restaurant called 'The Flaming Dragon'. It was a place that was where they typically were asked to perform at, and the message was clearly requesting they perform there tonight, considering it read;

"Hello, Dragons. It seems tonight's dinner show has dropped, due to one of the performers calling in sick. I know it's a bit last minute, but y'all swappin' in would be appreciated, and you'll get good pay. Ya up for it? -Monica, The Flaming Dragon's manager"

While Mira was eager to reply with a "YES YES YES!", she decided it'd be best to wait up for their manager, Leo. She'd always been fond of the manager more than she was with her other band members, though she wasn't fully certain why. Maybe it was his love and appreciation for life..? His caring attitude? She never knew. Right now, all she knew was that she hoped everyone would be up for this gig.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Larkin sat reluctantly in his desk, tapping his fingers impatiently. He was bored out of his mind, and quite frankly, growing tired and annoyed with the yelling coming from his teacher. Sure, it was the fault of him and his fellow students, but hey, who cared? Finally, Mr. Belzer's rant about the class' immaturity and incompetence came to an end, and he managed to return to the lesson. "...And that finishes that lesson," he concluded, tapping his pointer against his hand. "Any questions?"

Larkin barely hid his smirk, smugly raising his hand. The teacher groaned inwardly and sighed. "...Yes, Larkin?"

"...Approximately how much time does it take Charles to get a life?" His grin was growing evidently, especially when he saw the teacher's face go red. However, right before the man could start yelling, he was cut off by the daily announcements. Larkin chuckled smugly, bumping fists with a boy next to him and ignoring the teacher's glare.​

 

[cress]

Grete Thackston fidgets in her seat, uncomfortable sitting still for so long, as usual. It was too obvious her body had ceased to be affected by her hyperactivity medicine (but she never tells her parents; Grete has a theory that the more hyperactive she is, the better she writes riffs.) She flips her pen between her fingers, Mr. Belzer's passionate rant about how much he hates teaching and how his sex life is ceasing to exist (or at least that's what it sounds like to her) being toned out by the opening guitar notes of Joan Jett's 'I Hate Myself For Loving You' replaying itself over and over in her mind. Softly humming off-tune and twirling a dark strand of hair around her fingers, she glances out the window, counting down the seconds until she gets out of this class.

Fifteen minutes later, Grete shakes herself back into consciousness after her mind alerts her that Mr. Belzer's one-person conversation is coming to a close. Sighing in relief, she feels more alive than usual as she returns to her history books and is about to widen her smi-

Larkin. Of course he would say something like that to poor, awkward Charles. Grete had tried to befriend the boy but he'd obviously declined her... Still, though. That wasn't right.

So Grete Thackston raises her hand, not even waiting to be called on before trilling, grin expanding on her face, "...Approximately how much time is it going to take for Larkin to grow up and get a life?"

 

[AllisonHushx]

Christina did all she could not to be noticed, not to draw attention to herself, stay in the background, erase herself from the overly colorful picture. But that never worked, it always ceased to be possible. Her long nails run through her mess of hair, curls of all different colors. Opening up her folder, she scans over the various musical musings for the group, smiling a bit to herself at them. She loved music, the passion and enjoyment that came from it. Every single little thing that she did with this band only made her love it more. She was probably the youngest one there, but she only had two weeks before she could celebrate another year, it's not like she was a baby or anything. Just missed the deadline by a couple of days, stupid deadlines. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she kicks her feet up on the metal bar under the desk and listens into the chatter that swarms throughout the classroom.

She was in classes with older kids due to this being a school that had different course loads for individual students. It wasn't a simple thing for every grade, it was a pretty amazing and big school after all. Mr.Belzer wasn't a bad guy, a little misunderstood and an all around confused soul. It just seemed to fit in with the daily musings of the class. He could always make her chuckle and she was almost sure he didn't try too. His life was just a comedy story waiting to be dealt out. Almost good enough to be the works of Adam Sandler. Who is a fucking god to Comedy. So don't dare say otherwise.

Picking at her nails, she looks up with a rather annoyed expression on her face, her brows knitting together and finding herself throwing a wad of paper at the back of the kid's head. "Shut up asshole, it's not like you can do much better. Your just jealous that he's making more progress in his life then you ever will Mr. Larkin" She grumbles, she hated the kid. Thought he needed a slap to the face before he could get anywhere useful.​

 

[Sashakiki]

Leo walked around the field, pausing every few moments to snap a picture. The fact that he had gym last period made it so he basically got a free period since his parents demanded he not participate. The teachers hadn't really known what to do with him so when he asked to be able to take pictures, they agreed instantly. He sat down on the grass and leaned back. The sky was really pretty today, not a cloud in sight. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached for his camera and pulled it closer to him. He hated not being able to be normal and run around like the other kids, but that didn't stop him from running around on his own time. He sat up and aimed his lens up at the sky, snapping a picture.

He got up and stretched, the period was about over which probably meant that he should start heading back to the school. He started wondering back, taking his time since he figured its not like he had anywhere to go afterwords. He took out his phone and saw a text from the restaurant and a grin grew on his face. The band was free tonight, but he had to make sure the rest of the band was up for it. He went into the private group chat just for the band, not where businesses could talk to him and wrote a message


He put his phone back in his pocket and wondered back towards the school. The day was just about over and he could hear the announcements going off as he got closer.

 

[Ferble]

Liddy jogged up, catching up to Leo as he entered the school. "Hey, so I called up Monica, and she said she'd pay us based on how interested the crowd seemed, so how which songs do you think we should do? I think we should squeeze some practice time in, maybe like half an hour from now."

She blew a red hair out of her face. She loved working with the band. They were like a family, which is more than she could say for those preps in Sinfinity. For all she knew, they didn't even like each other. Then again, she never tried to talk to any of them.

Taking out her phone, she composed a new text to the group.

 

[~Happily.Ever.After~]

Juliette sighed softly as she sat in the front row of her last class, her head resting boredly on her palm as she waited for the minutes to tick by. 'tic... tok... tic... tok ... It feels like it's been an eternity... only, it's only been just barely five minutes' the petite auburn haired teen thought to herself as she pressed the small circular 'home' button on her iphone, watching as the screen lit up and showed the time at precisely the same time that the bell signifying the end of class rang. Surprise, there was a text. Looking at the number, Julie realized it was definitely a group text and she opened it to find that she was probably one of the last ones to respond... she just, well, to say the least the small French girl had a thing about texting during class. JC didn't really mind using her phone to check the time every so often, but she felt that blatantly texting while you were being taught was downright rude. -Consider me there!- she responded back before hitting the send button on the touch screen and slipping her phone into her jeans pocket. Making a mental note to herself to let the rest of the band know she'd be late to practice tomorrow for a routine health check, Juliette continued on her merry way, stopping briefly at her locker then heading to practice.

[Will post for Zach soon, rushing DX<)

 

[AllisonHushx]

Okay so maybe that hadn't gone as planned, but until Larkin decided to turn around and rip her face off she was in the clear. Hearing her phone go off in her pocket, she quickly pulled it out and stared at it for a moment or two. They had a gig, and they were going to be going over the setlist. Agh the excitement that filled her head at this point, she just wanted to let out a squeal of excitement. She loved this band, they were like her other family.

"Omg Yes! I'm so there! xoxo"

She quickly text this back to the manager and leaned back in her chair, just waiting for the bell to signal their time to leave.​

 

[Midnight Maiden]

Larkin chuckled softly, licking his cheek with a smug grin as he leaned back in his seat. It seemed the time span the announcements had taken up had given the teacher barely enough time to calm down, though, he seemed to appreciate the defense his students had offered. "Sadly, Miss Thackston, it appears we'll just have to wait and see," Mr. Belzer responded, taking a seat, with a tight smile. He sighed as the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. "Class dismissed." He mused, though half the students were already rushing into the hall. "And Mr. Ambrose, I'd like to-" the teacher trailed off upon looking up, only to see the student he'd been addressing gone.

Larkin strode casually down the hall, stopping at his locker where a crowd of his fangirls had already gathered. He nodded his acknowledgement, grabbing his bag and shrugging it over his shoulder giving a casual wink. Though, it was indirect, and he had done nothing else before walking off. He went to the common area, holding his hands behind his head and waiting for his bandmates to turn up. He'd already gotten them all to agree on having practice at his place right after school, and he fully intended to assure they all showed up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dragomira gladly got out of her seat when the bell rang, and scurried quietly to her locker, avoiding eye contact with everyone. She pulled out her phone, excitedly replying to Leo's group message.

Next, she quietly attempted to unlock her locker, shying away from all the other students. Though, it seemed the stupid thing wouldn't budge. She sighed, getting a little more annoyed with each attempt. It was her damn fingers.. They were so loose and weak, it was impossible to work the old thing properly. Though, she finally got it, and hurriedly grabber her things. She clutched her books to her chest like a lifeline, head hanging low as she shuffled through the hallway towards the commons area, where the main entrance was.

Right as she walked into the commons and spotted Leo and Liddy, offering them a shy smile and wave, she received a shove forward, resulting in a small cry of pain from the teen, cringing as she collided with the ground with a thud. She heard laughter from behind her, causing her to grit her teeth. Though, she didn't cry; she wouldn't. She never did in front of anyone.. Even in situations like this. She laid there in immense pain for a good few minutes, trying to ignore the pain in her arms, where she'd taken the most impact. Then, she attempted to push herself up, which did her little good. Damn it. She managed to sit up, slowly, before lackadaisically attempting to recover her scattered books. Who had a sick enough humor to where they'd shove someone like her, when it could easily cause a severe broken bone or fracture? Though, this only reminded her of her utter hatred of herself. Why was she so damn fragile? Why couldn't she just be like someone else..? Even just for a day..

((Sad thing is that very thing has happened to me so many times.))

 

[cress]

Shaking off Linkin as Charles didn't seem too offended, Grete stands up, stretching loudly in her zip-up sweatshirt and baggy jeans. She grabs her bags and books, hustling through the crowds to get outside. The band she plays guitar in, Sinfinity, isn't exactly the most, ah... Tight knit band there is, so to speak? So she'll probably be practicing alone in the courtyard tonight. Which isn't completely awful, she means, she's not totally alone, there's always people shuffling in and out of that place. Grete Thackston wouldn't have been able to stand it if she was all by herself.

The brunette squeezes to her locker a few feet away from Linkin's. Not only was this jerk in her band and half of her classes, he was also just a yard or two from her in between classes. Politely asking his many girlfriends to scoot away from her locker, opens up her brightly decorated her locker, making her smile immediately. Snip-its of chords, song lyrics, album covers, anything you could think of was covering the walls. The bottom of the locker, however, was loaded inches high with random junk she'd stuff in there when she didn't feel like throwing things away. One day she'll have to dig through that, and she's sure not looking forward to it.

 

[~Happily.Ever.After~]

Arching his neck backwards as he stood up, Zach let his neck and back stretch leisurely for a moment before grabbing the untouched, green spiral notebook off his desk and making a break for it just before Belzer dismissed the class. As he walked down the hall the tall male stopped briefly at one of the faded red lockers, spun the lock about half way and hit his locker door twice with the side of a closed fist as he waited for the corrugated metal to pop open.

Upon throwing in his useless school supplies, Zach grabbed his skateboard out of the locker and let it fall to the ground on it's wheels before jumping on and riding toward the common area. Sure, the rich kid would have to stop by his fancy ragtop to grab his guitar frim his trunk, but he could also give anyone a ride to Link's house.

-----------------------------

Juliette tensed her jaw angrily when she saw her bandmate get pushed. "Don't people have any manners" she muttered nearly incomprehensibly. Ger words weren't incomprehensible because of the muttering, but because of the thick accent that appeared every time she spoke... Sometimes though, her accent was much, much stronger or lighter. Walking over toward Dragomira the rather outgoing girl hesitated a moment. While Julie wasn't shy, Mira seemed quite reserved. Shrugging off her thoughts, Juliette walked over and offered the oter girl a hand "are you alright?" She asked kindly. Jules wasn't one to just sit back while a bandmate got pushed around.

 

[Sashakiki]

Leo glanced up at Liddy and smiled "Sounds great. We can make sure the crowd gets really into it" He said mentally thinking about what songs would fit well for a small restaurant. "Practice sounds like a good idea, maybe we could do it at someones house? The gig isn't unitl around 7 30 so we have some time." He said heading to his locker. He saw Dragomire and smiled back until he saw her get pushed to the ground. He gritted his teeth and looked away, he hated how people were treated at this school.

He opened his locker, still talking to Liddy. "We could do some of our slower songs, since a restaurent isn't really a place for dancing" He said and put away some books. His locker was somewhat organized, not completly but its wasn't as bad as some of the other lockers he had seen. He checked his phone and saw a text from his mom. He rolled his eyes and stuffed the phone back in his pocket before turning to Liddy "So what about our opener being "Just Around the Bend?" or something?"

 

[Ferble]

She quickly typed "Just around the Bend" into the notes section of her phone.

"What about Broken Soul? It's a downer but we can mash it with Cauldron, give it that ominous feeling, y'know? Maybe they'll get psyched for our Halloween show later this month."

 

[Xibilation]

Shiloh absentmindedly twirled a piece of hair around her finger, and her feet were propped up on the empty chair in front of her. Blah blah blah... The teacher rambled on in front of her, and Shiloh didn't hide the fact that she was bored out of her mind. Didn't they review all of this yesterday? Ms. Morice was her least favorite teacher. She moved the lesson so slowly, and most of the time, Shiloh wanted to stab her eye out with a fork. She was still listening, but it was very distant. She wanted the good grades, but that was hard when you hate all of your teachers. She looked over and saw Dragon, or whatever her name was, texting on her phone. Shiloh smirked.

Whenever Dragon was texting, Ms. Morice never called anyone out since they practically loved each other. Shiloh was pretty sure that they shared the same tray at lunch and slobbered on each other's food or something. Whatever.

Shiloh got out her phone, turning it on. She covered the speaker with her hand as she unlocked it so Ms. Morice wouldn't hear the clicking sound. Checking her recent texts, she saw a text from the soccer captain about practice tonight. She groaned. It started near the end of band rehearsal. Larkin's going to be pissed..

Opening her phone, she texted in the soccer group chat.

Then, she got a snarky reply from one of the girls on the JV team.

Shiloh bit her lip hard, and she got really annoyed. The bell rang. Shiloh got up, freely displaying her phone. She knew it would annoy Ms. Morice, since technically school was over and she was allowed to have her phone.

After making her way through the hall and forcing her locker to open, she set her books inside and got out a beanie, which she wrestled over her hair. She wanted to talk to people, but she had to go home for her soccer bag before heading to rehearsal. Walking the the parking lot and starting up her 2005 Toyota Camry, she hit the steering wheel and sighed in relief. Finally. Panic! At The Disco blasted through the radio. She was about to leave, but then she remembered that a couple people in the band might not have a ride. Her kindness got in the way.

In the Sincity band chat, she texted, LiveTyping.com

 

[cress]

Grinning widely, Grete quickly responds, LiveTyping.com


The brunette was fizzing, thrilled. They actually had a practice tonight. They are actually acting like a band. This is... The first step?

Humming Electric Light Orchestra's Strange Magic softly to herself, she bounds out of the main building.

The next building, directly adjacent to it, contained the dorms. Grete was on the fifth floor, so she had to take the old, rocky stairs up to her floor.

After five minutes of straight-up jogging up the stairs, she swings onto her floor, bending down, hands-on-knees, wheezing, but fingers still bouncing up and down on her thighs. Practice time.

 

[Sashakiki]

Leo nodded at Liddy "Yeah, that sounds good. It gives a feeling like Halloween and since thats right around the corner, it seems like a good idea. We can ask Angie if shes up for it" He said. It was always a good idea to make sure the lead singer was ok with singing a mash up. They had done a few in the past and they usually ended up great. "I'm assuming we would just be doing some of the background music? so we could just do songs without the lyrics. I doubt Angie will like that though" He said thinking about what they could do.

 

[Xibilation]

Shiloh smiled when she looked at her phone. Grete was a friend in the band, so Shiloh had no problem picking her up. Shiloh drove her car around to where Grete's dorm was and parked. She gripped and her thumbs flew over the keys.
LiveTyping.com

Shiloh turned the keys to turn off her engine and waited, drumming her hands to the beat on the steering wheel to Fall Out Boy.

 

[cress]

The brunette quickly texts back: LiveTyping.com

Fumbling with her twitching hands in her bag for her key, she shoves it roughly in the hole, bursting with excitement and rushing to grab her guitar. Grete swings the case delicately over her shoulder before rushing back out of her dorm, out of her staircase, and out of the building.

Looking around and finding what she remembers was Shiloh's car, she knocks on the window, a huge smile plastered on her face as she waves brightly. She mouths a 'hi!' into the car.

Grete didn't have too many friends. Her parents always told her it was because she was kind of a handful, but... Well, she prefers not to think of it.

 

[Midnight Maiden]

Dragomira gave her bandmate a soft smile, gladly taking the hand up. "Yeah, I think so.. Thanks," she replied, sheepishly. She sighed, glancing at her arms. It was a good thing she was wearing a jacket, otherwise, all the bruises and cuts would be obvious. And that would be catastrophic. Shaking the thought off, she carefully gathered her things off of the floor. "Just the damn bullies around here.. They drive me insane," she commented, softly, before brushing herself off.

~~~~

Larkin watched the crowd of students in the commons quietly, keen eyes singling out his band members who were in here or had left. The only one left was.. Grete. Though, judging by the group messages, she would still show. Huffing slightly, Larkin made his way outside, running a hand through his hair as he made his way to the student lot and hopped in his car. While he'd love to give his bandmates a ride, he had his own things to attend to. So, he started up his car, put on Linkin Park, and drove off after donning his Aviators. He sang along to the current song, "What I've Done", with skill and a certain heartfelt nature. He tapped the steering wheel to the rhythm as he sang, barely getting through a couple more songs before arriving at his home. Still humming the tune, he hopped out of his car and headed inside, pulling of his glasses before unlocking the door.

Though, he barely had time to open the door before being greeted by a large pack of dogs. Next thing he knew, he'd been tackled and pinned to the porch, getting showered with licks and nips from the excited companions of his and his sister's. "Alright, alright. I got it. Ya missed me," he chuckled, gently shoving them off. He stood up and brushed himself off, ushering the dogs inside. As soon as he had gone in and closed the good, he was tackled, rather, by a small girl. He couldn't help but smile as he caught her, holding her carefully. "Hey, kid. How was your day?" he asked, with an enthusiasm he lacked toward anyone else. The girl gave a toothy smile, hodling her older brother tightly. "It was great! And you?" she asked, politely.

He smiled, carefully setting her down. "It was pretty good. But hey, listen; the band's coming over for practice.. I need you to stay here, alright? We'll be out in the garage, so just call or text me if you need anything.." he said, giving her a quick kiss to the forehead, uncharacteristically. "Love you!" he called as he went out the door, jogging to the garage situated against the house. He typed in the code, went in and set up his amps. Hopefully, everyone would arrive soon..

 

[AllisonHushx]

Christina made her way out of the classroom, sending the teacher an apologetic expression. Moving out of the classroom, she was shoved by a couple of older kids causing her to scowl and give them firm glares. She wasn't afraid to punch someone in the gut if she had too, it was only the gut because she couldn't exactly meet their faces with how short and little she was. Opening her locker with ease, she threw her books in the top, kissed her poster of Michael Clifford. Because he's a babe and everyone knows that. Then she grabbed her bag and shoved her ear buds in, putting on one of her favorite songs. Humming along to the music, she walked down the hall and towards the double doors that would lead her out of here.

"Where are we practicing at? My basement is free today..if we don't have a set place yet?" She quickly texted, hopping down the steps and heading out into the daylight. The sun shone in her eyes, which caused her to scowl. "The sun is going to blind me and I will have another disability to add to the list of shit my life has dealt me" Grumbling this under her breath, she hoped nobody had actually heard her say anything. Her scooter was parked, a beautiful thing it was. An early birthday present from her mothers. Jumping on it, she shoved her phone into her pocket and headed off to the house. Wheee.​

 

[Xibilation]

The brunette quickly texts back: LiveTyping.com

Fumbling with her twitching hands in her bag for her key, she shoves it roughly in the hole, bursting with excitement and rushing to grab her guitar. Grete swings the case delicately over her shoulder before rushing back out of her dorm, out of her staircase, and out of the building.

Looking around and finding what she remembers was Shiloh's car, she knocks on the window, a huge smile plastered on her face as she waves brightly. She mouths a 'hi!' into the car.

Grete didn't have too many friends. Her parents always told her it was because she was kind of a handful, but... Well, she prefers not to think of it.

Shiloh smiled and reached over to unlock the passenger door. Her feet were kicked up on the dashboard when Grete sat down. "We've gotta stop by my house so I can get my keyboard and soccer bag, then we'll leave. Practice is going to make me late for, well, practice." Before she knew it, Shiloh started ranting about her problems to her friend. "Then I have work, and Sergeant Asshole at Taco Hell is making me work until 10:30, and it takes me a while to get home and shower again since I would have already showered after soccer practice and I won't have any time to write my paper so I'll probably be up until 3 in the morning!" Shiloh finished her rant with a slap on the steering wheel. Then she turned to Grete with an apologetic, guilty smile. "Sorry." Her feet removed themselves from the dashboard and were put on the pedals. Shiloh started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, driving to her house.