Survival Of The Fittest

((Start Paris Ardennes))

Paris put his hand on the metal handle of the school building door and pulled, smiling at he walked in. He had been helping some of the kids who were running for student council by making posters with them. He was a helpful guy.

His guitar was slung over his back with a strap crossing his chest and his jacket with flung over his back as well, hanging by a few fingers. He turned and saw a few girls waving. He looked down, took his sunglasses off, smiled slightly back at them and put the glasses in his pocket.

A playful girl had thrown glitter on him while they were working. He swept his hair to the side and it glinted slightly. The girls giggled.

He passed another group of people. The boys acknowledged him with a tip of the head and he did the same. The girls turned to one another and said something he couldn't hear.

Paris walked with a spring in his step to the Auditorium. It was lunch now, so a few kids were hanging around but he didn't mind. He unpacked his guitar and began practicing.

((Start Rosemary Michaels))

Rosemary felt her eyes being pulled out of the pages of the well-loved copy of Jane Eyre that was clasped in her hands when she heard music start to play. The girl reluctantly looked up to see a few rows up from her reading spot Paris Ardennes playing his guitar. She knew it wasn't uncommon for the boy to play for people, as she had scene multiple times before in other venues; though she wished that Paris hadn't chosen the auditorium for an impromptu music jam. It was loud enough with the poster makers around.

I guess I should've gone to the library... The girl sighed, but didn't like that thought. Going to the library now  would almost feel like giving up, in some weird, all-in-her head way.  She was here first; not guitar boy.

So Rosemary decided to ignore the guitar and continue to read her book, only to have the novel slip from her fingers in a moment of awkward handeling and land on the ground with a definant clunk.

Rosemary felt her face heat up. I shouldn't have gotten the hardback.

(Veronica McDonald continued from Quarter Turn Punch)

Sighing loudly, Veronica strolled into the auditorium, brown sack in one hand and her Calculus homework in the other. Her parents had recently been cracking down on her grades, and they said that she had to do better in Calculus, which means doing well on her homework. Veronica would've done it last night, but Harris was playing Amnesia: the Dark Descent and was screaming until midnight. Luckily, Veronica had Calculus right after lunch period, so she could do it now. It was rather crowded in the English Hall, and she would never eat in the lunchroom, so the Auditorium was the only place to do it.

She sat down in a seat in the back and opened her book. Veronica quietly munched on a sandwich and wrote down the problem. Before she could figure it out, guitar music wafted over. Looking onto the stage, she saw Paris Ardennes playing the guitar. If that wasn't enough, a girl a few rows in front of her dropped her book.

Facepalming, Veronica tried to concentrate on her Calculus homework.

So, prove that lim.. OH GODDAMMIT!

The artist formerly and presently known as Jessica Sanders had been sitting in one of the back rows of the auditorium, tuning her bass guitar when the sounds of the auditorium doors opening caught her attention. In walked Paris Ardennes, working that catwalk like a pro as he strutted down to the stage. She witnessed his antics with the ladies, the sunglasses coming off and the looks being given. She was waiting for his hair to start flowing like some sort of Fabio commercial.

Some glitter was tossed at Paris, and the way he tossed it from his hair elicited a giggle from the girl. The scene was so corny, and yet Paris somehow still managed to look... gorgeous? Was that a word you could use to describe a guy? Jessica decided that she could, just so long as glitter was involved somewhere. That shit was never coming off the floor now.

With her eyes rolled and a smile on her face, Jessica lifted up and wore her guitar, picking up the small amp that she had taken with her to school today. It was a pain to stow it in her locker during class when her locker was full of books/random articles of clothing/cheez-its wrappers, but she had intended to get some practice done with Ramble after school, throwing a few grooves by him and seeing how he liked. Now that it was lunch break, she figured a little sound test wouldn't hurt, and now Paris gave her an opportunity to have some more fun.

She sauntered up to the stage, equipment in hand, and just watched Paris play for a while, waiting for his (oh so glamorous, as he seemed to be doing everything today) look of acknowledgement.

"Hey," she said, setting the amp on the floor and grasping the neck of the bass guitar. "Mind some backup?"

Paris was playing a tune , head down and hair hanging over his face in concentration. There was a cursory awareness on his part of someone making the stage shake slightly by dropping something heavy near him

"Good afternoon Jessica," he said without looking up. Paris looked up and noticed that some ways off, Rosemary's book had fallen. He held a finger up at her and finally turned his head, giving Jessica a look of understanding.

"Sure, I love rocking with you. But one moment,"

He leaped off the stage and in seemingly two strides he was in front of Rosemary, guitar slung across his back and genuflecting while holding the fallen book.

"You like the Brontë sisters?" he asked smoothly, smiling up at her.

He shrugged good-naturedly and offered the book back to her.

Rosemary turned her head around to see a few people giving her looks and felt her face heat up more. Why did they have to look at her? It was a mistake, she didn't mean to interrupt the performance.

In the corner of her eye the girl saw Jessica Sanders walk to the stage with her own intrument, and her face began to cool down in relief.

Good, it'll keep everyone distracted. Screw staying my ground I'm going to the janitor's closet... Rosemary thought, but before she could make a move to grab her book off the ground a pair of olive-skinned hands picked it up. The girl's light blue eyes moved up until she was looking directly into the face of Paris Ardennes.

Oh crap. Rosemary moved her head to look to the side so she wasn't staring at him directly, her cheeks turned red once more. The girl  tried to think of a way to make a speedy exit with little interraction as possible when she heard the boy ask her a question.

"You like the Brontë sisters?"

Rosemary's eyes widened, turning to the boy with a look of surprise. "Yes. They're one of my favorites..."

This was a surprise. Not many people shared her tastes in literature, and even fewer of them were boys. "You've read them?"

Veronica almost screamed in frustration when Jessica Sanders walked on stage. The girl was a well-known musician at school, and chances are that she was going to play too. Rosemary (that was the book-dropping girl's name) began to chat with Paris, and Veronica just wanted to finish her Calculus homework. With no glitter, Paris, guitars OR books dropping. Screw it, just tell them off!

Last time she told somebody off, she was escorted off the premises. She couldn't let that happen again. Just not now. Breathing in, she attempted to sound less annoyed than she actually was.

"Excuse me, but some people are doing schoolwork. Can you please be a little quiet?"

Sighing in a dramatic fashion, Jessica rolled her eyes when Paris hopped off the stage to return Rosemary's book. She was almost sure there was a 'Rosemary's Baby' joke somewhere in there, but nothing clever came to her at the moment. So, the girl just smiled in mild disbelief at the hopeless picture of romance Paris could be sometimes and went about to tuning her guitar.

Somewhere between the E string and the G string (Jessica always chuckled at that one), she heard somebody talking to her from the auditorium seating. Veronica was bitching about something, but the request itself made Jessica pause and mull over what had just been said for a few moments.

"Like... the auditorium?" Jessica asked, a smug smile working its way onto her face mixed in with a pinch of uncertainty, as if unsure whether or not Veronica was serious. "This is kind of what this room's meant for... you know?" She habitually ran a hand through her hair, pushing it behind her ear. "So relax, dude."

"Indeed I have. My favorite among them is Whuthering Heights but I have great respect for Jayne Eyre as well. I always appreciate literature with strong female protagonists. We could use more of that, you know?"

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Jessica going to talk to Veronica. He'd keep an eye on that.

"I hope I wasn't bothering you too much. Some studies say that listening to music while you study increases your rate of retention. So I guess that's one thing the auditorium has over the library for doing work," he said with a smile.


"Of course I take requests, freckles," he said, noting the slight freckles that highlighted the bridge of her nose.  

Rosemary nodded. "Yeah. It's even better because at the time they were published it was frowned upon for women to be writers. They even had the pseudonym "The Bell Brothers" during the time to keep their real identies secret..." The girl laid one of her hands on the book's cover gently.

"A-ah! No, you weren't bothering me. My hands just slipped and...it fell." Her face flushed again slightly before calming down. She didn't make it much of a habit talking to boys unless it was one behind a register of a store or something school related. This could count as school though, we're talking about books and studying...

Rosemary shrugged at the comment. "I enjoy music, but sometimes it hard for me to focus since I get wrapped up in the tune. Then again, I have that problem sometimes with reading too."

The girl blinked owlishly at the freckle comment, looking up at Paris. "I don't really know what you can play... I mean I don't know if I'd pick something you like."

Sighing, Veronica muttered to herself in disbelief. Yes, the auditorium was made for playing music, but some people came here because it's somewhat quieter than most other lunch locations. Probably one of the reasons Rosemary came here. It was a quiet place to read her book without the librarian hounding you for making the slightest noise. Strong point, and she could use that later.

The girl then mulled over the fact that that she was called 'dude'. Maybe there was a bisexual joke hidden in there, but she couldn't jump the gun. It could just be an odd quirk Jessica had. Turning back to her Calculus homework, she replied:

"Sorry, but this is normally a quiet place at lunch. People don't usually play music here during lunch period. So, sorry if this bothers you, but it could be quieter in here."

A hum sparked from the mini-amplifier placed on the stage, which grew when the volume knob was turned up in short notice. Jessica pointedly played another note on the low string, smirking as she took her eyes off of Veronica and placed them back where they mattered: on the guitar she was tuning.

"There's always the library. We're playing in here today."

Feeling she had her point made, she finished tuning up the fourth and final string, then set about to try and pluck a couple arpeggios to make sure she had done the job right.

((Adam Morgan continued from It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo!))

Once again, it was lunchtime. Once again, Adam was avoiding the cafeteria. It was definitely one of his least favorite places on campus. He wasn't really in the mood to pass another lunch at the gazebo, though. Too many people knew he went there now, and there was too much potential for drama. Things had nearly escalated into an actual fight last time. That was exactly the sort of thing Adam wanted nothing to do with. Fights were only fun when everyone agreed to them.

That was what brought him to the auditorium. He'd been expecting the place to be deserted, and was mildly surprised to find it fairly well-occupied. He could identify almost everyone here. The boy with the guitar was Paris. The girl plugging in the bass was Jessica. Their presence implied that there might be entertainment to be found here. Paris didn't really seem the sort for any good hard rock, but Adam had a loose recollection of Jessica's tastes running in promising directions. Maybe they'd take requests.

The others were a bit trickier. Adam knew almost nothing about Rosemary except for her name. Veronica he had a pretty good idea of. The girl was basically obnoxious and unpleasant in just about every way. Great. It looked like she and Jessica might be getting into it. And here Adam had been hoping to avoid chaos this lunch.

Whatever. He wasn't here to look for trouble, and maybe the music would be cool. He wandered past the people, not saying anything yet, and found a seat a little apart from everyone else. Once there, he sat down and took out his sandwich.

He took some consolation in the fact that even if this did devolve into a bloody brawl it would at least beat sitting in the cafeteria.

Paris slid smoothly in one sweeping motion of his body so that he was sitting next to Rosemary, shoulder to shoulder.

"That's very interesting. I didn't know. I knew that they used pseudonyms but not that they masqueraded as a trio called 'The Bell Brothers.' Maybe they thought it....had a ring to it?" he said smiling. He shook his head, tossing more craft glitter.

"I'm sorry, that was awful. I understand if you get so wrapped up in the music that it's hard to concentrate. I find myself getting lost in music if I enjoy it and then I forget what I was even thinking let alone reading. I can play hmmm.....most older rock songs. If there's a tune I can follow along. Can you sing?"

He took Rosemary's hand and nodded towards the stage.

"If you sing something I can play with you."

He turned, altered by a movement in his peripheral vision and noted Adam walking in. He gave a quick greeting by way of tilting his head up and sliding his eyes down to his hand on hers.

"Yo, Adam," he offered casually.

"Yeah, it was." Rosemary replied bluntly, but had a small smile on her face. And now he's sitting next to me...

"I'm okay, but I don't. really-"The girl blushed slightly when Paris took her hand. "..s-sing." She finished.

But Dad listens to classic rock a lot... okay, let me think... What was one of her favorites? Well, there was that one, but it was mostly piano, drum, and tamborine. So maybe not.

"Know any of the Rolling Stones?" She asked. The girl turned around when she heard the boy speak to someone else, still looking a bit red-cheeked and confused.