Survival Of The Fittest

((Jeremy Frasier, continued from Top 10 Reasons SotF is the show YOU should be watching! ✓✓✓))

Walking quickly down the upper hallways of Cochise High School, Jeremy kept his eyes paired on the classroom that he had been in, like, a thousand times by now? Maybe. Probably not literally a thousand times but still more than he could count. He came here around 7-8 times a week, depending on where his periods lined up. Oh well, who knew? More importantly, who really cared? Well, Jeremy did, but it wasn't like he was going to remember this mental conversation tomorrow. Unless Groves started the session asking everybody how many times they've had to go into the music room, he was probably going to think this exact same thing a few months later and still have no idea. Oh well, again, not like he'd remember this.

Jeremy dodged his way past a couple of students walking the other way, and reached the music classroom. He opened the door - knowing that Groves was cool with students entering the room outside of class time so long as the room didn't get trashed - and hey, it seemed like he was the first one to get here! Jeremy entered the empty classroom, placing his bag on the floor, and walked across to the cupboard where he had placed his violin before school. He tried to pull it out, but Groves had apparently locked the door. Figuring that somebody would come and unlock the door soon, he decided to go back to his bag. He was the first one here after all, so that gave him dibs on the piano near the front for a bit. Considering he had a piano lesson today, he figured that he may as well get some extra practice on something before then.

So he went to his bag, opened it up, and checked to see if he had put a music book in his bag or not. If he didn't then he'd likely have to try and do a song by heart and God knew that that wouldn't work out well for him. Luckily, it turned out that there was a piano book in the back of his bag. Contemporary Disney: 50 Songs from The Little Mermaid to Hannah Montana. Oh right, this book. Jeremy wasn't really into this particular book (the only reason it was in his bag was because someone else wanted to take a look at it), mostly because nearly all of its arrangements were just the vocal line adapted into chords with a bunch of long notes in the left hand. The fact that about a fifth of the songs were dedicated to High School Musical and Hannah Montana, and the fact three more fifths of the book were the award bait songs that he didn't like but everyone else did didn't do any favors either. Still, there were a couple good arrangements in there, mostly for songs that didn't have any vocals, so he'd be okay with using this book today.

Taking the book out of his bag, he walked up to the electric piano in front of the desks. He pulled the seat out, opened the lid (placing the book on the stand), and flipped through the pages, looking for a song that he could play. Eventually (after like, 200 pages of songs that he wasn't interested in) he found one. The Medallion Calls; composed by… Klaus Badelt? Not Hans Zimmer? Huh, that was a surprise. He thought Hans Zimmer had done all of the Pirates movies. Anyway, it was still a good arrangement - not too hard but likely not going to be too easy either - so he started playing.

It was a pretty simple song to play, really. Just staccato'd chords in the left hand while the right hand played the melody. Still, it wasn't a bad arrangement; it was kinda fun to play, actually. He allowed himself to go into the trance he normally went into while he was playing, only paying attention to his hands and the book as his fingers tapped against the keys.

He didn't notice when the door opened again. He was too deep into the piano for him to hear the creak.

((Alice Baker continued from The Funny Thing Is, I Keep On Returning Over and Over))

"Oh!" Alice exclaimed as she slipped into the music room that she'd assumed would be empty, only to discover that it was inhabited by a boy. Jeremy, if she recalled, though she only really knew him from sharing class. They weren't in the same peer groups as far as she knew. He was a gamer, she was pretty sure.

Alice had come by the music room as she often did, early, to practice. For obvious reasons, she liked the extra time to compose and practice at school, though she was occasionally thwarted by a locked door. Still, it was fair enough; her violin was very expensive, and besides money she would be horrified if it were lost or stolen. She'd had it for years, after all.

"Hi, sorry, I was...just popping in. Don't mind me." Alice said quietly. Too quietly, perhaps, since she couldn't even here herself over the piano. It seemed Jeremy was quite talented, which was surprising. He didn't look like a pianist. Then again, she really ought not to judge people by their covers.

More loudly, Alice said, "Excuse me, do you know if the violins are still locked up?"

Okay, now that Captain Jack Sparrow had heroically entered the port on a sinking ship, now was time for the quiet part of the song. Jeremy moved slightly closer into the piano, sharpening his fingers and only using them lightly as he continued through the song. He wasn't quite sure where this part played in the movie (him not having watched in a couple of years) and there weren't any dynamics on the page, but the notes there gave him enough of an idea of how to play them. This part was quiet, more subdued; building up to the next part although keeping the same heroic feel that the rest of the song had. Again, he wasn't sure of the context, but he imagined that this part of the song played when Elizabeth was doing something? Possibly. He wasn't sure, but he continued the song the way he thought it was supposed to be played, adding the eighth notes in the left hand to help the buildup. It sounded pretty good, even if the song was slower than the speed he was supposed to play it at.

Then someone tried talking to him and he had to stop playing the song so that he could listen and/or possibly reply back. Which sucked, by the way; he was actually getting super into that song. Hopefully whatever he was getting interrupted for was worth the interruption.

Turns out that the person who interrupted him was Alice Baker, asking him if the violins were still locked up in the back room. She wasn't really somebody that Jeremy knew much. She was fairly quiet only really speaking up in class when the teacher asked her a question. He wasn't really sure what her social circle was, either; she was probably one of those anti-social types who spent their lunchtimes reading alone in the library and/or practicing art, or something like that. Not the ideal person to interact with if he wanted to hold a conversation, but if he wanted to he could work with it. He was a little bit annoyed with her at the moment though, considering that she could have just, y'know, checked for herself instead of asking him when he focus was on the piano. Still, that didn't mean he could/would be rude back. Better to fight hate with love? Not the most apt comparison, but it fit, slightly.

"Yeah, it's locked. I checked it earlier when I came in here."

The temptation to mutter something was repressed, but still there. He turned his attention back to the book.

Jeremy didn't seem too pleased that she'd interrupted, and Alice's face turned red as she began internally berating herself. What had possessed her to start talking to someone while they were practicing? She hated when other people did it to her; it was just so rude!

Alice winced almost imperceptibly, and nodded quietly. "Thanks, sorry..." Alice said softly, before moving to her desk near the middle of the room. She liked to be close up, but hated being the center of attention, so she always sat in a relatively unobtrusive spot.

As Jeremy continued playing, Alice sat and listened politely. He was...actually quite good.

Okay. Cool. Alice went somewhere. Jeremy didn't really know where quite, but so long as she wasn't bothering him then he didn't really care where she went. Well, okay, that was both not true and kinda rude, but it was appropriate with how he was feeling towards her right now. Couldn't she have just checked the door herself to see if it was locked or not? It wasn't like there was anything blocking the way to the door or anything. Really it was honestly stupid for her to ask that and although it definitely wasn't actual dislike if she kept talking to him he'd probably start getting snippy, which no-one wanted; so it was probably a good thing that she decided to not go any further.

With that done, he looked at the spot where he had left off and started playing again. The song's tone had changed. Now that something else was happening within the scene the song had become a lot more sharper, with barely anything behind the melody except for chords at the beginning and end of each bar. Probably his favourite part of the song, although something seemed a little off as he played through it. No mistakes, and it wasn't something to do with the arrangement - again, one of the better arrangements from the Disney book - but there was just something not in it. Something on his side that stopped him from playing the song as best as he could.

His hand slipped, and the chord he played definitely didn't give the slight determination the song needed.

"Aaaagh," Jeremy exclaimed, his hands going down on random keys. That was annoying. He probably wasn't going to get back into it now, considering that now Alice's interruption had thrown his concentration off key. Oh well, he was probably going to get interrupted by the teacher regardless so he could interpret what just happened as a better now than later scenario. He looked up. Apparently Alice had been watching him play. That was… kinda nice, actually. Sweet, in a way. It inflamed Jeremy's latent narcissism and made him suddenly like this person as they were paying attention to him. Well, something like that anyway. Tongue in cheek. He was kinda happy that he was the star of the show and he was currently liking Alice but they weren't related to each other in that way. Besides, he needed something to entertain him now that playing the piano wasn't an option. Maybe he could make a new friend today or something.

"Sorry, technical difficulties. Both me and the piano. Probably won't be able to play that song again, although given that apparently people are arriving now I was probably going to stop playing regardless. Anyway, I'm Jeremy. What's your name?"

Yes, he knew already, but he needed something if he wanted to be able to strike up a conversation with her.

((Alessio Rigano continued from Screamer, Screamer, He's a Dreamer))

Music, music, muse-ic. Music comes from the word muse, which is also a band. And both music and Muse were subjects Alessio liked. Even if Groves was a mean one. Al himself was not often shouted at by him, but he disliked to see others getting Grove'd.

The boy walked through the West Wing to the class, with a coffee can in his hands. Better go there early, so he can calmy finish drinking and have lunch quietly. While waiting outside the room, he heard voices. Oh, was Groves in there already? No...this sounded like. Jeremy? Yeah, Jeremy from the orchestra. And music class. Better not walk in there. Maybe he's talking with Groves? Eh, it was better to go away from the door and not listen to the people in there and wait till the break finishes.

So Al sipped more coffee and waited. And then he got a catchy song in his head and silently hummed it unconsciously.

Well then that happened. Wasn't really as interesting as Jeremy hoped. They kinda just talked for a bit but he honestly didn't really know what to talk about with her and he just kinda felt super awkward about it all the way through. Probably not something he'd do if he knew the future but eh, hindsight. At the very least he could call it a learning experience.

((Jeremy Frasier, continued in The Library Is The Power House Of The Student))

Alice hung around until class started. Jeremy wasn't half-bad, it seemed. She still felt a little awkward, just hanging around without the teacher. Then again, she was almost an adult, right? Soon she'd be in college, and who knew how that'd be.

She was thinking about college more often lately. When she graduated, she needed a major. Her grades were good so getting in might not be an issue. But what to study? Music, art, english or something else? She loved to perform, but that wasn't very practical as a career goal. Art would be challenging to make ends meet. And her writing was only 'okay'; she doubted she could get published.

It didn't matter too much, but it was enough to distract Alice from her sense of anxious silence for now. At least the teacher would arrive soon.

((Alice Baker's pregame concluded in Requiem for Innocence))

And then Al continued to silently hum and drink his coffee outside, until class began.

When he walked in, he noticed that, if he had went inside earlier, he did not have to wait alone...but now it was too late, since, well, Groves would arrive soon-ish.

Too bad, he wished he wouldn't have bored himself alone. Al-one. Music. Muse. That's why he was alone. Maybe.

((Alessio Rigano, continued in Hearts of Irony))