Grievances And Other Things

What to do?

I wake up. It's the start of a brand new day. Today's Saturday, so no school for today. High School's fun, but it's still school. I open up my laptop and start up AIM. No new messages. The sun invades my room, colouring everything it touches a golden yellow. I don't have much planned today, and I've still got some money, so I might as well hit up the shops. I write to Lyle to ask if he wants to come with me. I get showered, eat some cereal and get back to my laptop. He's written back. "Yeah, do you mind if the others tag along?" Of course I don't. I make my arrangements with him and close my laptop. I'm still pretty damn tired. I get ready, eat my breakfast with my aunt and uncle, then head off to catch a bus. The bus goes past a few stops and eventually I get off. Portview's streets are bustling with activity. People wandering into the George Street Underpass, shopping at Hot Topic and other places, buses racing between stops, it's just awesome. From the other side of the street I see Lyle and the others, with Lyle waving at me. I cross the street and meet up with them. "Hey, how are you guys? Nice shirt Chloe, where'd you get it?" Chloe flips her hand. "Oh, I got it from that small clothes store down in Weyenbecker Lane, Teen Idol. The sell really nice stuff." We all head to the nice big Starbucks because of course we do, duh. We sit down and start sipping our drinks. "So Åle, we were thinking of going to the lake nearby and practising some songs there. Wanna come with?" Do I? "Sounds nice, what time?" Penelope puts down her drink. "In the evening, we would barbecue there too. You can take the bus there, but we were going to carpool, because they're a bit picky about instruments on buses." I nod. "Sounds great, I just need to tell my aunt." I whip out my phone and type away. "You're staying with your aunt? Aren't exchange students supposed to live with someone from our school?" I answer a perplexed Penelope. "Well, it's less exchange, more studying abroad." Penelope nods slowly. "Oh, I see. Hey, did you hear there's a sale on at Hot Topic?" Chloe's eyebrows shoot up. "What!?" She nods. "Yup, it's on!" I get the feeling we might go there afterwards.

~~~~

Chloe's parents drop us off at the lake and Penelope gets out her guitar and starts strumming. Skyler plays the impromptu drums with his legs acting as drums and Chloe and Penelope start singing. "We’ve broken up and now I regret it... I said goodbye when I shouldn’t have said it, I even cried but I never meant it... And I don’t know why but I can’t forget it..." I get the barbecue set up to the tune of them singing. "Gimme love, gimme dreams, gimme a good self esteem, gimme good and pure, what you waiting for? Gimme everything, all your heart can bring, something good and true, I don’t wanna feel Blue anymore...
Just give me, just give me one more night, one last goodbye. Let’s do it one last time, let’s do it one last time... One more time..." I start singing with them. "Åle, your voice is nice, we could use it. It's got something about it. Wait a minute..." Skyler fumbles a piece of paper out of a stack. "Here, sing this with the the others." Marseille Avenue is apparently this song's name. "Standing on the corner of Marseille Avenue, looking back on what has passed, ripping up my letters and the Polaroid of you, wondering how we could last, it was all so fast, before we knew what happened we were happy together, us against the world forever, well now that dream is dead, and I won't mourn that loss, because before you made so much sense, but now you're just messed up!" Lyle nods. "Not too shabby. Shall we start on the barbecue?" We all nod. I open up a pack of sausages I brought with and put them on the fire as Chloe strums her guitar. "When I was a young girl, my father took me into the city, to see a marching band. He said, 'Girl, when you grow up, would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?' He said 'Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made? Because one day I'll leave you, a phantom to lead you in the summer, to join The Black Parade.'" Chloe lets a tear drop down her face, but tries to hide it. "Who's up for barbecued hot dogs?" Chloe puts her hand up. "I am!" Lyle's eyes open wide. "I had my iPod dock with me! I completely forgot!" He puts on some music from the aforementioned iPod dock and we decide to go for a swim in the Lake. I'm the first to jump in and immediately I scream. "It's fucking cold!" Lyle dive bombs next to me, splashing me in the process. "I hate you, Lyle!" He laughs. "It's just water, Åle, don't get your boardshorts in a twist."

~~~~

Monday. Ugh. Help. I don't wanna. Actually I do wanna but not this early. Early starts are the spawn of Satan himself. Saturday was great. A lot of fun. The saving grace of today is there's another installment of the battle of the bands. I get up and go through my routine and hop on the bus. Back home in Nuuk it was torture if you waited for a bus, especially in winter. Here, the weather's a comfortable warmish, even though it's clear that summer's on it's deathbed. Very pleasant here indeed. The bus arrives, and I hop on. I meet Skyler, we talk and arrive at school. We swap pleasantries with Lyle and the girls and head to class. Art. The teacher allows us to design our stage sets for the battle of the bands. I peer at Chloe's. "Jeez Chloe, how on earth are you going to make a line of soldiers work?" She simply shrugs. "Theatre Club. I'll just ask them. They'll probably say yes." So that's that solved. How do I pass the time until the battle of the bands tonight? What to do, what to do, what to do? I could read a book. Or something. I don't know. I could annoy Chloe to give me spoilers. Nah. Rather not. I'll just have to wait. The horror!

~~~~

The first act of the afternoon is some trashy pop shit. Something about perfect imperfections and some other rubbish. Yawn. Someone please remove my spine and reinsert it, I require a better experience than listening to bland uninspired verbal garbage! Thank god that filler act is over. Now it's Transcendence's turn. "Everybody, say Welcome To The Black Parade! It's Transcendence!" The curtains open and showcase a small army of about three rows of four people, at the front, the band members in uniforms, with Chloe holding a baton and Penelope holding an electric guitar, with everyone looking down. Lyle starts with the keyboard. The heads of all of the soldiers and the band raise. Chloe sings. "When I was a young girl, my father took me into the city, to see a marching band." Lyle hits the keyboard. "He said, 'Girl, when you grow up, would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?' He said 'Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made? Because one day I'll leave you, a phantom to lead you in the summer, to join The Black Parade.'" The Soldiers and the other band members sing. "When I was a young girl, my father took me into the city, to see a marching band." Lyle hits the keyboard. "He said, 'Girl, when you grow up, would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?'" Penelope shreds her electric guitar and Skyler assaults the drums. "Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me. And other times I feel like I should go. And through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets. And when you're gone we want you all to know." The rest join in. "We'll carry on, We'll carry on! And though you're dead and gone believe me, your memory will carry on! We'll carry on!" The rest stop and Chloe sets in for a solo. "And in my heart I can't contain it, the anthem won't explain it!" They finish to massive applause. As the remaining acts finish, the Vice Principal announces the loser. "The band not seeing us tomorrow is... Fuego! I'm sorry, it was a valiant effort, but sadly just not enough. Better luck next time, eh?" After an entertaining event, it's time to get home. I'm tired and hungry. And if I don't have something to drink soon there will be blood, there will be organs, there will be tears before bedtime.