RODRICK'S RULES

Trouble at the Record Store

Rodrick:

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HELL YEAH! It's Friday.

School had sucked all week--as usual--but it was finally almost the weekend. Greg had been getting on my nerves all week hyperventilating about "Holly this, Holly that" and tonight I could finally get away from him and the rents to chill with the guys.

I rolled off my bed and threw on some jeans and a random t-shirt off the floor before jogging down the stairs to eat breakfast.  

To put things in perspective, I have never, EVER  woken up for school before 8 a.m., but for some reason my conscience was tempting me otherwise today.

After I'd ditched Roxy to clean up the lab, I'd felt this sort of guilty feeling I don't really get that often--like the sort of feeling I got when I didn't get mom a present for her birthday...or Mother's day before that--but that's beside the point.

Oh, and I didn't just ditch her for the hell of it either. My mom practically begged me to pick up Greg from video game club because Manny was throwing up at day care, so I had to leave early from school. 

So, in order for me to avoid passive aggressive glares and bossiness from my lab partner the rest of the year, I was going to suck it up and get my ass to school early.

I made it to Chem before most of the early birds even got there. Settling in at the lab table, I got out the school supplies my mom had bought me this summer along with some notebooks I hadn't used from last year. It's funny, the only time I'd touched a ball-point pen in the last year was to write some songs for Loded Diper--now, I was using one to scribble down today's Chem warm-up. 

Roxanna came in at the bell with the rest of the class, though I didn't notice until she sulked over. She was so quiet, almost like she didn't want me to know she was there.

I couldn't focus. She hadn't even acknowledged I was there, bossed me around, said anything. The past few days she'd been fine in group work, but now she was all tense and withdrawn. I didn't know how to approach the situation without getting attacked, but I gave it my best effort. 

She didn't receive it well. AT ALL.

I don't know why I even tried! I should have just left my stupid notebooks and shitty little pencils at home. Any class--no--any Greg-complaining-about-Holly-middleschool-sad-boy-drama was worth suffering through if I didn't ever have to speak to that, that she-beast again. 

It was fine, she could hate me forever and ever and I wouldn't give a shit. I decided leaving her alone was my best option, so we sat in silence for the rest of the class, shoving pegs into balls. 

After Jerkshire's class, the rest of the day was kind of a blur. Mostly, because I skipped half my classes and didn't attempt to focus during the other half. Nothing interested me more than my after school plans of completely shredding it on the drums!

Before the guys and I were going to meet up later, I decided to head into town and pick up some band supplies. Greg was trying to get me to bring him along, but I told him I was running some "important band errands." Of course, this consisted of me not wanting him around while I bought various shades of black eyeliner at Walgreens (--okay, I feel you judging me, but wouldn't you get sick of borrowing your mom's makeup all the time!)

I got a few weird stares from the wrinkly, old lady at the register, but all-in-all, it was a successful trip. Leaving Walgreens, I decided to run by Vick's Vinyls before heading to Guitar Center to check out some new amps.

Jogging up the steps to Vick's, plastic bag in hand, I pushed on the heavy glass door of the vinyl shop. As I made my way inside, a bell rang, sounding that I'd entered the store. Peering up at the counter I noticed a familiar face.

Casey Vick was by herself at the counter, stacking some new Vick's stickers and organizing some CD's. I immediately bee-lined it for the rock and heavy metal section, looking for anything new the band could use for inspiration on the EP we were developing.

Black Sabbath, Slipknot, Mötley Crüe, and AC/DC were all stacked one behind the other in multiple rows in the metal section. Nothing new seemed to have come to the shelves since last week except for a few older, miscellaneous records--Ugh, not another Kiss album!!

After scanning some rock albums and a few of the other sections, I gave Casey a wink and dipped out.

Guitar Center was a bust. I didn't have nearly enough fake mom bucks to get me a single lousy amp. Not to mention, Ben and Chris were totally hogging the jam session with their guitar solos tonight, so I was kind of bummed out. 

When I got home from Ben's, I went straight to my room, shutting off the lights and yanking off my jeans. Flopping onto my bed, I grabbed one of my guitar sticks from my dresser, spinning it between my fingers as I stared at the ceiling.

I woke up the next morning with my drum stick smashed into my side. Note to self, don't play with drum stick before bed.

A voice way too energetic for 10 am on a Saturday morning yelled from downstairs. "Rodrick, Greg, I need you guys to wash the dog today! Oh, and one of you take out the trash too!" My mom was up to her annoying antics as usual.

As fast as humanly possible, I smacked myself awake and ran for the trash can, yanking on my jeans as I went. What I've learned is that if you are forced to do chores at all, taking the initiative to do the easier chore will then get you out of doing the harder work. Therefore, by me taking out the trash and rushing out of the house, my mom will have no choice but to make Greg deal with the dog.

Grabbing the trash and my keys I quickly slid on my converse and skirted out the door, running from my moms voice behind me. Where would I go first?

I sure as hell didn't need anymore eyeliner, and I didn't have any money to even think about looking at more band equipment--so Vick's it is! It was kinda early for me to be out on a Saturday, but at least I could be around music and not my family

Walking into Vick's, I popped up to hit the bell a second time, catching Casey's eye from the front counter. She sent me a teasing look. Man why do I have to be 17!!

I shook my head at her and dove over to my usual selection of CDs. Chris had been trying to get Loded Diper onto the Spotify scene recently, but all that tech stuff wasn't really my scene. This was where I felt comfortable, sifting through garbage records and jamming out to hard rock.

Looking through the metal albums, I didn't expect to find anything new, but low and behold there were some random bands I'd never heard of. I picked up a few of the new CD's with band names like MurdHer, Death Butterfly, and Mom's Toast--I don't know wtf these are but I'm frigging pumped!!

Deciding to add to the collection, I searched around the general music section, looking for more content from the new bands I'd found, but to no avail. Casey must have gone to the backroom because she wasn't at the counter anymore. Damn it, how am I gonna find anymore of these CD's?!

Spinning around, I decided to check the rock section one more time, in hopes of discovering some album I'd skipped over. Though, just past the stack of CD's, I noticed someone by the book shelves. Their back was turned to me, but they were wearing a "Vick's Vinyl's" shirt and stocking the shelves with new book donations, so they had to have worked there.

I fast walked over with my towering, pancake stack of CD's. Overly excited, I basically yelled as all of my words came out. "Hey, do you guys have any more of these new CD's?!!" 

The girl whipped around from the stack of books to face me. 

"Oh, hi," were the only two words I could manage as I realized the girl in front of me, as I stood struggling to keep my balance under my tower of discs, was none other than my wayward lab partner, Roxanna Shepherd.