.::I�d take a Bullet for You, You�d Put a Bullet through Me::.

Fake faces everywhere I see Fake People looking back at me Sit down, don't tell Don't tell me where I dont belong... FFTL eats your face...

When Sanger got to school he caught up with Serena. They were talking about last night’s homework. Sanger wasn’t looking at where he was going and he crashed straight into a pole.

“All hail the pole.” he said as he went down.

“Are you okay?” Serena giggled.

“Huh? Who are you?”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Okay good.” he said smirking. They continued walking into the school.

            Matt and the rest of the best were standing in the hall talking. Sanger walked up to them and joined into their conversation.

“Hey, SG how was your date?” asked Evan.

“Good, we’re an item.” he said smiling.

“Coolio.” said Ella.

“You know you have a bump on your head.” Matt said.

“Oh, I ran into a pole.”

“Heh, yeah right.” Ella laughed.

“If he did that Serena wouldn’t like him, Ella would ditch, Evan would kill him, Joel would throw his body in the road for some car to run over, and Ray here would laugh.” Matt said. Sanger began to blush and pout.

“They would not.” he pouted crossing his arms.

           

            That evening they practiced once more. They began practicing the new song that Ella had written some time ago. Audition for the battle were coming up in less then a week and they were stocked. Sanger began singing the song and Ella smiled as she remembered why she wrote this song in the first place.

“It’s inevitable to see why you’re so impossible,

it’s the truth, nobody wants to put up with you,

I’ve had it with these so-called teen romances

Because my questions remain unanswered,

Its hard to see why everyone thinks its just you and me,

History has no guarantee.” Sanger sang these words and Ella blushed a little. “Excuse me, while I forget how to breathe, excuse me.”

“You make me forget how to breathe every time you come near me.” Ella sang after Sanger.

            Once they had finished the song Ella smiled because her words were coming alive. People actually liked them and were going to listen to them. Ray clapped and the rest of the band high -fived each other. They continued on with other songs and then decided to take a break.

“Guys, I can’t wait for Saturday!” Ella squealed.

“Yeah, I know, you guys have worked so hard for this. You’re going to get a spot no doubt about it.” Ray said smiling at Ella. Ella ignored his gaze and turned to look at Sanger.

“Ella, I have a question. What inspired you to write this song?” he asked. Ella could feel the lump that was now forming in her throat.

“Uh, I don’t know?” she replied.

 

            The next day school was unbearable because everyone was so anxious for Saturday. It was only Wednesday and it felt like and eternity to Saturday. Ella caught up with Matt and his band at lunch.

“So you guys are entering in the Battle of the Bands, huh?” asked Trevor.

“Yeah, we’ve been practicing since last week.” she said.

“We are too.” Matt replied.

“Really? That’s awesome then we can be on the tour together!” she said smiling.

“We’ve been waiting for this a really long time. Ever since we’ve been a band.” said Alex.

“How long have you guys been a band?” Ella asked looking over at her friends.

“Two years.” Chase replied.

“Two years?! That’s insane!” she said surprised.

“Like I said we’ve been waiting for this. But, you guys are gonna give us a run for our money.” Chase said smiling.

“Yeah, you guys are really good.” said Matt putting an arm around her waist.

“How would you know?” Ella asked.

“We spied on you.” Trevor replied covering his mouth. “Oops?” he said. Ella laughed he sounded like Sanger.

            Speaking of Sanger he was at the usual lunch table with his new girlfriend and her friends. They were talking about some movies and stuff. Evan and Joel felt out of place because they had no one to talk to. Ray on the other hand was playing footsy with Hayley.

“Battle of the Bands.” Evan said randomly.

“Are you developing Turrets?” asked Joel.

“Maybe, it’s just on my mind.” he replied.

“I know what you mean. This contest could change everything.” Joel picked up one of Ray’s potato chips and ate them. Ray would usually never let that happen but since he was talking to Hayley he didn’t really notice.

“Hayley, are you going to go to practice today?” asked Ray.

“Well, yeah. I wouldn’t miss it.” she said flashing him a smile.

“Good, because they need a second opinion.”

 

            Ella was stressing out, she had completely forgot homework at school and she knew her mother was going to kill her if she found out. She walked around the house pacing. It was 7 the school wouldn’t be open for her. Her mother would probably forbid her to go to the Battle of the Bands on Saturday. Ella had to figure something out. She decided to call Joel.

 

            Sanger and Evan were at Ray’s house after band practice. They decided to stay over and work on some homework. They had a boat load of math due tomorrow. They all finished up what they had left and decided to call Matt. They had grown closer to the band.

“Mattie poo, do you want to take the brother’s and Chaser to Ray’s house?” Sanger asked. “Kay, cool.”

            Within ten minutes sophomore was at their door. They brang pizza and video games. This would equal a night of fun for the boys.

“Matt, pass the pizza.” Ray asked as he attempted to school Trevor at Lord of War.

“Take that.” Trevor shouted.

“Hey, you killed my favorite soldier.” Sanger pouted.

“I’m tired someone take the controls.” Trevor said handing it over to Alex.

            After an hour the boys were exhausted and decided to go to sleep because they all had school the next morning.

 

            Joel still hadn’t heard from his father so he was really worried when he came home. His father had still not come home. He didn’t know what he should do so he called his uncle. His uncle said that he hadn’t heard from him either so he decided to wait. He thought that it would be useless to call the police since he hadn’t been gone for long. Just as Joel was warming up some mashed potatoes the phone rang.

“Joel! I can’t go to the Battle of the Bands!” Ella cried.

“What! No.”

“I forgot my homework at school and my mom grounded me.” She whined.

“Did you explain to her that this is major important?”

“Yes, but she said that unless I magically find a way to finish my homework before school tomorrow then I can’t go.”

“Okay, just wait I’ll be over in a sec.” he said hanging up and grabbing his shoes and the plate of food.

            Joel ran over to Ella’s house in a matter of minutes. This couldn’t happen they had worked so hard. They had to audition there was only one way to make sure that Ella could go and Joel knew he had to do it.

            Ella and Joel had made it successfully into the school. She ran down the quiet, dark hallway and to her locker.

“Hurry up.” Joel ushered her as she did her combination. She grabbed the right book and ran with Joel towards the open window. When they got to the room where they had climbed in the window had been closed and locked.

“We’re locked in!” Ella whispered.

“The janitor must have locked it.” Joel said after trying to open it.

“Well we can’t just stay in this classroom. Someone’s going to find us.” she said looking into the hallway to see if the coast was clear. They walked into the girl’s locker room.

“Why the girl’s locker room?” Joel whined.

“Because, I said so.” She smirked as she opened the book and began to finish her work.

            Ella woke up and screamed. Hayley was in the locker room.

“What are you doing here?” Hayley asked.

“Oh, um, I don’t know?” Ella said.

“What is he doing here?” Hayley said raising an eyebrow.

“Um, I can explain.” she began.

“Don’t worry I get it.” she exited the room smirking.

“Oh, great.” Ella muttered.

“Time for school?” Joel asked as he woke up.

“Time for school.” she said.

            Ella walked out of the locker room with Joel on her tail. This was going to be a long day.

“Where were you guys?” Evan asked them as he caught up with their pace.

“Nowhere.” Joel replied.

“Okay, if you say so.” Evan replied walking the other direction towards his class.

 

            After the morning classes were finished, the band all met in the parking lot. They decided to skip the rest of school and head to Ray’s house to practice. Hayley went with them. She kept sending Ella and Joel glances as the car made its way to Ray’s house. Ella had to sit on Joel’s lap for the lack of seats.

Normally Ella wouldn’t mind this but, today was different. Hayley was different. Since that day of the dance Ella’s opinion of Hayley changed. She actually thought that she was good for Ray and that she should just give up. This ugly side of Hayley was definitely not good for Ray. It turns out that Hayley was a jealous, controlling; monster of a girlfriend and Ray was too blind to see. The last thing Ella wanted to do is interfere with Ray’s relationship. So she would let him be happy for now.