Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Under the full beam of the stage lights, the trophy is a brilliant gold. It takes all five of them to lift it, not due to the trophy’s weight, but rather to all five of them trembling with excitement.

The announcer’s voice blares over the cheering audience.

“Give it up once more for the winners of this year’s High School Band Grand Prix: the Dragonets of Destiny from Pyrrhia High School!”

“We did it!” The smallest of the five whispers excitedly upon leaving the stage, her drumsticks still in hand. “We won!”

“YES! AND WE CRUSHED OUR ENEMIES UNDERFOOT! It had everything to do with my amazing bass-”

“Oh yes, and the rest of us were completely irrelevant,” the keyboardist snorted.

Completely ignorant of the verbal sparring competition, the guitarist sat near the trophy, plucking the strings while singing along to a rather hastily improvised song.
“I just want to eat some beef, in a burger or a taco…”

Calmly packing up his things, the keytarist looked back longingly towards the stage before standing up. “I have to go home and study for a test. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Wait.” The guitarist was pulled from his daydreaming about beef. “We need to capture this moment.”

Huddled in a circle around the trophy, the five looked at one another, then nodded with a mutual understanding.

Together, they’d shaped their own destiny.

Chapter Text

“I’m here!”

Clay stumbled through the front door of Pasta al Drago, euphonium in hand. “Sorry I’m late. Band practice went overtime today…overtime by a lot.”

The entire restaurant went silent as Clay’s six siblings each waved at him with an excited yet slightly shaken smile from various places in the room.

“My-my apologies,” Clay waved back sheepishly, sweeping his gaze over the customers. “Sorry.”

The noise levels returned to the usual. “I’ll go get changed,” Clay whispered to Sora, one of his younger sisters, on his way to the back of the restaurant. He grinned.
“I’ll be ready in a moment!”

Sora nodded, beaming shyly. “Don’t rush too much! And don’t eat the brownies in the back!”

“Got it.”

Pasta al Drago, the restaurant owned and operated by Clay’s family, was packed as usual. While it was a small restaurant, it still had its fair share of customers. Dropping his euphonium off in the back of the kitchen, Clay changed into the white polo shirt and brown slacks-the “uniform” he and his siblings wore while taking orders and waiting tables at Pasta al Drago.

As Clay stepped out of the kitchen, the bell on the door gave a little jingle, indicating the arrival of a new customer.

“Welcome to Pasta al Drago!” Clay smiled, waving with a menu in hand. “Oh…Peril!”

Peril froze beside the door like a deer in the headlights, turning a shade of red not too far from the color of her hair. “Oh…Clay! I was...just…passing by and…I totally
didn’t know you worked here-”

Clay could hear a pin drop in Pasta al Drago. Second time I’ve made the room go dead silent. I get the feeling all eyes are on Peril and I.

Hoping to ease the tension, Clay waved in a friendly manner at Peril, gesturing at an open table with a menu in hand. She stepped somewhat awkwardly, eyes never leaving Clay.

“So how was school today?” Clay ventured as Peril sat down.

“Ah…good! Great, actually, now that you ask! Uh…I had basketball practice earlier…but Dr. Morrowseer made the group essay due tomorrow instead of next week…but you already know that! Since we’re in the same class and all!”

Clay sighed. “My groupmates already wrote their parts. I just need to write the introduction and conclusion paragraph after work. What about you?”

Peril turned an even deeper shade of red, laughing sheepishly. “My group finished a few days ago. But Riptide and I hardly did anything because…Glory was very adamant about the essay being a certain way. Though I wish we could have helped.”

“Well, is there anything you’d like today?” Clay asked warmly.

“What…what do you think is good?”

“Everything. But I haven’t had dinner yet.”

Peril nodded, blushing. “Uh…can I have the spicy lasagna? That’s what Riptide was talking about today in class?”

Clay enthusiastically collected the menu from Peril’s hands. “I will be right back.”

“Who was that?” Reed asked, taking the order slip from Clay’s hand. Reed’s eyes glazed over the slip. “A spicy lasagna? Does she even know how spicy that is?”

Clay shrugged and offered a grin. “I don’t really know how spicy it is either? It can’t be that inedible if it’s on the menu…”

“I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve cooked it throughout the last four months of being the chef here,” Reed retorted, with a raised eyebrow and looking
like he was holding back a smile. “I’ll get started.”

“Thanks,” Clay said. “I’ll get back to work.”

As some of the customers stood to leave, Clay cleaned their tables and bid them good night. For a band student, he was surprisingly talkative with strangers. At
least…compared to other band students like Starflight or…well, there was no one in band quite as friendly as Clay.

Being in band was fun and the euphonium was a neat enough instrument but…

“Here’s the lasagna!” Clay exclaimed. Now that he took a good look at the dish, it did seem really spicy.

“Thank you!” Peril smiled, the least nervous Clay had seen her all day.

“Enjoy!” Clay made a mental note to refill her glass of water.

Peril was soon the only customer left. She’d managed to eat the lasagna without drinking any of the extra water Clay had brought, which must be quite impressive. As
Clay approached to move the dishes, Peril looked at him quizzically.

“What do you think of band? And playing euphonium?”

“How do you know I play euphonium?” Clay asked, genuinely surprised. Very few people outside of band even knew the euphonium existed.

“I...heard! Is euphonium…” Peril grasped for words. “Fun?”

“Yeah. I would say so,” Clay nodded. “I’ve learned a lot. But… sometimes I wish I… I’ve always wanted to sing. And play guitar. I can play guitar…but I don’t want to
sing on my own. You know what would be fun? If I got some friends, and we all sang and played instruments together! Like a band!” Clay was simply rambling now,
but Peril was listening quite attentively.

“Maybe…you should put up flyers at school. And ask around!” Peril suggested enthusiastically. “I think there’d be people who’d join if you asked. Especially if you’re asking!”

“Thanks. Maybe I should try that.”

“I can try asking too. Not sure who’d listen to me…but…I’ll try!” Peril exclaimed, handing Clay the check.

“Thanks,” Clay said as Peril got up. “Have a good evening.”

“You too!” Peril gushed. The bell on the door jingled as she left.

“I think she really likes you,” Sora whispered to Clay as they prepared to close down for the evening. Clay could feel his face turning red.

“Ahh… I don’t know! Hey, Sora! What do you think about me starting a band?”

“Like… a singing band?”

Clay nodded.

“That sounds like it’d be interesting,” Reed agreed, popping out from behind the counter. “Who’s going to be in it?”

“That…I don’t know,” Clay admitted. “But I’ll find people! I’m going to do what Peril suggested, and make some flyers and ask around!”

“This was…a very sudden decision,” Sora noted.

Clay shrugged, then grinned sheepishly. “Actually, it was a decision that’s been in the making for a while. I just happened to make up my mind today.”

Chapter Text

Dr. Morrowseer was late for class.

Which was incredibly unusual, but it certainly worked to Clay’s favor. Taking a deep breath, he stood up in front of the whiteboard in the front and center of the room.

“Hey…guys…I’m Clay. And uh…I’m starting a band, and if you’re interested in joining…please let me know after-”

“He’s here,” Glory whispered, gaze piercing directly into Clay’s from the back of the classroom. Her eyes flicked from Clay to his seat, and he scrambled to sit down before Dr. Morrowseer arrived.

“Your essays.” Dr. Morrowseer swept past the seated students. Clay gulped and gently pulled his essay from his backpack, leaving it on his desk until Dr. Morrowseer passed by. Dr. Morrowseer took a look at the essay, flipping it from front to back, wrinkled his nose, then kept walking. Clay breathed a deep sigh of relief from behind Dr. Morrowseer’s back. He looked at his teammate Starflight, who looked incredibly tense.

“You finished it, right?” Starflight mouthed. Clay nodded.

The door to the classroom clicked open from behind the class, and everybody whirled around to see who would DARE arrive at Dr. Morrowseer’s class ten minutes late.

A dark-haired boy in a black leather jacket walked in, looking incredibly smug for some reason or another. He wasn’t in uniform, which meant he was either an intentional rule-breaker or a new student.

Dr. Morrowseer rolled his eyes and opened the attendance sheet. “Who might you be?”

“Deathbringer,” the boy replied, his grin unfaltering. “I’m a transfer student.”

“I don’t care,” Dr. Morrowseer replied. “Transfer or not.” He looked towards the back of the classroom. “You can sit next to Glory in the corner. That’s where I keep all the troublemakers.”

Deathbringer looked far too happy and looked as if he wanted to say something to Glory.

Glory rolled her eyes and turned away. Interesting.

“Fatespeaker,” Dr. Morrowseer said, turning to a small girl with jet-black pigtails seated in the front of the class. The girl jolted up and Dr. Morrowseer nodded at a pile of lined paper at his desk. “Pass them out to your classmates. We’re doing a timed write. Let’s show…our transfer student what English class is like.”

If this was any other teacher’s class, the students would groan. Here, all they could do was bite their lips to hold back the stream of complaints. Clay tried to imagine his B+ in English one more time, knowing that that B+ would be a C+ after this timed write.

Clay stared down at the piece of blank paper sitting on his table. It was blank, just like his brain right now. He could not possibly write a timed write, especially after having just written an essay.

Dr. Morrowseer stepped to the center of the room and tapped the whiteboard sharply with a marker. “Your prompt is as follows,” he began to write. “Assess the extent to which this statement is true: teamwork is vital for all aspects of accomplishment. Provide evidence to back your claims. You have fifty-five minutes.”

Clay was suddenly starving. What he wouldn’t give to have a snack…maybe some beef jerky or bread or maybe even crackers-

He shook his head, trying to focus on the timed write. Across from Clay, Starflight was writing furiously, and was frowning and gripping his pencil as if he was going to
puncture something. Clay took a deep breath. Was teamwork vital for all aspects of accomplishment? Did he have any evidence? He couldn’t think of any off the top of his head, for sure.

This was getting really annoying. The more Clay struggled, the less he could focus, and the less he could focus, the more he struggled. Clay groaned. What was he going to do? All he could think about was food and trying to form a band.

Gripping his pencil and trying to focus, Clay began to write. But he couldn’t write anything timed-write related. He kept trying, but something in him told him to do something else.

The words on the paper looked like the words to a song in Clay’s mind. Which was probably not what was supposed to be written, but it was really hard to write anything else.

Writing the song came surprisingly easily for Clay. By the end of the fifty-five minutes, he’d written a full song. It was about taking a leap of faith in the right direction…which he strangely related to these last few days.

Dr. Morrowseer wordlessly collected the timed writes from everybody. He frowned at Clay’s, and Clay gulped, knowing that he’d definitely failed. He glared at Starflight’s cramped handwriting, and he rolled his eyes at Glory’s eight-page timed write.

The bell rang, and everyone immediately stood up, eager to leave.

“NO!” Dr. Morrowseer roared. Everyone turned back to stare at him. “YOU HAVE NOT BEEN DISMISSED BY ME YET!”

The class was dead silent.

Dr. Morrowseer smirked, and after a pause, he nodded. “Now you may leave.”

“Peril picked a good day to be absent,” Starflight mused on the way out. “How do you think you did?”

Clay sighed. “Uh…I didn’t write anything. At least, nothing that would get me credit on the timed write.” He shook his head.

“Did Dr. Morrowseer say he was going to grade this on a curve?” Starflight wondered.

“It really doesn’t matter, because my score will be bad either way,” Clay shrugged. “Where are you headed next?”

“PE,” Starflight groaned. “You know, today is the mile run? Not that that hurts you. You’re athletic enough.” He looked around. “I’ll see you in band class.”

Clay nodded. “See you later.”

He took a deep breath and pulled the flyers out of his backpack. In big letters, the flyers read, “WANT TO JOIN A BAND? ALL INSTRUMENTS WELCOME!”

“A band?”

Clay turned around to see the transfer student. Deathbringer assessed Clay carefully.

“Yes!” Clay exclaimed, feeling incredibly awkward.

“Clay, I need to ask you something.”

Clay didn’t have much of an option as Glory emerged briskly behind him and instantly grabbed the hood of his jacket. Her face was an emotionless slate as she pulled
him by the hood. Clay couldn’t shake the feeling that Deathbringer was following them, for some reason. When they were farther from Dr. Morrowseer’s classroom,

Glory sighed.

“What did you need to ask me?” Clay wondered.

“What are you doing talking to the transfer student?”

“Oh, he asked. I’m starting a band, and he happened to see the flyers!”

Glory frowned. “A band.”

“Do you want to join?”

“I…I don’t play an instrument,” Glory replied stiffly. “At least, not anymore. I’ll see you later.”

“Oh…bye.”

Clay looked at the flyers in his hand as Glory turned the corner. There wasn’t enough time left in passing period to put them up. Stuffing them back into his backpack,
Clay hurried to math class. He managed to take a seat before the bell rang.

Clay couldn’t pay attention as Mr. Dune began the lesson. It was about factoring equations or something, but all Clay could think about was how off everything
seemed.

Finally, it was time for band class with Ms. Kestrel. As Clay carefully unpacked his euphonium, Starflight approached. “Are you ready? We’re playing ‘Destiny’ today.”
Clay nodded, distracted.

“You’re leading the euphonium section, you know?”

“Starflight, I’m the only euphonium.”

Starflight shrugged. “You still have to take it seriously.”

“I will! I’m just a little distracted at the moment!” Clay protested good-naturedly. He glanced at his backpack and the flyers.

There wasn’t much time to think on that topic, because at that moment, Ms. Kestrel raised her conductor’s baton. Clay allowed himself to be swept into the music of “Destiny”.

Chapter Text

“WANT TO JOIN A BAND? ALL INSTRUMENTS WELCOME!”

The bright-orange flyer on the pool deck was really difficult for Tsunami to ignore. Whenever she stopped on the pool wall in between laps, she looked at that flyer through her goggles. Whenever Coach Webs let everyone get out of the pool to get a drink of water, Tsunami inspected the flyer closely.

“If you’re interested, call (123) 456-789! We’d love to have you! Even if you’re a beginner!”

So…it definitely did NOT sound like a very experienced band. But for some reason, Tsunami was incredibly curious about it.

“Back in the pool!” Coach Webs cried.

In all honesty, Coach Webs was a rather poor swim coach. He was always really nervous, whether it be at swim meets, at tournaments, or just everyday practice. “Alright, give me six fifties!”

Tsunami was one of the only two freshmen on the Varsity team, so she was determined to earn her place amongst her seniors. While they complained, Tsunami began to swim. She was MOST CERTAINLY going to become the swim captain one day, and the fastest swimmer on the Pyrrhia High School swim team.

“Okay, that’s it for today.” Coach Webs dismissed the swim team. Drying herself off, Tsunami, put on her swim parka and tied up her hair in a bun. As she hastily threw her towel, her swim cap and her goggles into her bag, she glanced up at the flyer. Pausing for a moment before acting, she carefully took off the tape from the flyer and put the flyer in her bag as well.

In the warm, September breeze, Tsunami walked home, lost in thought.

When she unlocked the front door to her home, the house was silent. Auklet and Anemone were probably at Art class, which meant that their mother was probably with them. Tsunami sighed. Their mother was so overprotective, especially after their father died.

As she unpacked her bag, Tsunami suddenly heard the locks to the front door click.

“TSUNAMI!” Auklet gushed, rushing over to hug Tsunami.

“Hey Auklet,” Tsunami smiled, patting her youngest sister on the head.

“OH MY GOODNESS, WERE YOU HOME ALONE?”

Tsunami resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her mother. “I just got home.”

As her mother went on about how dangerous that was, Tsunami could SEE her other sister, Anemone, holding in her laughter. Tsunami glared at Anemone when her mother was looking the other way at Auklet. This was getting INCREDIBLY annoying.

“So how was swim practice, Tsunami?” Anemone asked, once their mother had calmed down and left them alone to focus on Auklet.

“Good,” Tsunami replied. “Anemone, on a scale of one to ten, how good of a bass player do you think I am?”

“Five.”

“FIVE?!”

Anemone shrugged. “Not good, not bad.”

Tsunami sighed and shook her head. “Thanks but NO THANKS.”

“I’m just saying.”

Tsunami made a mental note to practice more when her mother wasn’t around. She’d picked up the bass without her mother’s knowledge, and she’d mostly learned from watching tutorials online and asking a few questions here and there. If Tsunami had shown any interest in playing an instrument, her mother would have made her play the piano or the violin. In that case, it was better to learn the bass in secret.

Tsunami thought of the flyer in her bag, then glanced at Anemone. “I’m going to be in my room. TELL ME IF MOTHER COMES.”

“Why?”

Tsunami sighed. “I’m not doing anything illegal, but if mother finds out, she’s going to put me on a child leash or something.”

“And…if she finds me covering you for something like that, she’d ALSO put me on a child leash. But…okay,” Anemone reluctantly agreed.

“Thank you,” Tsunami nodded, taking the flyer out of her bag, and sprinting up to her room.

Somebody picked up within three seconds of her dialing the number.

“Hello?”

Tsunami recognized the voice. “CLAY?”

“Oh…hi, Tsunami,” Clay said. “Uh…why are you calling me? I don’t think there’s a group project for Mr. Dune’s class, right?”

“No, no,” Tsunami replied. “THANK GOODNESS. I just did a timed write for Dr. Morrowseer’s class, I’m not doing another project! No, this is about…did you put up flyer for a band?”

“Yes!” Clay exclaimed. “Do you want to join?”

Tsunami quickly flicked her gaze to her closed bedroom door. “Yes, I would. I play the bass.”

“Awesome.” Tsunami could hear Clay smiling through the other side of the phone. “Can we meet at lunch tomorrow then? We can figure things out, and try to find some other members.”

Tsunami nodded. “That works for me.”

“Then…I’ll see you then. Sorry. I have to go work right now.”

“See you.”

Tsunami hung up and Anemone opened the door and stepped into Tsunami’s room. “Mother is going to kill you if she finds out.”

“She only hates rock bands because father really liked them. And now that he’s gone, they only remind her of them.”

“It probably doesn’t help that you play the same instrument that father used to,” Anemone agreed.

“It probably doesn’t,” Tsunami grinned. “Maybe I’m becoming rebellious.”

“You were always rebellious,” Anemone sighed, looking out the window. “She expects you to fight her. She expects ME to follow her instructions to the teeth and not live my life.”

“Well, maybe you should just–”

“You know I can’t,” Anemone shook her head. “Anyways, good luck with the band. As long as I’m not asked by her, I won’t tell.”

“What if you are asked?”

“Then… I don’t know,” Anemone admitted. “But if you hide it well, she’ll never ask, right?”

As Anemone closed the door on her way out, Tsunami sighed and looked at her closet, where she hid her father’s bass.

Rebellion thrilled her. That was her thing, wasn’t it?

Chapter Text

“Tsunami!” Clay exclaimed as Tsunami walked over to the lunch table. “You’re here!” 

“Yes, I am,” Tsunami agreed. “So what was it you wanted to discuss?”

“Well, firstly we need to find some more members. And we need to write songs and find places to perform. But we need some more members. Uh…do you know anyone who can play piano or drums or something?” Clay asked. 

“Not off the top of my head, no,” Tsunami replied. “Why don’t you just ask around in your band class?”

“Because nobody there plays things that would fit into a rock band,” Clay answered. “And even if they do, they don’t want to sing”

Tsunami groaned. “Well, I’ll just ask some of-”

“I know a pianist.”

Tsunami turned around and came face to face with the transfer student. “Not you.”

“Oh, Deathbringer!” Clay grinned. 

“WHY ARE YOU SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM?” Tsunami demanded. 

“He said he knows a pianist!” Clay argued. He turned to Deathbringer. “Do they sing?”

Deathbringer smirked and pulled out his phone. “I happen to have a recording of them from a few years ago in elementary school.”

“So you’re really not talking about yourself,” Tsunami murmured in wonder. 

“No, I am not. I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m sure you’ll be even more pleased with what I have to show,” Deathbringer said smugly. 

“TSUNAMI, IT’S GLORY!” Clay exclaimed excitedly. 

“GLORY?” Tsunami cried, scrambling over to Clay’s side and adjusting her head so she could clearly see the screen. “As in the sarcastic overachiever cheerleader that wants to be valedictorian and student council president?”

On Deathbringer’s phone, Tsunami could see a small girl with blond hair and striking green eyes. The girl sat at the piano in what appeared to be an elementary school multipurpose room, looking nothing like the cheerleader she’d become. 

“This has to be a joke,” Tsunami sighed. She stood up to look Deathbringer in the eyes. “Have you even talked to Glory before?”

“She told me a few days ago that she didn’t play an instrument anymore,” Clay frowned, squinting his eyes at the screen, confused. “This must have been a long time ago.” His face suddenly brightened. “Wait, she’s playing ‘Destiny’!” 

“What?”

“That’s the song we’re playing in band class!” Clay exclaimed. “This is the piano part of the song!” He sped the video forward a bit. “I had no idea she played piano so well. We should ask her if she’ll play piano again!” “And if she won’t, we’ll KILL her!” Tsunami announced, clapping her hands so loudly the entire cafeteria turned around to look at her. She snorted and placed her hands on her hips before looking back to the video. 

“Please don’t,” Deathbringer remarked. “I don’t think she’d like that.”

“We’ll ask!” Clay promised. “Thank you very much, Deathbringer! Hey, do you sit with anybody at lunchtime?”

“NO!” Tsunami bellowed. She didn’t care that the whole cafeteria was probably staring nervously at her again. The transfer student WAS NOT going to sit with them! Tsunami did NOT trust him. 

“I have somewhere I need to be,” Deathbringer smirked. “At least, at the moment.” 

“How did you even get this?” Tsunami inquired. “The video, I mean.” 

Deathbringer shrugged nonchalantly. “I have my ways.”

Tsunami could feel her face flaming from anger. He was most definitely HIDING SOMETHING!

“Well, this is a big help! At least we have somewhere to look!” Clay said. He returned Deathbringer’s phone. “You know, I think the cheerleaders have practice everyday after school! We can talk to Glory today! Unless you have swim, then-”

“I don’t,” Tsunami confirmed as Deathbringer disappeared into the crowd. “You know I got a sixty percent on Dr. Morrowseer’s timed write?” 

“That’s good!” Clay said. “I got that, but divided by three! But I didn’t really try. I was writing a song instead of the essay…so…”

Tsunami groaned. “And he’s not letting us do a rewrite. I swear I had such good examples.” 

Dr. Morrowseer was Tsunami’s (and pretty much every other freshman’s) least favorite teacher. He was unnecessarily strict, and he didn’t teach much. But for some reason, he still expected everybody to do perfectly on their timed writes. And their projects. And now he was talking about a midterm that consisted of three essays: an argumentative, a narrative, and an informative. 

And sometimes, Tsunami felt like Dr. Morrowseer graded her poorly just because. Did Dr. Morrowseer even READ her essay? Probably not. He probably saw “Tsunami” on the top right corner and gave it an “F” instantly. 

She would snap his neck if she could. It was quite a gruesome image in her mind. 

“I’ve honestly never had an ‘F’ in English before,” Clay mused. 

“ME NEITHER!” Tsunami cried. “I’m SO GLAD my mother can’t see my grades right now. I’m going to have to swipe my report card from the mailbox before she opens it.”

“Hey, Tsunami! Hey, Clay! Can I sit here?” 

Tsunami looked and saw the other freshman on the varsity swim team, Riptide. 

“Oh…uh…sure,” Tsunami nodded, her face suddenly getting a little warm. Riptide smiled. He didn’t seem to notice.  

Tsunami was suddenly at a loss for words. She vaguely remembered being really mad at Dr. Morrowseer a few moments ago, but Riptide had broken her train of thought. 

“Riptide, do you play a band instrument? Or sing?” Clay inquired. 

“HA! No WAY,” Riptide laughed. “I would never be able to do that, especially in front of an audience. Why are you asking?”

“Well, we’re starting a band!” Clay replied. “And, uh…we’re trying to find people to join! Tsunami plays the bass, and I play the guitar, and we’re TRYING to find someone to play piano. And all the other instruments we have absolutely NO IDEA about.” He grinned sheepishly. 

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. 

“Well, I have to get going,” Riptide said, picking up his things. He looked at Tsunami. “I’ll see you at practice tomorrow!”

“Yeah…I’ll see you then.”

Before that though, they had a cheerleader to threaten.

Chapter Text

Cheerleader smile plastered from cheek to cheek, Glory tried not to be terrified as four other cheerleaders hoisted her up into the air. Someone in the stands wouldn’t be able to tell, but Glory could feel the eight arms keeping her in place shaking. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some of these cheerleaders focused a bit too much on their appearance, and forgot to develop their skills and strengths. 

“Very good!” Coach Grandeur applauded. She nodded at the other cheerleaders. “You can put her down now.” 

Naturally they dropped her. Either out of spite of having had to lift her, or because they were simply tired. Probably a mixture of both. 

Trying not to lose her dignity by yelping in pain, Glory stood up, brushed herself off and kept smiling. There was no way she was going to let the other cheerleaders get the best of her. They made her so annoyed, each and every one of them. It seemed like none of them took the Cheer National Tournament as seriously as she did. 

Why did it feel like she was the only one that wanted to win? She wasn’t supposed to think it, but the more time she spent on the cheer team, the more she felt like her teammates were vain . And Coach Grandeur did nothing to stop it. 

Oh well. That only made it easier for her to become cheer captain one day. 

Coach Grandeur only made them run through a few more drills before going on a rant about how cheerleaders were supposed to hold the crowd’s attention by “smiling and flirting” with the audience. That was ridiculous . Glory would rather do backflips than “smile and flirt.” 

Why did she ever believe her brother when he said that cheerleading was fun ?

Well, in reality, Glory had to admit that he was partially right. The tumbling and the dancing was fun. So was the conditioning and training. The only thing that was not fun was the actual cheerleading at football games in a miniskirt. 

Having finished her lecture, Coach Grandeur dismissed them all. Glory quickly packed up her things and hurried off. She was not particularly eager to stay longer than she needed to with the rest of the cheer team. 

“Glory!” Someone called her name as she stepped out of the school gates. 

Glory looked to see Tsunami and Clay, two of her classmates. One she frequently sparred with verbally, and another who was an overall loyal friend, in that order. If it weren’t for the overall loyal friend’s presence, she would have just ignored the pair and walked away. She gingerly placed her backpack on the ground. “Hello…what do you want?”

“You!” Clay exclaimed with a smile in a wholesome tone that did not match what he had just said. Glory frowned at him, and Tsunami elbowed him in the ribs. Clay definitely did not understand what he had just said. 

“What?” Clay murmured, looking at Tsunami, confused.

“That’s not your line,” Tsunami chastised. She rolled her eyes. “UGH. So, GLORY. We’re forming a band-”

All the thorns in Glory’s heart suddenly pricked up. “I don’t play an instrument anymore.”

“But you did!” Clay protested, still looking incredibly innocent. “You played piano in elementary school! I saw a video of you! You were amazing! You were playing ‘Destiny’!”

Glory narrowed her eyes. What video? And who showed him? Glory couldn’t think of anyone who would have the recording. She knew Jambu used to have a copy on his phone, but after what had happened, she deleted it when he wasn’t looking. 

If it had been only Tsunami standing in front of her, she’d have lashed out. But since Clay was there, Glory worked to temper her anger. She took a deep breath. “That was a long time ago.”

Glory was going to creatively and firmly punish whoever showed Clay that video. Clay was a hard person to justify being mean to. And she really wanted to be mean to someone right now. She sucked in her cheeks. “I have to go.”

“No, you don’t,” Tsunami insisted, blocking her way. Her sea-blue eyes met Glory’s emerald-green ones. The auburn-haired swimmer was almost half a head taller than her, but Glory managed to sidestep her and kept walking. 

The memories were flooding Glory’s mind now. No. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. She had to smile. The cheerleader smile would really come in handy right now. 

Glory’s mother teaching a six-year old Glory to play the piano…

Glory playing “Destiny” at her elementary school…

The note reading “I’ll always love you. Take care of each other. Goodbye.”

Glory slamming the piano lid shut…

She had to hold back the tears. There was no way she was going to let Tsunami and Clay see her cry. Why was her home such a far walk away? Could she call Jambu to come pick her up? She shook her head mentally. He was at work right now. 

“Glory, come back!” 

Glory could hear Clay and Tsunami, their voices getting fainter and fainter. It sounded like they wanted to chase after her, but weren’t sure if that would be welcome. Thank goodness they didn’t keep following her. Glory was pleasantly surprised that Tsunami hadn’t gotten more aggressive and annoying about it. 

“My name is Glory,” Glory whispered to herself as she walked. “I’m a cheerleader, and I’m going to be valedictorian and student council president.” She took a deep breath to stabilize herself some more and clenched her fists in determination. “I’m going to be different than all the let-downs that came before me. Amidst the sudden rain, I will rebirth myself. Most. Certainly.” 

Maybe her anger combined with resolution caused her to walk faster, because Glory had never made it home as quickly as she did today. 

This was the home that they’d lived in since they were little. The home they’d lived in throughout the sunshine and the rain. There used to be more people here. 

Now it was just her and Jambu, with Jambu working a part time job while attending university to pay whatever bills needed to be paid. While Glory wanted to help her brother, she wasn’t old enough to get a job. Yet. 

To her surprise, when she peeked into the garage, Jambu’s car was already there. Which meant he was back from work. She was not ready to face her brother, especially after what had just happened. 

With that thought, Glory unlocked the side gate to the house, hoping to avoid having her brother notice her. If Jambu saw her, he’d ask about her day, and that meant she’d have to try not to cry.

The gate clicked open and Glory sucked in her cheeks, hoping her eyes weren’t red from tears. 

She should have known that she wouldn’t have been so lucky here.

Chapter Text

“Oh, you’re back,” Jambu said absentmindedly. “That reminds me. There’s something for you.” 

Jambu pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Glory. “I didn’t want to open it. It reads ‘to Glory’ on there.” 

Glory took the envelope. “Thank you.” She examined the front and back of the envelope and weighed it in her hand. “No sender?” 

“No sender,” Jambu confirmed. 

Glory scoffed. “If I don’t come out of my room in fifteen minutes, there’s a weapon in here.” 

“Understood,” Jambu said, way too seriously. 

Thin fingers gingerly prying open the seal, Glory was grateful the door to her room was closed when she saw the contents of the envelope. 

Sheet music. 

For a song titled “Glory of Rebirth.”

A mix of sadness and loss, but also curiosity filled Glory. She shook her head. What was she going to do? 

Wordlessly, Glory walked towards the now-dusty wall piano in her room. Something possessed her as she lay the sheet music on the piano stand. She now realized there were words on it, as if it was a song she was supposed to sing to. 

Glory had no sarcastic comebacks as she played the first note to the song. Sitting down on the now-rickety piano stool, she took a deep breath. 

“Yes.

I will believe in myself. You

Are going to trust in yourself too.

Tomorrow is

The greatest gift that we could ever receive.” 

Glory was surprised she hadn’t lost much of her ability to play piano. Her fingers still moved gracefully over the keys. For a moment, she could even see her mother sitting next to her, as if the song was a duet. It was all she could do to fight the tears of both memory and joy.

“No. 

Matter what tomorrow may bring. 

The darkening skies don’t change a thing.

It’s dazzling. 

Now I know that I am everything I need.” 

The music began to swell, and Glory suddenly felt a rare smile sneaking its way across her face. For once, she didn’t care anymore. 

“All the tears I used to hide. 

For the first time in my life,

I can face them and push them from my mind.”

What had Clay and Tsunami asked her about? Joining their band as a pianist? It probably wasn’t a good idea to make a long-term decision like that in her current emotionally charged state, but she made a mental note to let them know as soon as the song finished. 

“The glory of rebirth,

I want to say ‘thank you’ for what it’s worth.

For always being by my side. 

For always telling me ‘it’s alright.’” 

The sheet music cut abruptly. Glory had anticipated another chorus, but there was nothing else. When she flipped to the back of the page, she found the words “I’m sorry.” For what? Who sent this? She checked the envelope for other contents. It was empty. 

Applause sounded from outside her room. The door was open, and Jambu was clapping incredibly enthusiastically. “That was amazing! I haven’t heard you play the piano in a really long time!” 

Glory was sure her entire face was bright red right now. “Jambu! Why were you listening?” 

“No, it sounded amazing, Glory!” Jambu chirped. “Are you going to play another song?” 

Glory rolled her eyes and stood up, picking up the sheet music at the same time. She flicked her eyes at Jambu. “You didn’t see who dropped this off by any chance, did you?” 

“I don’t remember.” 

Glory sighed and resisted the urge to scoff. “Thanks for nothing, I guess,” failing to conceal her frustration. “Don’t you have better things to do than watching your younger sister play the piano? I’m pretty sure you’re a high school junior right now.” 

Jambu sighed. “Don’t remind me. UGH…I miss my lazy Freshmen days.” He walked dejectedly out of Glory’s room, and she heaved a sigh of relief. 

Once she was sure Jambu was gone, Glory pulled out her phone. Typing in Tsunami and Clay’s numbers, she paused for a moment, thinking over what to write. 

Trying to not sound sarcastic or sappy was difficult, considering she’d just told them she didn’t play an instrument anymore less than an hour ago. 

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to let you know that despite not playing piano anymore, I would still like to take this chance to pick up the instrument again. If you have not already found another pianist, I would like to join your band…Thank you…

The text bubble with three dots in it appeared on Tsunami’s end almost instantly. 

UGH…you are being very FRUSTRATING…BUT SURE…I’M FINE WITH THAT. I’LL ASK CLAY AFTER HE GETS OFF WORK. 

Thank you, Tsunami. I’ll see you tomorrow. 

With that, Glory turned off her phone, laying on her bed looking towards the ceiling lost in thought. 

Glory was incredibly ambitious. Much more than the average freshman. 

Cheer Captain, Valedictorian, Student Council President…now the band. 

She stood up and drew in a sharp breath. 

She knew she could achieve it all. She had to. She was going to prove everyone wrong. That she was more than someone who got left behind. 

Glory sat at the piano seat and ran the envelope over her hand. She was almost certain she’d seen the handwriting “To Glory” was written in. And despite not being able to find a song titled the same online, Glory knew she’d heard “Glory of Rebirth” somewhere before. 

Playing the song again was strangely soothing, making Glory feel like she was reliving moments of her childhood. 

She’d never admit it, but she hadn’t been quite this happy in a while. 

It was a happiness similar to the one she’d always pretended to have as a cheerleader.

Chapter Text

“Tsunami! Glory! You came!” Clay finished wiping off the table and waved at his friends. Pasta al Drago was closed to the general public now, so Clay had figured it wouldn’t hurt to meet with Glory and Tsunami now. He was technically off work now. 

“I had to sneak out of my house,” Tsunami noted. “Through an open window on the second story. So this had better be good.” She shrugged as if sneaking out was something she did on a daily basis. “And I didn’t do my homework, but it’s for Dr. Morrowseer’s class, so who cares? NOT ME, THAT’S WHO!”

Glory snorted as she placed her keyboard onto the table. “Well I for one am not going to make a big deal about myself here.”

“You brought your keyboard?” Tsunami asked in disbelief. 

“You didn’t bring your bass?” 

Tsunami looked taken aback and shocked. “WELL, I HAD NO IDEA, OKAY?”

Clay shrugged reassuringly. “That’s alright! There’s still plenty we can do today!” He pulled out a stack of sheet music from inside of his bag. “From what we’ve seen, it’s really hard to find new members. Everyone is busy, and everyone already has some outside activities! The flyers aren’t compelling enough to encourage people to move their schedules around.”

“So what do you WANT us to do?” Tsunami demanded, standing up from the table. “Go and threaten people like we did with Glory?”

“Trust me, your threats had very little to do with me joining,” Glory snorted, brushing back a lock of her golden hair. She stood up and looked Tsunami in the eyes. “What Clay is saying is that we need to perform. The flyer isn’t enough. People…need to feel a connection with music…specifically, the music only we can perform.” She nodded at Clay. “If you want us to perform on the outside stage at lunch, I can arrange it.” 

“You can?” Clay echoed. “How?”

Glory smirked, causing Tsunami to roll her eyes. “I’m part of the Student Council. We’re the ones who decide which activities are put on the stage.” 

“Thank you!” Clay exclaimed. “That’ll be perfect. The three of us can perform! Tsunami can bring her bass, and I’ll bring my guitar! Glory…”

“I’ll use this keyboard,” Glory nodded. “And I’ll ask someone to set up speakers.” 

“So what are we going to perform then?” Tsunami asked. “Do we have a song we can sing?” 

“Actually, I have one!” Clay pulled a few pages of sheet music from the pile. “I wrote this one! It’s mostly based on the lyrics I wrote in Dr. Morrowseer’s class instead of doing the timed write, but…I tried!” 

Glory and Tsunami both snatched at the music at the same time. Glory beat Tsunami to it, and her green eyes quickly flicked over the pages. Tsunami groaned as Glory began to hum what presumably was the melody of the song. 

“One, two, three…”

“It’s an awfully happy song,” Glory noted as she handed the music to Tsunami, who began to scan it as well. “About… finding your friends, who enable you to chase after your dreams. Which seems like an unconventional song…but…okay.” 

“It’s too happy for Glory,” Tsunami insisted jokingly. 

“It’s fine, as long as I’m not thinking about you,” Glory retorted calmly. 

Tsunami’s face turned bright red in indignation. “I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU KNOW?”

Glory looked unfazed. “So you say.”

“Clay, is this the part for all of us, or do you have a bass part and a piano part and a guitar part?” Tsunami reached towards Clay’s papers. 

“Oh yeah!” Clay answered with his mouth full. 

“Where did you even get the bread?” Tsunami wondered aloud. “I swear you’ve been here this WHOLE TIME!”

“I had some in my pocket. Do you want some?” Clay asked, pulling what looked like a nearly-full loaf of bread out his jacket. 

“I’ve seen it all now,” Glory murmured, shaking her head. She sighed. “Bread in your pocket really is on a different level.” 

Tsunami gingerly touched the bread. “It’s WARM!” 

“Well, it’s been in my pocket, so…”

“Well, Tsunami and I will go and learn our parts before…when should we perform?” Glory asked. “The outside stage is free two days from now.”

“TWO DAYS?” Tsunami yelled. Thankfully, Pasta al Drago was closed, otherwise, customers would surely have left due to the constant disturbances. She looked at Glory’s amused face and sniffed. “I mean… I WAS BORN READY! I will MOST DEFINITELY learn this piece and make sure I’m ready!” 

“Then I’ll let the Student Council president know,” Glory nodded, picking up her keyboard and sheet music and getting ready to go. 

“Wait, who is the Student Council president right now?” Clay asked. 

“Greatness,” Glory answered briskly. “She’s a senior, so she’ll graduate after this year and we’ll elect a new president.” 

“She doesn’t sound like a good president from the way you say it,” Tsunami noted. 

“She’s trying…but she’s a rather weak president. Nobody really listens to her,” Glory shrugged. “She wants to help, but she seems uncertain of herself and her actions. But she’s nice enough…I suppose.”

“But she’ll LET US perform, right?” Tsunami asked. 

“She will,” Glory answered. “She has no reason not to.”

Clay yawned. “That’s all we have to do, right?” He paused for a moment. “If that’s it…could I lock up Pasta al Drago? I still have a lot of homework tonight…”

“For Dr. Morrowseer’s class,” the three of them chorused together. 

“I haven’t gotten any AMBER Alerts on my phone yet, which means my mother doesn’t know I’m gone,” Tsunami said. “But it IS getting late, so I need to go before she sets the alarm.” With that, Tsunami hurried out of the door, with the little bell jangling behind her. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Clay,” Glory said, picking up her things. “Have a good evening.” 

As Glory swept out the door, Clay took one more look at the sheet music before standing up. 

“One, two, three,

The door to our dreams…”

Clay quietly locked the door and stepped into the warm summer air. 

“Take a leap of faith on the count of three.” 

They would make it work. 

It was their destiny…right?

Chapter Text

Pile of notebooks in hand, Starflight quietly sat down on a lonely bench facing the outside stage. Placing the books beside him, Starflight unpacked his lunch, which was really just a sandwich. He adjusted his glasses and began to study. 

The books had always been a safe place for Starflight. The books didn’t talk back or tell him that he wasn’t good enough…they just… were . And sometimes that was all that Starflight needed. 

Also, he had to reread the packet from Dr. Morrowseer’s class. Starflight was barely hanging onto his “A” in that class, and he really wanted to end with a high GPA. 

They were reading Romeo and Juliet right now in Dr. Morrowseer’s class, and it was such a fascinating story, at least, that was what Starflight thought. Analyzing Shakespeare’s literary and rhetorical choices as an author, was in short, incredible. 

Unfortunately, Starflight seemed to be the only one who thought that way.

Maybe Starflight only liked Shakespeare’s plays because of Sunny. Sunny was in theater, and she loved to sing and dance and act. 

Starflight sighed. He hoped his face wasn’t that of a melodramatic fool right now. But honestly, he was so rarely lucky these days. High school really wasn’t as great as his older sister made it sound…but his older sister was popular and well-liked by everyone, unlike him. His sister, Fierceteeth, the cheer team captain was…not a nerd and not a loner. 

She was quite adamant that no one knew Starflight was her brother. 

Which was fine with Starflight…The people Fierceteeth hung out with weren’t really likely to accept him, anyways. He was much better off being alone and talking with the other band class students occasionally. 

Starflight sighed, and swung his legs under the bench. It wasn’t bad to be alone at lunchtime, studying. Sometimes, though, Starflight really wished that Sunny was here. She was one of the few people at Pyrrhia High School who talked to him. About history, about english, about anything…

But Sunny was quite popular too. She had her friends from theater, so she obviously didn’t have time for a nerdy clarinet player who sat next to her in Spanish class.

“Hey, Starflight!” 

Starflight looked up from Romeo and Juliet and saw Fatespeaker grinning at him. Her pigtails were quite similar to Sunny’s, and her big, brown eyes followed him curiously. As always, Fatespeaker was dressed in her pleated skirt and polo… all the same shade of black as her hair, of course. Fierceteeth dressed in black too, but in a much less intimidating way than Fatespeaker. 

“Oh, hi Fatespeaker.” 

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Fatespeaker pointed at the bench. 

“Oh, yeah,” Starflight nodded, quickly moving some of his books to the floor. This was unusual. Fatespeaker usually sat with her friends in the English quad. “How has drumline been, Fatespeaker?” 

“Really great!” Fatespeaker exclaimed. “I play the marimbas now, so that means I get to stand at the front of the stage!” She looked at the outside stage. “Hey, you know they’re having a performance here today?”

“Here? Who?”

Fatespeaker shrugged and beamed. “I have no idea! But it’s supposed to be good! At least, I think it will be! They’ll be great!”

There were always performances on the outside stage, and the majority of them were distractions for Starflight. But he couldn’t leave without making it seem like he was trying to get away from Fatespeaker. So, he was obligated to stay and watch the performance. 

Starflight wasn’t sure how to react when three of his classmates filed onto the stage, instruments in hand. Tsunami, who was in his math class. Glory, who suffered through Dr. Morrowseer’s class along with him. And Clay, who was in…so many of his classes, but most notably, the band, playing the only euphonium. 

From the distance, with his glasses, Starflight could make out Tsunami holding a bass, Glory with a keyboard, and Clay with…something that definitely wasn’t a euphonium. That had to be a guitar, right? 

“Good afternoon, everyone!” Clay exclaimed, and Starflight could tell that Clay was yelling into the microphone. “My name is Clay!” 

“I’m TSUNAMI!” 

“And I’m Glory.” 

“And we’d like to play a song for all of you today!” Clay said. He lifted his guitar. “We’re forming a band, so if anyone would like to join, please let us know, after this! Or you can text one of us.” He looked over at Tsunami, then at Glory. 

“This is SO EXCITING!” Fatespeaker bubbled. “I never knew they were forming a band! And they’re in our grade too!” 

Starflight nodded. He was actually really interested to see Clay sing and play a guitar. It was hard to picture the euphonium player who was always eating…playing something other than a euphonium and not eating. 

“The song we’ll be playing is-,” Clay started. 

They paused for a moment, then said it all together. 

“Count to three.” 

Starflight couldn’t help but watch as the three of them began to play and sing. They were very brave…not that the song was bad or anything, but Starflight could not imagine playing anything other than a clarinet onstage where everyone could see. 

It was different than being in band. In band, Starflight could hide amongst the other clarinets. Clay, Tsunami and Glory had literally nowhere to hide. 

Which was interesting, because the more Starflight watched the three of them, the more Starflight began to imagine himself onstage as well. He shook his head. What instrument would he play? The clarinet? Somehow that didn’t seem fitting. 

“Take a leap of faith on the count of three.” 

Fatespeaker immediately jumped up from the bench and began applauding wildly. Starflight couldn’t help but wonder: what would it be like if everyone applauded for him? That had never happened before. 

But looking at the audience’s reaction to Clay, Tsunami and Glory, Starflight realized that being cheered for couldn’t hurt. 

Did he really not hate being alone?

Chapter Text

“I really enjoyed your performance today,” Starflight said to Clay. Band class had just started, but Ms. Kestrel hadn’t made them begin practicing yet. Clay was still unpacking his euphonium, chewing a piece of bread at the same time. 

“Thank you!” Clay beamed, mouth still full. Starflight looked at him, aghast, a little unsure of what to think about the bread in his mouth. Clay followed Starflight’s line of sight and closed his mouth and smiled. “Do you want some bread? I have more in my pocket.”

“No, no thank you,” Starflight replied. “I don’t really know the state of the bread-”

“Bread doesn’t expire,” Clay shrugged. “Come to think of it, most foods don’t.”

“You’re going to get the stomach flu. Which wouldn’t be beneficial, since the fall band class concert is coming up. What would we do without the only euphonium?” Starflight had no idea how Clay could be so carefree. In a sense, Starflight somewhat envied that…but when he pictured himself like that, he couldn’t help but be terrified. 

“Clay, how long have you played the guitar?” Starflight asked. He didn’t remember Clay ever bringing a guitar to school before, but he was pretty good… so maybe he’d played for a while?

“Umm…on and off for a few years, but I didn’t start seriously playing until a few weeks ago?”

Starflight nodded, a little lost in thought. What would it be like if he picked up another instrument? “Oh… well, you’re really good.”

“Thank you,” Clay nodded. 

“Do you like playing guitar more than the euphonium?” Starflight questioned.
“Not necessarily. It’s just different. And it’s fun! To write songs and sing with your friends and to share all the excitement you feel with everybody!” Clay replied. There was something on the tip of Starflight’s tongue. He wanted to ask it, but he couldn’t really figure out what it was. 

Starflight was…Who was Starflight? Most of the people outside of band class had no idea who he was. Even some of the other clarinets forgot his name from time to time. It was weird. Being present but not having a presence. 

Did that upset Starflight? 

No…actually, it kind of did. Sunny was the only person who really noticed that Starflight existed… but Sunny had a tendency to notice everyone. She was one of those people that made others want to be the best versions of themselves. And Starflight was one of those people that tried really hard to be the best version of themself, but ultimately, couldn’t. 

Was theater practicing today? They did have a performance coming up, so it would make sense for them to be practicing after school. Starflight could go and be Sunny’s “moral support” again. That was what usually happened. And it didn’t seem like Sunny was unhappy to see him. 

“STARFLIGHT!” 

Starflight nearly dropped his clarinet in shock as Fatespeaker grabbed his shoulders from behind. “AH! Fatespeaker!” 

“You know, I’m having a VISION!” Fatespeaker exclaimed. 

“What is it?” 

“Well…” Fatespeaker sheepishly said. “Starflight, there was something I wanted to give you. But I didn’t remember to bring it.” 

Starflight looked, confused, at her. 

“Um… so, Ms. Kestrel, had a used keytar that she was going to throw away…but I begged her not to! So…I have it at my house, and I was going to give it to you!” 

“No, you really don’t have to,” Starflight insisted, unsure of where this was going. “It might be a waste. I don’t even play the keytar.”

“No, you should have it,” Fatespeaker insisted. “MY VISION SAYS YOU SHOULD!” 

“Okay…”

Fatespeaker was very insistent right now and Starflight didn’t exactly want to argue with her. After all, he could always return the keytar to Ms. Kestrel, or give it to someone who knew how to play it. Not that Starflight didn’t want to try playing it… but it would probably be wasted on him. “Thank you, Fatespeaker.” 

Fatespeaker smiled. “I’ll give it to you tomorrow! I’ll-I’ll see you then!” 

“Bye,” Starflight nodded. He glanced quickly at his watch. Theatre practice, if that was happening today, was probably starting soon. He could watch Sunny and do his homework in the Theatre Room…which was probably the best he could ever ask for.

Chapter Text

“I’ve been searching for ‘it’ all this time. 

No one really knows for sure but

I guess that is what makes it so fun!” 

“No. That’s not quite right,” Sunny whispered to herself. “I didn’t quite hit the note on the last sentence.” She shook her head. The song had to be perfect. She had to prove everybody in Theatre wrong. 

They didn’t really take her too seriously here. They told her that her disposition and her warm voice made her really suited to play supporting roles. Really , really suited. Which was cool and all, but Sunny wanted to prove that she could be the main character too. That she could do things, just like everybody else. 

“Sunny, we’re ready for your audition.” Ms. Kestrel opened the door to the theatre room and Sunny nodded, stepping inside. 

This wasn’t Sunny’s first audition at Pyrrhia High School Theatre Company, but it was certainly still intimidating. Ms. Kestrel did nothing to help calm Sunny’s nerves. Sunny took a deep breath and turned to face Ms. Kestrel at the front of the room. 

“Name?” Ms. Kestrel’s eyes were piercing into Sunny’s soul. 

“Uh…my name is Sunny and I’m a current freshman. I’m auditioning for the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera.”

“Christine?” Ms. Kestrel’s eyebrows were raised. “You’d make a much better Meg.” 

Sunny winced internally. That sounded a lot like what everybody said. Why didn’t they think she could play anything other than supporting characters? Maybe it was her sunny disposition…or maybe her voice was too soft or… there were a million reasons. 

“Maybe, but I still want to try,” Sunny insisted, gritting her teeth and straightening out her mind. 

“Fine by me,” Ms. Kestrel shrugged. Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. “But you probably will disappoint me.” 

“I’d rather disappoint you than not try,” Sunny nodded. It was going to be alright! She was going to show Ms. Kestrel what she was made of! Or…be humiliated…Sunny really hoped it was the first option that happened. She stepped towards the center of the room and cleared her throat. 

Usually, whenever Sunny auditioned, the song turned out worse than how she’d practiced it. Unfortunately, today was not the exception. When Sunny’s voice began to shake towards the end, she couldn’t help the tears that were coming to her eyes. It took way too much willpower for her to prevent them from streaking onto her face. Ms. Kestrel was taking a really long time to dismiss Sunny…

When could she just step outside and cry? She completely blew it! 

“Get out, Sunny. The next person is coming in.” 

“Thank you! Please consider my audition!” Sunny’s voice was shaking as she sprinted outside and instantly began to cry. Leaning against the wall, she dropped her backpack onto the floor and sobbed. 

“Sunny, are you alright?” 

Sunny looked up and came face to face with Starflight. 

She smiled. Starflight was always a good listener, and he was always nice to her. Seeing him genuinely made her happier. He was one of the few close friends she had (though she suspected she was one of his few friends as well). 

“I kind of messed up my audition.” 

“Oh, you guys are auditioning again? I thought your play hasn’t happened yet?” Starflight asked.

“Well, Ms. Kestrel likes to have us audition for the next show before the one we’re working on is finished,” Sunny grinned sheepishly, trying to dry her eyes. Starflight handed her a tissue and she nodded in thanks. “It doesn’t really make sense to me either.” 

“So what show was it you were auditioning for?” Starflight questioned gently. His eyes were focused on hers. 

“We’re doing Phantom of the Opera, and I was trying out for Christine. Except, I messed up the high note in my audition song, which means I probably won’t get the role. Ms. Kestrel already doesn’t want to cast me as Christine.” 

When Sunny first joined the Pyrrhia High School Theatre Company, she’d thought it’d be a family of sorts. Everybody would support one another, helping each and every member become an important character. 

In reality, it was quite different. Theatre was definitely fun, but it lacked that sense of camaraderie Sunny had imagined. That was definitely in part due to Ms. Kestrel. Ms. Kestrel seemed to feel that pitting everyone against one another led to greater improvement. 

“But you’re a good singer,” Starflight insisted kindly. “I mean, I’ve heard you sing. I think you’re always singing. Whenever we’re working on a project…and no one’s ever told you to shut up, which must mean you’re singing well. My sister tells me to shut up wherever I sing.” 

“That’s mean!” Sunny exclaimed. Why would Starflight’s sister talk to him that way? Everyone started off singing badly…shouldn’t they be encouraged to practice so they could get better? If everyone kept telling someone that they were bad at something and would not get better… that wouldn’t be good, would it? 

“I mean, my sister is ashamed of me,” Starflight shrugged. “She often calls me a family friend when I’m with her.” 

“Do you want to go somewhere to eat?” Sunny suggested. “We can study and talk at the same time.” 

Starflight nodded and smiled. “Sounds good to me. I have all my books with me.” 

“Oh, we need to reread Romeo and Juliet for Dr. Morrowseer’s quiz!” Sunny exclaimed. She was in a different period than Starflight, but they both still had Dr. Morrowseer for English.

“You know Dr. Morrowseer got mad at my class and had us act out the final scene?” Starflight looked quizzically at Sunny as they walked towards a nearby coffee shop. 

“Why is that a bad thing?” Wasn’t it fun to act out scenes? That was all Sunny did in Theatre. 

“Uh…well, it was rather awkward. It’s the scene where Romeo and Juliet both die and…uh, the people he cast…it was just strange all around.”

“Oh, who was the owner of the apothecary that sells Romeo the poison?” Sunny’s class hadn’t gotten to act out the scene, but if they had, Sunny would have volunteered to read those lines. 

“Fatespeaker,” Starflight replied. “That’s a rather specific role to think of.” 

“I love Fatespeaker!” Sunny exclaimed. Fatespeaker was one of her best friends, and she was always so upbeat. Sunny always felt like the two of them were on the same wavelength. 

“He told the transfer student to play Romeo, and made me play Paris. And Glory was Juliet. She just had to lay on the floor and play dead for the whole scene. I think she actually fell asleep.”

Sunny tried not to laugh. “If it had been my class, it wouldn’t be a punishment. Oh! We’re here!” 

She opened the door to the coffee shop and the two of them took a seat.

Chapter Text

Sunny stared into Starflight’s cup of coffee. “I cannot believe you are already drinking that.” 

Starflight sighed. “Neither can I. I guess I’m always tired these days. I usually don’t go to bed before one in the morning. There’s just so much homework…and I need to maintain ‘A’s’ in everything, which is hard… especially for classes like Dr. Morrowseer’s.” 

Sunny didn’t quite take school as seriously as Starflight. Sure, she tried her best in everything, but she had set a strict bedtime for herself at nine-thirty. Wherever she was on her homework at that time was where she stopped. And she tried to make time to practice drums…unlike singing, she couldn’t do that while she was doing homework. 

“Starflight, do you ever take a break?” Sunny asked. It always seemed like Starflight had his nose in a book of some sort or another. Not that there was anything wrong with books, but Sunny really thought Starflight needed to see more of the world. 

“Not really,” Starflight admitted sheepishly. 

“Have you ever wondered what’s beyond the books?” Sunny questioned with a smile. “The books will always be there. But maybe there are things going on around you that will be gone in the blink of an eye?” 

Starflight was silent. Hopefully he was thinking about it. It would be a shame to always live only for school and studying, right? 

“Starflight, do you play an instrument? Other than clarinet?”

“No. I don’t. I don’t-” He caught himself, then sheepishly finished the thought. “-have time.”

“Would you want to?” 

“Can I tell you something?” Starflight asked. He looked somewhat deep in thought. 

“Of course!” What was it that Starflight wanted to say? 

“Well, earlier today, there was a band performing on the outside stage at lunch,” Starflight began. “It was…Clay, Tsunami and Glory. The three of them formed a band. Clay played guitar, Tsunami played bass and Glory played keyboard. When they finished their performance, they said they were looking for new members, and-”

Sunny’s eyes widened. “And you want to join!” 

“Yes! I mean, no! I mean…I don’t play a rock band instrument!” Starflight protested. “I can’t even sing! You heard what my sister said-”

“But you can learn!” Sunny insisted. “It would be fun to be in a band!” 

This band must have been relatively new, since Sunny hadn’t heard of it before. She was usually in one classroom or another during lunchtime, so she hadn’t gotten the chance to watch them perform. But they must have been quite interesting if they’d made Starflight want to play something other than clarinet! 

“What instrument would you want to play?” Sunny asked. 

“I don’t know,” Starflight shook his head. “But…” He looked as if he was overcome by a thought suddenly. “Actually, maybe I could play keytar.” 

Sunny nodded. “You should! It never hurts to give things a try!” This had to be one of the few instances where Starflight actually wanted to get out of his shell, so Sunny was going to do all she could to encourage him. 

If she was going to be completely honest with herself, she sort of wanted to join now too. It didn’t sound like they already had a drummer…maybe Sunny could do that?

“I mean-”

“Just tell them you’re going to join before you have a chance to change your mind!” Sunny suggested. “Sometimes you just have to go with your gut, and just…do it!” Sunny looked carefully at Starflight. There was still some uncertainty on his face. 

“You know, let’s call Clay right now,” Sunny stated.

Starflight’s eyes widened. “What?” 

Sunny pulled out her phone and placed it on the table in between the two of them. She grinned at Starflight and gestured at him to type in Clay’s number. “You’re not sure, are you? Since you’re this reluctant to let your heart lead, let’s do it right here. Let’s tell them you’re going to join the band!” 

This was a trick Sunny had learned from her mother. It was quite helpful for overcoming mental barriers. She watched as Starflight slowly entered the number on the keypad, sucking in his cheeks more with every number he hit. 

“I’m going to regret this.” 

“No, you won’t,” Sunny promised as the call began to dial. After all, Starflight must have wanted to be in the band, since he’d just typed in the number.  

“Please don’t pick up, Clay,” Starflight whispered. 

“Hello?” Clay’s voice came out of the phone. “Starflight?” 

Sunny raised her eyebrows at Starflight, who froze. 

“Hi-Clay,” Starflight stammered. “Aren’t-aren’t you at work right now?” 

Sunny groaned internally. Starflight really wanted to be in the band. Why was he doing this? Why was he holding himself back to this extent? Suddenly, Sunny realized what to do. Starflight would throw up from shock, but it had to be done. 

“Actually, Clay,” Sunny cut in. 

“Hi Sunny,” Clay said happily. 

“What Starflight and I wanted to tell you was that we both would really like to join the band with you, Tsunami and Glory. I can play the drums and sing…I mean, I’m working on getting better at both, but I can do both. And Starflight really loved your performance today at lunch, and he wants to learn to play keytar,” Sunny explained, watching Starflight turn pale out of the corner of her eye. “He hasn’t played it before, but he’ll do his best, which is always enough!”

“Really?” Clay asked in disbelief. “Hey, Reed,” he yelled to someone off the phone. “We found more people for the band!” 

Reed said something inaudible from the other side, and Starflight turned towards Sunny in shock. Sunny had to hang up the call so Clay didn’t hear Starflight have a panic attack. “Will Tsunami and Glory be alright with this?” 

“Yes! Of course!” Clay promised. “I’ll let them know right now! Hey, are you guys available after school tomorrow? We can meet at Pasta al Drago and work out where to go from here! It’s like we have a full band now!” 

Sunny beamed. “We’ll see you then! Bye!” Clay thanked them and hung up.

Sunny turned towards Starflight and smiled. “Come on, deep down you’re happy I did that.” 

“I guess,” Starflight admitted. He smiled. “Thanks, Sunny. I…wouldn’t have done it on my own.”

Sunny grinned. “Well, it’s happening now!” 

They’d passed the point of no return! They were going to be in a band now! Sunny couldn’t have foreseen it even a few hours ago, but she was nonetheless glad that they had made that call. 

“Now,” Sunny said. “ Now we can study.”

Chapter Text

It seemed like all the customers at Pasta al Drago left at around nine in the evening. Which is why the five bandmates chose that time to sit down at a table. Except for Sunny, whose drum set would have be too much to take along, everyone had brought their instruments this time. 

“So…there’s five of us now,” Tsunami noted, looking around. She wasn’t unhappy about that, rather, she looked quite excited, similar to everyone else there. However, she seemed a little unsure of how to start off the meeting. 

Clay nodded. “I mean, now that we have everyone we need…we can really get started!” 

“Wait, what are we going to be called?” Tsunami questioned. “Since we’re in our final form now, shouldn’t we come up with a name?” 

“Any ideas, anyone?” Glory asked, looking around. “I’m sorry, I’m a little out of names right now. I spent a whole day in Biology today trying to figure out a name for a plant. Not that I wanted to name it in the first place, but my tablemate did.” She groaned. “I don’t know why I never get any new table partners. I’m always stuck with the same. Annoying. One.” 

“What?” Starflight asked confusedly. “Who told you to name the plant?” 

“Glory has six out of six classes with the transfer student,” Tsunami smirked while explaining. “Before he came, Glory always sat alone in class, so the teachers always put him next to her. Something about ‘collaboration’ and ‘teamwork’ I think.” 

“I think it’s because the only empty seat in most classes is- was -next to me,” Glory corrected. 

“What?” No one wanted to sit with you?” Sunny asked. “That’s terrible!” 

“It was more like I didn’t want to sit with anyone.” 

Sunny went silent, but her entire face was clearly screaming the word “why”. 

“We’re getting off track,” Glory concluded. “Does anyone have any name ideas?” 

“The Pyrrhia High School Rock Band?” Starflight asked quietly. 

“Yeah…no,” Tsunami concluded. “That’s way too basic.” 

Starflight bit his lip quietly. 

“What if we called ourselves the Dragonets of Destiny?” Sunny suggested, breaking the silence. “I mean, it makes sense, right? The mascot of Pyrrhia High School is dragons, but we’re only freshmen, so maybe we’d be ‘dragonets’? And destiny…because we can shape our own fate against all the odds? I mean, look at us! We’re all from different activities and groups at school! Who would have thought a few weeks ago that we’d all get together and form a band?” 

“I like that,” Clay nodded thoughtfully. “‘Dragonets’ because while we might be small now, we’ll grow into something bigger, stronger and better!” 

“I like that too,” Starflight agreed. “A lot more than the one I came up with.” 

“So does that work for everyone?” Clay asked. 

“I have no qualms,” Glory shrugged. She looked at Tsunami. 

“I… don’t really want to go around calling ourselves ‘kids’, but it’s a cool name,” Tsunami sighed. “I’m fine with it…mostly.” 

“Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight and Sunny. The Dragonets of Destiny!” Sunny beamed. “So we’re officially a band now!” 

“Now that there’s five of us, we should write a new song. A song that everyone is part of and contributed to,” Clay insisted. 

“What would it be about?” Starflight asked. 

“PLANTS!” Tsunami boomed. Glory glared at her. 

“What about a song about coming together?” Sunny asked. “And destiny? It can be about how on our own, we’re like lonely little instruments, but when we’re together, we’re a symphony?” 

“Did you already think of this beforehand?” Tsunami frowned at Sunny intently. “You are being VERY VERY specific and smart, and it gives off the notion that you brainstormed all of these ideas IN ADVANCE.”

“I didn’t, actually,” Sunny beamed. “But thank you for the compliment. Actually, we do a lot of improvisation in Theatre, so we all have to come up with lots of ideas quickly.” 

“Well, I like Sunny’s idea,” Clay said. 

“I think it’s HIGHLY UNFAIR that she’s already had two great ideas in the span of FIVE MINUTES…but I like it too,” Tsunami admitted. 

“Oh…wow. I was not expecting that,” Sunny blushed. 

“Wait, let me try writing some lyrics right now!” Clay suggested. He pulled out a piece of paper out of his pocket and Glory handed him a pen from her pocket. 

“Who carries a pen with them everywhere?” Tsunami muttered. 

“ I do,” Glory and Starflight said at the same time. 

“Actually, I carry seven pens,” Starflight corrected, pulling out seven black pens from his pocket. “One for each of the following purposes, in this order in particular.” He placed them on the table then pointed at them from left to right. “Taking notes, timed writes, signing papers, doodling, lending to a friend, general writing, and miscellaneous uses.”

“Why isn’t general writing just part of miscellaneous uses?” Clay asked curiously, looking up from his writing. In the span of Starflight’s description of his pens, Clay had managed to write several verses.

“Miscellaneous uses include putting the pen behind your ear during the ‘dress like a secretary spirit day’ at school,” Starflight explained. “As well as punching holes in your papers when you sit too far from the class hole puncher. I never write with it. That’s why there’s so much ink in it.” 

“I don’t know what’s crazier,” Tsunami admitted. “Your IDENTICAL pens and the fact that you can SOMEHOW tell the difference between them or that Clay just finished ALL the lyrics to a song. They’re both rather MIND BLOWING facts, you know?” 

“I can compose a song to that,” Glory offered. “I can work it out on the piano and write out the sheet music for it.” 

“That’d be great,” Clay beamed, handing the lyrics over to Glory, who looked them over. 

“And we have… guitar, bass, keytar, drums and keyboard, which means we technically also have the synthesizer as well…since I can make my keyboard sound like a synthesizer.” Glory murmured to herself as she flipped through the pages. 

“Glory, do you know how to play keytar?” Starflight questioned suddenly. 

“It’s a little like piano so…possibly?” Glory shrugged. “But I’m certainly going to be no expert at it. You’re probably better off going on the Internet for tutorials and then practicing from there.” 

“Th-thanks.” 

“So we’re the Dragonets of Destiny now,” Tsunami grinned broadly. “And we’re writing songs.” 

“I would never have thought this would happen a few weeks ago,” Clay agreed in wonder. 

There was a moment of silence and awe between the five of them.

“I’ll go home and get to work on this then,” Glory said. “It seems like we’ve hit a stopping point.” 

The lights in Pasta al Drago winked off as the Dragonets of Destiny stepped out into the cool October air. Even though the wind was cold, it felt like there were endless possibilities awaiting.

Chapter Text

“I heard something from Greatness today,” Glory announced, sitting down at the lunch table. “Something that I think will interest all of you.” 

“What is it?” Sunny asked curiously. “What did Greatness tell you?” 

Glory looked down. “Well, actually she didn’t tell me , per se. I overheard her. She was calling somebody, and she was talking about the High School Band Grand Prix.” 

“I’ve never heard of that,” Clay murmured. “What is it about?” 

“It’s supposed to be a national competition where high school bands can…it’s basically a battle of the bands but with an unnecessarily fancy name,” Glory explained. “We should go compete! It’s not enough to merely do something for fun, we have to compete, since that’ll make us improve more quickly!” 

“What?” Starflight asked. “I…we won’t win though!” 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?” Tsunami demanded. “Do you not have ANY faith in us?” 

“No, I have perfect faith in you all! Just not necessarily myself!” Starflight protested. “I mean…there’s no way we could win a national competition after only having played together for a few weeks. I mean…most of those bands must have been together for years and years and years…” He pulled out a pen. It was probably the “miscellaneous” pen, since he was using it to tap on his temple.
“Wait, it says it costs ten thousand dollars to go,” Tsunami noted. “Not including airplane tickets since it is in…a whole other part of the country. Even if we could win, we wouldn’t be able to afford it.” 

“Well, I already saw that, but you know what’s interesting?” Glory asked. She looked at each one of them one at a time. “Pyrrhia High School’s Administration has paid for our Science Olympiad team to go to a national competition like this…and they had even more people that needed to be transported. Not to mention all the sports programs that the admin’s paid for…we might be able to talk them into sending us there.” 

“So…we have to show the admin what we’re made of,” Tsunami was thinking out loud at this point. “How? When? I’m totally in! I mean, I LOVE competition and proving to everybody what we can do!” 

“Can we put this on our college resumes?” Starflight questioned, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. 

Glory rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you could. But that’s beside the point.” She put her hands down on the table. “In order to make a convincing argument to the admin, we’ve got to put on a performance-a full performance-and get a crowd engaged.” 

“A full performance…” Clay mused. “It has to be here, right?” 

Glory nodded. 

“Wait, so we just agreed we’re going to do this competition and try to perform in front of a…I assume very large audience?” Starflight cried. “Don’t you think we’re rushing this a little too much? Maybe we should-”

“No!” Sunny insisted playfully. “If we don’t go with our gut, we’ll never get anything done!”

“But-,” Starflight took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m…not going to hesitate like this anymore.” 

“That’s the spirit!” Sunny applauded. 

“I guess it would be fun to compete and perform for everybody,” Clay mused, nodding along. “What are the rules for the competition? Do we need to bring our instruments and perform a song we wrote or something?” 

Glory shrugged. “It’s pretty open-ended. We technically don’t even need to bring instruments…technically only the vocals need to be live…though we do need to write an original song. But we can do that. Speaking of writing a song, I have the one you gave me the lyrics to.” 

“Really? Can we see it?” Clay asked. 

Glory nodded, digging into her rather organized backpack and pulling out five separate sets of sheet music. She looked at the parts listed on each sheet and distributed them accordingly. “I can fix anything if I need to. It shouldn’t be too difficult. When should we practice together?” 

“‘Symphony of Five’” Sunny read. She beamed. “Hey! You used my description!” 

“It was a good one,” Glory complimented. Tsunami frowned. Glory smiled gently, which was rare, and looked at Sunny. “I couldn’t have done it better myself.” 

Tsunami smacked the lunch table. “YOU DIDN’T JUST SAY THAT!” 

“I just did.” 

Tsunami moaned and face-palmed herself. “That’s the biggest compliment you can get from Glory… usually she won’t admit that she needs other people. She’s NEVER EVER EVER told me that before.” 

Glory rolled her eyes. “You can’t do anything better than me.” 

“So we’re all going to compete in the…High School Competition or something…” Tsunami changed the subject quite smoothly. She shook her head in frustration. “UGH! I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS CALLED!” 

“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” Glory pointed out. “And it’s High School Band Grand Prix.” 

“Don’t argue guys!” Sunny insisted. “We have to be able to work together if we’re going to win!” 

“And maybe we should do those fundraisers where you sell the chocolate bars,” Starflight suggested. “Band class is always doing it. One time I had to sell a case of those chocolate bars with Clay, but uh…” He glanced at Clay. 

“Oh…uh…” Clay looked down sheepishly. “I accidentally ate them all.” 

“ALL SIXTY?” Tsunami demanded. “There’s literally sixty of them in a case!” 

“All sixty,” Clay confirmed, smiling. “It’s pretty embarrassing, actually. We made no money…people were making fun of us a lot…” 

“They weren’t making fun of us because we made no money,” Starflight murmured quietly, then looked away. Glory caught the joke and snorted a little. It seemed to fly right over everyone else’s heads. 

“I’ll talk to Greatness… again , then,” Glory promised as the end of lunch bell rang. She sighed. “You know there’s a partner test in Biology today? I’m absolutely screwed . I really hope I know photosynthesis and the Krebs Cycle like the back of my hand.” 

“You’ll carry your team,” Starflight assured her. 

“No, I’m going to end up getting absolutely nothing done,” Glory corrected. “I’ll make sure I let Greatness know. Now that there’s a competition, we absolutely cannot afford to be left behind.” 

“That was… a quick change of topic,” Tsunami noted in slight awe. 

Starflight quietly handed Glory a pair of noise cancellation headphones from his backpack. “Don’t lose them. I need them for when I take the partner test later today. It’s going to get really loud around me as well.”

Chapter Text

“I talked to Greatness,” Glory stated calmly. “She was rather reluctant to approve it, but she said we were allowed to perform at halftime. Or, I suggested that we perform at halftime. It makes sense, since the whole school will be there, and-”

“That’s amazing!” Sunny clapped. “So-

“-BUT-,” Glory interrupted. “She has some…conditions.” 

“UGH. WHAT IS UP WITH HER?” Tsunami groaned. “What does she WANT from us?”

“She wants us to perform a song with a rap.”

“WELL WE DON’T HAVE ONE!” Tsunami bellowed.

“I do,” Glory stated. “I’ve actually performed it before, but no one here will know it. It’ll be new to Pyrrhia High School.” She calmly pulled out a stack of papers from her green backpack. “I wrote it when I was in elementary school, so the words may be out of date, but the idea is still there.” 

“Oh, did they like it when you performed it?” Clay asked. “Oh…it transitions from rapping to singing back to rapping…”

“They seemed to like it. And shortly after I got off the stage after finishing this song, one of my classmates started singing a rather depressing song titled ‘Neutral’ to me. I like to pretend that memory doesn’t exist,” Glory mused. “Why ‘Neutral’ out of all songs?” 

“Isn’t ‘Neutral’ that song about a person that likes someone who’s indifferent to them?” Starflight asked. “It’s honestly a little sadistic if I’m being honest. Like…it’s like they enjoy being pushed away by that person they like.”

“It is that song. I find it dark but oddly relatable now,” Glory shrugged. 

“What…part of that song?” Sunny asked in a concerned voice. 

“‘Like a Dream’,” Tsunami read, looking through the sheet music. “A song about being utterly captivated and falling in love at first sight with a person that represents ‘trouble’. While it is destined to be dangerous, it is also irresistible…” 

“That is…also dark,” Sunny noted. “I really liked Clay’s songs about following your dreams a lot more in terms of meaning. But these are really well-written. I would just hope these songs never apply to my life…” 

Glory was silent. 

“Well, Glory would do all the rapping parts, right?” Starflight suggested. “And we can break up the singing portions of the song.” 

“That sounds good,” Clay agreed. Everyone else nodded. 

“Oh, one more thing,” Glory interjected. “We won’t be able to bring our instruments onto the field, which means we’re going to have to record everything beforehand and send it to the sound system.” 

“So what are we going to do on the field?” Tsunami demanded.

“We’re going to dance.”

“YOU’RE KIDDING.”

“I am not,” Glory stated flatly. “I can come up with something simple that we can do while singing at the same time.”

“Oh, I like to dance!” Sunny exclaimed. “I can help you with the choreography! I know how to do formations and things like that! And I can also do lighting and sound design!” She beamed. “I love performing onstage.” 

“Starflight and I are performing with the rest of Band class during the game, but we can join you during halftime. We have a break during halftime though, so we can join you then,” Clay said. “We’ll still be in the Band class uniform though.” 

“That’s fine,” Glory shrugged. “I’ll be in a cheer uniform as well, which is going to be really really embarrassing.” She groaned. “I hate the cheer uniform so much. It’s much too short and uncomfortable for me.” 

“That’s funny,” Tsunami laughed. 

“I’m shoving you into a pool the first chance I get,” Glory snapped. “You’re currently number two on my list of people I need to punish creatively and firmly!” She frowned. “I need to write a rap about drowning Tsunami.” 

“I’m on the swim team!” Tsunami protested.  

Glory sighed. “Sunny, do you have any ideas we can start off with? In terms of the dance and the line distribution for the song? Oh, and we need to record it…I hope it’s not too bad of a recording.”
“We can do it in the Band classroom,” Starflight offered. “Once Ms. Kestrel leaves…of course.” 

“And…I might be able to smuggle a recording device out of my home,” Tsunami noted. “MAYBE. That’s assuming my mother isn’t home…though if Auklet is home, that’s equally unhelpful as well…I’ll figure it out.” 

“Well, the football game is about two weeks away,” Glory noted. “So we have to be quick.” 

“Don’t worry about it!” Clay grinned. 

“Well, you know,” Starflight cut in. “It might be better to worry about it. The field is ours, and it would be really, really embarrassing if we messed up, don’t you think?” Starflight’s miscellaneous pen was pounding on the table in frustration. 

“Glory, you know what we should do?” Sunny asked. “We should do one of those triangle formations! And there’s that thing they do in theatre where everyone follows the person who’s singing while remaining in the formation-”

“Wh-what?” Glory stammered, looking unusually concerned. “You don’t really mean that, do you? And…they don’t do that when people are rapping, do they?” 

Sunny nodded. “They do! It’ll be great! You can stand in the middle, me and Tsunami on either side of you, and Clay and Starflight next to me and Tsunami, respectively! It’s a lot less strange than I’m making it sound, I promise!” 

Glory looked as if Sunny was asking her to yank out her own hair. 

Clay beamed, somewhat unaware of the situation at hand. As he took a bite out of his sandwich, he said, “This is going to be amazing!”