User blog:Prince12/Chapter 12: My First Song

Hey guys! This is the twelfth chapter of the first book in the series, a.k.a. the twelfth chapter of Freaky Freshmen called Chapter 11: Getting My Way. I haven't been able to do these chapters in about four years because I got caught up with both Writer's Block and Life.... But I'm back now! Hope you guys enjoy it, and remember, all chapters will be written in script form.

Starring
Heather Kershner

Mick Key

Daniel Tucker

Dakota Tice

Garrett Jackson

Willie Walls

Logan Gilbert

Jack Roberts

Omar Flores

Setting 1
The Band Room

Setting 2
Parking lot

Setting 3
Heather's Bedroom

Setting 4
Auto Shop

Setting 5
Cafeteria Stage

Here we go, guys! Get ready!

Part 1
It was a couple days after all the craziness went down with the planning of the Fall Play, the teacher incident and such. The kids in the band Strawberry Lumps were all in the band room practicing individually when Mick walked in to talk to them.

Mick: Alright, guys. We've been practicing and planning very well on our instruments these past couple weeks and I honestly think it's time we take the next step.

Garrett: Which is?

Mick: Any of you know how to write a song?

'Garrett: Songwriting? No, not me.

Mick: Dakota, what about you? You've been in band since middle school.

Dakota: Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm good at songwriting. I never wrote a song in my life.

Mick: Really? I'm surprised.

Dakota: Well, I'm not much of a writer to begin with.

Mick: Okay, fair enough.

Heather: I'm a writer.

Mick Have you ever wrote a song before?

Heather: Not songs, but I write poems.

Mick: Would you like to write the first song for Strawberry Lumps?

Heather: Sure, I can do that. Is there a specific genre you prefer? I've always viewed Strawberry Lumps as more of an Indie Rock/pop band.

Mick: Not really. But I can see our band that way. Sounds good, Heather. I will leave that job up to you.

Heather: Any specific time you'd like the song written by?

Mick: How about the end of next week. Songwriting isn't at all easy, but I'm here if you need any help.

Willie: Yeah, good luck. You're not gonna make it 'til then.

Heather: Glad to know you support me, Willie.

Garrett: Put a sock in it, Willie.

Mick: *ignoring Willie* Heather, let me know by tonight if you need any help.

Heather: I will.

Part 2
Meanwhile, Jack was skating on his board to school in the parking lot when Logan and Omar drove up in a new car.

Jack: Dude, sweet ride.

Omar: Isn't it?

Jack: This your car?

Logan: Mine.

Jack: Sweet, man. When did you buy it?

Logan: Yesterday. This is my first car ever. I've been saving up.

Jack: Do you know anything about them?

Logan: Not a clue.

Omar: I know some, but not much.

Jack: I can give you some tips on how to fix and what to do in various weather conditions, if you'd like.

Logan: Sure.

Jack: Meet me in the Auto shop after school. I'll show you then.

Part 3
After school, Heather was already home for about an hour and had written down some ideas for some Indie Rock songs for the band. She was having some trouble, so she decided to text Mick and request he come over to her place and help her.

Mick: *texting her back* Sure, I'll be over there soon.

After Mick arrived, he knocked on her bedroom door.

Heather: Come in.

Mick: *walks in* Hey. How are you doing?

Heather: Struggling, honestly. Songwriting is a lot harder than I thought.

Mick: I told you. But that's why I'm now a professional. I've been doing it for years. It just takes a lot of practice and a lot of time.

Heather: Will you please help me?

Mick: Show me what you have so far.

Heather shows him the papers she wrote and Mick seems to be very impressed.

Heather: What do you think?

Mick: I think you're a very good writer. That's the first step to writing a song is writing down something you relate to, even if it's your feelings in a poem.

Heather: Why, thank you.

Mick: The next step is applying the melody.

Heather: How do we do that?

Mick: I can start here on my guitar. First, give me the first 3 words that pop into your head when you think about what you wrote.

Heather: The first 3 words?

Mick: Yeah.

Heather: Okay, hmm, let's see.... *thinks about it for a moment* Happy, emotional, yet mysterious at the same time..

Mick: What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about the song?

Heather: Friendship.

Mick: What are your hopes that this song will bring?

Heather: Encouragement..

Mick: Okay, how about this? *plays an encouraging, uplifting tune for about 10 seconds*

Heather: I like it.

Mick: Now apply the words while I play the rhythym.

Heather: Hello my friend... Let me tell you a little story. It's a little story about the day we met. It was a cold windy day, the sun was shining in a beautiful horizon. You looked at me and said 'How do you do?' I said 'I'm swell, it's nice to meet you.' Next thing we know, we're playing some games, you tell me your name, I say mine and things go real fine. We talk some more and you tell me a struggle and I listen to you and you start to guggle. I ask if you're okay and you tell me fine, I can tell you're lying, I tell you to not stop trying. I tell you I'm here if you ever need a friend and I'll be by your side until the very end.

Mick: Beautiful.

Heather: Thank you.

Mick: I think we have our first gig.

Heather: Yeah, let's show the rest of the guys at school!

Part 4
Meanwhile, Jack was in the Auto Shop when Logan and Omar pulled the car in.

Jack: You guys didn't actually have to bring in your car. I was just going to use one of the sample cars. That's okay, though. I'll still use them.

Omar: Okay.

Jack: So first lesson, changing the tires. You're going to need a jack and a lug-nut wrench, as well as one of these spare tires. Check the spare tires regularly. Park on level ground. Take off the cap and use the wrench to take off some of the lug-nuts. Remove them like so *starts moving the wrench in a star pattern* Also, put a brick against the back of the wheel to keep the car from sliding. Then, apply the jack in the middle of the car. This will lift the car to make changing the tires easier.

Omar: Like this *uses the jack*

Jack: Yes. Next, take off the tire once the lug-nuts are all out and then look for the air valve.

Logan: Next?

Jack: Replace the lug-nuts in the same order you used them. Tighten them partly, each, until each of them is tightened in. Then, go back into your star pattern. Then lower the jack.

Logan: *walks over to the jack* Okay, now how do I do that? , Jack: Turn the handle slowly, counter clock-wise until it reaches the ground. And go easy on it.

Logan: *lowers the jack*

Jack: Good.

Omar: This isn't so hard.

Jack: Not really. I'll show you how to chain your tires when Winter comes around. Now's not the time for it. Next, I'm only going to show you how to use jumper cables since I don't have much time.

Logan: No problem.

Jack: Before you start the car, make sure the batteries are of similar voltage. You don't want to use the wrong voltage. Get the cars together as close as possible, but don't allow the cars to touch one another. Make sure the cars are off and in park before you start any of this. Then, take these four steps: 1). Connect one red clamp to the positive (+) battery post of the dead battery, 2). Connect the other red clamp to the positive (+) battery post of the good battery, 3). Connect one black clamp to the negative (-) post of the good battery, 4). Carefully connect the other black-end clamp to some large metallic part of your car's engine block. Never connect it to the negative post of the dead battery, otherwise it'll cause sparks and ignite battery gases.

Logan: Understood. *as he goes over to the car*

Jack: Start the working car and keep it at idling speed for a few minutes.

Logan: *starts his car and keeps it at a good speed*

Jack: Omar, go start the dead car.

Omar: *starts it*

Jack: *yells loud enough for them to hear him* Now, I'm going to disconnect the jumper cables in the reverse order. Let the cars run for at least 30 minutes.

Thirty minutes go by and the "dead" car works perfectly.

Jack: See? This will at least help you on your car experience. Good luck.

Logan: Thank you.

Part 5
After a few hours go by, Mick and Heather head up to the cafeteria stage to show Dakota, Daniel, Willie, and Garrett what they have so far.

Mick: Hey, guys. I think we finally figured it out. Heather wrote a song in just a few hours and we already found a rhythm for it.

Willie: No way. Not possible.

Heather: Very possible.

Willie: Okay, then let's hear it.

Mick: Well, hold on now. We'll show you what we have, but we want you guys to jump in. One of these requires a keyboard.

Garrett: I'll do it.

Mick: Good, here are the keys *gives them to Garrett* Dakota, we need the drum beat. Willie, we need your bass playing skills.

Daniel: What about me?

Mick: Daniel, you'll be in the song. But for this first observance, we need you to record so we know how it sounds.

Daniel: I'm on it.

Mick: Ready guys?

Everyone: Ready.

Mick: Okay, here we go. 1.... 2.... 1, 2, 3! *starts playing his guitar*

As the band starts playing, Heather sings her lyrics, Willie plays the bass, and it begins with Dakota playing a rocking drum beat. Garrett plays a very fast-paced piano tune. A few minutes later, they finish and Daniel shows them the recording.

Garrett: Well?

Daniel: It sounded not like what I expected... We rock, guys!

Mick: I second that. We have our first gig, and it's all thanks to Heather! What are you going to call this song?

Heather: When We Met.

Daniel: Beautiful.

Heather: Not what you thought, was it Willie?

Willie: Honestly, no. Good job, Heather. I stand corrected. And that's hard for that to happen to me.

Heather: Well, thank you.

Mick: After a few more practices and including Daniel, we should be solid. Great job, guys!

Alrighty, there you have it. It took me a whole day to write this chapter but it's finally finished. I'll keep on trying to write these chapters, so bear with me guys. Thanks for reading