Seven days had gone by and sleep was constantly evading me. I've been stressing out these past days and it has really affected my performances during practice. I really needed my friend Leslie right now but unfortunately, she was on vacation with her parents. Ugh! Why did she have to be on vacation right now? But with or without Leslie, now I had to set my anxieties aside as the day for Band Clash 2006 has finally arrived. West Lane's own concert hall was the venue for this music extravaganza since our school had the equipment and the space to accommodate a huge crowd. It was about six pm when I peeked behind one of the stage's curtains. I held my breath when I saw that people had started arriving to the venue, filling the seats to a maximum capacity. It was a Friday so naturally the majority of those watching would be students. Relax, Maddie! You've played for crowds like this before. While the entire concert hall was filled with excitement, behind the curtains was no differen

I had been alternately sleeping and studying through most of the weekend. So when Monday came, I had fully regained my energy and had enough preparation time for finals week or "hell week" as we liked to call it. Leslie had come back from her vacation and I was dying to tell her all the details of the recently concluded battle of the bands and my recent closeness with Adrian. But I guess that it will have to wait until much later because right now, I had exams to worry about. For the first two days of hell week, I had minor subjects to go through and for the last three days, the major ones. When the first day ended, I was already pretty much spent from answering essays, fill in the blank questions, and multiple choice items. I had already asked Leslie to go with me on Saturday for the victory party so we decided to go on a little shopping spree and headed straight for our favorite mall after class to unwind and find the perfect outfits. And while we shopped, I started telling Les

A week after my debutante ball, something unexpected happened. It was a Monday and it began as ordinary as any other day would. I got up, got dressed, and went to school as usual. I sat through several hours of lectures and quizzes and spent several more of that listening to another one Leslie's stories during her days as the former head cheerleader of her old school. After our chat, we decided to call it a day because Les had errands to run and I had band practice. We said our goodbyes before I headed to the concert hall. The Decadence of The Fallen had another performance coming up so band practiced continued as usual. I arrived to find that the equipment had already been set up and everyone was already waiting for me. Well everyone except Adrian, that is. "Hey, guys. You're all here early. So, should we do a sound check first or should we wait for Adrian to come?" I said trying not to sound too disappointed that he wasn't there. Nobody answered. It was unusual but I tried a

Celine quickly chased after Adrian and left the concert hall just as abruptly as he did. Spence came in through the doors just as Celine was leaving and tried to ask her about what was happening but she said nothing and just continued to chase after Adrian. Left with no other options, Spence started walking to the stage to ask us instead. "Would you guys care to enlighten me about what the heck is going on around here and why the hell are people walking out?" No one dared to answer. Everyone was still probably taking in the shock of what just happened or simply did not want to interfere with the whole Adrian-Celine situation but I knew that I had to do something. I got up from the drum throne and started walking off the stage. Midway, I felt someone suddenly grab my arm. I was startled so I immediately turned my head to find out who it was and I was surprised to see that it was JD who was holding on to me. "Where are you going, Maddie?" JD had slung his guitar behind him as he

I woke up with a terrible hangover the day after and an uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach, all courtesy of my reckless behavior and my little stint at Below Zero last night. I don't think that I'll be able to show my face there ever again after that whole scene with Adrian and my very "classy" and "graceful" exit afterwards. I can't even remember how I got home last night, much less, get myself dressed in my pajamas and in bed after that but I guess I somehow managed. I brushed that thought off as I got up from under the sheets and headed to the bathroom. Halfway there, I suddenly realized that I didn't manage on my own and that someone had to carry me and bring me home last night. It was Adrian! The last person that I wanted to see me fall from grace witnessed it all firsthand. My life just keeps getting better and better. I felt sick and ran to the bathroom sink to relieve myself of the horrible feeling in my stomach. Apparently, there were still some cosmos left in my sys