All the World's a Stage::Open::

[layla]

* all the world's a stage,

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and all the men and women merely players
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This was it. Layla Ruth Elton was looking around her new school, and decided to save the best room for last. The choir room. That's where she would most likely hang out during her lunch hour, playing the piano and singing. She opened the doors and peered in, not sure what to expect. It looked to be pretty peaceful.

Layla closed the door behind her and went to the piano, setting her books on top of it and sitting on the bench. She placed her fingers on the keys, feeling them under the tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes gently, the feel of it once again welcoming her to play.

Layla played piano and sang "Memory" from the Musical Cats.

Daylight
See the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses whither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day . . .

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun

As soon as Layla was finished, she sat back and stared at the piano. Story of my life.

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* the pen is mightier than the sword

[/color] x words
* such stuff as dreams are made on[/color] using quotes from william shakespeare and lyrics from Epica's Memory (Layla singing Memory)
* get thee to a nunnery![/color] Open is/are tagged
* what's in a name?[/color] template made by LAURIE?! of CAUTION 2.0
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[jackgreen]

Their Glee Club was named New Directions here. Jack had found
that out earlier that morning. Hadn't he? Or had it been Danny?
He couldn't recall anymore. Everything just seemed to blend
together. He remembered coming to school that morning, Danny
chattering away beside him. It was infuriating, sometimes, how
he almost never left him alone, when he was nervous. Jack
coudn't quite remember what had happened, but he did
remember waking up in the nurse's office with an ice pack under
his neck. Apparently he'd just...collapsed. And because of health
reasons, Jack was allowed to go home as soon as the nurse
thought he was okay to walk by himself. So he'd gone home for
the day, and then when he felt better later he thought to go
back to school. He had no idea where any of his classes were,
and he thought he might be less stressed out the next day if he
at least knew how to get around school.

At the last second, he'd thought to grab his acoustic guitar, to
take it with him. It made more sense to take it now, and leave it
in the choir room, than to carry it with him every day. So it was
slung over his shoulder as he wandered the halls aimlessly, glad
that nobody else was there. Occasionally he saw glimpses of
people, or of strange things out of the corner of his eye, but he
could never be sure if it was truly happening or if it was all a
delusion. And considering he was also hearing voices
occasionally, telling him awful things, he was pretty sure he was
just having a minor episode. Nothing to really worry about, yet.
Finally, he came to the choir room, and he stepped in, looking
right and left and then finally in front of him, his gaze locking on
the only other person in the room.

"H-hello...." The red hair was entirely too familiar to him. He did,
after all, live with his sister, who lived with her best friend, who
was sitting at the piano directly in front of Jack. And Jack was
embarassed, though he wasn't able to explain why. He felt he
was intruding, though he'd missed her actually playing. Feeling
strange, he bit his lower lip, taking his guitar off his back and
holding it in his hands, liking having the weight of it in his hands.
"I'm s-sorry...I c-can leave?" Oh, curse his nervous stuttering...
he couldn't help but think he sounded like an idiot. And that was
the last thing he ever wanted to do....especially in front of Layla.
She probably already thought he was a nutcase, because he'd
sworn Amber to secrecy about his illness. But crazy and stupid?
Great. Jack could agree to being crazy. Stupid, not so much.
Then again, Danny said he was all the time. Perhaps he was
stupid...he didn't want Layla to know that, then.