Turncoat -Remy-

[Colton Nozuka]

Colton Nozuka, five foot something, eighteen year old drummer from Sydney Australia. His life is composed of his past; a past that cements the path for his future.

Blonde hair was splayed over a green bandana that was tied on the eighteen year old's head, accenting his blue eyes. Naturally tanned skin was covered with a random teeshirt that said "God Loves Gear Jammin' Piston Rammin..." but the rest was undisputable although a picture of a red semi-truck could be seen. The shirt was accompanied with a pair of well worn jeans as the teen entered the practice hall. Lucky for him, it was empty.

His striking blue eyes found what he was looking for; the drumset. Not like the one he had at home but it was a bit better. A slight smile appeared on his attractive face as he moved easily towards the set of drums, symbals, snare drums and timpani. This was going to be fun.

A set of drumsticks stuck out of the back pocket of his pants; his signature look. Colton never went anywhere without them. He reached his right arm back to grab them from where they were resting and examined the sticks with a look of mere adoration. Strange but that was Colton. He found a seat on the stool and positioned himself just right.

Cracking his hands, he then warmed up with a simple run through of the drums, striking them in different places, creating different notes before actually starting to play. The song of his childhood ran though his mind and he hit the first drum to begin; Kids and Heroes by Bouncing Souls. Colton didn't need a music book, he knew it off by heart. He was in the middle of the song and had been sucked into the flawlessness of it all, that he didn't notice anything around him and was only aware of the song and the drums.

[remy barboza!]

pigeons, take your friend's shoes off,
pigeons, take your fake jewels off!
n o - p i g e o n s

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practice time, baby.

it was about 3:54 PM, or so her clock claimed in neon numbers, which meant remy had to go to practice in about six minutes. well actually, nevermind that, because that was an utter lie. remy was the type of person who said things and kind-of... never did them. or at least, she would procrastinate. for example, if someone told her it was time for dinner, she would say, "okay, okay, i'm cominggg!" and so she'd keep you waiting for about, let's say thirty minutes. and then? she'd be sauntering or skipping down the hall towards the dining hall. this, of course, is a bad habit that she persists to break it. but what happens? she "forgets."

anyways, the point was that this wasn't really the time to practice. hell, she never assigned herself a practice time and followed it, with an odd exception of her being in a bad mood. but that's beside the point; her practice times varied. what really mattered though, was the fact that remy decided to go now. she had nothing else really to do, besides that load of crap-er, homework to do on her desk accompanied by all sorts of other papers and gum wrappers and bowls with forks and spoons and everything in between!

so, remy was now on her way to the practice hall after her little session of "preparation." really, she'd just thrown on whatever she felt like; a plaid, oversized flannel shirt merely covered her upper torso, with the buttons looped into the wrong holes. but of course, she couldn't find the effort to spend time to match the holes with the buttons. anywhosies, the button-up shirt was enough as dress already, but as expected, she threw on a pair of random turquoise tights. yellow, knee-high socks were layered upon that, with green frogs scattered among the fabric. everyone had a pair of chucks these days, and remy was no exception.

so with that in mind, remy skipped down the halls, as her red high-tops (actually, the once-red high-tops; now they look as if they're.. orange/brown?) kicked against the flooring. the innocent adolescent held a smile across her face and a drumstick in each of hands. she was air-drumming, pounding an imaginary drum kit with the sticks. of course crazy glares were flashed her way, nearly hitting several students with the sticks. but remy was too oblivious to notice anything now, lost in her own world.

and then there was the wall, which she collapsed into and then fell backwards. as remy was attempting to collect herself, her eyes caught the attention of a sign which read, "PRACTICE HALL." in a matter of seconds, remy could lose herself to a drumkit. she swung the door open, fully expected to have her own drumkit and the practice hall to herself. remy merrily skipped in, scatterbrained. but then, in a mere milli-second, a banging noise interrupted her mind. it was the sound of... drums? she later concluded, letting her hazel eyes lift up to the set of drums being played by some stranger.

no, she was supposed to drumming right now. i mean, there were plenty of other drumkits availible, but being the stubborn girl she was, remy stood there. that was hers. actually, it wasn't really hers, but she always played it. then her eyes traveled to the player, and it didn't take much for her jaw to drop and her thoughts immediately emptied. damn, that guy was hot.

[Colton Nozuka]

Colton's wrists, hands and arms moved fluidly as his foot pushed on the pedal to engage on the bass drum. His body moved with the music he was creating and his blond locks flew around his face and into the air. He was in the zone and wouldn't notice anything until the song was over.

As he was playing the song, his memory flashed back into his past and he could see his mother's beaten face behind his eyes and then the feeling of his muscles as he raised and lowered the bat with more fury than imaginable; a scary sort of anger that drove someone to do a crime that Colton had. With those thoughts, his movements changed from smooth and almost effortless, to full of emotion and the sound became louder, almost forceful sounding.

Stunning blue eyes were down at the drums as he watched his limbs work. The song was almost at an end but he wasn't the least bit tired so he eased the notes into another song, still not noticing the girl that had entered the room. His mind screamed at him as it noticed her unruly stare but he ignored it as he switched from the Bouncing Souls to something totally unrelated. The song may not be recognisable to some but it was definately less upbeat than Kids and Heroes. She may know the artist by Matt Wertz but may not. The song, well it was slower and let Colton unravel the adrenaline he'd pumped up while drumming a song by the Bouncing Souls.

As he slowed down the rythm, Colton looked up for the first time and saw her standing there with a look of, well, he didn't really know. It was a mixture of shock and a bit of resentment by the looks of it. A bit confused at how she'd managed to get in without his noticing, a flicker of confusion flashed across his face but then a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. She was cute and by the way she held the pair of drumsticks, she was a drummer as well.

The Australian ended the song a moment after he'd discovered the girl, silently wondering if she was pissed that he was in here. It was obvious that she wanted to play, hence taking the time to come down to the Practice Hall. If it was him, he'd be pretty annoyed if someone else was already in the seat that he should have been on but then again, wouldn't almost anyone be? Ah, life's wonderous questions; will they ever be answered?

Giving a friendly grin, Colton stood from his position at the drums and put the pair of sticks in his back pocket before walking over to her. He may as well introduce himself; he didn't want to be a complete asshole.

Hey.. I'm Colton. By the looks of it, I'm guessing you want to play?

He spoke calmly, his accented tone inviting with his hand outstretched for her to take it in the form of a handshake or leave it. It was her choice; he didn't judge a person by their cover. The eighteen year old looked anything but appealing; more like an upperclass hobo without the smell. His hair was sticking out in many directions as his chest moved up and down with his slightly increased breathing. He wondered about the girl standing infront of himself, as he does about most people he doesn't know.

[remy barboza!]

i don't want no pigeons them be the girls,
who can't get no touch from me!
n o - p i g e o n s

to begin with, whoever the hell this guy was, he was pretty good. no wait, excuse me for my mistake; he was amazing, or at least remy thought so. that really must've meant something, considering the fact of her being the blunt person she was. however some cuteness had to factor into whatever this was, as her hazel eyes and perky ears were more intrigued, with that said as an understatement.

at some point, the petite structure jumped, even if it was the tiniest inch. the... transition from the steady flow to the unamountable force shocked her, as another understatement, causing her mossy eyes to poke out of her skull any minute. and then she relaxed, with somewhat of the comfort coming from some recognition of the current song. remy couldn't exactly pinpoint the title of the song at that point, but she knew it for sure.

it had ended, with a result of leaving remy thoughtless, speechless. so when her jaw had dropped, with drool about to ooze out any minute now, and her eyes had nearly bulged, it was obvious that she wasn't "in the zone" right then. wake up stupid head! her mind then scolded, as the voice erupted in her mind. it was strong enough to make her body shake once more, bringing her head to a quick, abrupt shake. her fingers were lifted to push the brown locks out of her face, allowing her vision to see again.

she let the stranger's voice, or rather colton's voice, fill her mind as of the moment, with the strong Austrailian accent flowing through. "uhhh," she responded, letting her somewhat lanky build stand there. okay, so that was a bit... stupid; don't kill her, because that was the only thing she could think of at the moment! her mind reminded her to fetch some common sense and a couple of words, as remy's eyelashes flickered only once. there was some-what of an awkward silence between the two, with his arm stretched out towards her and remy standing there like a complete and utter dork.

"erm, uhhh- hi, i'm remy!" the girl began far too enthusiastically, only to add to a list of her flaws. "er, remy barboza actually, but um, it doesn't really matter... um, nice to meet you, colton." she let his name roll off her tongue, enjoying the feel of it (if that was even possible.) her own arm stretched forward, letting her hand grasp onto his. it took a bit of force, though not a whole lot, to shake her arm, before her fingers let go. a crooked smile swept across her lips, tilting her head to the side at a particular angle. "um, yeah actually, i kinda do," she casually eased bluntly, releasing a minor shrug and a light-hearted laugh. "but, if you want to keep on playing, or something, you can," remy added, because she didn't want to be rude or anything by just taking over the drum set. "you were, um, awesome by the way. hah." the girl smiled again, as her eyes shifted about the room. a hand was lifted, as it raked through the lengthy locks of brown.

[Colton Nozuka]

Colton grinned as he heard her talk. Even her speach was cute as she tumbled over herself time and again. He began to wonder if he should disengage the invitation to shake his hand after it was held out for quite some time. Before he could pull his arm back, he then felt her grasp his hand for a moment and then let go.

He then stretched, listening to her words as she had said she wanted to play. Frowning for a second, he hastily shook his head; he was done anyways and didn't want to intrude on her practice session. Although she'd been stumbling over herself when she spoke, he was glad that her words had changed from a bit too enthusiastic and rushed to something the complete opposite. Opening his mouth to speak, he was then shut up before he got started when he heard the compliment.

His mouth moved into a wide grin as he then moved his eyes from her to the wooden flooring, feeling extremely complimented. It wasn't everyday you were told that the song you'd just played sounded awesome. Switching his gaze from the floor back to Remy, he then responded, his face almost beaming.

Thanks.. I haven't played for a week and a half since leaving home so..

Colton's words halted as he thought of something that had happened a while back as he realized Remy was the only one who'd complimented him on his drumming, other than the shop owner who rarely said anything anyways. Not wanting to keep the ice frozen over, the eighteen year old spoke again although wasn't sure if she would answer his question this time.

How long have you been going to this school for? When I came here, I was pretty sure everyone would be, well, a bunch of money hoarding group of snobs to be honest. By my first impression, I'm pretty sure you're not a snob.. Am I correct or do you want to get your cellphone to call 'daddy' and file a lawsuit against me?

He casually joked, flashing a smile and letting his eyes laugh for him. It seemed that Remy was easier to get along with than he thought although her reaction to his joke may make or break any future relationship. He hoped it was option number one because quite frankly, he was sick and tired of not having any real friends around here.

[remy barboza!]

a pigeon is a girl they be walking by,
rammed up with a brand new sparkling fire!
n o - p i g e o n s

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remy caught herself mindlessly dazing at him, after a short series of embarrassing, scarlet-hued blushes. a couple of loose strands brushed against her once-rosy cheeks, as a result of the previous hair-raking "session." she couldn't help but to study his facial expressions, which wasn't that hard considering he was nice to look at, watching him frown for a split second. it almost caused her to frown too, feeling minor regret. but then he grinned, which caused her to blush again and the regret to dissapear. if you could say remy returned to her normal self while telling the truth, that's exactly what she did.

"hah it's no problem, but really man, that was talent. all you see these days are wanna-be bimbos," she paused, as a giggle interrupted her little "speech." i mean, who didn't love saying the word 'bimbo'? "who think that they're all that and it's like, shut up already! and for you to go on for like, woah, a week and a halffff? i mean, there are some people here who are like, honestly, crap if they go a day without practice." she finished rambling, ending her conclusion with another brief laugh. the girl almost overwhelmed herself, but that was remy for you, speaking her mind.

her mind was blank for a moment, letting the silence surround the two. it was the type of silence that remy didn't mind, the type that was reserved for thinking, the type with no whatsoever awkward-ness. or at least, it wasn't awkward for remy. the girl allowed her eyes ponder for a bit, busying herself with thoughts and a drumstick tapping against her thigh. her mind was occupied with ideas of what to say next, before they were interrupted by Colton's words.

her upper lip twitched, as a blank flash of her father and step-mother's face entered her mind. they were probably happier without her, but then again, remy realized, she was happier without them. i mean, the reason she was here in the first place was to get out. "i've been here... two or three years, i think. actually, if you include this year, then it'll be three years. i've been here ever since freshman year, and now i'm a junior," she answered, as a smile reserved a spot across her lips. "how about you?" she asked curiously, guessing mentally that he was a junior, like her, or a senior. but he definitely looked older than her, so she settled with him being a senior.

"haha, well i hope i'm not some superficial freak." remy released a light laugh, continuing. "oh wait, i think i forgot my cellphone at home; can i use yours to call daddy?" she kidded, with a mock impression of a popular. the girl giggled once more, as she scratched the top of her head. her head twisted, studying the practice room for a brief second. "so, are you ready for some mad skill, colton?" she grinned cooly, skipping a few steps to the drum kit. remy stole the seat on the stool, letting the drumsticks gently tap against the drum.

[Colton Nozuka]

The eighteen year old watched her facial expressions and saw her face gain colour but didn't say anything about the little blushes. He hated getting called out for going red, which even embarassed him even more and that only escaladed the embarassment till he wanted to drain all the blood from his body to stop it from pooling in his cheecks.

He chuckled and half smiled at her ramblings, listening to what she had to say about some musicians who sucked if they missed a day of playing. He knew some of them back home in Sydney who thought their life was over if they didn't play for two days. It made him wonder if they actually liked the music or just did it for attention. For Colton, his reason for starting the drums was because he had so much anger and frusteration and didn't know how to get it out without being destructive. I mean, killing your step dad for almost beating your mother to death was a little over the edge and as the saying goes, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." He guessed that's what happened although it went all too fast. Colton'd been blind with fury and regret for not being there to protect his mom so went to where his step dad was and beat him with a bat. It could be called karma but the judge called it first degree murder.

A nod was sent as a reply about her beginnings at Hoffman and he heard the question posed. It was about a week now that he arrived; time flew. His eyes had calmed down from when he thought about home again and his response came out a little harsher than expected.

A week.. But that doesn't matter how long. It's not like I'll get along with many people here anyways. They look at me like I'm some disease. I guess the word's spread about why I'm here. Selfish bastard.

He hissed the last two words with anger as thoughts of the dean spilling his whole history to the staff flashed through his mind. Colton knew going to this school wouldn't go as planned; although it was better than prison.

Her next words snapped him out of his bout of frusteration and sent a smile her way accompanied with a laugh. Why did she always find a way to make his moods counter eachother?

Yeah, just give me a second to grab it from home; I'll be about three days. You think you can wait or should I call a limo for you on a pay phone. I know how many cooties are on a public phone.

Another laugh could be heard from the eighteen year old and then he grinned; that would be awesome to hear her play. Moving to a comfortable chair, he plopped down, getting comfortable and leaning into the corner where the back and the arm connected. Gesturing to the drums, he spoke simply but had a challenging look on his face.

Amaze me.

[remy barboza!]

you may tire of me
as the december sun is setting!
b r o t h e r s - o n - a - h o t e l - b e d

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patience arose as she waited for his reply, finding herself oddly anxious for colton's words. yet those very words left herself in a state of surprise-ment, hah, as her eyes widened for a split second. she nodded, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "oh..," she began, as remy pursed her lips briefly. "if you think about it that way, you won't make any friends," remy said, without much thought, being straight-forward. yet she had no clue about his past, which puzzled her, so she just when with her mind. "maybe you could just, i don't know... try to be friends with the people? i mean, maybe you could give those death-glare people a shot?" she was a bit too optimistic for her own good, oblivious of the truth lying in front of her. remy paused for a moment, seperating her lips to speak.

"well then, i guess i must be living under a rock or something, because apparently i don't know," she retorted, with a settled laugh. it wasn't quite appropriate for her to laugh at the current occasion, yet she did anyways. remy was never one that was good at serious situations, with her personality clashing in the way. "why... are you here?" remy asked, now with an attempt of seriousness. she couldn't help but to be her curious ol' self and ask, though she pulled back at his last two words.

remy was so naive and oblivious, with the maturity of a five year-old giggling at the word 'poop', yet she was so experienced. (no, get your mind out of the gutter!) the girl had an experience with emotions, anger, passion, happiness, all the sorts. but she was stuck in her own, stubborn little world, where the truth didn't matter. anywho, the girl was somewhat... scared for the words that would come out of his lips next, but she immediately lightened with his smile. it was weird, hah, how her feelings transformed with a person, weird.

she released a laugh, following her mock-popular tone. "three days? oh not a problem, hun! i think i can wait; i'll just pass time by clubbing and pulling off a Britney Spears or something." remy grinned, before faking a gasp. "ew, public phones are just utterly disgusting! i mean, who uses those things? like, don't people, like, die from cooties?" remy flashed another familiar smile, evident of happiness and amusement.

the girl watched him carefully, extremely anxious to play, as he seemed to get in a relaxed position. but it was almost quite... intimidating as well; who wouldn't get nervous if you were about to play the drums for some completely cute, awesome drummer. but then, remy remembered that she was pretty awesome at playing the drums too, even if that was a little cocky. so now that the intimidation stage was over, or somewhat, remy let her words roll off her tongue.

"okay, but make sure you hang onto your seat first, 'cause you'll be blown away," she promised, tossing a playful wink and a series of laughter. that line was cheesy, yes, but the girl used it anyways. her lips curled into a sly smirk in response his daring look expressed on his face. confidence shook away the rest of her emotions, or at least a majority of them, as it was bluntly evident even in the first few taps.

you could consider drumming being remy's life, along with her friends, partying, sleep, and just having fun. at the beginning, it was just something to take out her energy on, before it transformed into a beautiful passion and devotion. just the mere thought of some drumsticks got her pumped up and her adrenaline rushing. remy's arms moved in a quick and swift motion, nothing but a rushed blur as her drumsticks pounded on the drums. you could easily spot some mistakes here and there, seeing as no one was perfect, but they didn't prevent her from continuing.

locks of brown were flying everywhere, as remy was caught deep in the music. yes, she was lost in the everlasting tunnels of notes here and the tempo there. with every bam! of the snare and the rippling effect of a cymbal, she lived for drumming. her little "preformance" was rather fast and upbeat, yet with a particular heaviness and a rare darkness to it. remy put her heart into the song, like she did with every other song, until it ended with a dramatic pow!

fat tearlets of sweat ran down her forehead, as remy pushed away the hair with the back of her hand. "was it amazing or what?" remy couldn't help but to beam at herself, feeling proud. if only for a moment did she forget about her mistakes and she was herself, with the adrenaline pumping and the sweat pouring.

ooc; sorry it so long to reply! D:

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[Colton Nozuka]

Colton heard her words from what he'd said and just gave a shrug in response. Yeah, it was possible to give them a chance and be the better person but why all the effort if it wasn't going to do anything anyways? He shifted from where he was sitting, waiting for her to play. He'd tell her what happened when she was finished.

Hearing her rock comment, his serious face gave an amused smile and laugh but then quieted once he heard her question. It wasn't really her business but then again, he was the one who brought it up in the first place so he may as well tell her. Colton decided to wait for the answer to that one as well.

His aquamarine eyes took in her anxious expression and then heard her start the first beat. In the beginning of the song, he was relaxed and leaning back but as the song gained tempo and became more and more intense, he leaned forward, tapping the beats on the floor with his feet and moving his head with the rythm. He forgot about the room and was focused only on the girl drumming; she was fantastic and he was, in fact, blown away. She played with so much passion and seemed to love what she was doing; a complete match to how Colton felt. It was nice to have someone to relate to and share music with. A smile grew on his face as he almost vibrated with the intensity of the music and although she made some mistakes that he picked out, he didn't judge. It wasn't his place and his personality denied judging of another without good reason.

When the music had come to a smashing end, a grin appeared on Colton's face and he applauded her. What a song; it was quite complicated but seemed simplistic the way that she played. It was strange how Remy made it look so easy but both knew that to play the drums, you needed many skills that some musicians just didn't have.

That was fantastic. Really.. I mean, you just outshowed me right there.

He beamed, almost as proud as she was. He shared her happiness as his heart thudded against his ribcage, threatening to break through; the song had given his adrenaline a place to go. Thinking of what she had asked previously, he then became a little uncomfortable, letting the silence envelop them.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke, not joking around anymore as he gave an answer to the question she seemed curious to know.

Well the reason why I'm here begins back in Australia. My step dad, or my mom's fiance used her as a punching bag when he was both drunk and completely sober. He made her cover up the bruises and put on a smile when I came home after he'd gone back to where he lived. After a while, I noticed what he was doing to her face and wouldn't believe the "I fell down when I was shopping" story. I kind of have rage blackouts; well that's what the judge told me anyways and so grabbed the nearest thing I could and went to see the bastard who'd beaten my mom so bad. I was thinking out of rage and felt like a complete idiot for not knowing what was happening and had been happening for a long time.
I went to the guy's house and just started beating him with the baseball bat.... My mind was screaming at me to stop but I couldn't. It's like my arms were doing their own thing while I sat back and watched, not being able to do anything about it. I noticed he was dead when his screaming stopped.

His eyes moved from Remy to the floor again; he couldn't bear to see her expression as it would haunt him for the rest of his life as the screams did. Colton continued though even if his past ruined the beginnings of friendship.

I panicked and then fled. I ran to my house and called the police after telling my mom what happened. I didn't mean to actually kill the guy; I wanted him to hurt just as he hurt my mother. He almost beat her to death one night although she swore that she loved him. That's not love. I was then taken to court a month later and charged for first degree murder. I got off lucky though; they offered me two choices: Jail or this academy. They thought the structure of the school would put some sense and morals into me while still giving me an education. Naturally I chose Hoffman even though I've never heard of it. I had no idea that it was a school of the performing arts. I got lucky I guess..

A sigh escaped his lips as the feeling of dread veiled over him like a wet cloth, weighing down his spirits. The eighteen year old felt horrible for killing someone; who wouldn't? He wasn't a murderer; just a kid with a fucked up past and a high temper.