Start of Something New

Kong High School was not known for its students' humility. All through the country, the school had the reputation that could only be compared to that of a media heiress – there was good, there was bad, and then there was utterly stupid.

The current de facto of Kong High School was the bad. However, bad was a very light term, considering that Murdoc Niccals was easily one of the foulest, cleverest, and most vicious teenagers that ever lived. Murdoc did have a good streak, lest you think that he spent his days setting fire to cats or terrorizing people or selling his soul for record players. It was a tiny streak, but it was there, buried underneath years of insanity.

Murdoc's main claim to fame was his extraordinary ability to play bass guitar. He would hide out in the band room of Kong High, strumming away on his favorite instrument. Sure, its lacquer was peeling and the strings had been replaced a good ten times, but Murdoc loved the thing to death.

At least, that was what Russel Hobbs had told his adopted sister Noodle in his car before her first day of high school. Murdoc's repute – and with that, most of Kong High's – had already reached her ears when she was in seventh grade, when Russel and Murdoc had first met each other in freshman year.

Noodle applied a coat of pink gloss to her lips. She was frightened, but it didn't look that way. Noodle appeared to be a cute girl wearing a jean skirt, leggings, and a Graham Coxon concert tee.

Well, that was what she HOPED she looked like. Her insides were threatening to fall out of her stomach. Noodle was nerve-wracked.

"Russel-nii-chan," Noodle murmured as she pushed the flip-board upward, letting sunlight pour into the little blue Sudan, "am I going to be all right?"

Russel opened the driver's side door, smiling at her. "Of course. You're Noodle."

Noodle gave a brief smile before getting out of the car. She was Noodle – that was obvious. But high school would be different from junior high. She was no longer top of the ladder, and some of her friends wouldn't be with her at her new school.

"Russel-nii-chan, I'm not going to be alone… am I?" Noodle murmured in a worried voice as she slung her Harajuku Couture book bag over her shoulder. The bag smacked against her back, bringing a sharp pain with it.

Russel laughed at Noodle's klutziness before sighing blithely. "You won't be alone, Noodle. I'll take you to your locker, and from there you should be able to figure out where you're going just fine."

Noodle gulped. Russel's pep talk was just noise to her ears. She blinked as the streaming sunlight flooded her eyes, squinting as she walked alongside Russel.

Together, they entered Kong High School at its worst moment – the first day back.

You had the burnouts, who clearly had gotten about two hours of sleep the entire summer; the drama freaks, who were already getting ready to perform a play; the freshmen, who were trying to find their lockers and classrooms; and Murdoc Niccals, who was nowhere in sight, but his influence was being felt by just about every student. Why, you ask?

There were bullet holes peppering the entrance wall, and the bell was dangling from its jack above the door. Russel hit his head on the broken bell, putting two and two together and reaching the only plausible conclusion. Noodle was too busy shaking in her sneakers to care.

Russel grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her through the throng of confused, frightened, and/or rebellious students. Noodle's hand was sweaty.

Noodle looked up to Russel. "What are all those people doing in the main hall?"

"It's the only place Murdoc won't attack anyone," Russel answered a little too matter-of-factly. Noodle gulped nervously and tightened her grip on Russel's hand.

Russel frowned, realizing the major faux pas he had just committed. "He won't touch you. If he does anything to you, I'll kill him."

Noodle blinked. "What do you mean, anything to me? What would he do? He knows me. And he knows that if he does anything - "

"Well…" Russel thought for a second before shaking his head. "No. I just meant in general, Noodle."

Russel and Noodle trudged up three staircases and across two hallways to reach locker number 01-91. It was in the center of the fourth floor of Kong High, which housed the basketball courts and a Dance Dance Revolution machine in the AP Calculus class. (Why it was put in the AP Calc class, no one was quite sure.)

Russel banged his fist against Locker 01-91. "Here you go. Looks like you got a pretty sturdy one. What's your combo again?"

"Um… 03-26-01," Noodle read off of the palm of her hand. The combination was hastily scrawled in emerald ink. Green pens had always been a favorite of Noodle's, because they matched her eyes.

Russel leaned over towards the locker, preparing to show Noodle how to open her locker. Suddenly, Noodle gasped and a lanky figure smacked Russel in the back. Russel banged his head against the locker and growled.

"Alan…" Russel muttered as he turned to face a teenager with short, messy blonde hair, a pair of slim wire rims, and a rail-thin body. He was all smiles.

"Hey Russ," Alan greeted with a gigantic grin. "Who's the girl?"

Noodle realized that she was being addressed and gave a startled chortle. "Oh, gomen nasai! My name's Noodle!"

"She's my adopted sister," Russel explained. Alan observed Noodle for a few seconds before snapping his fingers.

"Noodle's the ball girl for the basketball team, isn't she?" Alan asked excitedly. "I knew I had seen her somewhere! She's still ball girl, isn't she?"

"Of course!" Noodle and Russel blurted out at the same time. They both looked at each other.

"Where else would she go? She knows all of the basketball players," Russel offered.

"I enjoy helping out, really!" Noodle added casually. Alan nodded slowly, grasping his chin lightly.

"Russ, I think that Murdoc was looking for you," Alan said. "He was getting a bit pissed off… usually you cover for him, and apparently you're late today…" Alan shrugged. "But what about little Noodle-chan here?"

"Don't call her that," Russel spat out, his face gaining an angry flush.

Alan laughed heartily. "Lighten up, Russ, I have a girlfriend…" Alan poked Noodle on the forehead. She smiled. Alan was a pretty cool guy. He wasn't at all like the other high schoolers she knew. Of course, all of the high schoolers she knew were either a) jocks or b) psychotic.

"I'll show her around campus if you want me to, Russ," Alan suggested. "I'll make sure she stays safe and all that jazz."

Russel appeared to be having an intense internal struggle. He finally sighed and turned to Noodle.

"Noodle, that's Alan," Russel explained calmly. "He's a great guy – nice, funny, and smart. I trust him a lot, so there's no need for you to worry. He'll show you around, okay?"

"Do you think I wasn't paying attention to the conversation or something?" Noodle asked in an irritated tone.

"I know you too well," Russel countered.

"And I wasn't paying attention," Noodle admitted with a shrug.

Alan blurted out a short expletive. Noodle and Russel turned around.

"I need to go get my backpack," Alan explained. "My locker's only a few rows down. I'll be right back!"

Alan ran down the hallway. Russel smacked himself in the face.

"Is Alan-san… forgetful?" Noodle inquired.

"When it comes to his backpack, yes," Russel answered before turning back to Noodle's locker. "So, Noodle, watch carefully."

Russel began to twiddle the lock. "Go to the right two turns…" Russel hit 03 on the lock. "Left one turn…" Russel reached 26. "And then just go right to the last number." 01 winked at the two of them. Russel yanked the handle on the locker and opened it up. It was empty and clean.

"And there you go," Russel nodded. "Okay, Noodle, have a good day. I should go talk to Murdoc…"

Noodle smiled. "Have fun."

Noodle wasn't quite sure if she was being sarcastic or not. She watched her brother walk down the staircase before turning to her locker. It was too empty. Noodle emptied her bag of its peripheral objects – her Geometry book (for fifth period, after lunch); a few extra pens and pencils; her Walkman… actually, there was a lot of random crap in her backpack.

Noodle looked down into her book bag and extracted her schedule. First period, Advanced Band. Second period, English 9A. After that was a fifteen-minute 'brunch', then she had Biology and AP Human Geography before lunch. After lunch, she had Geometry and Varsity Basketball, which counted as her PE, even though she was just ball girl.

Noodle smiled at her schedule. It was perfect.

"Living in my own world… didn't understand… that anything can happen when you take a chance," Noodle murmured as she folded up her schedule and put it in her pocket. "I never believed in what I couldn't see… I never opened my heart to all the possibilities… oh…"

Noodle grabbed a folio of sheet music out of her bag and dropped it on the floor. She would need that later. "I know that something has changed – I've never felt this way! And right here, maybe tonight, this could be the start of something new!"

Noodle twirled around. "It feels so right to be here with you! And now, looking through my eyes, I feel in my heart… the start of something new…!"

An English notebook fell out of Noodle's bag. Noodle redirected her attention to the pile of crap on the floor. She knelt down and began to sort through the stuff. "Now who'd have ever thought that I'd be here tonight? The world looks so much brighter with you by my side…"

Noodle glanced down at a picture of her brother and smiled before slipping that into her pocket as well. "I know that something has changed… never felt this way! I know it's for real – this could be the start of something new!"

"It feels so right to be here with you!" Noodle giggled, shoving stuff into her locker. Her brother and her, together in school at last, playing basketball and performing in band – Noodle felt a great happiness welling up inside of her. Not only that, Noodle suspected that she might have a new friend as well…

"And now, looking through my eyes, I feel in my heart the start of something new…!"

Noodle trailed off as she heard footsteps clacking down the hall. She looked down at the floor, glancing at all the crap thrown on the floor. Noodle began to hurriedly pick up the stuff, not looking up, thinking it was Alan.

"The start of something new…" Noodle murmured happily, not noticing the dark shadow being cast over her by a tall figure.

The person roughly fingered her chin. Noodle's eyes immediately darted up before dilating in shock.

"…Well, I see you're doing well on your first day, eh, Noodle-chan?"

A/N: I posted this story in a verifiable panic, as my computer was on the verge of imploding (this was during a particularly nasty worm outbreak). I just posted the entire thing, along with multiple chapters of other stories. As a result, this story… er… tanked. Badly. So I deleted the old posting of it and decided to repost, this time with nicer commentary from me, and a more reasonable posting schedule. Besides, timing's perfect – High School Musical 2 is on the way, we know Noodle survived El Manana, and I'm fresh off of a fiction that's turning into a runaway success for me, The Plug (Invader Zim story). Well, as for this chapter, it's definitely my least favorite, but it sets up the entire thing, so… whatever…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gorillaz or High School Musical. However, I do own this (rather odd) singing Sharpay doll my friend bought me as a joke. It's a little creepy, actually.