"Chapter" 20: The Un-Chapter

"Hey Jared," Maddie began.

"What?" Jared said, turning to look at her.

"Did you know that has a rule that says you can't have a chapter be exclusively an author's note?" she asked.

"Are you serious?" he responded. "What kind of a stupid rule is that?"

"I don't know," Maddie replied, "I guess it's so people can't use fanfiction as some sort of blog?"

Jared looked at her blankly. "Um... I need to go." He said suddenly, getting up quickly.

"Why? We just started enjoying our Double Chocolate Chip Frappacinos from Starbucks - you can't leave now!" she protested. "Do you need to change your fanfiction story or something?" she teased.

"Actually, yes." Jared responded, blushing. It always embarrassed him when he admitted to someone in real life that he was the author of a fanfiction story.

"Well, since we're currently in a marching band fanfiction, we should probably go play some drums or stuff so that The Sound of Drums doesn't get in trouble for writing a chapter that really didn't pertain to the subject matter." Maddie thought aloud.

"Wait, we're in a fanfiction?" Jared asked, startled.

"Yup."

"So does this mean that it's like Inception?"

"How so?"

"Because my fanfiction is within a fanfiction... I wonder if one of my characters has their own fanfiction that I don't know about." Jared sat down, puzzling over this.

"You learn that we're in a fanfiction, and the first thing you wonder is how much like Inception this is?" Maddie shouted loudly. "Why aren't you more concerned about the implications?"

"Implications?"

"What this situation implies." Maddie explained, talking to Jared like a small child.

"No, I understand what implications are... but what are those implications?" He asked

"This brings up so many questions about free will and fate!" Maddie said loudly, visibly excited. "Does free will really exist? Or is this how things are supposed to be because it's how a higher power decided they should turn out?"

"Like The Adjustment Bureau?" Jared asked. He cried out in pain when Maddie smack him on the side of his head.

"Stop with the pop culture references!" She ordered. "You're such a stupid boy, as always!" With a loud huff, Maddie got up and left, fed up with Jared's inability to grasp what she was trying to convey.

When she was gone, Jared looked around cautiously to make sure nobody else was around. When all was clear, he looked up at the sky and whispered, "Can I please have a pony?"

Wish granted, Jared. Wish granted.

A/N: Alright. This isn't a new chapter. The text above was necessary to get around the rules. Take THAT fanfiction! However I am mostly using this chapter as space to get all of my former readers up to date and possibly get a couple of new readers since this will send "Elemental" to the top of the stories list.

So wow. I just checked out my profile, and it says my last update for any of my writing was just over two years ago. That's an incredibly long time for me. And it's been quite a busy two years. Um... where should I start? Well, the main reason for my disappearance two years ago was because (as terrible and pathetic as it sounds) my boyfriend broke up with me. Looking back, I find this humorous because the author's note at the end of Chapter 19 talks about my "amazing boyfriend" - little did I know that he'd break up with me a few days later. But whatever. Things regarding that worked out in the end since we're very good friends now.

Anyway, so I somehow managed to finish sophomore year, although my grades were terrible. Junior year was relatively uneventful, although there were a lot of staff changes within the band program which threw everyone off their game quite a bit. I started the stressful college admissions process, so writing was the last thing from my mind. I also got a calico cat who is like my baby - she lets me pick her up and carry her all through the house! Junior year was also when I started going out with my current boyfriend - that has definitely worked out much better than boyfriend #1 since bf #2 and I have been going out for about a year now.

Senior year has been a blast. Stressful and crazy as hell, yes, but fantastic to say the least. Marching band went well, and a few weeks ago, my high school's drumline won WGI World Championships. That's right. We're WORLD champions (If you can't tell, we like to emphasize the "world" part). I did all of my applications and essays, so in a way I was writing - it just wasn't any fun for anyone involved (especially my dad, who got stuck with the task of proofreading my half-assed essays). Prom happened recently, and that was kind of fun. My boyfriend and I enjoyed dancing goofy, but it was kind of awkward doing that while everyone else around us was grinding. Damn horny high schoolers.

Now that things are starting to wind down, since AP tests are over and finals aren't until the middle of June, I've decided to take advantage of this time and start writing again. I didn't even remember that I had this account until a few days ago when I got an email notifying me that somebody had added my story onto their favorites list. It was pretty cool, especially because the story hasn't been updated in two years. I can't help but wonder, though - how did they find "Elemental" in the first place?

ANYWAY, here's some news about "Elemental." After looking over what I previously written, I was surprisingly unhappy with my work. And then I went back and read "Janie's Got a Gun" and I cringed. It's very obvious that my style has changed over the past couple of years - my writing now is significantly better than it was in 2009 (and just as funny, if I do say so myself)! As a result, I have decided to start over from the beginning and rewrite "Elemental."

For now, I'll keep the current version up and start a new one so I can reference back to it for plot points. However, I will most likely be taking it down at some point. I will also definitely be taking down "Janie's Got a Gun". But don't worry my pretties - newly edited portions of "JGG"will appear in a supplementary series that for now will be called "Inside the Drum Closet." As of now, it's just a brain child of mine. I'm hoping that it will consist of character profiles, short stories/scenes that don't really have a place in "Elemental", and deleted scenes. Think of it as the bonus material on the DVD. It's not my top priority right now, so I don't know when that will come out.

I've already finished the first chapter of the new "Elemental", and I'm editing it so that it flows better. Hopefully that'll be up soon (and hopefully something won't come up that will make me disappear again!)

For those of you who are returning to read this, I thank you for following this story from the beginning (or whenever you started reading). For those of you who are new reading this, I'd like to thank you for clicking on the nice little link to my story. I'd also like to invite both groups of readers to stick around and read the new "Elemental" when it is posted up!

One last thing - post in the reviews section any ideas you may have for things you'd like to see in "Inside the Drum Closet." Also post in the reviews if you'd like me to send you a message when I get the updated "Elemental" up.

Thank you all so, so, so much!

~The Sound of Drums

PS. Should I start signing off with my real name? ;)