Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

the first day of class. the day everyone dreads. or, well, the day that conductors dread. chocolate bar anxiously popped his knuckles and opened up his piano, looking around to watch his students pour in.
    first, a group of three bounded in. one of the girls had fried pink hair settling near her shoulders and messy eyeliner painted on her face. she had a black coat on with a pink tanktop that was so short that another millimeter off the top would get her dress coded for sure. she had low-rise black bell bottoms on to match, and pink platform converse. she was chatting noisily with one of the other girls.
    the girl she had been chatting with had long, paler pink hair that had a very forced part in the middle. acne scars littered her face and she clearly didn't try to hide it. she had a warm-looking, fuzzy, pink cardigan on with STEALTHY messily stitched onto the back and a white tanktop to match her friend on underneath. unlike the other, she had a plaid pink skirt on and white leg-warmers atop pink boots. she had a girl on her arm that looked quite out of the clique, but was still there anyway.
    the third out of the group who was holding onto the second's arm was a lot shorter than both of the pink-wearing girls. her hair, box-dyed white, was also cut to her shoulders and her bangs were cropped right above her eyes. she had a white turtleneck underneath a grey suitcoat on, paired with black skinny jeans and doc martins.

the next group to come in was quite different compared to the other. it was also a group of three, and they were a pretty similar noise level, but they definitely weren't the same in other ways.
    the tallest of the group had the tufts of hair sitting atop his head bleached while black rested on the side. he was in a red zip up with a white tanktop underneath, and grey sweatpants were messily slapped on underneath that, too. he chatted and snickered at the girls with his friend, and held hands with another boy.
    the boy he held hands with was drastically different. he was extremely short and pale compared to the boy he locked fingers with and was dressed in a collar shirt underneath a baby blue sweater. he also wore baggy tan cargo pants cuffed at his ankles and a pair of docs with beaded laces. he observed the conversation the two others near him and jumped in occasionally, but was in his own word for most of it.
    the third in the group was a lot shorter than the other two. the sides of their head were shaved and a dyed orange bush sat atop their head, pulled loosely into a bun. their left eyebrow donned a piercing and they had a sleeveless black turtleneck and a pair of black baggy jeans on. they weren't as boisterous as the tallest was, but they were still quite loud.

the next people to come in was a duo who looked a bit out of place, like they didn't know what they were doing. their eyes nervously scanned the room, peering at the cellos, basses, and guitars lining the walls. one of the girls leaned over to the other, murmuring something in her ear and they began to turn around to the door when the other elbowed the first gently and nodded her head right at chocolate bar.
    they approached him. the one who had spoke first wore a very fuzzy patterned cardigan and underneath it had a long, white dress. she had paired the outfit with white tights and red mary janes. her hair was worn in two neat, dark brown puffs. the top looked gelled down. she looked very formal.
    the other didn't, however. her dark green and black hair was pulled very messily into a loose ponytail. like her hair, her light green shirt was very loose and messily put on. she had light brown flare jeans thrown on to go with high top black chucks.
    the one in the dress spoke shyly, "hello, sir! my name is gumball machine. next to me is poison. may we check if this is our class?"
    chocolate bar nodded to them, "sure. are you two in concert orchestra third period?"
    they both nodded. "take a seat or stand anywhere. passing period doesn't end for a while, and all the students get an extra five minutes before class actually starts.

more people had come in. chocolate bar thought that everyone was here, so he did a head count.
    seventeen people. only four people had not shown up. he guessed he should spend more of his time observing his future students.
    there was a crowd in the middle, so from behind the piano, chocolate bar peeked over to see who was in the group.
    there was a boy with glasses and a pair of headphones already coming towards him. his hair was pretty messy, a jet black overgrown mullet with the front two pieces dyed grey. he wore a dark grey hoodie with five P's embroidered on the front area and matched it with black and white plaid pajama pants. he couldn't observe much more though, as the boy approached the piano.
    "hello... mr. c?"
    "chocolate bar."
    "oh, uh-  chocolate bar. i have a 504 and just wanted to let you know just it case it wasn't like, in or something. i'm autistic and noise sensitive so i need to wear these headphones."
    "got it, what's your name?  i may need to keep note of this."
    "headset!"
    "got it, go socialize. class starts soon."
    chocolate bar scribbled the note down quick and then looked up to observe everything else.

    a short boy wearing a cap caused quite the disturbance with the crowd. he wore a white t-shirt with a grey zip up on top and expensive-looking blue jeans underneath paired with even more expensive jordans. he had his arms crossed as he boasted about something, uncrossing for a minute to bring a hand to his freckled face. the kid in the red zip up, still holding onto the other one's hand, began to scold him and they started a small dispute.
    three boys stood by; the one with the orange hair and the piercing, the boy with headphones, and a boy who looked a lot younger than everyone else.
    the boy who looked maybe two years younger had a very generic-looking bowlcut and wore a grey t-shirt with darker grey overalls on top of it. he was penguin wobbling around the group and chirping things here and there.

averting his eyes from the crowd, he saw three boys conversing. one had a vibrant purple scarf on, one had a strange group of hair strands that were graying, and one that was dressed pretty blandly compared to his apparent schoolmates.
    the boy with the purple scarf on chattered about something fairly enthusiastically and rocked from side to side. lighter, tanned blotches splattered his skin like paint, and his nails were painted a non-chipped black.
    the boy with graying hair, which chocolate bar swears could pass as a teacher, wore a button up and a sweater vest with regularly soft cargos. he listened not very intently and pushed his glasses up with two fingers before sighing.
    the plainly dressed boy was sitting to the right of the boy in the scarf. his hair was a very overgrown messy mullet. he averted their attention to more conflict since the five people crowding the middle had parted ways and gone to do their own thing.

two more students had come in, and chocolate bar decided this particular duo definitely wouldn't be one of his favorites.
    a boy with red-rimmed glasses, a red button up, a black tie, dress pants, and dreadlocks that covered a lot of his face was bristling. he pressed a finger to the other's chest and growled at him. his glare could pierce concrete and all the other did was chuckle.
    the other had fluffy dark brown hair, a large amount of moles sitting atop tanned skin, a sleeveless turtleneck, and skinny jeans on. he gave the boy with the glasses a shit-eating grin, half-lidding his eyes and then rolling them before stepping away.

chocolate bar expected everyone to have made their arrivals, and sighed. four students missing? on the first day? it's no big deal, i guess. he set his head down against the piano, sighing. nothing could prepare him for these nightmare students, but it wasn't as bad as he'd think, right?

Chapter Text

AUTHOR'S NOTE!!

HI!!!!!

its meeee author (orrr verity!!)

i'm grounded erm.....

aka that means I CANT WRITE A LOT!!!!!!!!

but dont worry!!!! more is coming very much so!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i promise more is coming soon, just a lot slower :(

see you all soon ;)

-v☆

the bell rang throughout the room from the crappy, off timed dialog clock that was also coincidentally a speaker. everyone silenced for a moment, and then remained talking because chocolate bar forgot he was a teacher and he was supposed to give instructions.

    he cleared his throat and then spoke slowly. "hello... er, students! you guys are a boisterous group. if everyone doesn't mind, introductions are in order!-"

    he was about to continue when three very winded students came barreling through the door. all three of them gasped heavily, one of them even collapsing to their knees at one point.

    "are... are we late?" a girl on the very right spoke first. she wore a long navy blue skirt, a comfy brown sweater, and a lighter blue hijab.

    "well," a boy on the very right barked, "of course we are! didn't you hear the bell?" he wore a very neat salmon button up, just a bit darker than his hair, a black cardigan, and dress pants to match it.

    the person in the middle raised themselves to their feet. they had a white t-shirt with a simple green flannel, ripped skinny jeans, and converse on that not at all contrasted with their curly white hair, glasses, nose piercing, and ear gauges. they spoke slowly, "well... it doesn't hurt to ask. last year we got three extra minutes to... get here."

    chocolate bar smiled at them, "come on in! i was just about to take attendance anyway, why don't we introduce ourselves to the class and i can take it that way?"

    everyone nodded in agreement. maybe they weren't as bad as he thought?

"alright everyone," chocolate bar spoke, "get into a circle! list off your name and the instrument you've selected to play this year. maybe add in a highlight of your summer, too!"

    the circle was formed, and the girl in messy makeup spoke first. she arrogantly strutted forward and placed her hands on her chest. "i'm feather! i play the violin! this is officially my first year of playing, but i took a few lessons over the summer, which is my highlight!"

    the girl feather had walked in talking to spoke up next, folding her hands together neatly and grinning around the circle once. "hey!! i'm diary! i also play the violin! the highlight of my summer was... uh... hm. hanging out with moonstone?"

    distracted as can be, the girl with grey hair was lovingly staring into diary's face and was startled at the last sentence. she glanced around before realizing she was supposed to speak and nervously scratched her neck while smiling. "...sorry. i'm moonstone. i play the violin. um... my highlight was hanging out with diary."

    an extremely tall boy grimaced, as it was his turn to speak. he fiddled with his dark red jacket sleeve and looked to the side. whoever he had walked in holding hands with nudged him and stood on his toes to whisper something in his ear. it looks like that was just what he needed to speak. "hey, it's broomer. and i play the cello."

    the boy who had whispered in his ear nudged him with his elbow and when broomer remained silent, he just crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "hi! i'm chalky! i've been playing the violin for three years. the highlight of my summer was... uh, actually nothing. it was pretty boring.

    whoever had walked in with chalky and broomer kept his voice completely monotone. he didn't freak out, he didn't hesitate, he just spoke, gesturing toward chalky and broomer in the last sentence. "i'm clay. i play the bass. my highlight was hanging with these two."

     holding her hands behind her back, tall girl in the long white dress gave a kind smile to every instrumentalist in the room. "hi!! i'm gumball machine, but you can just call me GM! this is my first year playing the violin!"

    the short, disheveled looking girl next to her rasped an introduction. "i'm poison. i take guitar privately but for class, i signed up for viola."

    next to poison, the young looking boy in overalls gave the group a grin. "hiya! i'm nail!! oh, i'm so excited to be here! i play the violin- and- and- my summer?? oh, my summer was so great!! i can't pick!"

    gumball machine bent at the waist, craning down to be at nail's level. "how old are you?"

    "ten!"

    "aren't you a bit young for high school?"

    "...i'm a freshman!"

    "um... alright..!"

    straightening his back, the short boy with expensive clothing who had boasted earlier adjusted his cap and then shoved his hands in his pockets. "hey, i'm cracker. i play guitar."

    then, it was time for the boy with the headphones. he nervously plucked lint off of his sleeve. "hi! i'm headset! i play guitar too. the highlight of my summer was getting the new prett- um... cod game."

    messing with his sleeves, the boy with the scarf waved and grinned at the class. "i'm click!! i play the cello, and my highlight was hanging out with latte and smartie, they're so cool!"

    the boy in the black cardigan rolled his eyes and ran his hair though his disheveled, salmon-shaded hair. he grumbled, "my name is smartie. i play the viola." and it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything more.

    nearly falling asleep standing up, the boy labeled bland snorted and gasped. "h... huh? wh... oh, my bad. i'm tub of lard, but call me TOL. i do violin. fun."

    next to him, the boy with the strange grey streak through his hair rolled his eyes and grumbled, "i play the viola. my name is english muffin. yeah."

    "speaking of 'muffin,'" a voice rang out, "i'm sof- i- muffin! i'm a violist, and i've been practicing with poison all summer. kind of boring."

    "hey!"

    "shush."

    adjusting his matching red-rimmed glasses, the boy in the red button up cleared his throat. "i'm sharkbearberry, but feel free to shorten it. uh.. i play the cello."

    rolling his eyes and nudging him, the boy who had belittled sharkbearberry glanced around the room with his chin high. "hey everyone, you know me, correct? well, i'm mango and i play viola. i've spent the summer... y'know..."

    sharkbearberry scowled while muffin spoke. "if this is about chipperz-"

    "oh, well speaking of chi-"

    "SHUT UP, MANGO."

    "ugh..."

    chocolate bar sat, his left ankle resting atop his right knee. this group definitely wasn't perfect, but it's better than his own high school orchestra. he'll make the most of this, he knows he will.

    "alright everyone," chocolate bar said with a grin, "i'll configure sections soon; bring your instruments tomorr-"

    and he was cut off by the bell and everyone rushing out of the room.

Chapter Text

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

i frequently edit and revise this story..... idk how ao3 works but if you're notified like 80 babillion times that ive updated this then ignore it

-v☆

chocolate bar sat down with a grin. he had a list down in front of him of all of his students and what instrument they play, or claimed to play, and was reading over it while students poured into the room. taking attendance was the bane of his existence, but he could get fired if he didn't.

    on the side of the room farthest to the door, headset, tol, chalky, and broomer sat together. broomer sat scrolling on his phone and held a hand tightly against chalky, who was asleep on his shoulder. sitting next to the pair were headset and tol discussing releases on games and  a game night. four present.

    around the middle of the room, latte, smartie, and click were standing around while nail zipped in circles around them. click stood, chirping things here and there to the younger boy stumbling and skittering around the three of them while draping an arm around smartie's shoulder. clearly distracted, smartie and latte stared at their phone while holding hands. eight present.

    mango and poison were in a heated discussion; chipperz or high fructose corn syrup. gumball machine stood nervously to the side, adjusting the baby pink straps on her dress. sharkbearberry was on the opposing side, attempting, and failing, to restrain mango by his waist as he struggled and lurched toward poison every chance he got. twelve present, and chocolate bar might have to stop taking attendance and step in soon.

    moonstone was off in her own world. she was sitting down a couple feet away from all of the other students with headphones clamped on her head, which was strange because she was rarely alone. chocolate bar was about to mark her here and count thirteen, but diary sauntered into the room and moonstone sped over to her. he marked down fourteen, missing the warm hug and cheek kiss diary recieved.

    feather had walked in as he was erasing absences from present students, which was albeit a weird way to do attendance, and she whacked poison in the back of the head with her hand. poison turned and barked a frustrated complaint. mango snickered and made a comment. that earned him another scolding session and then the three of them all began to shout at each other.

    chocolate bar marked fifteen and then began observing the scene, raising himself up off of his stool. sharkbearberry had to completely wrap his arms around mango, who was trying to step forward and angrily pointed at the other student. feather stood with her hands on her hips while poison spat in her face and made multiple remarks back to mango and sharkbearberry which only angered him more.

    "um..." gumball machine croaked, "guys? chocolate bar is-"

    chocolate bar stood in front of them, crossing his arms. he looked at the three students disapprovingly. "you three, separate. now."

    the room was dead silent. tol had stopped snoring against the wall and chalky was awake, observing the conflict with broomer's chin pressed against his head. click stood behind smartie, keeping a hand pressed onto nail's shoulder. smartie remained interlocking his fingers with latte, who had been recording for a majority of the argument.

    sharkbearberry yanked mango away toward the rental instruments in the far corner of the room, scowling. an arm remained around mango's waist as the other boy groaned a complaint at him. gumball machine and poison spoke to each other quietly, both of them fairly embarrassed. the girls maneuvered to the guitars, basses, and cellos. feather rolled her eyes, groaned an okay, and then waltzed over to broomer to strike a conversation.

    english muffin walked in and was talking to smartie. cracker was sitting in the opposite corner of the room atop a timbobulous stack of chairs with his airpods in. muffin was sitting on her own near the door, holding what looked to be her viola case. clay had made his way into the room and was seated on the other side of broomer. chocolate bar counted nineteen right as the bell rang.

    "everyone!" chocolate bar shouted, "gather around, there are a couple things you lot need to know."
    everyone began shuffling toward the piano in silence until someone approached the classroom, rapidly moving through the doorway. "a-am i late?"

    "MICRO!"

    chalky's shout rang throughout the room as he threw down his violin case, rushed past everyone, and glomped the new arrival.

    "woah, guys," chocolate bar turned sternly, "are you from-"

    chalky was helping the boy up. he had a mullet and bangs, like tol's but neater, and ash grey overalls matching with a brown short sleeve shirt. a small microphone brooch was pressed on the front pocket. "this is micro!! he's... um, what are you playing this year?"

    "bass! and uh- hold on-"

    micro faced chocolate bar with a respectful grin. "i didn't mean to miss yesterday, i got hit by a bus on the way to school. i play the double bass, please don't mark me tardy."

    chocolate bar bit down on his inner cheek. he swore he wasn't biased on his primary instrument, but... "fine. alright, find somewhere around the room in a circle. you two, hands off."

    the instructor made his way to the piano, and pointed to various places around the room while speaking. "alright, students. i would like you all to get into a line by instrument. i want it to go violins here, violists here, cellists here, guitarists here, and bassists here. chop chop."

while everyone got time to arrange themselves, chocolate bar stared down at his roster. he pressed a pen to his lip, attempting to decide who will be in what section?

    "hm. alright, violins. i'll be arranging sections based on your experience. after our first concert and playing test, i'll shuffle it up if i need to. once i point at you, tell me how long you're playing for. got that?"

    "three years!" chalky chirped.

    "i'm new to this." gumball machine smiled.

    "two years, maybe a half more?" diary spoke.

    "...i'm also new." moonstone mumbled.

    "i have like... three months?" feather said.

    "a year!" nail grinned.

    "four years." latte grumbled.

    "um... like, also a year?" tol blinked.
    chocolate bar marked everyone down for that, and then pointed at meticulously placed chairs on the far side of the room.

    "in the front row, feather and diary. you two are first violins. middle row is latte, first, and nail, and moonstone, seconds. share that stand in between you two, and moonstone can have her own. back row is chalky, first, and gumball machine, and tol, seconds."

    moonstone and diary frowned at each other because they were separated, and chalky frowned because he was in the back. the violinists made their way to their seats holding their instruments, and chocolate bar turned to the violists.

    chocolate bar continued to point at chairs in the middle of the room, quite far from the violinists. "front row is poison and mango, middle row is english muffin, and back row is smartie and muffin."
    mango strutted over to his chair, quickly smooching sharkbearberry on the cheek, and sat down. poison rolled her eyes at that and turned to see her extremely enthusiastic girlfriend waving and grinning at her. her heart swelled. mango rolled his eyes and nudged her, and they exchanged glances that could shatter glass. smartie, muffin, and english muffin just walked by like this was normal. it was.

    nearing the side of the room the cellos, basses, and guitars were, chocolate bar aimed his finger at seat after seat. "cellists, pay attention. sharkbearberry, was it? sit in the front. behind you will go broomer and click."

    broomer skipped up to his seat and smiled at chalky, who smiled back even bigger. click sat down and looked at smartie next to him. grinning, click poked him and he flushed just a little bit. sharkbearberry sat next to mango and when mango turned to kick sharkbearberry in the shins playfully, he rolled his eyes and snuck in a small peck on the cheek to calm mango down.

    "guitarists," chocolate bar called, "sit over here. cracker in the front, headset in the middle. next to them on the very end will go the basses, clay and... uh, micro? yeah, micro. those two open seats over there, you can pick."

    cracker immediately threw himself into his seat, and so did headset. clay 'regularly' made his way to the chair, and micro stumbled to the back.
    soon, everyone was seated. "will you all remember your seats tomorrow?"

    everyone nodded, and chocolate bar found himself rambling about how everyone seriously needs to remember.

    after fifteen whole minutes, gumball machine raised her hand. "um... chocolate bar? we get out in two minutes."

    "well," chocolate bar retorted, "we operate from bell to bell. please, don't start packing up earl-"

    the bell rang. the clock in his room is a minute off. before chocolate bar could try and continue to lecture his students, they were already out of the classroom, maneuvering to their next classes.