Robin's Anarchist Senior Quote

The summer before my senior year, I continued to play with Madhouse. We still had a regular gig at Jeanette's club, and Abby scheduled a few other concerts for us on top of that. Slowly but surely, Madhouse began to gain a fanbase. Each week, more people came to see us at the club. By the end of the summer, there were far too many people at our shows to fit in the club. When senior year started, Abby was busy looking for a new venue for us to play at.

Over the summer, Robin also realized that grunge wasn't cool anymore. Though his interest in grunge never disappeared entirely, his Nirvana and Pearl Jam T-shirts were slowly being replaced by Dead Kennedys and Bad Religion. His CD collection expanded greatly, and I found everything from The Offspring to Rage Against The Machine in there. Our music tastes still didn't quite match, but it was interesting to see what sort of music he was into.

Conveniently, Abby, Kyle, Robin, and I all had the same lunch period that year. We spent nearly every day chatting about the band, while Abby continued her search for more shows that we could play. Eventually, she found a slightly larger club that seemed like a good fit, but we needed to send in a demo to be considered for the gig.

"We don't have a demo yet," Kyle told her. "Maybe we should keep looking."

"Do you realize how hard it is to find venues that let underage bands play?" Abby asked. "This is our best shot at finding somewhere where you guys can accommodate your audience."

"We need a studio to record a demo," Kyle said. "Studio time is expensive."

"I'll pay for it," Abby said. "We have quite a bit of money in the band fund."

"We have a band fund?" I said.

"Yes, we do," Abby said. "I've been saving a portion of the money we've gotten from each show, and we have quite a lot now. It's more than enough to pay for a few hours in the studio."

Robin grinned and said, "Recording is going to be awesome!"

"Yeah, it will be," I said. I wasn't quite as excited as Robin was, but I still knew that being in the studio for the first time would be fun.

A few weeks into the school year, Madhouse recorded a few demos to send to the Coyote Club. Within a few hours, we recorded three of our best live songs, and all of us poured our hearts into those demos. As a result, we played at our very best, but Robin was by far the star of the show. His guitar playing was better than ever, and he brought his energy from our live shows into the studio. In short, he sounded amazing.

We sent the demo off to the club, and to our surprise, the owner of the club said that he wanted us to play there. As it turned out, he knew Jeanette, and had already heard a lot about us. At our first show at the Coyote Club, I saw plenty of familiar faces. Many of our fans at Jeanette's club had followed us to the Coyote Club, and for once, there was room for all of them. Over the next several months, Madhouse gained even more fans, and Robin, Kyle, and I were all excited about what the future had in store for us.

However, it seemed that Madhouse's success would be short lived. Robin, Kyle, and I were all seniors, and eventually, we would have to leave for college. Despite his parents' protests, Robin wanted to stay in the band instead of going to college, and Kyle was torn over whether to go to college or stay in Madhouse, but Abby and I had planned to go to University of Washington together since freshman year. We had both applied there, along with a few other schools, but we were both convinced that was where we were going to go. Abby and I could stay close to home, and if we were lucky, we would be able to room together.

In March, I found out that I had been accepted to University of Washington. I should have been excited, but that news only tore me apart. I had to make a choice, and either way, I would lose something. If I went to college, Madhouse would surely break up, but if I chose to stay in Madhouse, then I would lose my opportunity to go to college and potentially my friendship with Abby.

How could I make such a choice?

After a lot of agony, I decided to take a third option. I would defer for a year, and if I wasn't happy with Madhouse, then I would go to University of Washington a year late. I could still room with Abby, although she would be a year ahead of me at that point.

Over the next few months, I managed to convince myself that this was the best decision that I had ever made. I would be able to please my family, friends, and bandmates, and all of them would be pleased with my maturity, foresight, and decision-making skills. Of course, this illusion was shattered when I tried to explain my plan to my parents over dinner.

"Bianca, are you out of your mind?" Mom said. "You're throwing away your college plans for a rock band!"

"I don't think you realize how lucky you are, Bianca," Dad said. "Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to college, and you're rejecting that entirely for nothing."

"It's not nothing, Dad," I said as I twisted a piece of spaghetti onto my fork. "Madhouse means a lot to me."

"I understand that, but you could start a band in college," Mom said. "Madhouse isn't the only band out there."

"We have a following here," I said. "We would lose that if we broke up."

"You can't live off of your band," Mom said.

"What happened to your plans to become a political scientist?" Dad said. "You need a college degree to do that."

"If the band doesn't work out, then I'll do that," I said.

"There's no guarantee that the college is still going to take you," Dad said.

"I think they will," I said.

"Brett, this is Bianca's decision," Mom said. "I disagree with this too, but it's clear that she's put a lot of thought into it. She's an adult now. We need to let her make her own choices."

"Thanks Mom," I said.

"I suppose you're right, Penny," Dad said. "Bianca, just be careful. I don't want you to suffer because of a silly mistake like this."

"I don't think it's a mistake, but I'll be careful," I said.

The next day, I told Abby that I was going to defer. "I can't say that I don't understand, but I wish you were coming with me," Abby said. "I'm going to miss you."

"You're not leaving yet!" I exclaimed.

"You're right, and I haven't entirely decided that I'm going to University of Washington yet either," Abby said. "I have some tempting financial aid offers from other schools."

"Think of it this way," I said. "I won't be affecting your decision anymore."

"Yeah, but it's going to be weird going to college without you," Abby said.

"Has Kyle decided where he's going yet?" I asked.

"I think he's going to go to community college and then transfer somewhere else," Abby said. "He said that he didn't want to be the one to break up the band by going somewhere far away."

I was glad that Madhouse would stay together, even if we had only bought ourselves a few more years. I did feel a little bit left out when my classmates bragged about where they were going, but it was worth it to know that I could do what I truly loved.

Graduation approached, and as it did, the school collected senior quotes for the yearbook. There was a sheet in the cafeteria where you could write down your quotes, but by the time I wrote mine down, most of my friends had already chosen theirs. The names were listed in alphabetical order, so I looked down the page and found Abby's quote first, written in neat, perfect cursive.

Abigail Perkins - "Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud" - Maya Angelou

Kyle's quote was a little further down the page, and I chuckled as I read it.

Kyle Spencer - "Reality continues to ruin my life" - Bill Watterson

Robin's quote was right below Kyle's. It was written in a messy, nearly unreadable scrawl.

Robin Stanley - "Privileged fucks like me should feel obliged to whine and kick and scream until everyone has everything they need" - Propagandhi

I looked across the page until I found the spot for my senior quote. Then, I took a pen out of my backpack and wrote down my quote.

Bianca Madison - "There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go" - Tennessee Williams

Needless to say, when we got our yearbooks at the end of the year, Robin was not happy. "I don't have a senior quote!" Robin complained. "I wrote one down, but it's not in there!"

"That's weird," I said. "Mine's in here, and so is everyone else's."

"I'm going to go to the office and ask them about it," Robin said.

I followed him to the main office. "Hello there," the receptionist said. "The middle school tour group is meeting in C hallway."

"I'm eighteen," Robin said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry," the receptionist said. "What do you need help with?"

"I think there's a misprint in the school yearbook," Robin said. "My senior quote isn't in there." Robin stood on his tiptoes and placed his copy of the yearbook on the woman's desk. He then turned it to the page where his quote was supposed to be.

The receptionist examined the yearbook and said, "I suspected that might be the issue. The Yearbook Committee reviewed your quote and determined that it was obscene and unfit for publication."

"Wait, what?!" Robin screamed. "This isn't fair! This is a violation of my First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution!"

The receptionist rolled her eyes. "We aren't reprinting the yearbook just so you can curse, kid."

Robin grumbled something and stormed out of the office, but his fight for free speech wasn't over. At lunch a few days later, he brought it up again. "I'm going to stage a protest at graduation. You guys will help me out, right?" he said.

"Is this during graduation?" Abby asked. "I am not missing my own high school graduation for anything. In fact, as the president of student council, I'm giving a speech at the beginning, and I can't miss that."

"So you're telling me that you're willing to let censorship just slide by?" Robin said.

"Only if the protest is during graduation," Abby said.

"The right to free speech is more important than graduation!" Robin said.

"Bianca can go instead," Abby said. "Who knows? Maybe you two will finally realize your love for each other while rebelling against the status quo."

"I still don't like him like that," I said.

"Me neither," Robin said while sipping his coffee. "Bianca, you are joining me, right?"

I sighed. "I suppose so," I said. "Kyle? Are you doing this too?"

"I think I'll stay with Abby," Kyle said.

Robin gave him a disappointed look, but Kyle didn't change his mind. "Fine," Robin said. "I already recruited Pranav, and three people is enough for a protest, right?"

As it turned out, it wasn't. Our classmates passed right by us as I held up a sign saying "DOWN WITH CENSORSHIP!" while standing near the door to the Garfield High School auditorium in my cap and gown. Even Abby was chatting with Kyle as she passed by, refusing to pay us any attention whatsoever. As it began to rain, our little rebellion began to feel less and less rebellious.

We could hear the graduation ceremony from outside the auditorium, and for a while, it was quite boring. Abby gave her speech, along with what seemed like every school official at Garfield High School, and then they started handing out diplomas.

"Marsha Adams!" the principal called out, followed by, "Josh Anderson!" Each student stepped up to receive their diploma, until the principal reached "Pranav Ganesh!"

"Should I go get the diploma?" Pranav asked.

"No," Robin answered. "We have to stay here. This is how they're going to notice our protest."

The principal called out several more names until he reached, "Bianca Madison!"

"It's not that big of a deal," Robin assured us. "They mail your diploma to you later anyways."

The principal called out more names, including Abby and Kyle, until he reached Robin. Strangely enough, the music changed to "Resisting Tyrannical Government" by Propagandhi. We listened to everyone panic as the song played.

Why don't we plant a mechanic virus and erase the memory

Of the machines that maintain this capitalist dynasty

And yes, I recognize the irony

The system I oppose affords me the luxury of biting the hand that feeds

That's exactly why privileged fucks like me

Should feel obliged to whine and kick and scream

Yeah, until everyone has everything they need

Once the song finished, everything went back to business as usual. The principal finished handing out diplomas, and everyone went home. On the way out, nobody noticed our protest, but we knew in our hearts that we had affected the masses of students, parents, and faculty in some way.

When the summer began, I was certain that Madhouse would make it. We had an excellent drummer and a superb guitarist, so a record label had to notice us eventually. After all, the music industry was always looking for new talent, and that's what we were.

What could possibly go wrong? 

A/N: If you guys are wondering what the bands in this book sound like, I have Spotify playlists for all of them. Search "epichorn31" on Spotify and you should find them. Thanks for reading! :)