HAYLEY'S POV:
I got excited right as the last bell rung to release us all from school. Jaelyn tried to get in my way the entire day, asking me questions like if I would go to her party, the classic "trying to be friends" with me questions that I've heard from many plastic people before. She's not the first mean girl I've encountered through my journey of being here. Hopefully she also wouldn't meddle with Josh and I. Oh great. Now I'm sounding like we were dating, which we were definitely not. Ugh. Gotta work on the whole "non-clingy" thing.
I met Josh again at the end of the school day, with a wide grin. "So where is this infamous place you are talking about?" I asked, as we began to walk up the dirt path and into the sidewalks. "Oh you'll see. There are tons of places like that in this town though. But I don't want to spoil anything else," he said with a smile. "Oh okay. I really don't like guessing though," I replied. "I'm not asking you to. Just wait. Hey, did you clear things with your parents? Did you tell them you weren't going to be home?"
"Yeah. Totally. My mom's cool with that stuff. My dad's kind of getting used to me hanging out with guys. I mean I had tons of friends that were girls before, and he wasn't scared then, but now he's a little worried. But he'll just have to live with it."
Josh laughed. "They sound pretty strict."
"Well at first, but I'm the only one they have right now. You know how it can be. I'm an only child, still a teen, and they're trying to protect me and all that stuff. Parents are like that."
"Oh I get it," Josh exclaimed.
"Well that's cool," I said, illustrating the theme of nonchalant. I noticed Zac in front of their house as we passed it, in front of their door, fumbling with something. I didn't know if he was having any trouble exactly.
"Isn't that Zac?" I asked Josh, nodding over towards his house. His head turned immediately towards the house. "Looks like he can't get that door open."
"I don't know. There are two scenarios to this. One, he is trying to be a burglar and practicing on our door, two, he forgot the keys."
"I'm gonna have to go with two," I said sarcastically.
He laughed. "Come on." We crossed the street to his house. Zac looked at both of us, his face flushed red. "I can handle this, you can watch," he said confidently.
"Right." Josh replied. "Here," he pulled out some keys from his pocket. "Trust me, you can't open a door with your finger nails. No matter how long they are." Josh gestured towards Zac's long finger nails. "I would recommend a trim on those, as well."
"They could come in handy for breaking into a lock." Zac replied, shrugging. "Thanks for the keys." He opened the door and handed them back to Josh.
"You might want to go make a copy of this," Josh said. "Where did you loose them anyways?"
"I didn't. I just left them at home," Zac told him from behind the screen door. "So go on with your business. I think you two have things to do. Hey, that rhymed."
I laughed.
"That wasn't funny. But hey, you laughed. I like her Josh. You know how to pick them." Zac told me. Josh rolled his eyes, and I felt awkward, the topic of their conversation.
"Okay. Well, don't loose the keys and I'll see you later." Josh hurried his words, leaving quickly. I followed him and we crossed the street again, and continued walking down the sidewalk. It only took ten minutes until Josh stopped in front of an old building. It had paint that was unfinished and a wall made of bricks. The door looked like a restaurant door, and was the only thing that looked nice in this place. It has stained glass design on the middle of it. "Well this is it, the famous building," Josh announced.
At first I thought it was a joke, but he didn't budge or laugh, so I then realized he was serious. "This...is it?" I asked him in shock. "Okay, I know it isn't much but it's cool on the inside. This place is an old dance studio."
"But it's locked." I pointed out.
"Haven't you heard of bobby pins?" Josh asked, pulling one out of his pocket.
"So you're a criminal now?" I asked him suggestively, eyebrow raised.
"Hey, I'm not that bad," Josh said jokingly. I sighed in relief. "Good." He just laughed while messing with the lock. "This is also where Zac and I practice. The sound is incredible inside, the echo and all."
Once he opened the door, I instantly noticed the completely giant size of the room. Instead of walls, the room had all around mirrors, with a horizontal golden pole attached all around. Just like a ballet studio. It smelled like a car's air freshener inside, and a drum set, two microphones with stands and a single guitar stood in place in the middle of the room. On the corner was a t.v. set and a radio. More music sheets and paper was spread around the sides. But the equipment didn't nearly fill the place at all. There was a lot of room to move. "Wow." I exclaimed, my voice echoing throughout the place. "Wow. The sound is awesome." I exclaimed again. "Yeah it is," Josh replied. "Oh wait," he said with a snap, "I forgot my other guitar back home. I could go-"
"No, I can sing." I suggested, stopping him. "It's enough trouble you brought me here already."
"That's cool of you, Hayley," He told me.
"No problem. As long as you've got some music sheets and a full mind for music creating, it's all good," I replied. We both took a seat in the middle of the dim room. There was barely any sunlight except some moving in from the windows up above. The lights were out, and dusty, so I doubted they would even work. Josh pulled out the first song we wrote, Conspiracy. "I continued writing the bridge. Zac even wrote his own part, so it's a full song right now."
"Nice job. Do you mind playing it? I could sing it with this awesome microphone," I gestured towards the black mics that had stands.
"I don't mind," Josh smiled, as he placed his fingers on the first string and began to pluck the intro of the song. As the first verse came, I was a bit scared to begin singing, but as the music played along and echoed throughout the entire building, I felt even more confident. There was no one watching, no one going to laugh if I screwed up. The feeling of singing that song in such a room with amazing acoustics was simply undescribable.
"You're an amazing singer." Josh complimented.
"Thanks." I replied.
We looked at each other again, eyes locked. It was an awkward, silent moment. We had a tendency of doing this, I noticed. I smiled. He smiled back. It was a good feeling. I walked towards him, and he let his guitar hang there. I felt my face inch closer to his.
I got excited right as the last bell rung to release us all from school. Jaelyn tried to get in my way the entire day, asking me questions like if I would go to her party, the classic "trying to be friends" with me questions that I've heard from many plastic people before. She's not the first mean girl I've encountered through my journey of being here. Hopefully she also wouldn't meddle with Josh and I. Oh great. Now I'm sounding like we were dating, which we were definitely not. Ugh. Gotta work on the whole "non-clingy" thing.
I met Josh again at the end of the school day, with a wide grin. "So where is this infamous place you are talking about?" I asked, as we began to walk up the dirt path and into the sidewalks. "Oh you'll see. There are tons of places like that in this town though. But I don't want to spoil anything else," he said with a smile. "Oh okay. I really don't like guessing though," I replied. "I'm not asking you to. Just wait. Hey, did you clear things with your parents? Did you tell them you weren't going to be home?"
"Yeah. Totally. My mom's cool with that stuff. My dad's kind of getting used to me hanging out with guys. I mean I had tons of friends that were girls before, and he wasn't scared then, but now he's a little worried. But he'll just have to live with it."
Josh laughed. "They sound pretty strict."
"Well at first, but I'm the only one they have right now. You know how it can be. I'm an only child, still a teen, and they're trying to protect me and all that stuff. Parents are like that."
"Oh I get it," Josh exclaimed.
"Well that's cool," I said, illustrating the theme of nonchalant. I noticed Zac in front of their house as we passed it, in front of their door, fumbling with something. I didn't know if he was having any trouble exactly.
"Isn't that Zac?" I asked Josh, nodding over towards his house. His head turned immediately towards the house. "Looks like he can't get that door open."
"I don't know. There are two scenarios to this. One, he is trying to be a burglar and practicing on our door, two, he forgot the keys."
"I'm gonna have to go with two," I said sarcastically.
He laughed. "Come on." We crossed the street to his house. Zac looked at both of us, his face flushed red. "I can handle this, you can watch," he said confidently.
"Right." Josh replied. "Here," he pulled out some keys from his pocket. "Trust me, you can't open a door with your finger nails. No matter how long they are." Josh gestured towards Zac's long finger nails. "I would recommend a trim on those, as well."
"They could come in handy for breaking into a lock." Zac replied, shrugging. "Thanks for the keys." He opened the door and handed them back to Josh.
"You might want to go make a copy of this," Josh said. "Where did you loose them anyways?"
"I didn't. I just left them at home," Zac told him from behind the screen door. "So go on with your business. I think you two have things to do. Hey, that rhymed."
I laughed.
"That wasn't funny. But hey, you laughed. I like her Josh. You know how to pick them." Zac told me. Josh rolled his eyes, and I felt awkward, the topic of their conversation.
"Okay. Well, don't loose the keys and I'll see you later." Josh hurried his words, leaving quickly. I followed him and we crossed the street again, and continued walking down the sidewalk. It only took ten minutes until Josh stopped in front of an old building. It had paint that was unfinished and a wall made of bricks. The door looked like a restaurant door, and was the only thing that looked nice in this place. It has stained glass design on the middle of it. "Well this is it, the famous building," Josh announced.
At first I thought it was a joke, but he didn't budge or laugh, so I then realized he was serious. "This...is it?" I asked him in shock. "Okay, I know it isn't much but it's cool on the inside. This place is an old dance studio."
"But it's locked." I pointed out.
"Haven't you heard of bobby pins?" Josh asked, pulling one out of his pocket.
"So you're a criminal now?" I asked him suggestively, eyebrow raised.
"Hey, I'm not that bad," Josh said jokingly. I sighed in relief. "Good." He just laughed while messing with the lock. "This is also where Zac and I practice. The sound is incredible inside, the echo and all."
Once he opened the door, I instantly noticed the completely giant size of the room. Instead of walls, the room had all around mirrors, with a horizontal golden pole attached all around. Just like a ballet studio. It smelled like a car's air freshener inside, and a drum set, two microphones with stands and a single guitar stood in place in the middle of the room. On the corner was a t.v. set and a radio. More music sheets and paper was spread around the sides. But the equipment didn't nearly fill the place at all. There was a lot of room to move. "Wow." I exclaimed, my voice echoing throughout the place. "Wow. The sound is awesome." I exclaimed again. "Yeah it is," Josh replied. "Oh wait," he said with a snap, "I forgot my other guitar back home. I could go-"
"No, I can sing." I suggested, stopping him. "It's enough trouble you brought me here already."
"That's cool of you, Hayley," He told me.
"No problem. As long as you've got some music sheets and a full mind for music creating, it's all good," I replied. We both took a seat in the middle of the dim room. There was barely any sunlight except some moving in from the windows up above. The lights were out, and dusty, so I doubted they would even work. Josh pulled out the first song we wrote, Conspiracy. "I continued writing the bridge. Zac even wrote his own part, so it's a full song right now."
"Nice job. Do you mind playing it? I could sing it with this awesome microphone," I gestured towards the black mics that had stands.
"I don't mind," Josh smiled, as he placed his fingers on the first string and began to pluck the intro of the song. As the first verse came, I was a bit scared to begin singing, but as the music played along and echoed throughout the entire building, I felt even more confident. There was no one watching, no one going to laugh if I screwed up. The feeling of singing that song in such a room with amazing acoustics was simply undescribable.
"You're an amazing singer." Josh complimented.
"Thanks." I replied.
We looked at each other again, eyes locked. It was an awkward, silent moment. We had a tendency of doing this, I noticed. I smiled. He smiled back. It was a good feeling. I walked towards him, and he let his guitar hang there. I felt my face inch closer to his.