It was the first day of school. The first day of un-grounding. Victoria didn’t want to admit it to herself, but those six days were torture. Nothing caught her attention. She couldn’t read or draw without getting distracted. The only thing she managed to do was lay on her bed and sleep, and even those didn’t help after a while.

She couldn’t think that way at the moment. She was finally off grounding, and she could finally see Alex. Six days ago, she would have been dreading this day. But after spending those days alone in her room when she actually had a friend next door, this was the best day of the week.

She walked across the street early that morning, a smile planted on her face as she saw Alex lift his head up from his car and spot her. “Ready to disappoint teachers for another year, Hamilton?” He asked with the familiar smirk.

“Just get in the car, Gaskarth.” She chuckled.

It wasn’t that hard to get to school. Victoria knew her way around town pretty well, and they even arrived at school early. Alex parked the car in the senior lot, rolling down the windows and looking out at the other kids hanging by their vehicles. “I never thought about how rough today’s going to be.” He said under his breath.

She glanced his way. “What do you mean?”

“I’m the new kid. The dreaded new kid.”

“You already know some people. Like Jack―”

“Exactly, I only two people,” he sighed.

“Two?”

He smirked a little. “Don’t sell yourself short, Hamilton.”

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop the huge grin forming. “Do you want some advice?”

“It would be appreciated.”

“Just do the same thing you did when you first met me. It got me to be your friend.”

“So I should act like a total dick to them and then invite them to my room, only then to be nice to them when I find out their fabulous music taste?”

“Exactly,” she chuckled as they heard the bell ring and they parted ways to their separate classes.

The day wasn’t as awful as Victoria suspected. Although she had already been picked on for her clothes and her friends weren’t in a lot of her classes, she managed to have a decent time at lunch. She sat around her small group of friends, listening as they chatted amongst themselves. She was surprised as she was called out.

“So Victoria,” her friend, Sam, said. “Are you neighbors with the new senior?”

“Alex? Yeah, he lives across from me.”

Another girl named Emma squealed. “Oh! I’ve seen him. He’s so cute.”

A whole conversation had erupted about “how adorable” Alex was. It was getting on Victoria’s nerves. They didn’t have the thought to getting to know him personally. All they wanted to know was what color his eyes were or how he smiled. It made Victoria sick to the stomach.

She barely listened to her Algebra II teacher’s welcoming while she tapped her foot and stared at the clock. Once the bell rang, she bolted from her seat and practically ran to the senior parking lot. Not seeing Alex there, she noticed how stupid she looked. Just because he drove her to school didn’t mean he had to drive her back. Huffing a sigh, she started to walk away from the lot and down the high school’s street.

She almost jumped out of her skin as a car honked its horn at her. She turned and saw Alex’s car striding beside her. “What do you think you’re doing?” He questioned with a lifted brow.

“Walking home?”

“Why didn’t you wait for me in the senior lot?”

“I thought―”

“You need to stop thinking and start waiting, Hamilton.” He parked the car next to her. “Get in. We’re going to Jack’s to jam.”

“You’re really starting the band?” She asked as she got in the passenger seat.

“Yep, he even found a possible drummer today. Now all we need is for the guy to agree.” He laughed as he tapped his fingers on the wheel.

Victoria texted her parents, telling them where she was going for the afternoon, but then listened in to song playing through the speakers. “Are you listening to Blink?”

“Before you say ‘I told you so,’ Jack got me into them.”

“This is the best thing to happen all day.” She smiled, turning the music up.

The jamming at Jack’s went great. Alex and him sounded better than Victoria thought. She had never heard Alex sing before, and she knew right then his voice was something she could fall asleep to. She saw the warmest look in his eyes as his fingers glided across his guitar’s strings and his voice flowed along with the music.

They both waved goodbye to Jack as Alex drove away. “That was fun,” he grinned.

“I didn’t know you were that good.” Victoria looked over at him with a smile.

“I’ll try to remember you when I’m famous.”

She laughed. “You guys should enter the talent show. Honestly, you sounded great playing Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box.’”

He smiled, loving how she knew his favorite song. “Let’s wait until we have the actual band first.”

She would wait, and all because she knew how talented he really was.

Notes

"Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana was Alex's favorite song in school and it's literally one of the best songs you'll ever hear -- no joke.
Rock on \m/ :D