Mickey’s POV:

I was sat at the kitchen bar eating mini pretzels from a plastic bag, checking the clock every two seconds to see if it was time yet. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was checking so often. Yes, I had to be somewhere at exactly four, but it wasn’t like I actually wanted to be there though. The only reason I was forced to go was that my parents were out until late again, my mom had a late shift and my dad was out for a company dinner, which left me. They still didn’t trust me to be at home all alone, so they were forcing me to go over to Rian’s this time. It wasn’t like I actually had any plans that evening, though. I, just like normal people, didn’t go out every night; I also needed some time for myself.

Well, now it was going to be some time for myself and Rian. Great. Such a nice way to just do nothing.

When the clock hit four, I strangely got up and took my backpack off the countertop to actually leave on time. I even already had my shoes on. It was like my body wanted to go. I didn’t necessarily agree. Of course, I didn’t want to go. I had to if I didn’t want to risk my parents getting a deadbolt lock for all the windows and doors.

I walked the short distance across the street to Rian’s house and knocked on the door. It was only then that I realized that Rian had been over to my house many times, but I had never been in his. I had never even been on his porch before. This was all completely new. Who knew what laid behind the cream walls I saw on the outside?

It took a while before anybody answered the door. At one point, I even contemplated turning around and going back home because nobody was willing to let me in. But before I could actually turn on my heel, the door did open. Rian’s mom had a welcoming smile on her face, her curly blonde hair swayed a little as she greeted me.

“Come in, come in,” she ushered, moving aside so I could enter the house, “the boys are downstairs in the basement.”

“The boys?” I asked, the plural form of the word making me cringe. This couldn’t be happening right now.

“Yeah, they always come over here for band practice.” Rian’s mother replied. As if on cue, a loud crash came from the drums just a heartbeat later. “I’ll take you there.”

So, she started leading me to the other side of the stairs, where there was a door. I probably could have found it by myself, since it was in quite a generic place, but it was also nice of her to not let me fend for myself. It would have been pretty embarrassing if I walked in a completely different direction than I should have.

Right as Rian’s mom opened the door, a few loud profanities came through the speaker, loudly echoing from the walls. She immediately started flickering the light switch and said, “watch it! I can hear everything you’re saying through that microphone!”

A chorus of ‘sorry, Ms. Kathi’ mixed in with a ‘sorry, mom’ came from the four boys downstairs. I rolled my eyes at them. Alex always tried to act like a badass, yet here he was not daring to get in trouble with Rian’s mother. It was pretty funny to me.

So, ‘Ms. Kathi’ gestured for me to go downstairs and I did. The boys were surprised to see me when I got to the last few steps, having fully expected that Rian’s mother was going downstairs to give them some more scolding. But no, it was just me to make their lives a living hell for the rest of the time they were there.

“Mickey?” Alex questioned. Of course, it was Alex who had to be so surprised to see me and actually make it known. He always did it.

“Yep, the one and only!” I said in an over-the-top cheerful voice, which was obviously supposed to be taken as the complete opposite, and threw my bag on the floor next to the couch which I gracefully fell onto right after.

“I didn’t know we were going to have an audience today…” A guy I did not know with brown curly hair said, practically asking the others to bring him up to date.

Rian, despite being all the way behind the drums, decided to make introductions. “Zack, Mickey. Mickey, Zack.”

Before this Zack guy could say anything further, I made sure that I was the first to speak. “Cool.” I proceeded to take out my sketchbook and a ballpoint pen before laying down on the couch and announcing, “you guys better play some good music or I’ll listen to my own stuff.”

“Rude,” Rian said as he faked a cough.

I rolled my eyes and sat back up. This wasn’t the first time somebody would say things under their breath about me, but I never expected it to come from Rian. Maybe it was the fact that he was surrounded by his friends--usually it was just the two of us and he would never do something like that--or maybe it really did affect him. I was betting on the first one, though. So, I was going to humor him.

“Ok, so you want me to actively listen and give ‘constructive criticism’ instead, then?” I suggested, throwing my belongings back into my bag.

“How constructive would this criticism be?” Alex asked me, seeming both interested in getting another opinion and being afraid that I would just talk them down until they would give up this whole band thing.

I wasn’t that petty, though.

“I listen to music, but I can’t play it, so it will probably be shitty and any tips I give would most likely be unreachable,” I honestly told them, knowing that either way I was going to hear their music whether it be covers or their own.

“You do own a guitar, though.” Rian pointed out, referring to the red electric guitar I had up in my room that he probably had only seen the first time he came over with his parents.

“Can’t play it,” I shook my head, “never touched it. Nobody’s ever touched it; as you probably know, I don’t like people hanging around in my room.”

“Is it any good?” Alex’s expression turned to intrigue. He was in his element.

“Don’t know,” I shrugged, “it probably wasn’t too expensive. I don’t know shit about guitars. I could go get it and let you see if you can do anything with it.”

They all nodded, thinking it was a good idea. I wasn’t sure if it was because they were genuinely interested in this mysterious instrument that was gathering dust up in my room, or if it was because they wanted to get rid of me for a while, but I didn’t really mind. It gave me something to do. I had no idea how long this band practice was going to take, I was going to take anything that could make the time go by faster.

So, I quickly left the house, leaving all my stuff behind and not bothering to tell Ms. Kathi that I was going to quickly drop by my house and get something. Luckily, I hadn’t forgotten my key this time and didn’t have to climb in through my window. It didn’t even cross my mind that I could have left right there and then. Nobody could have stopped me. They wouldn’t even know until it was too late. I actually went up to my room and got the guitar from its stand and went right downstairs again.

However, before I could leave, the house phone rang. I couldn’t just leave it be when I was just two feet away.

I picked up the phone and said my name, expecting there to be some telemarketer on the other side that I could easily shut down. But no.

“Mickey?” My mom’s voice sounded through the speaker. “What the hell are you doing home? You’re supposed to be at Rian’s!”

I groaned. Finally, I actually did something she wants, and she happened to find me just when I happened to be seemingly doing something I wasn’t supposed to. “I know. I was there just a minute ago--”

“You were supposed to be there until Garry comes back home. You can’t just leave whenever you want. Isn’t that Dawson boy keeping you in line? I thought the two of you were better than this.”

“Mom!” I shouted before she could go on with her rant and say something she wouldn’t mean. “I literally just came home to pick something up. Rian’s friends are over having band practice and I told them about the guitar you got me years ago. They wanted to have a look at it. It’s literally in my hand right now and I was just about to head back.”

“You better be,” she said in a stern threatening voice. “I only called to make sure you actually went, I did not expect to get an answer. If I find out that you are lying to me, young lady, this will have serious consequences.”

“Really, mom. You can call Ms. Kathi and she’ll tell you!”

“Ok, then. You better hurry your ass because I’m hanging up and calling her straight away.”

With that, I heard her hang up the phone. I quickly put it back in its place and rushed out of the door, making sure to lock it behind me. When I had crossed the street, I didn’t even think of knocking before I entered Rian’s house. Right there, in the hallway, Ms. Kathi was already stood with the phone in her hand and to her ear.

“Yes, she’s here,” she said with a nod, looking at me, “yes, she’s holding the guitar.”

I groaned internally. Why did this have to happen? I didn’t ask for this. I was honestly doing something good for once. As soon as the phone was handed over to me, I was ready for shit to hit the fan and for me to get shouted at.

“Either you ran up to your room super fast and got that guitar or you were telling the truth,” my mom spoke through the phone, her voice still disapproving.

“God, what does a girl have to do to get you to believe her?” I grumbled back. “I even left my backpack with all my prized possessions here. Isn’t that enough of a sign that I’m telling the truth?”

“You come up with the most ridiculous lies, Mickey. How am I supposed to know? You’re lucky this time, but if I hear that it happens again, it won’t go past me so easily,” she warned me clearly as if there could have been anything that would have prevented this.

If I hadn’t answered the phone, she would have called Rian’s house either way. Then they would have found out I wasn’t downstairs and this could have gone way worse. I was going to take what I had gotten.

I handed the phone back to Ms. Kathi and ran back down the stairs to where the whole band had set up their equipment. They all looked towards me again expectantly. When Rian saw who I was, he sighed out in relief.

“What took you so long?” He practically growled. “I was afraid I was going to go out on another manhunt for you.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” I raised my hand up in defense and handed the guitar to Alex. “Somebody rang the home phone, I answered, turned out it was my mom. She freaked the fuck out, so I’m trying to get through to her. Eventually, she lets me go so I can come back here, but she called your mom. I get the phone again and she freaks out again. So, yeah, that’s what took me so long. I’m just offended that everybody thinks I disappeared.”

“That’s cause you usually do. I’m pleasantly surprised to see you here.”

“Anyway,” Alex interrupted before Rian and I could get into a bitch fight--which would have been caused by my frustration that needed to be released, “this guitar looks pretty nice. Let’s give it a try and hope nothing blows up.”

He unplugged his own guitar which was around his neck, and replaced it with mine. Nothing exploded just yet, but as he strummed it, I was pretty sure my eardrums exploded. It wasn’t that it was too loud, it was that it sounded absolutely horrible. Even Alex cringed and muted the strings as quickly as possible.

“Hey, dude,” Jack tapped Alex on the shoulder, “I’m pretty sure that’s out of tune.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Alex proceeded to try and tune the strings, but eventually gave up. “These strings are probably the ones it came with. Or at least they’re very old and oxidized… I’m pretty sure it will be fixed in no time with a quick string change.”

“Only I don’t have the money to buy those, nor would I be spending my money on something I wouldn’t even use,” I retorted and crossed my arms. At least somebody tried it, though.

“You should come work at Rita’s Italian Ice with me and Rian!” Jack excitedly suggested.

I blinked slowly at him. Was he fucking kidding?

Notes

I wrote this earlier today and it went completely different. Like, very different. But it didn't seem right, so I rewrote 1000 words and replaced them with different events.

This chapter brought to you by: procrastinating my English essay I need to finish in a week and ignoring my driving theory test. Great stuff.

This chapter also ends pretty abruptly, but it will continue in Alex's POV. I didn't want this chapter to go up to 6000 words.