Dear Dahlia // B1

[4]

-the night I met them-

"Tonight" approached faster than Julie had expected. When the sun finally sank behind the trees, she walked into the garage, making me jump off the couch.

"Holy cow," I put my hand over my heart. "My heart, Jesus."

"Nope, just Julie," she laughed.

"Oh no," I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "I was praying, sweetheart."

"Ha," Julie folded her arms over her chest. "Are you gonna help me clean or what?"

"Yeah, sass," I got off the couch and walked into the bathroom. "I'll take the garbage out right now."

"Thanks," Julie narrowed her eyes. She walked over to the piano and pulled the sheet off of it, waving her hand to clear the little bit of dust that had come up.

I grabbed the trash bag and tied it off, carrying it out to the curb. When I came back Julie was coming down from the loft.

"Hey, look at this old CD I found," she said.

"Oh sweet. I havent listened to a CD in ages," I rubbed my hands together. "Put it in the stereo, yeah?"

"You got it," she nodded. "As long as you keep cleaning in the loft. It's dusty up there and I can't handle it."

"Oh yeah, so torture me," I rolled my eyes and climbed up the ladder. I sat next to the guitar and ran my hand over the case again.

My heart skipped a little when the stereo blasted the CD Julie had put in. But once I had gotten used to the sound, the volume didnt bother me anymore. The song actually sounded good. Until the sound of screaming started covering up the track. I quickly slapped my hands over my ears and waited for it to stop. When the screams stopped, so did the music. There was a loud thud and then Julie was screaming.

I ran to the railing of the loft and looked down to see Julie screaming my direction, though she was looking at something on the level below me. There were more screams responding to hers and it confused me.

Were we no longer alone?

Julie screamed with all of her lungs and ran out of the garage. I quickly climbed down the ladder and watching my feet to make sure I didn't slip.

"J! J, what happened? Where'd you go?" I called out.

"Oh, hi there," a voice said from the other side of the ladder.

I looked up to see a black hair boy with a leather jacket. I screamed, before smacking my hand over my mouth.

"Ohmygodwhoareyou," I mumbled from under my hand.

"Who are you?" A shaggy haired boy stepped out from behind the other one.

"I should ask you the same thing," I said back, dropping my hand. "Who are you and what are you doing in my moms studio?"

"Your mom's- listen, this is our studio. Now thank you for the flowers, but get out," another boy stepped forward, pushing the other two back. He was tall with blonde hair and a fanny back clipped around his shoulder.