Songs and Screams (Pico x reader)

Chapter 3

Arriving at the apartment, you felt really tired. You wished Jessica had never taken Skid and Pump to the candy store. Sure, they were happy, but the sugar rush... just watching them made you tired. You also felt a little bad for the cashier. It seemed like he had to put up with them on a regular basis. He even made a comment about them not getting candy canes until Halloween.

"Hey, new friend! Do you know the spooky dance?" Pump asked, pulling on your coat sleeve.

"No, I don't think I do," you said, chuckling nervously.

"You don't know the spooky dance?!" he exclaimed.

"Watch! You just bend your knees a little and..." Skid said, giving you a demonstration, which Pump quickly joined in on.

You watched as the two moved their arms from side to side, huge grins on their faces. It was such a small and silly little dance, but it made you smile.

"It's the spooky dance!" the two exclaimed.

You laughed, deciding to humor the boys and try out the dance as well. Their smiles grew when they saw you had joined them and their dancing had started to speed up.

"Alright, you three. Let's put the spooky dance on pause so we can go into the apartment," Jessica said, smiling as she opened the door to her apartment.

Skid and Pump both ran into the room, you grabbing your bags as you followed behind. Jessica's apartment was quite nice. It was well kept with a nice little vibe to it. There were Christmas lights strung up around the walls with paper cranes tied up to strings that crisscrossed across the center of the celling. There were a few wall scrolls and some pictures of a bunch of different people, most of whom you didn't recognized.

"The spare room is the door on the left. I think it's supposed to be another bedroom but I normally just use it as a study. I have it set up so you can use it as a room for a bit," Jessica said, gesturing to one of the rooms.

You smiled and nodded, taking your stuff over to the room and opening the door. Just like she had said, there was a desk and bookshelf as well as a few cabinets. You could see some recording gear on top of one of the cabinets. In one corner, there was a couch that had some blankets on it.

You pulled your suitcases over to the corner of the couch, setting them down and flopping onto the couch. You were extremely tired. A nap honestly sounded good to you right now. However, the very loud voices of Skid and Pump coming from the room over kept you from actually falling asleep. You would've just put your headphones in, but you were always scared you were going to damage them or that they were going to wrap around your neck if you fell asleep with them in.

There was a knock on the door, causing you to hum and look up. Skid had poked his head in, giving you a curious look.

"Do you want to sing with us, new friend?" he asked.

"You guys are singing?" you asked, giving him a confused look.

"Yeah! Ms. Jessy said that she was gonna participate in the singing contest this Friday!" he exclaimed.

"Alright, I guess I can at least listen," you said, getting up and walking out into the living room with Skid.

"There you are! I thought you would've been out like a light," Jessica teased, lightly nudging your elbow.

"I'm not that tired," you lied, knowing your body was going to hate you for this later.

"Whatever you say. Anyways, do you know what Fridays are?" she asked.

"Uh... a day in the week?" you said, a little confused.

"Well, yeah. But every Friday in this part of the town, a bunch of people get together and hold rap battles or battle of the bands. Normally, I stay out of it, but I was thinking of joining in this week. If you want, we could maybe duet?" she suggested.

"I don't know... I don't think I'd do to well with an audience," you said.

"Fair. You can just cheer me on then," she said, smiling.

"And us!" Skid and Pump exclaimed in unison.

You smiled and nodded.

"Alright, since we're at least gonna be participating, we should practice a little, huh?" Jessica suggested. She turned to Skid and Pump, smirking. "Let's test your improve."

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A few hours went by and Skid and Pump had honestly owned Jessica. You were laughing your ass off at just how badly she had lost. You could hear her talking about how she was better with practice, but you knew you'd give her hell for this later.

"You- you lost to-... kids!" you exclaimed, doubled over on the ground laughing.

"I'd like to see you drop a few bars, then," she grumbled.

"Can you sing?" Pump asked, looking over at you.

"Eh... I guess," you said, slowly sitting up as you calmed down from your laughing fit.

"They were really good in high school. I heard them a few times," Jessica said.

"And you were an amazing guitarist. I saw how well you could play in pep band," you said.

"Eh, I don't think I could beat some of the other guitarists at school," she said, shrugging. You gave her a slight pout, which she laughed at. "I mean, I've been practicing a lot since graduation. I even got a band together. Kinda."

"Ooh! What if we made a band!" Skid exclaimed.

"I call drums!" Pump yelled.

Jessica laughed, lightly shaking her head. "I could see about getting together another band," she said.

There was a knock at the door and Jessica walked over, grumbling something about finally showing up. She opened the door and you could hear her talking to someone. You were going to try and listen in but got side tracked by Skid and Pump being hyper.

"Hey! Skid! Pump! Your actual babysitter is here!" Jessica yelled, opening the door a bit wider and allowing someone to walk into the apartment.