The bass of you

Chapter 20

When we get back into the bedroom, nobody seems to notice that I stole their drink, so drunk me being drunk me I play it off as if I never did anything wrong. Walking back to the bed, all smiles at Ace and Wolf standing by the window, I confidently gulp some of their vodka down right in front of them. They grin and laugh with each other as I walk in. I leap back on the bed, sitting upright at the top against the headboard, so I have a good view of everyone in the room. Chase jumps on the bed next to me and slumps down to lie down with his arms behind his head. He glances up at me and smirks, I smirk back - a smirk that probably looked like I was trying to hold in a laugh because I'm just so drunk and happy. Jace sits down on the edge of the bed as Ace and Wolf sit down on the window sill.

The room is silent, nobody's talking and it soon becomes clear that I'm not the only one wishing there would be music in here. Wolf gets up from the window sill and heads over to T, picking up the remote control on the way and switching it onto a music channel. As soon as the music comes on, the atmosphere seems much more chill.

Chase turns over on his side and props himself up on one arm, looking up at me with that cheeky smirk of his. "So, I noticed that you're into guitar. Do you play?" he asks curiously.

I shake my head and gulp down some vodka. "No, I don't play guitar."

Chase sits up and leans into my face, cocking his head to the side as he gulps down some Jack Daniels. "You said that as if you play something...just not guitar." His eyes are glistening with interest.

Laughing, I shake my head and gulp down more vodka. "Drums." But as casually as I said it, it doesn't stop Chase from looking like someone just handed him a million pounds, and raising his eyebrows at me. This isn't usually the look I get from someone when they find out I play drums, so I'm confused and also not sure about what to do with the strange look he's giving me. I just stare back with a straight face.

Chase shuffles up right next to me and throws his arm around me, gulping down whiskey, and then raising the bottle to the others to get their attention. "Hey man! This chick is a fucking drummer!" he excitedly reveals at them.

They all instantly have the same faces as Chase had given me just now and I feel like I'm spinning out at the weird excitement everyone else has - except for me.

"What, man? A drummer?" Wolf asks, clearly wondering if he even heard Chase properly, but instantly realises after he asks that he did hear him correctly and grins at me. "That's cool."

I just know I'm going to regret saying anything about this tomorrow if they still remember. I'm not lying - I do actually play drums. I've been playing since I was 12 years old. Of course, my dad encouraged me, and I was more than willing. Most people listen to rock music and just love the tune and the lyrics, but I've always been different. I'm part of the group of people that appreciate how the instruments are played, how they mix with each other, the rhythms, the beats. When I say instruments, I mean guitar and drums. I've appreciated them for as long as I can remember. Me and my dad would sit on his and my mother's bed and listen to rock on the alarm clock radio on his bedside table for hours when I was younger. The guitar and drum solos I heard in classic rock changed my life - literally. As soon as I hit my twelfth birthday, that was it - I needed to play the drums. I actually wanted to learn both and was stuck for choice at first, but I decided that I'd do drums now and then guitar later. I haven't got round to the guitar yet, but I can play drums pretty good now. The drums - to me -is the life of the music. Drummers don't get as much as credit as they should, a song wouldn't be the same without the beat of the drum. Unknown to everyone else, I actually know how to drum to one of Black Dagger's songs - all thanks to Layla nagging me like hell to learn at least one of their songs...which I did. She was more than thrilled when she sat there, watching me with starry eyes, drum away to one of their songs.