Lander - Before vs. After

Christmas Special

Requested by SimplySketches. Image above by RosyClozy.

"Is this good?" Sean asked, reaching his arm up to precariously place the star on top of the tree.

It was December 8th, and the club was decorating the music room to get them in a festive mood. There were sparkly white garlands on the walls, with one of them wrapped around the microphone stand, making it glitter like freshly fallen snow. Sean's DJ station had a little reindeer stuffy propped up on it, its face smiling cheerily. Luke's drum set had a red bow on the kick drum, jazzing it up without affecting its sound quality. There was a green wreath on the door, the bow sparkling in the light, making the room smell faintly of pine.

There had been some debate on whether or not to use a real wreath, but everyone agreed when Sean offered to sweep up any needles that might fall on the ground.

They were, however, using a fake tree: forest green branches with splashes of color where the ornaments were. Hailey and Milly were whispering to each other while the rest of the club decorated the tree. Sean, being the tallest, had volunteered to put the star on top of the tree.

"Looks great," Luke approved. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Milly slip out of the room.

He wasn't the only one to have noticed it. "Hey, where'd Milly go?" Jake wondered aloud, scanning the room for his pink-haired friend.

"She went to get more decorations from her locker," Hailey answered. "Anyway, great work, guys! The tree looks awesome."

"I think it does, too," Sean agreed. He turned to the other three boys. "Thanks for helping me put up the star."

"Yeah, of course!" Jake responded.

While the other band members chatted, Zander walked up beside his friend. "Did it seem like Hailey was acting a little weird to you?"

The drummer gave him an inquisitive look. "What do you mean?"

"First she was huddled back there with Milly-" he nodded his head towards the back of the room- "and then she changed the subject when we asked her about it. It just seems a little suspicious, that's all."

"Maybe she's planning a surprise for us," Luke said reasonably. "I'm sure it's nothing sinister."

Zander nodded hesitantly. "You're right. It's probably nothing."

After all, what could she possibly be planning?

"Great work today, guys!" Hailey complimented. "Remember, we have a practice after school at four, so don't be late! I'm looking at you, Jake."

The singer raised his hands up in surrender with a sheepish look on his face. "Alright, alright. I'll be on time today, I promise!"

Hailey raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll hold you to that." She turned to the rest of the club. "See you guys later! I'm going to stay behind with Milly for a few minutes."

The rest of the club spread out to go to their respective classes. Zander gave Luke an 'I told you so' look as they seperated. The two of them conspiring together was already suspicious enough; the fact that they stayed behind after everyone else left just added to Zander's doubts.

Despite wanting to figure out what was going on with them, he couldn't dwell on it. He had class. So he pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on the teacher's lecture.

•    •    •

In the middle of his last class, Zander felt his phone vibrate. He gave it a glance when the teacher's back was turned and saw that his sister had sent him a text.