Violetta (Violet) Jackson has big dreams. None of which happen to include sitting in detention for a week straight for a lab disaster that wasn't even her fault. That's all thanks to Will Hawthorne, his friends (one of whom she unfortunately used to...
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Ryder, Olivia, and Danny were all very confused when I explained to them that we managed to acquire a brand-new practice space completely free of charge within less than six hours of losing one.
I broke the news to them on Thursday, but it was Saturday when we first went over to Will's place. To Ryder, Olivia, and Danny, it was just to scope out the scene and see what we had to work with, but to me, it was to see if it was all some big prank Ethan cooked up; which, to be honest, I was still half-expecting to happen at any moment.
When we rolled up to 415 Elk Place, which was the address that Will had scribbled down for me on my chemistry notebook on Friday (when Ethan was, of course, nowhere in sight) I was almost surprised to find a house there instead of an empty lot or an old, foreclosed, derelict hovel. The house before us is entirely normal-looking for the most part — two stories with a red brick facade and a well-kept lawn, a blue Ford truck parked in the driveway. The entrance to the garage is half-open, as Will promised, but the inside is too dark to make out the inside from our street view.
After debating whether or not this was the correct house, we all unload from Danny's car, me exiting from the passenger side while Ryder and Olivia come out from the back. Olivia puts her hand over her forehead as she walked up the driveway of the house, shielding her eyes and squinting from the sun beating down on us.
"Looks promising," she said as she passed the truck, pointing at the Oak Point High bumper sticker on the rear.
I'm still not convinced, but I don't say anything. Will told me that he talked to his parents about it, and they were totally fine to lend us the space for a while, as they were in and out of town on business anyway. But it's hard to shake the feeling of disbelief. It all seemed too easy, and Will instantly stepping up to the plate without any qualms left me feeling more anxious than grateful.
But as I stepped under the half-open garage door and looked around, my misgivings suddenly began to fade.
The garage stretched out before me...and then kept stretching out...and kept stretching out. In fact, it was the largest garage I'd ever seen — at least, one that was still attached to a home. It was easily three cars wide, with walls covered with fiberglass towering at least ten feet, reaching all the way back to the other end of the garage, which was probably the length of my entire apartment, end to end. But despite the garage's impressive size, that wasn't the only thing that caught my attention.
The garage was cleared out — shelves empty, no cars around. Instead, speakers, amplifiers, and microphones were set up in the center of the room, the microphones carefully arranged so one was placed out in front, with two others behind it, to the right and left. Extension cords were also at the ready, plugged into the outlets on the far left and right walls, lying on a mat by the microphones. And, as I glanced to the right, there's even a stationed desk with a recording mic and keyboard, with another outlet nearby for a laptop to be plugged in for pulling up recording software.
