The Tuners

Chapter 7: Hyped-Up Spirits (Part 1)

The day of the football game has come as Carter walks to school. As he is walking the same gray Tacoma pulls up to him before coming to a stop as the window rolls down, revealing Seth. "Hey man, need a ride to school?" he asked Carter. "Sure. Thanks Seth." Carter replied as he opened the passenger back door before climbing into the truck and buckled up and seeing Sicily in the passenger seat, "Hey Sicily." he said as he waved to her. "Hey." she said back. Shortly after, the truck takes off. A few minutes later, they arrive at the school. "Thanks again for giving me a ride Seth." Carter said as he got out of the truck. "No problem man." Seth said as he patted Carter's shoulder. The three students then walked into the school before stopping by Carter's locker. "So you guys excited for the game tonight?" Carter asked as he opened his locker and put his backpack in it. "Oh yeah. I'm totally pumped for it." Seth said as he did a Rosie the Riveter pose. "I'm pretty excited for it also." Sicily said, "How about you Carter?" she then asked Carter. "Sure am." he said as he closed his locker door. The three students then walked off to their separate classrooms, only to see Xavier, Zeke, and Cameron approach them. "Is it true, Carter? Did you really quit the football team?" Xavier asked as he crossed his arms. "Yes. But I don't want to talk about it right now Xavier. I have class to get to." Carter said as he walked away only to be stopped by Xavier. "You're making a big mistake Carter." Xavier said. "Xavier, I said I have class to get to now." Carter said as he tried to walk away. "We need you for the game tonight. You're our star player." Xavier said infuriated. "Look Xavier, I already quit the team. I'm sorry, but you'll have to find another star player." Carter said as he, Seth, and Sicily walked past the three. "Man dude, that was real brave of you to stand up to Xavier like that." Seth said. "Thanks. Though if I'm being honest with you guys, I'm starting to think that Xavier doesn't see me as a true friend." Carter said. "About time you realized." Seth commented. "Huh? What do you mean?" Carter asked as he turned to Seth. "Carter, Xavier never considered you a true friend." Seth said before Sicily interjected, "He only cares about himself and never values anyone else as his friends." she said. "Wow. How did I not notice?" Carter wondered before Seth spoke, "Not to sound rude bro, but you can be really oblivious to some things." he said. "Huh? Really?" Carter asked in confusion. "Yep. Much like you're oblivious to something else." Seth then said as he gave a teasing look at Sicily, who's face immediately went red. "But anyways, let's get to class." Seth said as he walked ahead of Carter and Sicily. "What was that about?" Carter asked as he turned to Sicily, who looked away with her cheeks flushed red, "U-Um, I don't know. Well, see you during lunch!" she said speed walking away from Carter. A few hours later, lunch time rolls around as Carter makes his way to the music club room. As he is walking, he sees Ryan and Henry trying to hold back a raging Maya, who was arguing with a girl with auburn hair and green eyes and wore a pink crop top under a white sleeveless blouse and white jeans. "What's going on here guys?" Seth says as he gets closer to the others. "Sophie here started taunting Maya about how she acts like a boy and how she should be more girly." Henry said as he was holding onto Maya like a dog on a leash. "Not to mention that she found out about Maya's hidden crush." Ryan spoke up. "Ah. Well, let me see if I can do something to help." Carter said. "Well, good luck." Henry and Ryan said in unison. Carter then walks up to the auburn haired girl, "Sophie, stop bothering my friend." he said. "You would rather be friends with freaks like them? Come on, Carter. You are much better than them." Sophie said to Carter in a taunting manner. "I could care less about being called a freak. Besides, hanging out with them is far more enjoyable than hanging out with you guys." Carter said as he crossed his arms, "Plus, if you don't stop bugging my friend, I will tell Xavier about how you are dating someone else." he then said, causing the brunette to widen her eyes. "Urgh, let's go girls." Sophie said in an irritated tone as she and the other two girls walked away. "You alright Maya?" Carter asked Maya, "Yeah, thanks Carter." she said as she calmed herself down. "Woah man, can't believe that you would blackmail someone. But how did you know that she was dating someone else?" Henry asked. "I was at a party Cameron was having at his house and I saw her kissing another guy and calling him 'Baby'." Carter said as he, Ryan, Henry, and Maya walked to the music club room. As they got into the room, they saw that the other members were already there, "Hey guys. You made it. I was starting to think you would be late." Seth said as he saw the four walking in. "Sorry about that. Sophie attacked again." Henry said. "Ugh, I can't stand that girl! She always gets on my nerves." Maya said in a frustrated tone. "Thankfully Carter here was able to drive the evil witch away." Ryan said as he hung his arm over Carter's shoulder. "Is that true?" Sara asked with intrigue. "Yeah. All it took was some blackmail and she lost interest." Carter said. "Never thought you of all people would blackmail a person." Michael said in his usual tone. "I can be full of surprises." Carter commented. "Anyways, let's get to practice. We have a halftime show to rehearse for tonight." Sara said. Carter, Sicily, Seth, Sara, Maya, Ryan, Henry, and Michael then got into their positions as the began their rehearsal.