The Tuners

Chapter 8: Getting Closer (Part 1)

The sun was shining bright as a ray of light shined on Carter's eyes through his curtain, waking him up. "Man, now that was a good sleep." he said as he got up. After getting out of bed, he did a few morning stretches and proceeded to his wardrobe, grabbing a blue shirt, a pair of jeans, as well as his boxers and socks. Carter then makes his way to the bathroom for his shower. A few minutes later Carter walks out of the bathroom fully dressed before walking down the hallway to the living room, where he sees his mom making breakfast, "Morning mom." he said. "Morning kiddo." Carter's mom said back. Carter then little sister Lily watching some SpongeBob SquarePants. "Morning Lily, cool if I watch with you?" Carter asked her as he sat down next to her, to which she replied "Mhm" while nodding. "Sweet. Thanks." Carter said as he turned his head towards the tv. About a few minutes later, Carter and Lily's mom walked up behind them before ruffling their heads, "Alright kids, breakfast is ready." she said. "Yay food!" Lily said in excitement as she and Carter got up and walked to the table to eat breakfast. After eating his breakfast, Carter brushes his teeth and slightly gels his hair. After walking out of the bathroom, Carter sits down on the couch as he continues to watch SpongeBob. "Hey Carter, would you like me to drive you to the mall today?" Carter's mom asked as she was in the kitchen washing dishes, "Sure mom. Thanks." Carter replied. "You're welcome kiddo." Carter's mom said, "How about we leave at 11?" she then asked. "Sounds good to me." Carter said. "Okay." Carter's mom said. About an hour later, Carter, who is wearing his signature jacket, and his mom arrive at the mall. "Thanks again for giving me a ride mom." Carter said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Oh anytime kiddo. Now go hang out with your friends." Carter's mom said patting her son's shoulder as Carter got out of the car and walked up to the entrance of the mall, where he saw Seth, Sicily, and the others, "Hey guys." he said as he got to them. "Hey man." Henry said as he high fives Carter. "Alright. Now that everyone's here, let's head on in." Seth said before everyone walked into the mall. As they were walking, the music club looked around at all the shops and kiosks. "Man, so many shops to choose from." Sicily said. "Yeah." Carter commented. "Ooh can we please hit the food court first?" Maya asked with a pep in her step. "Sheesh Maya. Could you turn your energy down a little bit? We just got here." Michael said. "Does she do this every time you guys go to the mall?" Carter asked in confusion. "Pretty much. The food court is her favorite place to go to when it comes to malls." Ryan said. "Well I guess it shows that she really enjoys eating as much as she loves her guitar." Henry said. "I guess." Carter said. A few minutes later, the music club were walking around when Carter noticed a Photo Booth, "Hey guys. How about we get a photo together?" he asked the others. "Sounds good to me." Sicily said. "I'm down." Seth said shortly after as the others agreed. After they got into the Photo Booth, Carter inserted a dollar into the slot as the music club did some funny faces before doing a regular photo. After getting out of the booth, Carter grabbed the photos as they came out of the slot. "Hey does anyone else want one?" he asked. "I'll take one." Seth said as Carter handed him a copy of the picture. "I'll have one also." Sicily said as Carter gave her a copy. "Well I guess I'll have one as well." Sara said before being given a copy. A few minutes later, the music club continued walking before being stopped by a rumbling noise. "What was that?" Carter asked. "Sorry, that was me." Maya said embarrassed. "Well, I guess it's time we went to the food court." Sara said. "Sí! vamos!" Maya said in Spanish as she speed-walked towards the food court. "And there she goes." Michael said as he crossed his arms before the rest of the music club walked in the same direction. A few minutes later after getting their food, the music club sat down at one of the tables. "Maya, how many times have I told you to not run off without us. We don't want you getting lost again." Sara scolded Maya. "Sorry my stomach got the best of me." Maya said as she took a bite out of a hotdog she was eating. "What do you mean again?" Carter asked as after taking a drink of his soda. "Last time we came here, Maya ran off from the group and ended up getting lost." Henry said. "Yeah. It took us 15 minutes just to try and find her." Michael said before taking a bite out of some noodles he was eating. "Haha. I guess that's fair since Maya's the youngest out of all of us." Carter said before the others laughed. About 30 minutes later, the music club decided to split up into groups of 2 to look around the mall. Those groups being Carter and Sicily, Maya and Ryan, Henry and Michael, and lastly Sara and Seth. As the others left, Carter and Sicily were walking around before stopping by a poster for a band competition, "A band competition? Now that looks fun." Carter said before turning to face Sicily, "You think we should tell the others about this?" he asked her. "Yeah I think we should." Sicily said as she took a flyer from a table next to the poster. After walking around for a half hour, Carter and Sicily were sitting on a bench. "Man, my feet are hurting. I should've worn better shoes." Carter said. "Yeah. Me too." Sicily said. Just then Carter heard a girl say "Oh my gosh! It's Carter McAlister and Sicily Farland!" before seeing a crowd of women coming towards them, "Oh boy. Looks like we better get going!" Carter said as he grabbed Sicily's hand and ran off. "Whoa, hey!" Sicily said. After a few minutes of running, Carter and Sicily hid behind a sign. "Carter, what are you-." Sicily said before Carter put his finger up to his mouth, "Sh, they'll hear us." he said. Carter then turned around to see if the crowd was there. Fortunately for the two, the crowd wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Whew, they're gone." Carter said. "Um...Carter?" Sicily said nervously as Carter turned to face her, basically coming face to face with her green eyes.