The Meaning Of Life

12:29pm March 17 2051

When I get off the bus in front of Lexi's recording studio, my first reaction is awe. I saw the building online before, but in person it looked so much cooler. It's a two story glass building with a slanted roof. The roof casts a nice shadow and underneath there are picnic tables, benches and a fountain.

I pull out my phone and call Lexi. She picks up on the second ring.

"Hi," I say simply. "I'm here, where do I come in?"

"Where are you now?"

"The front."

"Stay there, I'll come get you," she pauses and addresses someone else. "Yeah, it's him."

I smile at the way she says him. It isn't a tone of voice anyone else would notice, but it's tinged with just a bit of affection, and it makes me smile every time she talks about me.

"Hey!" Lexi yells and I turn to see that she's right beside me. "How did you not notice me coming out of the door over there?"

I blush and put my phone in my pocket.

"Come in," she says, walks toward the doors with her arms in the air. "See the band again, it's been a while."

I push open the door and take it all in. Dark grey tiles cover the floors, the white walls are covered in giant canvases covered in paint and couches and chairs are everywhere. There's a giant flat screen TV on the wall and multiple speakers arranged in the room.

"Welcome to the home of Red," she says and I laugh before following her through a smaller door. Red is the name of her band.

"Yo band!" She yells. "Come say hi to my boyfriend!"

No one in the room moves. Two guys are sprawled out over two four couches and a coffee table with a bag of chips and an action movie playing on a screen smaller then the one in the lobby.

"Boys!" She shouts commandingly.

One of them gets up.

"Eclipse White, the artist," he greets me and gives me what I like to call a bro hug. "You taking good care of our girl?"

"Of course, Alex."

"My man," he continues in a satisfied tone. "We should have another party. I haven't seen you since, like, the last one."

"That was only two weeks ago," I frown.

"Time flies, little dude," he grins. "Time flies when you're at peace."

"Stop scaring him off with all your hippie bullshit," Marco, the drummer buts in, waving a chip in our general direction. "Hey man, how've you been?"

I grin. Marco is two years older then us, and my chosen role model. He has a kind of an emo vibe, with his thick, dark brown that goes down to his neck, his decision to only ever wear black and his love for music.

"Not bad, you?" It's easier to be casual around Marco.

"Alright."

"When's Samantha getting here?" I ask Lexi and the three band members all exchange a look. I frown. "What?"

"Just... you'll see," Marco sighs. "It's Sam."

I frown and move Alex's legs off one of the couches so I can sit down.

"So Lexi said you guys need two songs by the end of the week," I try small talk. "Any ideas so far?"

"About that," Alex says and stands up dramatically. "Lexi needs to change her name."

I frown again, not sure if I heard right. I look at Lexi for confirmation and she rolls her eyes, which makes me smile.

"Don't laugh, it's serious," Alex continues. "She also needs to dye her hair, get some piercings on her face and a few tattoos."

"No!" I protest immediately at the tattoo part. "She's fourteen, it's her body, she can do what she wants."

"You're just saying that because of what you want to do with her body," Samantha states from the door. I sit up suddenly, ready to snap at her and tell her off, say that I respect her and would never do something like that if she didn't want to, but my mouth falls open limply as soon as I see her.

Samantha didn't look like a her.

"Hey," I manage to spit out. "You look d-different."

Samantha sighs.

"It's Sam, before you call me Samantha, and yeah," she rolls her eyes. "I'm a dude."

I remember learning about gender identity a few years ago in health class.

"Trans-sexual?" I stutter.

"Yep."

"So you're a dude."

"Yep."

I try not to stare at her bulging chest and shrug.

"Cool."

"So as I was saying," Alex continues. "Lexi needs to change her name to something cool, dye her hair and all that stuff."

"I still say no, but why?" I slide on the couch slightly closer to her defensively.

"She looks like a pop princess," he snarls. "Lexi the blonde, cheery, peppy, pop princess."

"She could copy my look," Sam suggests and I roll my eyes.

Sam is wearing khaki shorts, a black hoodie and his dark hair is gelled up to be spiky. He has a new piercing on his upper ear to go with the other six split between the two. His lip piercing sparkles in the sun coming through from the window.

"I'm right here," Lexi points out. "But I do agree with Alex."

I spin around accusingly.

"What?" Marco and I say in unison.

"I agree with him," she states calmly. "I could go for a new look. Not yours, Sam, but I could punk up a little."

I roll my eyes and open my mouth to protest but she's looking at me with a defiant look and I know she's made up her mind.

"Alright."

"Yes!" Sam grins and jumps on Lexi in a hug.

I lean back in my seat and it's all I can do not to glare at Sam. Lexi just looks so happy in his arms, it's not fair.

"Celebratory icecream, anyone?" Sam asks the group and I shrug.

"Nah, we have some things we need to talk about," Marco decides and puts his hand on my shoulder as I try to stand up. "You two go."

"Yeah have fun," I mutter and turn away to look at the TV. I'm not exactly jealous, just a bit worried. It's just another guy, Lexi can hang out with other guys.

"Okay, bye boys!" Sam calls and with a wink adds: "Don't forget that pants are meant to stay zipped up."

My lip quirks up at that as I watch Marco nearly spit out his drink. Maybe some guy time is what I need. The band guys are pretty cool, and a nice change from Chris' warped sense of humour. It'll be fun.

"So Eck," Marco grins wickedly as soon as the door closes behind them. "We need to talk about Lexi."