» 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 «

C H A P T E R 20

"I'm tired."

We were dismissed early at our school. Zenji invited us to Michael's house to hang out since it wasn't dark yet. He said that we should hang out with them. They'll be recording their song today. When we were about to leave the school, Heather bid her goodbye to me as she ran towards a freshman by the street. I didn't know who it was, because that was the first time I saw that girl she was with. I was trying to recall everything that Heather had told me about herself. When a car suddenly drove in front of us, the car window rolled down, and we saw Ren inside the car wearing sunglasses. He put down the sunglasses for a moment and said.

"Hop in." We were surprised to see him and smiled as we gladly got in the car. Despite the fact that Ren would be giving us a ride, Michael looked gloomy while he was muttering words.

"What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" Repeatedly. I was confused to why he was acting that way. I tapped his shoulder and was about to ask him why, but Tristan beat me to it.

"What's up with you?" Tristan asked with a disgusted look on his face while staring at Michael. Michael then turned to glare at him and clenched his fist. 'They are not gonna fight inside the car... right?' I thought as I stared at them.

"You broke my drumsticks. What am I supposed to use? My hands!?" Michael answered Tristan's question and was holding back himself from punching Tristan. Clayden looked confused and glanced over in my direction, waiting for answers. My sweat trickled down my forehead as I tried to catch Zenji's attention from the front seat while Michael continued to whine about the drumstick that Tristan broke.

"Oh, right..." Ren mumbled, then handed a new pair of drumsticks on the back that was meant for Michael. Then noticed how it features a blend of rich, warm tones compared to Michael's old drumstick, there was even a text in the middle of it. 'Pro Mark?' I thought while staring at the drumsticks. Michael stared at it in awe, not even daring to take the drumsticks in Ren's hand. "Take it already, Michael." He said while trying his best to stir the wheel with one hand. Michael then took it slowly from Ren's hand, staring at it, and started tearing up, fighting the urge to hug Ren. 'Is it expensive?' I thought while patting Michael's back. Ren looked at Michael through the rearview mirror and smiled. "Tristan told me you needed a new one, so I bought you one on my way here." Ren said.

Michael glanced over to Tristan's direction and noticed he was facing the window and wasn't even turning around to face Michael. Michael then stared at him intensely and pouted before facing Ren's direction. "Well, it is his fault that I needed a new one." Michael rolled his eyes, emphasizing that it was his fault as he held onto the drumsticks that Ren bought for him, while Tristan didn't say a word and remained looking out the window.

Later on, I noticed that Clayden had actually fallen asleep amidst the chaos inside the car while Zenji had his earphones on, not hearing anything about what was happening inside the car. I then noticed a neck pillow by the back of our seat. I then grabbed it and tapped Ren's shoulder. Ren looked back to my seat, and I asked. "Can I use this?" while pointing at the neck pillow, and he seemed to notice that Clayden was asleep. Ren smiled at me and answered.

"Yeah, Sure." As he continued to drive. I gently placed the neck pillow on Clayden's neck, trying my best not to wake him up. Despite moving him a couple of times, Clayden was in deep sleep. 'He's exhausted.' I chuckled as I stared at Clayden. I sat down properly and noticed that Zenji was looking at me. He had that stern look on his face. He looked away, making me tilt my head out of confusion as to why he was looking at me. I started thinking why, but then I remembered what he said before.

"Do you like him?" Zenji's question echoed in my head again. I blushed and shook my head a couple of times, trying to get it off my head. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The atmosphere in the car became awkwardly silent. Michael then looked at his phone for a moment and broke the silence in the car. "Lilac's already there." He excitedly told us. They all started laughing at Michael, but I wasn't since Clayden might wake up because of them. Michael's grin then faded and groaned.