Viper

Chapter 7: Player

Raven POV

Three months later

"Okay, I think I got it," I say adjusting the guitar in my hands. I tap my foot for a steady beat for Gustav on my dad's old drumset. I let my blistered fingers slide across the neck of the guitar as my other hand strums along the strings, hitting each note perfectly. Tom has been helping me practice the guitar for three months now, and I can definitely say that he's a great teacher. He nods his head along to the beat, watching me intently as I let my body take over while I play, becoming totally immersed. Now I understand why Tom loves playing so much.

I wrap up the end of the song and watch as Bill stands in awe. Tom smirks and nods, pleased with my performance. "That was great, Rae!" He says, beaming with pride at my success. I blush as I smile back at him excitedly. Tom lets me borrow his guitar every now and then so I can practice in the basement on my own. Bill says he never trusts anyone with it, but that I'm special since I'm such a good friend. Georg leans over and high-fives me, pumping his fist in the air. "That was so good, I think you're starting to get better than Tom." He says with a joking smile.

Tom shoots him a look and smirks as I pull the guitar strap over my shoulder and set it on the stand carefully. As I turn around, I see Nate watching from the top of the stairs with a strange look on his face. I smile and wave for him to come down with the rest of us. "Hey you," I say as he pulls me close to his body for a hug. He smirks and holds me by the shoulders out in front of him. "I could hear you from next door, so I thought I'd come to see what you were up to." He says, looking around the room at the guys.

"Oh, it's my turn to host practice, we alternate between our three houses," I say enthusiastically. He gives me a stiff smile and kisses me softly on the lips. As he pulls away, I catch Tom's eyes on us, with a slight hint of jealousy in them. He's been going out with Samantha since homecoming, although I can tell he's getting bored of her. He catches me looking at him and turns his head to look at the rest of the guys. "Why don't you get ready for dinner, we gotta leave in like twenty minutes," he says to me as he gently takes my chin in his hand to look at him. I nod and slip out of his hands to head upstairs.

Bill POV

I look over to Tom, watching as his eyes follow Raven up the stairs. He told me that he's over her, but I know he really isn't. I can tell just by the way he looks at her during practice, how he watches her so intensely that he practically drools. Nate walks over to us, his eyes falling on Tom's guitar. "Sweet axe," He says to Tom as he takes a step towards it. I watch Tom's shoulders stiffen as Nate gently plucks it off the stand. He pulls the strap over his shoulder and picks at the strings, playing his own little song.

Just as he starts to play, Raven walks downstairs in a flowy black dress. She sees Nate holding Tom's guitar and rushes over, worry filling her eyes. She gently slips the guitar off his shoulders and holds it in her hands. Nate gives her a look, to which she brushes off. "Wanna hear what I learned to play?" she asks cooly, masking her worry. Nate reluctantly nods as she places it onto her shoulders. She counts off Gustav and shreds, just as she had earlier. Nate stands in shock at the intensity of Holy Wars and smirks, clapping as she finishes. She sets the guitar gently back on the stand, winking at Tom as she had just saved his most prized possession. He gives a relieved smile as he relaxes his tensed shoulders.

Raven gestures for us all to head upstairs to head home as she smooths out her dress. We all follow her lead and file up the stairs and meet at her front door. Her mother waves goodbye at all of us as we walk out the door. Raven slides in the passenger side of Nate's car as she watches us all walk down the sidewalk to our houses.

Halfway down the block, I glance over at Tom, who's trying to keep his cool. He adjusts the guitar case, slinging it over his shoulder as he scowls. "I thought you were over it," I say, elbowing him gently. He turns his head towards me and scoffs. "I am," he says coldly. My eyebrows raise in shock at his tone, making him soften his attitude. "It's just that it pissed me off when he just grabbed my guitar without asking," he says in a much better tone. I nod my head in understanding as we walk up the driveway and into the house. Tom sets his guitar on the stand and sits down on his bed, pulling out his phone.

Tom POV

I flip my phone open, being met with a message from Rae. Before I can read what it says, Samantha's contact blinks on my screen. I roll my eyes and accept her call after I groan to myself.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?" I ask with an annoyed tone.

"Hey babe, what are you doing on Saturday?" she responds, enunciating the word "babe" loudly. Quite annoying if you ask me.

As I have no plans for Saturday, I think of a quick lie. "Oh, uh, Bill and I have plans on Saturday," I say, thinking on my feet. I hear her sigh on the other end as Bill gives me a confused look.

"You know, you never seem to want to do anything with me." She says with an annoyed tone. I roll my eyes again and decide to bite the bullet.

"Yeah, about that. I'm not really interested in you like that." I say, telling the truth this time. I only agreed to one date with her and now she's convinced that we're dating, which wasn't my intention. I know I've got a habit of leading girls on, and I guess some will call me a player, but this time I was just trying to get over Raven. And so far, it's not going well. I've been thinking about seeing other girls just to get my mind off of her, but I just gotta find the right one. So far, Sam isn't really working out.

She scoffs on the other end of the phone. "Whatever." she says before hanging up on me. I look back down at my phone and open the message Raven sent me.

"Sorry about Nate, I should have told him not to touch your guitar." Her message reads.

"It's cool, thanks for stepping in though. I'm very particular about who gets to play it lol." I write back. The only two people besides me who I let even touch it are her and Bill. I just know she'll always be careful with it since she knows how special that guitar is to me. As I monologue in my head, I feel my phone buzz in my hands.

"Well, that makes me feel special. Lol :)" she responds. I smile as I read it over and over in my head, trying to think of what to say back. Bill smirks at me, catching my cheeks turning red as I type.

"You are."