The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 10: The Sound of Wonderland

At Gavin's text, I walked right out of the dorms. The guys were waiting for me, as they'd said; they were piled into seats in front of the dormitory lobby's fake fireplace. Cody was shooting little paper balls at Gavin from across a table, who had his thumbs touched together in front of his face to make a goal. I lingered at the top of the stairs just long enough to watch Cody shoot a paper ball right at Gavin's face. The guys all cheered at his goal, while Gavin rubbed his nose. I could see people watching them with mixed curiosity and annoyance.

"There's Aly," Cody said, turning to point at the stairs. I waved as I came down them. All the guys rose to their feet. Jamie reached around the back of his chair; I could see now that his bass had been behind him. The bass glinted in the ceiling lights, cherry red to match Jamie's hair.

"Nice bass!" I shouted. Jamie smiled, quiet, and began walking out of the room with Emmett. As I rounded the staircase bend, Gavin came to the bottom of the stairs. Cody and Will followed up behind him.

The guys walked me out to the parking lot and we piled into the van. After a short drive, I realized we were going back to their old neighborhood.

"I'm guessing you guys play-"

"-in Wonderland." Cody finished my sentence for me, looking out the window. I smiled.

We pulled up to the same spot as before, and walked to the same house. I admired the treehouse as we passed it. "Admiring your ship?" came Gavin's voice from ahead of me. When he caught my eye, his charming smile made me uneasily think of Matthew. I quickly looked away.

When we walked into the house, Gavin strode ahead of us to a door I hadn't noticed before. When he opened it, I saw that stairs led down from it. They must play in their basement.

"Come on," Will said. We all filed into the basement.

My eyes were met with the sight of a room full of sound and recording equipment. The walls and ceiling were soundproofed, and there were cheap-looking tables stacked high with books of songs, guitar chords, music magazines, and CDs.

"How do you guys have electricity in this abandoned house?" I asked, bewildered.

"I think someone still owns this property," said Emmett.

"T-that's illegal..." I told them, looking around. Cody laughed.

"Emmett will be able to pay the power bill if it ever comes up, that's for sure."

I looked at Emmett. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and Cody added, "He bought all of this stuff himself."

Wow, Emmett must be rich!

"We're going to move the equipment to my house soon," he said, looking down at his hands. "I have enough space to soundproof a real recording studio for us."

"But tonight," Gavin cut in,"we're going to bring this house down."

"That's like ten times more illegal than before!" I exclaimed. Gavin's laughter danced in the air as I took a seat. All the guys began to take their places; Will sat cross-legged on the floor near me. He handed me earplugs to cancel some of the noise.

Everyone was looking at their instruments, but Gavin was looking at me. I could see it from the corner of my gaze as I looked around at everyone's instruments. As sweet as Gavin was, I couldn't bear to make too much eye contact with him; his every movement reminded me of something I had lost.

The room was silent but for the shifting of fabric.

Cody's voice, hushed yet audible, came from the back- he counted on the taps of his drumsticks. "One, two, three, four-"