The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 13 - The White Rabbit Makes Himself Late

The rest of the day was filled with laughing and joking. Cody snatched off Gavin's beanie and ran like the wind with it in his hand, forcing Gavin to chase him around campus. In chemistry, Cody accidentally exploded the first experiment, showering our table with yeast water. I'd never met more hilarious people.

"Want to see a secret 'skill' of mine?" Cody said as we walked toward a mystery destination for dinner.

"That doesn't sound good..." I replied jokingly.

We stopped in front of a door and Cody bent down in front of it. What is he doing?

He pulled out a bobby pin and - began picking the lock?

"Just a little twist here, and-" The door opened in a matter of seconds. Cody stood up and bowed dramatically. Everyone cheered, since we were all holding food trays and couldn't clap.

After a short climb, we ended up on the roof of the main school building. It was obviously meant to be used, since the roof had a fence around it and was strewn with umbrella-covered patio tables and potted plants. The sun was setting, staining the whole world orange and pink, with big golden clouds streaking across the sky.

"It's beautiful up here!" I said, hair floating around my face in the wind. I smiled widely and turned to face the guys, who were all sitting down to eat. "Why would a place like this be locked up?"

"It's not," Cody said, beaming mischievously. "I just wanted to feel like a super spy!"

We enjoyed dinner, while Emmett played a gentle acoustic tune on his guitar. Gavin improvised to sing it, drumming his hands on his knees for a beat and singing nonsense about his surroundings. Even when he was singing about school roofs and chocolate milk, Gavin's voice carried genuine, enviable beauty.

At the end of the night, we all went back to our dorms and settled in. Maisy seemed to be out late, as she was nowhere to be found. I was going to try to steer clear of her from now on, so I buried myself deep in my blankets and texted the guys in group chat until I fell asleep.

---

The next few weeks passed without incident. After a few days, Will finally decided it was time to take all of the music equipment back to Emmett's place - it had been sitting in the trunk of the van for awhile. 

We drove there to the steady sound of Bring Me The Horizon and - dear God - showed up in front of a very large white house that burned and crackled with the gold light of afternoon. 

"This is your house?!" I exclaimed, craning my neck to get a better view. It seemed to stretch on impossibly. Emmett gave a sort of shy chuckle and we hauled all the equipment inside -

I was so enamored with the brilliance of the high ceiling and nice furniture that I dropped an amplifier on my foot. "Ow!"

"Hey, be careful with my baby!" Gavin said jokingly, picking it up where it landed.

"Sorry, Emmett... it's just... your house is so beautiful. Is nobody home?"

"You should see his room," Cody said matter-of-factly, pointing up a long white carpeted flight of stairs. "My mom should be home in an hour," Emmett awkwardly stated, trying to ignore the elephant that was his enormous house. We shoved the music equipment past the large, well-lit kitchen and filled a whole empty guest room with it.

"Should I take my shoes o--" I didn't have to finish my statement as Cody ran up the stairs in a pair of worn-out black Converse, and Emmett ran after him in equally-worn Vans. The guys followed after him.

Emmett's room was spacious, like a scene out of a sitcom - a big queen-sized bed, band posters all over the walls, and a wall-mounted flatscreen with a full couch and coffee table in front of it. A collection of perfectly lovely instruments gathered among Emmett's things. His room was a teenage dreamscape.