Dreading the Rhythm of a Beating Heart - A Dalton Rapattoni Fanfiction

"Check yes, Juliet, are you with me?" I heard a familiar voice singing a song from beside me. "Rain is falling down on the sidewalk, I won't go until you come outside," the voice then switched to the chorus. "Lace up your shoes, ayo, ayo. Here's how we do!"         

I gave a small smile, knowing what part the voice would want me to sing in return.

"Greg, please," I began, turning to face the mousy-brown-haired boy whom the voice came from. I knew he wouldn't give up on trying to hear my voice, but it still might not hurt to attempt to slip out of it.

"You know the words, Juliet. Sing them," my best friend commanded. He was standing against my school locker anyways, preventing me from gathering the books I needed to go home with.         

I silently rolled my eyes and turned to him, crossing my arms to add a bit of defiant attitude. Greg gave a smirk and did the same, expectantly waiting for a burst of perfect pitch sing-song.         

"Run baby, run. Don't ever look back," I sang half-heartedly, switching to a more emotional voice when Greg raised an eyebrow at the lack of effort. "They'll tear us apart, if you give them the chance! Don't sell your heart, don't say we're not meant to be! Run baby, run, forever we'll be. You and me."

"Good enough," he said with a wink, and pulled himself from my locker. "Hey, but Juliet?"

"Yeah?" I returned, turning the combination dial for my locker. I made sure to cover up the numbers with my body so Greg wouldn't be able to spot them. Usually, I would wait to gather my books, because absolutely no one was allowed to see the inside of my locker. It was Hell in a square foot box. Instead, today I found myself in such a hurry that I didn't bother to wait until the hallway was empty, I simply yanked the dial to every number in the sequence.         

When the locker opened, at least half of my school papers and various textbooks came spilling over the sides. I immediately dropped to my knees and began to mop up the downpour, gathering everything in my arms and shoving it back into the locker home.         

"Jesus," was all Greg could manage, although the corners of his mouth were beginning to hint at a smile.         

"You were saying?" I shot back, zipping up my bookbag.        

 "Oh, yeah. Band practice is tomorrow."         

"What time?" I lifted an eyebrow at the announcement. Not only had the other members of my band created a practice, but they didn't tell me about until the day before? I wasn't even sure if I was going to be free tomorrow, yet the others decided on a date without my approval.         

"Eleven? I can't remember what Beck told me. I'll text you, how about that?"         

"Yeah, sure," I said with a smile, suddenly remembering my plans for the rest of the day. "I've gotta go."         

Greg held out the palm of his right hand, and I gave him an eye roll when I spotted it.         

"This'll be the time," he urged, letting his outstretched hand linger in the air.         

"Alright," I groaned after a few moments in thought.         

"One, two, three!" He began.         

On three, I slapped his hand with mine before connecting our opposite hands. We touched the ankles on our left feet, and then set them down before doing the same with our right ankles. After we had set our feet on the ground, we disconnected our hands and vertically bumped our fists together, slapped our thighs with our hands, gave a clap, and finished by giving each other a high-five with the single hand that we had begun with.