Prince Of Asgard

Chapter 9

I leave for band practice soon after. It's only a block away, so I walk.
    We actually don't do it in the garage of one of the member's parents. We found a really cheap apartment, and we split the rent. There's barely anyone else in the building, and most of them are on the bottom floors. We're on the top, so the sound doesn't travel anyway.
    I get there with plenty of time to spare. Carina and Taylor are already there, and I spot Amber getting out of a cab.
    Carina is laying on a ratty couch, tuning her guitar. Taylor is absentmindedly tapping out a beat on her drum set and quietly screaming "Ember, you will remember, Ember, one thing remains, Ember, so warm and tender, you will remember my name". I smile at them and start hooking up the microphone.
    "So, Sammy..." Carina starts, setting her guitar in its stand. Taylor grins lopsidedly, setting her drumsticks down and running her fingers through her short pink hair. "We hear you found a little something in an alley on your way home Saturday." She wiggles her eyebrows.
    I groan. "Come on! Did Amber tell you this?"
    "Every word." Taylor giggles. Carina throws a wad of paper at her.
    "Well, not every word, because we want you to elaborate." Carina says, flipping her ponytail.
    "I found a guy in an alley who doesn't remember anything, and he's staying at my apartment until I find him a better place to live or he gets his memory back." I say quickly. Carina makes a face while Taylor throws the paper at me.
    "Come on, that's not elaborating, that's giving a summary. We wanna know the deets."
    "Well, you're not going to." I say, getting a little annoyed. "Luke deserves privacy."
    "Ooh, so his name is Luke?" Carina wiggles an eyebrow. I roll my eyes and complete the circuit by throwing the paper at her just as Amber walks in.
    "What'd I miss?" She asks, tossing her bag onto the couch.
    "Just these two pestering me with questions about Luke." I answer. When I see the smile on her face I roll my eyes. "You told them!"
    "Yup."
    "I hate you."
    "Love you too, babe." She grins. I retaliate by punching her arm just as Shauna, Brittany, and Megan come in.
    Shauna and Brittany are twin sisters, and they help us tell the difference between the two of them by wearing different colors: Brittany, pink. Shauna, purple. And then there's Megan, wearing all black, as per usual.
    "Glad to see we're all here." She says, smiling around at us. "Shall we get right to it?"
    We spend the next two hours practicing our songs, rewriting some notes, and playing songs that are commonly requested. We finish up by playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, which we have perfected. Everyone gets to sing for that, except Brittany, who works the soundboards.
    "Alright, everyone, that's a picture wrap!" Amber yells when we're done.
    "You do know you suck at trying to be bossy, right?" Carina asks, playing with her long black hair.
   Amber scowls at her. "I will have you know that I am very good at being bossy, not 'trying' to be." She slows to a stop, and the room is engulfed in awkward silence. After a few seconds, I lean over toward her.
    "Did you forget your line?" I whisper loudly, making the other girls laugh as Amber glares at me and punches my shoulder. I fake great pain as we leave, which just makes the other girls laugh harder.
    I get back to the apartment and unlock the door to find Luke, passed out on the sofa with a book over his face, snoring and muttering something about Elrond.
    I grin and gently take the book, putting a scrap of paper in between the pages, then setting it on the coffee table. He's almost done with the first book. Must be a fast reader, like me.
    I grab his blanket from the arm of the sofa and drape it over him, then head to the bathroom to wash my makeup off.