A Foreign Touch

Music is the Strongest Bond! {8}

                                                                              Matt's POV

     After about 40 minutes of talking about the play, the story board, the characters, and so on, the bell finally rang. That signaled lunch period. My favorite. Unlike yesterday where I had Sarah by my side, I was alone. She had to meet up with some old friends or whatever. Nothing major. I had my iPod and headphones. As I walked down the crowded corridors filled with fellow peers, I plugged my headphones into the jack, put in the earbuds, and choose my favorite song. Give 'Em Hell, Kid, by My Chemical Romance. I slid my iPod into the pocket of my trusty black sweatshirt and continue to walk down to the cafeteria. Now, I'm sure everyone is well aware of how shit the school food is, so I obviously won't be getting the slop on a tray. I walk over to A La Carte and there's nothing that sparks my interest. I'm not hungry anyway.

     Now, let me paint you a mental portrait. In our cafeteria there are four pillars. Inside on the area in between those pillars are tables. In total there are 12 tables, eight seats each. There are plenty of seats for everyone to be able to be seated comfortably, but I simply I choose not to. I usually sit in the farthest left corner with my back against the pillar. All alone. Just how I like it. I'm and introvert. What can I say?

     After I get situated, I take out my iPod once more. I change the song to something that will pump me up. Sure, Give 'Em Hell, Kid pumps me up. Hell, any song from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge will pump you up. It makes you feel like you can get away with murder. If it doesn't give you that feeling, you're listening to it wrong. Anyways, I need a song to pump me up, like Party Poison, Planetary, or Holiday by Green Day. As I'm scrolling through numerous songs, I feel... a presence. You know that feeling you have when you know someone is behind you. Yeah, that feeling. Without looking away from my music I say, rather blandly, "What?"

     "Huh? Oh umm... it's me. Ryan. You seemed lonely over here by yourself so I thought I would join you." Without saying anything else, Ryan eases himself to the ground and starts playing with his hands. I kinda chuckled at that, but I was a mistake.

     "Uh, do you want me to leave? That's okay if you-" I cut him off.

     "No, no. You're fine. Just thought it was kinda funny."

     "Funny how...?"

     "Don't you have, like, some friends? Instead of hanging out with me, a complete outcast."

     "I don't know. You seemed pretty cool. Thought I would just say hi I guess," he demurred, starting to get up.

     "No wait... you can stay if you want. It's cool, really," I almost urged.

     "Really?" I gave him a small smile of approval. He slid his back down the pillar until he was on the ground sitting next to me, "What're you listening to?"

     "Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco. Do you know them?"

     "Dude! Of fucking course do I know them! I fucking love them! They're my favorite bands!"

     "I can already tell we're going to get along."

                                                            Ryan's POV

     "I don't know. You seemed pretty cool. Thought I would just say hi I guess," I said, trying my best to sound desperate. I really wanted to get to know him. He seemed interesting. So mysterious. So mysteriously cute.

     "No wait... you can stay if you want. It's cool, really." Score.

     "Really?" He gave a smile, signaling an okay, "What're you listening to?" I was expecting something like Big Sean or Gym Class Heroes, but what he said both surprised me and filled me with joy.

     "Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco. Do you know them?"

     Holy shit. Holy. Shit. He likes the same music I do. I'm so goddamn happy...

     "Dude! Of fucking course I know them! I fucking love them! They're my favorite bands!"

     "I can already tell we're going to get along." He then handed me one side of his earbuds, "Any requests?"

     "How about The Sharpest Lives?"

     "God, I love that song!"

     After some time listening, or more like dramatically lip syncing, to the music Matt had on his iPod we decided to head down to study hall. We took out our earbuds and he stuffed them into his sweatshirt pocket. Matt eased himself up off the ground and dusted off his knees, shortly followed by me. We walked out of the cafeteria and started towards commons. Whether we were late, or they were early, everyone who agreed to come was there. Matthew and Nate were elsewhere which was kind of a bad thing because Matthew had all of our notes.

     "Where the hell have you guys been?" Sarah remarked, "You're five minutes late!"

     "Sorry, Sarah. We got caught up in my music," Matt stated. I kind of just avoided eye contact with her, "Either way, Matthew has our notes. We can't really work without the notes."

     "Shit," Mark whispered, shaking his head.

     "Well, we're going to have to, guys," Daniel said.

     "Why do we have to? Why can't we just talk? We have until October tenth," Matt mumbled.

     "Matt's right," I chimed.

     "I guess you're right. We could get to know each other. I mean, we're going to be spend a lot of time together," Mark inquired.

     We all sat at the door farthest from the entrance to the commons. We went around the "circle" just asking random questions like "Who's your favorite author?" Ransom Riggs, "what's your favorite song?" Basket Case, "What's your favorite color?" Chartreuse, "Who do you want to date?" Shit.