Panic! At The High School

Panic! At The High School Chapter 8

I reached for the handle of the door but Brendon got to it first. He opened my door for me and closed it after I slipped in.

Once he sat down in the driver's seat, I blurted out,

"I really love this car."

"Aww shucks. Really? It's actually sort of shared among Spencer and I. We're both kind of tight on money." He said, almost timidly.

"Well it's still great."

We rode for a few minutes, a comfortable silence in between us.

Then Brendon suddenly said, "I don't know you!!"

"Wait, what? Yes you do!" I said, confused by his comment.

"I don't even know your worst fear.. Or favorite band!"

I thought about this for a moment. He was right.

"I'm deathly afraid of spiders. My favorite band is The White Stripes or The Strokes."

"Oh. So you're a classic rock kinda gal? I see."

"Quite so. And how about you? I already know about your Frank Sinatra obsession!"

"How do you know that?"

You are constantly humming Blue Skies, Brendon!"

"You knew that was Blue Skies?! Just by my humming!!?"

"Of course!"

We spent the rest of the ride talking about amazing songs like 'What's My Age Again?' and Frank Sinatra covers that gave no justice to the man himself.

After a while we pulled up to a small set of modest condos. Brendon pulled out some keys and picked one to put in the lock.

When the door opened, I walked in to find a beautiful set of blue drums and three guitars. The room was full of other instruments like a French Horn and... a flute?

Brendon must have seen the confusion on my face because he started talking in an all-knowing tone.

"We call this 'The Graveyard' because we put ALL of our instruments here. Like the ones we played in middle school, they're here."

"Oh. That explains the flute."

"Yeah. That's mine."

With further examination I spotted a massive number of bean bags all piled together that were enormous! I plopped down on one and let my body be engulfed by the soft fabric.

A few minutes later Ryan came running in. As soon as he leaped over the threshold he slammed the door closed.

"Hey! Take it easy with the door!" Brendon yelled from the other room. He was getting us some drinks.

"Sorry!" Ryan said as he locked the door.

"Why are you-" I began.

There was a jiggle of the knob and a few good pounds on the door.

"RYAN! LET ME IN!"

I could tell it was Dallon. He sounded more irritated than mad.

"Ryan. Now why would you do that?" I said.

"He wouldn't let me copy his homework!" Ryan whined.

I laughed as I climbed out of the bean bag's embrace. I walked to the door and unlocked it. When I opened it I saw a red-faced Dallon.

"I'm gonna kill him." Dallon said, pushing past me.

Wait. Where did Ryan go?

"It's not a big deal." I said, trying to calm him down.

"He does this every practice!"

"Every practice?" I asked.

He nodded, calming down a bit.

-

Spencer showed up 15 minutes later.

When they finally got started, I was settled into a different bean bag than before.

The band had set up and now were just staring at me.

"What?" I said.

"Nothing." Brendon said, looking away.

"Wow me." I whispered, jokingly.

But boy, did they wow me.

They played a song called 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' that made me laugh because Brendon screamed the word 'whore' in the song.

They played a few more and I felt like I was at a concert. They always kept it entertaining and light.

"Okay, this will be the last one because I'm tired." Ryan said.

"Aww is little Ryro sleepy? It's not like you stay up late doing homework or anything." Dallon said in a demeaning tone.

"Shut up." Ryan spat back.

"Guys, quit." Brendon said, maintaining what little peace they had before.

Then, they sang a song called 'Sarah Smiles' that was really sad. It was pretty much about a really horrible girlfriend.

By the end, Brendon looked kind of gloomy and I wondered why.

Ryan came and sat next to me on the various bean bags.

"It's comfy, right?" He said, with an adorable smile spread across his face.

"Very much so." I replied.

"It was my idea. I just wanted a bunch of bean bags. We bought as many as we could afford." He said, eyes dazzling.

"And that's why we don't trust Ry with money!" Spencer shouted from across the room.

"Well I think it's an amazing idea, Spencer!" Ryan yelled so Spencer could hear him.

The rest of the band practiced while Ryan and I hung out. He eventually sat behind me and started braiding my hair. It was so cute.

Both of us ended up falling asleep on each other, cushioned by the various soft bean bags.

Later, I was shaken awake by Ryan.

"Hey," he said. His voice was lower than usual and groggy.

"It's time to go." He started rubbing my arm as to wake me up more.

"Okay, Ry. Where is everyone?" I asked, looking around the condo to see nobody.

"They're already in the car. C'mon."

He helped me up and gave me a hug.

"I'm really tired, Claire." He said softly, as he wrapped his arms around my lower waist.

"Me too." I whispered. I put my head in the crook of his neck and closed my eyes.

If I could stay there in Ryan's embrace forever, I would, but we have to go. It's late. I tugged on his sleeve, because I knew he was going to fall asleep on me if I didn't.

"Hey, Claire, I'm really glad you came tonight, okay?" He said sleepily and yawned.

I yawned too.

"You're adorable." He said, and kissed me on the cheek.

After that I rode home with Brendon in silence.

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