Caged

▪▪Chapter One▪▪

Chapter One

I stood in front of Grant's garage. He was tuning his bass guitar, plucking out a few chords.

Miranda poked her blond head out from behind a door. "Hey, Carter!" she called, waving.

"Hey, Mir!" I called back.

I swept my long light brown hair over my shoulder as I walked towards her. Maybe I should have worn less clothing.

I looked down at what I was wearing. Light jean short-shorts and a Nirvana tee-shirt and a hoodie over it, and my black high-top Converse.

Eh.

I stepped on the hot pavement, sort of wishing I had on flip-flops, becaude my Converse make my feet hot.

Matt ran out if his house, which was next to Grant's, yelling, "I'm here, I'm here!!!" he was carrying his electric guitar with him.

I smiled at my best friends. "Hey, Grant!" I yelled from across the street. "You need help with those amps?"

We all lived at the end of a cul-de-sac, and we'd been best friends for as long as I can remember.

He shook his head, curly chestnut hair flying. "Nope, got it!" he called.

We had this band, and we only did covers because none of us could write out own songs. Sometimes we got gigs. Most of the time we didn't even try. It was just for fun, we weren't serious.

But I was. I was lead singer. I loved to sing, and from what I've been told, I'm not half bad.

I walked across the street, adjusting the mic, which was always set too high for me, and I'm five-four.

Which isn't really that tall for a seventeen year-old, but I'll take what I can get.

"So, what do we want to do today, fellas?" asked Grant.

"And ladies!" Miranda snapped defensively. She was a diehard feminist.

I smiled. "What are our options?"

"Let's see, knowing you, Teenage Dream or Wake Me Up." Matt teased. "You're so predictable, Carter."

I rolled my eyes. "Teenage Dream is a classic, and Wake Me Up is amazing. At least we're not doing like Justin Bieber or something."

Miranda started up. "But I would love to do Justin Bieber."

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew, Mir."

"He's in trouble with the law, Mir-Mir." said Matt. He loved to tease Miranda.

"I like bad boys," she said defensively.

Matt wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Do you now?"

I covered my eyes. "This is disgusting. You are flirting shamelessly. Just get a room or something."

Matt and Miranda (damn, their names even sound cute together) looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Ew!"

Grant and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. We had been trying to set them up for years, because they were perfect for each other.

Miranda had blond hair and hazel eyes, whereas Matt has brown hair and blue eyes. Miranda was short and thin, whereas Matt was tall and broad.

They balanced each other out perfectly.

"Can we actually practice?" I asked. "Like, for real?"

We got out instruments. I stood at the mic.