The Music Box

Chapter 3: Rachel

The day started off like any other; she got to school and went to her first hour, then her second and her third. During the third, she decided to go visit Anden at his lunch, since her teacher was pretty easy to slip by. She asked to go to the bathroom and showed the teacher her school ID, which the teachers always asked for, then made her way with the pass to the commons. She saw Anden and his group of pals at their table, playing with their food and throwing it at each other. There was Leo, who had sandy hair and had it always cut short. He had blue eyes, and was a head taller than Anden. Then there was Hunter, who was Asian, and had black hair and brown eyes. He was around Anden's height. Lastly there was Chris, who had blue eyes and short, curly hair, and had a southern drawl. They were all in a band together, which they called Red Rising. No one knew where the name came from.

Anden was the lead singer and played guitar, Hunter was the drums, Leo was the keyboard, and Chris played the bass guitar. They were actually pretty impressive, considering they were only fourteen and fifteen. They sometimes played with another band in school called the Beached Whales, who did cover songs with them. No one knew where that name came from, either.

"Hey, guys!" Rachel said as she walked up to them.

They looked over at her and said hi, before continuing what they were doing. Chris was hitting the 'toast' against the table, the bread hardly even breaking or bending because of how hard it was, and crumbs flew away every time he hit the table. Anden was shooting rice using his plastic spoon as a catapult. Hunter and Leo were dodging the food the best they could while, at the same time, throwing their toast and bits of their pizza at him. Rachel joined in, aiding her brother in the battle until a principle finally noticed and stopped them.

"Kill joy," muttered Anden, glaring at the principle as they walked away.

"Yeah," Chris shrugged. "So we goin' to your place tonight?"

"Yep."

"You guys gonna practice again?" Rachel questioned, leaning against the table.

Leo nodded. "We've got a gig coming up soon. Kinda."

"Another birthday party?"

Hunter looked up from his phone. "Not another ten-year-old this time. It's actually a sweet sixteen party."

"Is that so? For who?" Rachel smirked.

"Sierra. The popular chick at Norman High." Her brother smirked back.

"No way! Her? Guys, she has to be plotting something. There's no way someone like that is going to ask you guys to play... No offense."

"We know," said Leo, leaning against his elbows on the table, "which is what we were worried about until she paid us in advance."

"Still," Rachel gave him a look. "This is pretty suspicious."

"However," Hunter held up his index finger to stop her from saying anything else, "once you see how much she paid us, you may think otherwise."

"And what was that?"

"One hundred. Each." Chris gave her a clever smile.

Rachel's mouth fell open. "No..."

"Absolutely." Anden nodded.

"Did you tell her that you all only ask for twenty?"

"Yeah, but she insisted." Said Leo. "She said that she heard we were the best band around here, and as long as we play the songs she gave us, we could enjoy the party afterwards. She seemed pretty serious about it."

"What were some of the songs?" She looked at her brother, who put his phone in his pocket and shrugged.

"Ah, you know, typical boy band stuff. A few songs from this one band I've never heard of called 'Why Don't We'. Why don't we what, I dunno. Then a few songs from 'One Direction', which I really don't mind. One from 'The Chain-Smokers'. That kinda stuff." Her brother looked off to the side, pulling out his small vape and taking a hit.

Rachel gave him a sad look. "You really need to stop vaping. You're too young for that, and it's illegal at your age."

"Yeah, I know." Anden looked down at the small, slim vape as he let a plume of smoke flow out of his mouth and nostrils. "I've been getting better, I promise. I only take five hits a day or so."

Considering what he used to do, he certainly had improved drastically. "That's good. But you gotta try to quite for good."

"I know." He took a smaller hit before he stuffed it in his pocket. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Rachel shrugged. "I snuck out for a bit. I should probably go back, though. I'll see y'all later."

They all said goodbye as she walked away and left the cafeteria, heading for her class.

♦  ♦  ♦

Like the boys had said, they had stopped by to practice in the basement after school, which they had turned into a studio a few years back. Rachel didn't plan on interrupting them, so she left them to their own devices. She had promised Elizabeth that they would play in their secret hideout today, since it was Friday. It was a nice, windy day, and Elizabeth gleefully followed Rachel passed the tree line. They stepped into the woods and hopped over fallen trees, Lizzy searching for animals as they headed on their way.

"... and then Price and Luke made a Play-Doe thing, and then I made a Play-Doe thing, but mine was a horse and theirs were trucks and space ships, and then we played with them, and my horse became a unicorn with the power of the space ship!" Elizabeth said, hopping over a few plants.

"Cool!" Rachel smiled down at her, avoiding a tangle of thorns that grew out of the ground. Her sister continued on like this for some time, and once they entered the ditch, Elizabeth hopped onto the swing.

"Push me! Push me!" The little girl giggled, swinging her feet and gripping the chains of the swing.

"Alright, give me a sec." Rachel laughed, walking to her sister and grabbing the chains. She pulled back until the little girl nearly fell out of the seat. "Ready?"

"Uh-huh!"

Rachel let go, watching her little sister go back and forth, gently pushing her every time she drew near. Elizabeth giggled and squealed joyfully as she went higher and higher in the air. Once she decided she didn't need to help Lizzy anymore, Rachel walked back and took in a deep breath. The pond right in front of the tree with the swing rippled as wind basked the water in its chill, the murky pool sparkling in the dying sun. A cave was to the right of them, and Rachel had left a box of chalk in there for them to draw on the walls and floor. The ditch had slightly tall walls, but an easy entrance was behind her. Trees were scattered here and there, along with bushes and some thorns on the edges of the dirt walls. The grass wasn't too high, as Rachel brought the weed-whacker into the ditch every time it got too tall. It was slowly losing its green color as the days became colder.

Once Lizzy slowed down, she hopped off the swing and ran into the cave. "I'm gonna beat you to the chalk!"

"Not if I beat you first!" Rachel called back, racing after her.