paramore // fivesauce

0.5

// chapter five //

talia's pov

+++

'so i found this really cool song on spotify,' clarisse says, munching on a bag of popcorn from my kitchen.

'oh really,' i say in a monotonous tone, feigning an interest for her scope of music preferences. i adjusted my position in the wooden dining chair, skimming through my notifictations on twitter. all of a sudden, my phone was no longer in my grasp, and i look up to see clarisse holding it between her butter-smeared fingers.

'you're addicted to this thing, tal. you need to socialize,' she smirks, sliding my phone into her pocket.

i roll my eyes playfully. 'yes, mother.'

she smiles, accomplished. 'i thought you said your brother's friends are here,' she says, throwing a popcorn in the air, unsuccessfully trying to catch it with her open mouth. it bounced off of her nose, and she frowned.

'they are,' i say. 'they're in the basement, but i don't know why they're so quiet.'

clar shrugs, and throws the bag of popcorn onto the dining table, standing up.

'where are you going?' i ask, sitting up straight to ready myself in case i need to follow her.

'to the basement. i want to see what type of stuff they do for fun. not to be perverted or anything,' she replies, cracking open the basement door.

i recall how tense calum usually got when i disturbed their 'guy time', as they call it, and frown. 'clar, i don't think that's...'

but she was already starting down the stairs. i groan and trail after her. if she was going to get scolded at by calum, i might as well be by her side.

i follow closely behind clarisse, and i pick up murmured voices coming from the guys. i silently questioned why they were being so hushed and controlled. normally, when the four of them got together, it would turn into a mad house.

then i hear ashton's accented voice, and the next words he say grab my attention. '...all we need is talia's approval.' clarisse turns to me with a confused expression, and i shrug.

using their oblivion to my advantage, i ask from the staircase, 'my approval on what?'

my voice gained their attention, and the guys' eyes skip from me, to clarisse, and back to me. calum and luke meet eyes, passing mental messages back and forth. finally, calum shrugs and says, 'uhh... talia, can you come over here?'

i raise an eyebrow when i notice the tense atmosphere, and the odd expressions worn on their faces. i climb down the rustic, wooden steps, and beckon clarisse to mirror my actions. 'ooookaaay? am i in trouble or something?' i ask curiously, my gaze darting between each boy.

ashton's eyes slightly widen. 'no no! not at all.'

'then what's up?' i plop down on the opposite end of the old couch that calum sat on, while clarisse preferred the green beanbag that was adjacent to ashton. ash sends her a boyish smile, but her face remains placid.

luke turns to me with his piercing, blue eyes. 'we need to ask you something; something important.'

'shoot,' i say.

the blonde-haired boy sucks in a gulp of air before saying, 'we want you to be in the band.'

the words catch me in its hands, chilling me to the bone, and dropping stones into my stomach. i blink about 182 times to recuperate from my shock.