I don't know how but I am in my bed right now. I didn't realize what was actually happening until I took in my surroundings. My room, tall black walls, band posters, usual. Me, sleeping on my bed, usual. Me sleeping in my bed, in my room, with another person draped over me, unusual. I slowly turn my head to see who decided to intrude upon my territory. And of course, it's Calum. There may be a plausible explanation for why he's in bed with me. But I don't care. I elbow him hard in the ribs. He groans and curls up into a ball, "What the fuck...?" Calum mutters to no one in particular. I sigh and shake him.
"Wake the fuck up Sleeping Beauty. I have no time for your early morning shenanigans." I say still shaking him. Although each time a shake him he curls tighter and tighter into the fetal position. "If you don't get the hell up I am just going to assume you came in here at the dead of night planning on molesting me but decided to take a nap first." Calum pulls himself out of his daze and props himself up onto his forearms.
"You really are something, you know that?" He says to me. I raise my right eyebrow, as if to say, try me. Calum continues,
"You see, even though you were having an anxiety attack and puking for two and a half hours, I decided to help you. Mostly because our mothers didn't know what the hell was going on and I assumed you didn't want them to know. It was pretty disgusting, let me tell you." My eyes narrow and I can see that there is something important that he has left out of his story.
"How'd you end up in my bed?" I ask angrily. The smirk on Calum's face plummets. He looks around himself and inhales.
"I don't have a clue to be completely honest." He replies softly. I kind of feel bad for him, in a way. I cross my arms over my chest.
"Well scram." I growl. Calum slowly raises his hands in surrender and gets off of my bed. I glare at him the whole time he leaves my room. Even from the back of his head you can tell he is smiling.
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I get dressed in the usual. Black long sleeve sweater, black ripped jeans, black socks (I wasn't leaving anytime soon), and my black choker. I walk down the stairs and find myself in the kitchen. There is a bowl of Lucky Charms with an index card beside it atop the counter. As I begin eating the cereal I read the note,
Good morning Wen,
I got called in at the hospital this morning. I will not be at home until the evening and neither will Joy. Behave.
Love, Mom.
I inhale deeply and finish off my bowl of cereal. As I wash the milk from my bowl I hear a noise coming from down the hall. I drop my dish in the sink and walk into the open hall. Music. It wasn't classical music either. It was, intricate and soft. But also deep and sharp. Our music room is just down the hall and that must be where it is coming from. My light footsteps echo through the long hallway as I walk. I near the end of the corridor, the door to the last room on the left is ajar. The sound I was hearing became more relaxed and flowing. It reminded me of autumn leaves being lifted up and off the ground by the wind. Through the small gap between the door and the door frame, I peer into the room. Calum was sitting with his back to me. I could see his face in the mirror wall in front of him. Something about the way he looked as he played made me stop from barging in. He held the bass in his hands gently, but firmly. His fingers moving along the neck of it. Calum's eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I couldn't help but regret giving up music. Hell, music was the reason we had a music room. I had multiple guitars, a grand piano, a cello, a violin, and any other instrument I could get my hands on at the time. The boy sitting in front of me was not the boy that I had met only yesterday. This boy seemed younger, less hidden. He was playing one of my favorite guitars. Calum's fingers began moving faster against the strings. I stared at him in utter curiosity.
"You like it?" Calum asks out of no where, but he didn't stop playing. I was snapped out my awe. He was back to looking at the bass again. I nudged to door open wider with my hip and strode in. I sat down on the long bench next to him as he finished.
"I do like it. A lot." I say as soon as the music stops. His lips turn up at the corners. As did mine. His smile was like a disease.
"You play?" Calum asks innocently, jerking his head down toward the bass in his lap. I shake my head,
"No. Not anymore." I say quietly. He raises his eyebrows in question, I shake my head in response. "I gave up music. It's a shame because I was pretty good too." I laugh.
"...can you sing?" He inquiries. Every single muscle in my body seemed to tense up. I nodded my head once.
"Yeah. I was in a band. We weren't very good." I laugh some more.
"What happened?" Calum questions. I shake my head and sigh. I hated to tell people about the girls.
* * FLASHBACK * *
"Crystalline, huh?" Klara thinks aloud, "Never though I'd be in a band called Crystalline. But whatever." She flips her electric blue hair out of her eyes. Klara was our bass guitarist. We had just finished our first acoustic gig at Music in the Park. I loved this because it was free. Anyone could come and see us perform.
"Oh c'mon Klar, it fits us perfectly," Valerie says as she runs and jumps onto a park bench. The wind blew her gray-white hair around her head. "I don't really know how the explain it, but it just does." Klara roles her eyes as Valerie lies down on the bench. "When is Marina going to get back here? It's the coldest day of the summer and we need to get back to the house, Wen." She was right. I told my mother that I would be back right after we performed, and now it was getting dark. We could easily walk straight home from here but we had to wait for Marina. Marina was our lead singer.
"I'm not sure, Val. I've texted her seventeen times and called her eleven." I say. Almost immediately after I finish I hear a scream off in the distance. I know that scream anywhere. "Marina!" I yell repeatedly. I hear the thud of sneakers against pavement. Another shriek fills the evening air. I see Marina running toward us, the fastest I've ever seen her run.
"Guys, guys! You've gotta help me. I got the bread from the place and I was planning on comin' right back to meet up with you dudes. But Aaron showed up. Like outa no where. And of course no one was around to witness. The bastard made me drop my bread. And here's the bad part bros. The asshat has got himself a gun. Loaded and everything. He showed me. And then when I went to turn the street corner he was all like 'Where do you think you're going?' And I said to meet up back at the place. He grabbed me and dragged me off into an ally. He didn't even try nothin' funny. He pressed the gun up to my head and I kicked the kid where it hurts and ran. And now I'm here. Positive he followed me." Marina murmured to us. Aaron was Marinas ex boyfriend. He was obsessed with winning her back, maybe he just snapped. Not so far away there were two clicks and a bang. I didn't know what had happened until I looked down and there lie Marina. With a bullet hole right in between her eyes.
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