Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 9: March 30th

"Taylor."

Taylor's hands freeze against the strap of her backpack, her peripherals still obscured by her locker. Just the sound of the person's voice is enough to make her palms sweat and for a second, she's willing to believe that it's all a trick of the mind.

She pulls her backpack out of her locker and shuts the door, turning to Zack as she hooks the strap over her shoulder. Zack looks about the same as she remembers him, albeit a few years older. She's avoided him at school, along with the others who used to be in her band, and she's only seen glimpses of them.

He's shaved the side of his head and spiked up the remaining black shock of hair, plus he has a lip ring now. He's taller too.

"March 30th, huh?" he says, tucking his hands into the pockets of his distressed denim jacket. "Happy birthday."

She swallows hard. "You...you remembered."

"Yup." He pops the "p", a tiny smirk on his face.

Her skin prickles a little, her body going into defence mode. "You just...suddenly came over to say that? ¿Por qué?"

He exhales and the smirk disappears. "Actually...I'm kind of the messenger boy for all of us," he says. "You busy?"

"I was going to do homework."

"Can you spare an hour or two? Maybe...swing by my place? You could jam with us again."

Her heart flies into her throat. Oh, this is unexpected. She glances around the halls, stragglers still going by, and bites her lip. She imagines playing with a group again, guitar and vocals mingling with the keyboard and drums and bass-line. It sounds like heaven.

"You sure?" she asks. "Haven't you heard? I'm muy peligroso. Un poco loco."

Zack laughs. "Yeah, we've heard. You in?"

"You live in the same place?"

"You know it."

"Then...I will see you there."

He pats the locker before hoisting himself onto his feet. "Cool! See ya then!"

"Adios..." she says as he walks away.

The second he's out of sight, she gets her phone out. She has a boyfriend to text and an officer to call.

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It's like nothing's changed as Taylor walks into Zack's garage. Griffin's hair is still shaggy, long, and worn in a low braid. They used to joke that he looked like Jacob Black back when Feryn and Taylor were going through their Twilight phase.

Taylor was proudly Team Jacob. Feryn was Team Edward. The guys were team "who the hell cares?"

Griffin waves at her using his drumstick and Taylor waves back.

Feryn, standing at her keyboard, dons a hesitant smile. Her hair, once blonde, is now blue and she's got a huge fringe in her bangs, enough to cover one eye. Near her, perched on an amp with a bass guitar on his knee, is Lucas, his brown hair styled in a faux-hawk and his ears filled with jewellery.

"Taylor fuckin' Fuentes," Lucas says, grinning up at her. "How've you been?"

"That's some greeting, Luc," Feryn murmurs, dark eyes flitting back to Taylor as she says it. Another hesitant smile. "Hey."

"Happy birthday," Griffin adds.

"Hola, Feryn," Taylor says. "And, uh...thanks, Griffin. It's...good to be back?"

Zack punches her lightly on the arm. "Of course, it's good to have you back! We've been missing our female vocals."

"Feryn tried, but she sounds like a cat stuck in a dryer," Lucas says with a loud, honking laugh.

"One, that's awful," Feryn says, reaching over to flick him on the forehead. "Two, says the guy who laughs like a fucking goose."

That just makes him honk harder. Taylor starts to smile, although her guard is still so prevalent she can almost see it. Her friends are the same as she remembers, just a little older and a little more confident in their use of swear words, apparently.

Griffin slowly looks away from Feryn and Lucas, still bantering, and arches an eyebrow. "You good?"

"I'm...a little nervous."

Griffin nods, ever quiet and thoughtful.

Zack yet again pats Taylor's shoulder, smiling wide. "Hey, don't worry. Once you start playing and singing, it'll all fall into place," he says.

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Zack is right. Taylor easily falls into the routine from the first time they start playing. They start out playing the basics they know so well that they could play it in their sleep, then segue into harder material.

During breaks and pauses to fix things, they chat. Taylor briefly mentions her boyfriend, which seems to snap Feryn out of her standoffish funk as she starts drilling Taylor for details. Taylor acts as if Raphael is normal and not a mutant turtle ("Oh, he's Italian...green eyes, big muscles, such a hothead though...") and Feryn eats it up.

By the time it's getting later, Taylor realizes her curfew is almost up and she hastily gathers her things.

"Lo siento," she says, repeating it a few times as she tucks Vic away and snatches up her backpack. "I have to go. It was really good seeing you guys, though."

"Hell yeah! Let's do this again!" Lucas insists. "Heavenly Demons, comeback!"

Griffin plays a few beats on his drum kit, punctuating it with a cymbal crash. Feryn giggles and Zack dramatically strums his guitar. Taylor waves goodbye, promising to see them at school, and runs home.

As she reaches the townhouse, she slows to a stop and sorrow creeps back into the back of her mind. Her dad used to take her out for a special birthday dinner before he was arrested. She spent a few birthdays huddled in her bedroom at the Purple Dragons lair, not even caring to sing to herself. Now, it's her first birthday back and she didn't even plan a party. Did the turtles and the others actually want to do something with her, but she blew them off for school?

She goes inside the house, aware that Carmela and Héctor are probably sleeping already, and sneaks up the stairs to her room. She puts her things away and flops on her bed, taking a deep breath. So much for her birthday.

There's a soft tap at the window and she gets up, frowning a little. There's a small flickering light bleeding through the curtains and when she throws them open, Raphael is standing on the fire escape with a cupcake in hand. A candle with the numbers 1 and 7 sit on top.

"Raphael?" she breathes, opening the window.

"Happy birthday, babe," he says with a tiny smirk. He holds the candle out to her. "Make a wish."

She smirks, closes her eyes, and blows out the candle. Raphael slips it into her hands before climbing into her bedroom, leaning back on the wall.

"Mikey says to tell you that now—" He stops, looking annoyed at the very thought, then says, "Now you're young and sweet, the dancing queen."

"Aw, tell him I said gracias," she retorts.

She scoops her finger along the edge of the cupcake, then tilts the frosting on her finger into her mouth. She tastes buttercream.

"Mm, aren't you gonna sing for me, Raphie?" she asks.

He snorts. "You're out of your goddamned mind, woman."

She grins, setting the cupcake down on her dresser and sweeping forward to wrap her arms around Raphael's neck. She leans in and places a long kiss on his mouth, one that he eagerly returns, and she tugs at his raggedy mask tail when she pulls away.

"I love you," she says.

His eyes are bright in the dim light of her room as his lip lifts a little. "Tch...love you too."