Between Us

Chapter 18

It took less than an hour to get to Trixie's house. When we did, it wasn't to go inside the actual house, but the garage that she had gone inside to open. Her house was on a little slanted hill at the end of a cul-de-sac so the place seemed more empty.

I guess it was the perfect place to practice with the garage door open. Sai and I followed quietly behind Paris who was speed-walking toward them. "Come on," she was saying, "I want to introduce you two."

It wasn't until we stepped inside that Paris cleared her throat, beaming. "Trixie, Tristan, Harry," she said, pointing to each member of the band in their respected positions, "this is Sai and Shyla."

"Nice to meet you," they murmured. My eyes widened. Hold on a second, I thought as I eyed the guy with the buzzcut and glasses. Harry. Was he the one that I spoke to over the phone?! He seemed to recognise me too, because he flashed me a knowing grin.

"Nice to meet you again, Shyla."

I blushed as the others, except Caden, darted their eyes between us.

Trixie came over to me and Sai, saving me from the embarrassment of having to speak to Harry. I was going to pretend like that phone call never happened. "It's so nice to meet you," she said. She tilted her head and put her hand on her chin. "I think I've seen you around before."

"Me?" I asked, pointing to myself.

"Yeah, have I seen you somewhere?"

"Maybe? I'm Caden's next-door neighbour."

Her dark eyes flashed and her mouth formed an 'o' as she looked over her shoulder. Caden was busy tuning his guitar and talking to the one called Tristan. It was like he was deliberately avoiding us.

"Woah, small world, huh?"

"Incredibly small," Sai said with a sigh. "If only I lived around here."

"You play music?"

"I listen to music, does that still count?"

Trixie chuckled. They were getting along really well, while I stood around shifting from one foot to the other. I glanced around at the garage; the sun from outdoors gave it a lighter glow than if it were to be shut. The drums were set up and lots of wires were connected to amplifiers and mics. It looked intense.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, the feeling that someone was watching me tingling away in my body. Lifting my head up, I caught Caden staring right at me. My breath snagged in my throat.

Then I realised it wasn't actually me.

His eyes were looking over my head and followed Paris who walked past me and toward him. I let my shoulders relax. He was looking at her, thank God.

"What song are you playing?" I asked Harry, since everyone else was having their own conversations.

"It's a song he wrote," Harry said with a smirk. "Fucking kickass."

No way—"That's not the name of the song," Caden cut in, as if he could read my mind.

"I know!" I spluttered out. I wasn't that dumb.

"Your face says otherwise." Caden then shifted his attention back to Paris.

"What's it called?" I asked Harry.

"Freefall." He grinned. "Wanna hear it over the phone or?"

I groaned. "That...please forget about it. I have no idea what I was doing."

"And yet you you called me hot. I wonder what you'd call me if you knew what you were doing." He chuckled as I looked down at my wrung hands.

"What got you into music?" I asked, changing the subject.