i shut my car door, and he still didn't speak.
"um... i'm here for the drum lessons?" i began quietly, it coming out as more of a question.
"oh! uh... okay," he stood up right away. "what's your name again?" he questioned. he seemed nervous.
"ashlynn." i gave a small chuckle. he was alright looking, i'll admit. i'll name him david.
"well, ashynn, i'm josh." he smiled, his eyes crinkling a bit at the sides in the most innocent way. i guess i can't call him david anymore.
we stood there for a few more seconds, awkward silence in the air. then he perked up suddenly like he realized what i was waiting for. he suddenly rushed to the front door and opened the screen door.
"after you," he said in a fake english accent. it was pretty obvious he was trying to hold back his smile. i chuckled and walked through the door. "why thank you, kind sir." i mused back in my terrible english accent, not being able to hold back my laugh. he stepped into the house and shut the door behind him, then he stepped in front of me and started walking. i followed him, assuming that's what he wanted. we got to a door; he opened it to reveal some stairs which we descended.
"here she is," he said as he skipped down the last few steps. once i made it down, and into the small basement, there was nothing too noticeable. just some boxes labeled with various things, such as Christmas, toys, different stuff like that. there was one that said tyler on the front, but i just figured it was one of his siblings. once i was standing in the basement for a good minute, i realized there was a something covered by a sheet. suddenly, josh pulled away the sheet and a few quiet clangs were heard. there was a drum set. the cymbals rustled quietly from the sudden removal of the sheet, but josh quickly used his hand to stop the sound.
"cool, huh?" josh asked with pride, a huge smile on his face like he hadn't seen the set in years.
"it's sick!" i enthused.
"sick as frick?" he turned to look at me, a cheeky smile on his face. i just gave him a puzzled look.
then, a slam rang through the house. the front door.
"honey i'm hooooome~!" someone shouted from upstairs. the voice seemed higher than josh's. josh furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the basement stairs, which suddenly revealed a brown haired boy standing at the bottom with us.
"tyler? what are you doing here?" josh asked, almost sounding nervous. isn't tyler just his brother or something?
"practice? you said we had practice today last tuesday." the boy bickered.
"no, tyler, that's tomorrow." josh corrected. practice?
"but you said-" tyler cut himself off when he saw me, his eyes widening.
"josh, i'm not sure you're aware, but there appears to be a female standing next to you," he whispered to josh, not taking his eyes from me like i was some rabid creature. was i that ugly?
"no, tyler, that- could i speak with you for a minute?" without another word from tyler, josh pulled him away and up the stairs.
"be back in a second, ashlynn!" josh shouted down the stairs.
i was beyond confused at this point. why was josh freaking out so much? what are they practicing? are they cult members? are they practicing summoning demons? no no, i won't be sacrificed today.
i paced around the basement, thinking of what i could do to get out. then, i got ahold of myself. he's not a cult member, nor a demon summoner; he's just an average guy. normal.
i walked over to the stairs and decided to try and listen in a little bit. all i heard was someone dramatically shouting,
"how dare you replace me?!" and someone else begging them to quiet down. then there were some other words said, and i heard the door being opened. i rushed back tot he middle of the room and acted like i had been on my phone the whole time, sitting criss-cross on the cement floor.
"sorry about that ashlynn," josh apologized with an embarrassed smile, making me look up at him. i got up onto my feet and saw tyler still staring me down.
"it's alright.." i chuckled a little bit and got up from the ground.
"oh! this is tyler by the way," he introduced his friend, who i was beginning to think was his boyfriend.
"so, let's get drumming!" josh said before i could say anything to tyler.
"so uh. i guess for this class just kind of play whatever you know. it doesn't really matter if you know all or nothing, this i just for me to see what i'm working with," josh held out a pair of drumsticks to me. i cautiously took them and sat at the huge set of drums, looking over the battered surfaces of the drums.
"so. i just play anything?" i asked, looking over to josh who was leaning up against the wall along with tyler.
"exactly." he nodded, waiting for me to start.
"okay.." my voice trailed as i tried frantically to think of a song. then, it popped into my head. that song i heard on the radio that one time! i only know the chorus-y part, though. i think it was about gun hands or something?
i tapped every individual, trying to make sense of which one made what sound. i could sense the two boys watching me intensely. me and my shaking hands. i took a deep breath, then started playing what i remembered it sounding like. i could faintly hear the song in my head, and i started going all out. i sound pretty good. i finished at the end of what i remembered, totally out of breath. then i just stared at my hands for a second.
i looked up at the two, and their mouths were both hanging agape.
"where did you hear that song?"
~~~
a/n: before anybody points it out, were making this au where they put our guns for hands as an early release before their first album to kind of test the waters. peace
