midnight rain

midnight rain: chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

I slowly take off Sean's headphones, making sure to be extra careful with them. Sean stands impatiently, tapping his foot in a repeated motion. He just made new beats for the song we're performing in the music competition, and he wants me to tell him if they're good enough. As much as he's proud of it, Sean can be really nervous. It's really sweet and a bit sad because he's truly talented, and he shouldn't doubt his talents.
I don't think anything can be completely perfect because there are always some minor inconveniences, but this is actually amazing. I think it's just right.

"Sean, this is really good," I say, getting up and pushing his chair into the desk. "It's really well done. I think it's perfect. Thank you." I smile, and Sean's face relaxes. He breathes out a little nervous laugh. "Oh good. I was afraid you wouldn't like it," he admits, moving to the side to let me pass. I walk towards the door. Milly and Lia left earlier, agreeing to wait for us at Stacy's Mamamia Pizza. I was fixing the piano earlier, and Sean was making more beats. Milly said that we were going to slow them down and that 'the pizza wasn't going to wait any longer.' Sean told her and Lia to go, and that we'd catch up later. She agreed almost immediately, and so did Lia.

"Sean, you're coming with, right?" I ask. I know how much he likes Stacy's, and I don't want him to overwork himself. He'll probably stay here trying to 'perfect' the beats. I want him to go have fun. We all deserve it. 'Oh–-Well–Actually, I was going to-" I cut his words short by grabbing his wrist and pulling him outside. I lock the music room door quickly, leaning against it. 'You need to go have fun, Sean. We all do. You can make the rest of the beats of whatever you want and edit whatever you'd like later, okay?" He nods, and I smile. "Do you think we're almost done?" Sean asks me as we walk towards the school exit. "Well, we still need to fix some of this... oh also that...We need to add some adjustments to that... and..." My voice trails off. I continue to mutter a few inconveniences we need to perfect.

My mind is buzzing with anxiety, to be frank, but it stops when Sean startles me with his sudden burst of laughter when we get into my car. "I think you need to go have fun and chill out, Miss President." I roll my eyes at him and turn the car on, driving towards the mall. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumble.

We reach the mall, finally, and we make our way through the crowd to the pizzeria.

Milly and Lia are sitting on a four-seat table. Milly scares someone away when they try to take one of the chairs, as usual. Lia slurps a slushy, completely unamused. Sean and I walk over to them. I wave, and so does Sean.

"Hey guys," Sean exclaims, pulling a chair out and sitting down. "It was SOOO hard keeping these chairs empty," Milly whines, then raises her voice when she speaks again. "It seems like everyone here can't find any other table with chairs that are obviously saved for someone!" I burst out in laughter. Milly's really stubborn and isn't afraid to scare people away. I like that about her. It's a good trait. For the most part.

"Thanks for waiting for us, guys." Lia puts down her slushy and mutters a slushy-filled 'no problem', and Milly shrugs it off with a grin. I take a slice of pizza, and so does Sean. We eat it really quickly; It's super good. It has a good balance of tomato sauce, cheese, and a great crust. I can see why Milly likes them so much.

I look around. The tables aren't exactly separated from the rest of the mall, meaning the restaurant is exposed to all the stores. I glance at every store, looking for the one I want to go to.

My stomach drops into a twist. My older stepbrother, Alexzander, stands in front of a tie store. I have never ever gotten along with Zander. I mean, we've lived in the same house forever, but it's like he's in another world than the one I'm in. He's so annoying sometimes. I've tried to be nice, I've tried to compromise, but he's always acting like such a big jerk. He's always picking fights with me as well. I don't like him that much. I've grown to dislike him. He's my brother and all, but I hate how he acts. I can't even call him my brother at this point. He's so irritating.