Homeroom

30: Band Practice

[A/N] Song for this chapter is I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons because THAT SONG IS THE BOMB.

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I wake up to the sound of my phone binging. Groggily, I force myself to pick it up, squinting as the bright screen shines in my face. Looks like Dad tried calling me 17 times during the night, and I quickly text him that I crashed at Shay's house.

I suddenly realize I'm have foreign sheets surrounding me as I'm laying on a foreign bed with foreign clothes on in a foreign room that's definitely not mine. I get up, remembering that I'm at Aaron's house. Sighing, I dress quickly, hoping to go home and shower there.

A knock sounds on the door right as I'm fiddling with my bra. "One second!" I shout as I quickly throw my shirt on and yank my jeans on my legs.

I open the door, seeing Aaron smiling on the other side. "Good morning, sunshine, just thought I'd tell you the guys are all downstairs. We're going to head down the basement to practice, so you can join us after you done up here. I left stuff for you to use in my bathroom, too."

"Okay," I reply, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, "Thanks. For everything, really."

"It's no problem, really. See you in a bit, okay?" he suggests with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Yeah," I agree, nodding. Catching me by surprise, he lays a quick kiss on my lips before smirking on his way out.

Wow, Aaron, you know exactly how to make a girl completely crazy, let me just tell you. He turned a cold, stone statue like myself into an blushing, teenage girl. Darn his Medusa powers.

I walk into the bathroom and spot a towel and toothbrush, getting to work right away. When I finish up, I let the wet towel hang on a hook on the back of the door and head downstairs.

"Morning, sweetheart!" Aaron's mom exclaims from the dining room table.

"Morning," I reply, inching my way out of the room. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay the night. I very much appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no problem at all."

"Great. Um, if you don't mind, I think I might join the guys for their first band practice."

"Oh, yes, and please tell them to keep it down for me. I have a bad headache."

"Ok," I agree, heading downstairs to the basement. I hear a couple of voices talking about music stuff over the noise created by the warming up of instruments. "Hello?" I call, rounding the corner to see Charlie, Al, Aaron, and String Bean with their instruments in hand.

"What are you doing here?" String Bean asks, scowling at me.

"I'm the beloved audience. Charm me with your skills, peasant," I command, smirking as I sit down on the couch.

"Cal! Hey," Charlie greets. "Long time no see."

I raise an eyebrow. "I just saw you yesterday at lunch. Not even 24 hours ago."

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while, how've you been?" Al buts in, hugging me with his guitar slung around his back.

"I'm good," I reply, standing on my top toes to reach him.

"Hey! Hands off my girlfriend," Aaron jokes from behind his drums.

Al raises an eyebrow, smirking. "Girlfriend?"

"Oh gosh, stop it," I say, pushing him away from me. "Go play something."

The boys continue to warm up a bit, tapping on drums and strumming guitars. They are all facing me, with Charlie on the right of Luke and Al on his left. Aaron is in the back, practically in his own little world. Our eyes connect, and he crosses his eyes in response. I laugh, shaking my head as they finish up the warm-up.

"What song do you want to start with?" Charlie asks, "Don't Forget?"

"Oh, yeah, I love that one," Luke says. "Let's do it."

And so, they do it. All of them play their instruments as Luke and Charle sing. And I must say, Luke sounds like an angel when he sings. I can't believe that beautiful sound can be produced by such an ugly guy like him. Of course, Charlie sounds awesome because he is awesome. They really do make a good band.

"Bravo!" I yell as they end it, standing up and clapping obnoxiously. Aaron smiles proudly while Charlie and Al make fun out of me. 

Luke glares at me. "You need to leave," he demands, crossing his arms like a two-year-old.

"What? No way, I'm not leaving."

Aaron rolls his eyes. "Luke, what the hell, man. Just drop it."

"I'll drop it when she's gone," he replies, pointing at me. "So get out."

With a roll of the eyes, I stick my hip out and cross my arms. "I don't even understand why you hate me so much. What did I ever do to you?"

"Your existence irritates me," he replies. "Now go."

"Luke," Charlie interjects. "Just stop."

"No! Don't you see what she's doing to us? She's destroying our friendship, our band, our everything!" he fumes.

"What are you even talking about? You all weren't even friends before you became a band," I answer, confused. Heck, even Luke and Charlie avoided each other like the plague before the band came to be.

"You see, that's where you're wrong. Ever since you started hanging out with Charlie and Aaron, they haven't been around. No one has time for me, or Al, or this stupid band!" Luke yells, kicking Aaron's drums with his barefoot. He doesn't even flinch on the impact.

"Look, I'm sorr--"

"No," he cuts me off, glaring at me. "Just leave and never come back."

"Luke," Aaron scolds. "Callie's not going anywhere, and she's not wrecking anything. We're all still friends, all still in the band, and everything's okay."

"It won't be, you just watch," he replies, storming out of the room and leaving the rest of us to stand in a cloud of confusion and awkwardness.

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