Beyond Flames

The next morning, they all took turns showering in a scheme they had thought up the night before, with Seden last as she was the slowest and thus took the most time. Daniel went second, after the quick shower Emeka had taken. Once he had washed his hair freshly clean and washed his body with the vanilla scented body soap that Seden owned, he quickly dried himself off and hoisted himself in his boxers and jogging pants. He would change in his room, as he had to be quick so Sarah could take her shower.

There were three rapid knocks on the door, Sarah’s voice following after: “Are you done yet?”

He quickly dried his hair and replied with an I’m coming. He hung the towel back on its drying place, collected his stuff and unlocked the door, stepping out in nothing but his jogging pants. Since it was morning, he was not quite thinking clearly, so he didn’t really think anything of it. He was used to people invading his privacy, such as Seden and Emeka on a rare occasion, but, as he would realise later, Sarah hadn’t once come in without knocking and waiting a respectable amount of time.

Her jaw popped open a bit upon seeing him, but within two seconds it was put back into its place. “Nice chest, Holland.” She smirked. Then, she pushed past him, into the bathroom, locking it immediately. Daniel, still groggy because of his awakening just rubbed his eyes and walked on. The pondering part would come later.

One and a half hour later they were all dressed up in pretty clothes, smelling delicious and with hair styled to perfection. Daniel had woken up after he had splashed some water in his face in the kitchen, and now he was sitting on the couch watching mindless TV with Emeka. Sarah and Seden had showed their faces for five minutes tops before disappearing into their room to do their makeup. They had blasted their boom box almost immediately, blocking out their voices for both boys. Occasionally, Emeka and he would hum along with the familiar songs on their playlist, but half of the time they didn’t recognise the songs, and they were quite glad for that. They had a bit of a different music taste sometimes. Another ten minutes later and both girls finally emerged from their bedroom, looking gorgeous. Not that they didn’t already, but they had really dressed up now without losing the touch of being a rock band. Seden wore a cute, black dress, studded with stones and spikes along the neckline to give it a bit of an edgy feeling, whilst Sarah was wearing her jeans. Unlike her normal ones these weren’t ripped. She wore a with a maroon shirt and a waterfall neckline with it, wearing spikes in her ears. Her hair was down, surprisingly matching with her shirt. Her finger was decorated with a ring. The ring was for so far Daniel could see some sort of pair of wings.

The boys gave nothing but praise for the girls’ outfits of choice, making both girls smile. They both looked fine, too.

With two and a half hours to spare since they slept in, they decided to do a little shopping. That was all Seden’s idea, but the boys agreed anyway, as did Sarah. Within ten minutes Sarah had spotted a hair dresser that seemed to be specialised in bright hair colours, and off she went, claiming she wanted her hair dyed again anyway. They lost Seden too when they spotted the first shop expensive enough for her, so within half an hour they lost half of the band. Emeka and Daniel decided to just have a drink in one of the many cafés and have a bit of boy time. Emeka’s job would start the next day too, so he’d be quite busy then, as did his. They really were desperate for a librarian, since he’d been hired the day before and could start to work this soon. Daniel felt really excited for it, but also a bit nervous.

In silence, both boys walked through a street filled with cafés, but none of them caught their attention really. That was until they spotted a small shop, pressed in between two bigger lunchrooms. It was a bit hidden, as if it tried to hide. But that was not what drew their attention, it was rather an pretty amazing cover of a Fall Out Boy song that came floating through the barely open door. It certainly wasn’t recorded, Daniel thought. He nodded towards it, and he and Emeka entered the coffee place. Though it appeared to be small from the outside, it was pretty deep so there was a lot of space. The inside was better lit, all tables pretty much pointing to the stage that was on the back. The singer was just in the middle of a high note when they entered, earning a round of applause by the teenagers surrounding them. Daniel guessed most of the people inside were something of a year younger than them, making them nineteen, twenty, maybe some even twenty one. They weren’t the eldest ones inside, thankfully. That would’ve been awkward. There was a pretty girl singing on the stage, completely a capella. Though it wasn’t completely recognizable from the original, it was pretty obvious what song she was singing, one of the favourites of Daniel and Emeka.