Scream of Sorrow [ON HOLD]

ONE

The atmosphere was slightly tense as the band sat around a table in one of the most expensive cafes in the city.

Evan was trying to down his big cup of iced coffee all in one go.

Audrey was tapping her nails on the screen of her phone nervously. It was a miracle her sharp nails didn't crack the screen. 

Tate, her twin, sat next to Chase with his hands linked on the table. He, too, had an excited gleam in his eyes. 

Leo was scrolling through his phone, his baseball cap nearly covering his eyes. 

Chase was bored, he didn't like to just sit and do nothing when he had a full schedule. "When's your friend coming? Tell them to hurry up," he told Tate. 

He rolled his eyes at him. "Give her a break, it's a day long flight." 

"It's a girl?" piped up Evan, looking interested for the first time since they sat there—which was three hours ago. 

That clearly said something because the kid was ADHD itself.

"Yep," said Audrey, narrowing her eyes suddenly. She looked up and glared at each of them except for Tate. "And it's good she's late, I haven't had the chance to threaten yet." 

Evan elbowed Toby, who was asleep with his head in his arms. Leo looked up from his phone and Violet sat down next to Audrey, hanging up on whoever she was talking to. Her curious eyes skipped over the boys and she raised her eyebrows. 

"First things first, she hates getting crowded and she hates too much noise, so behave yourselves," started Audrey, giving Evan a particularly hard glare. 

"Great, it's some stuck up bitch," he said sarcastically, losing the excited gleam as he shook his fluffy hair out of his eyes and leaned back in his chair. 

They knew what was coming before Audrey even stood up. Her brand new bag connected with his chest and he let out a series of expletives that should not be said in a café full of A-list celebrities. 

He turned to Tate for support but the latter just shrugged. "I told you you should start counting to three before voicing your very questionable thoughts." 

"Anyway," said Audrey, sipping her smoothie and smiling as though she didn't just hit her friend with a bag full of perfume bottles, "she's here because we need a temporary photographer because Sammy was fired, so be nice. She's studying Fine Arts in college, sophomore."

"So she's twenty-two?" said Toby groggily. 

Leo and Tate groaned exasperatedly, done with his Math issue. "Use your brain, Toby, yeah?" said Leo, scoffing. "She's twenty. Unless she took a gap year or something . . . " 

"Twenty in a few weeks," confirmed Audrey. "She's two years younger than I am. On with the rules, she's a busy girl and she's still going to work on her college work when she gets here, so don't bother her. Flirting with her is a no go. She won't understand flirting if someone slapped her in the face shouting that they were, in fact, flirting. She's staying for a month in the guest room so that's off-limits for the month. Don't touch her equipment, God knows she paid so much for it. And . . . that's it, I guess." She shrugged and continued tapping her nails on the phone. 

"Where the fuck is she coming from? Jupiter?" said Evan, puffing his cheeks. 

"Heathrow," answered Tate. 

At Evan's blank stare, Chase elaborated, "London." 

"Oh," he said, dragging it. "Is London actually that far from Sydney?" 

"Yeah, we went there right from here last year on tour and I don't remember it being that long," said Toby. 

"That's because we stopped three times in hotels, you stupid fuck," said Leo, scowling at him.