The Loud Crowd

1.

You will need to have read The Rock Rollercoaster to fully understand this story.

Sequel Time! Thank you to everyone who read, voted for and commented on The Rock Rollercoaster - this is all for you guys! I hope you continue to enjoy Lyra's story!

XMX

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I was in Number Four when it happened. But then, I was always in Number Four now that we had returned home. Especially after Charles had declared the fact that I really didn't need therapy anymore to my dad.

I was in the booth, as always. Singing some random tune that had popped into my head. I wondered briefly if it would make a good song. Then I remembered that I hadn't a written a song since the accident, and didn't really want to start again yet.

I sat on the piano bench, staring at the keys. I could only see a mass blur of black and white. White and black. Then nothing.

I had been teaching myself how to play piano. It wasn't going well; I mostly just made noise. And not the good kind. I pressed down on the C key, hearing the note reverberate through the small booth.

I was alone.

As always. Charles had told my father that I wasn't depressed, and I wasn't, but I had my moments. More of them than your average person, but not enough to label me as someone in need of help. Mostly, I just wished things could be different.

Swinging myself from the bench, I pressed play on my iPod, which was plugged in to our new sound system. Music filled the small space, and I closed my eyes, feeling a sharp pain.

Bloom, by the Paper Kites. Of course it was.

Grimacing, I hastily pressed next and then groaned. With or Without You, U2. It seemed that my playlist hadn't taken the hint that I was trying to avoid certain thoughts about a certain person.

I hadn't visited in the past month. Not one single visit to the hospital.

It was harsh, but I was being selfish. It hurt, so I didn't do it. I wouldn't go to that horrible place and see him lying there like he was... I just wouldn't. After everything, I was trying to avoid pain, and that place and that person was nothing but hurt for me.

It made Chris and Freddie mad, they thought I'd completely given up on him. I hadn't. The day I give up on him will be the day I willingly listen to Justin Bieber. But after two months of waiting for him to open his eyes, I had crawled back into my shell.

I pressed a few more keys on the piano, wishing I could do it properly. I didn't want to sing anymore. I had to find a new thing, and so far it wasn't working. Not even after I'd sweet-talked Elliot into buying me a great big piano. I'd even faced David, who apparently now managed finance so that I could have it free.

I jumped when the phone rang upstairs. It was nothing more than a faint ringing, since I was practically underground, but I still heard it.

Knowing that Danni wouldn't be there, since it was four in the morning, I rushed out of the booth. Taking the stairs two at a time, I managed to snag the phone from the cradle just in time.

"Hello?"

"How did I know you'd be at Springbreak this early?" Freddie's voice was amused. This shocked me - it had been two months since he'd sounded so much as happy.

"You started playing chess to deal. I chose piano. Get over it," I snapped. "What do you want?"

He breathed out heavily. "Its him."