The It Factor

Chapter 4

"Hey, boys!"  Kyle screamed, and they all froze.  All eyes landed on me, and they were not inviting.

"Not only were you late again, but you brought a girl?"  One of the wrestling boys said, untangling himself from the other and standing up.  He had shaggy black hair, and the greenest eyes I had ever see.

"Dude, chill, she's the one that's been helping me with my songs,"  Kyle said, looking annoyed.  My heart was beating faster than normal.  Not only was that a terrifying position to be in, but I wasn't exactly welcomed.  The boy scoffed and turned around, grabbing his drum sticks from Kyle's desk.

"Hi,"  One of the other boys said, holding his hand out to me.  He had red hair that was trimmed close to his head, and green eyes.  "I'm Scott, and that's Andrew, Tristan, Scott, and, well, you met Vincent."  He pointed to the kid who had yelled, the one with the black hair.

"Nice to meet you all,"  I said nervously, shifting my weight from foot to foot.  I felt like I was under interrogation, with everyone staring at me like they were.  Andrew had short brown hair and brown eyes, while Tristan had blond hair and blue eyes.  He looked a lot like Kyle, actually.

"Quit staring and lets get started," Kyle said, clapping his hands, "We're late as it is."

"You know your mom won't care,"  Tristan said, standing up from the ground, "She's awesome."

"Yeah, but if we practice to late the neighbors will care,"  Kyle retorted, sticking out his hand to help out his friend. "Everyone, to the garage!"  Before I could move the boys shoved me out of the way and ran out the door, Kyle at the head of the pack.  I fell over from the impact of the push and landed on Kyles black beanbag chair.

"Oh shoot," Vincent said, pausing to look at me, "You okay?  Need help up?"  He offered me his hand, and I took it. 

"I'm fine,"  I said, pulling myself up.

"Vincent!"  Kyles voice called.

"Sorry, I'm wanted elsewhere,"  Kyle said with a cheeky wink and let go of my hand.  I squeaked and fell back into the chair.  Vincents laugh filed the hallway as he ran down the stairs.

"Jerk!"  I called after him, hoping he could hear me.  He really needed to.  That was a jack ass move.

"Um, hello?"  A woman popped her head in the door way and eyed me curiously.  She had blond hair, blue eyes, and looked miraculously like Kyle.  She must've been his mother.

"Oh!"  I exclaimed, standing up quickly, "I'm so sorry, I didn't think before I yelled..."  Not that I had said anything bad, but some people don't like yelling in her house.

"Honey, I have five boys in my house.  Do you really think I'm worried about yelling?" She jutted out her hip and placed a hand on it, raising an eyebrow at me.  I could feel my cheeks going red. "You must be Serenity!  I'm Hope, Kyle's mom."  I stood up and held out my hand, mentally searching for Kyle's last name.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Jones,"  I smiled.

"Call me Hope, everyone does."  She said, and turned to walk out the door, "Kitchen's down stairs, and the boys are in the garage.  Make yourself at home."

"Thanks!"  I called after her.  She was nice, I liked her.  Sense I was alone, I looked around Kyle's room.  It was spotless too, and something told me his mother attacked it everyday.  It smelled like lemon scented cleaning supplies.

He had a queen size bed with white and blue sheets, dark blue carpet, and a desk in the corner piled with papers.  It was really plane, and it made me wonder why.  Maybe it had something to do with his mom?

Shaking my head, I made my way back down stares.  It was a little creepy to stay Kyle's room the whole time, and he would probably tease me about it later.  I found the garage door connected to the kitchen, which had a plate of freshly baked cookies on it.  I could smell them, and they made my mouth water.

Hope must've heard me open the door, because at the last second she yelled, "Serenity?  Could you make those cookies down to the boys?"

"Sure!"  I called back, grabbing them from the table.  Down stars, I could hear the boys playing one of the songs me and Kyle had just finished.  It sounded great with the guitar, piano, and drums.  From the sound of it, one of the boys even played bass.

Kyle's garage was not a garage.  It had gray carpet, windows, couches, tables, chairs, a TV, and the band set up.  There was even a bathroom in the right corner.  The boys noticed me, and Kyle smiled.  I gave him a thumbs up and plopped down on the couch facing them.

Kyle played guitar and sang, (of course) Andrew played piano, Tristan and Scott were playing base, and Vincent was playing drums.  I listened until the end of the song, then clapped.  It felt really good to know that the song I helped write sounded so good.  It made me feel slightly less self conscious about my love for music.

"Serenity, that song is amazing,"  Scott said when they were done, "Kyle told us how you helped write it, and we all love it."

"Not all of us,"  Vincent said, dropping his drum sticks to the ground.  I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling my stomach clinch.  Maybe I shouldn't of helped write it.  Maybe it stunk.

"Shut up, you said you loved it."  Andrew said, punching Vincent in the arm.  I giggled a little and shook my head.

"You boys should keep going, you have a lot to go through,"  I said, grabbing a cookie from the plate that was still in my lap, "When you're done, you get cookies."  Their eyes lit up and they started playing immediately.

They played through their songs for another hour, then we all sat around and ate cookies.  Everyone, except Vincent, was really nice to me.  They were really welcoming, and we got along great.  When all was said and done, it was ten o'clock at night and I had twelve missed calls from my mom.  Kyle drove me home really quickly after that, just because he didn't want my mom to get even more pissed.

"Thanks for today,"  I said when we pulled up to my house.

"No problem, the boys like you.  You should come to every practice."  He smiled.

"If I'm welcome, I would love too." 

And that's how it all got started.

---------------------------------------

Authors Note:  Sorry it's short and for the long wait.  I'm going through a hard breakup.  I don't know when the next update will be.