Band X

Chapter 1: What's in a Name?

I give a short shriek, more of a squeak, really, and close my eyes as she races at me. Her Converse stop slapping on the sidewalk as she comes to a quick stop, her nose inches from mine.

"You sing really good." She blurts out.

I take a step back, feeling anxious at how close she is to me. Once standing safely on my own sidewalk square I say "Well."

She looks confused, her eyes squinting up at me. "Well, what?"

"I sing well. Not good." I turn to walk away as she darts in front of me to block to my path.

"Whatever," she sighs exasperatedly, waving her arms in the air. "You've got some pipes on you! Sing for me again!"

"Pipes?" I shake my head. "First, you're weird. Second, I don't sing for YOU. I sing for ME." I stop, realizing what I just said. "I mean. I don't sing. Now go away."

I turn and walk away quickly, not allowing her to say another word. I take about 10 steps and hear her call after me. "My name is Isabelle! I'm starting a band! Meet me in the gym after school tomorrow if you're interested!"

I don't turn around. I don't respond. I feel my shoulders tighten and my face flush a warm red as I quickly trudge home. I feel something strange, a new sensation. Don't tell anyone, but as much as I want to be alone, I also want to belong. And I want to sing. Either alone or with a band. I just want to sing.

But for now, I just go home. Alone.

The school day seems to last forever on Friday. If I'm honest, most school days seem unbearably long but this one is far worse because I have a decision to make. Do I meet with the wacky Isabelle in the gym or do I go home and continue with my streak of spending every weekend alone?

I drag myself to the gym, my feet feeling as though they're encased in concrete. After nearly turning around about a hundred times, I finally make it there and peek inside the small square windows on the door that swings open and takes you into the room. Isabelle is there with a really tall guy with long blonde hair and a shorter guy with brown hair who is bouncing a basketball against the wall.

Both are kids I've seen around school but of course I've never talked to them or even made eye contact with them. I hide from most people here so I don't have to do those things. So what am I doing here, then, spying on crazy Isabelle and these two guys? It's because she said the magic word. Sing. I sing in the shower, I sing in my bedroom, and, as Isabelle discovered, I sing on my way home from school when I'm allowed that precious privilege, that delicious time alone. I do not sing around other people. Ever. But yet here I am.

Isabelle looks at the doors and I quickly move away from the windows, flattening myself against the wall. Yes, here I am, but I'm not all the way there. I've never been brave, but today I have to be if I want to push open that door.

So, I do it. I put my hands flat against the dark green metal and shove. A little too hard because it flies open with an obnoxiously loud bang, causing Isabelle and her two friends to jump back a foot or two.

Isabelle's eyes widen in surprise. "You're here!" She runs up to me and throws her arms around me in a too-tight hug.

I stand straight like a statue, arms locked at my side, staring at the two very different looking boys standing behind her. The tall lanky blonde one stares back at me blankly, his head cocked to the side. He smiles a weird little half smile and for some strange reason, I think I might like this guy.

While I'm still trapped in Isabelle's embrace, the shorter guy with shaggy black hair stops bashing the basketball against the bleachers, turns to face us, and for one very long moment, the gym is strangely quiet.