September 1st, 2016.
On Friday, I was woken up on suddenly from my peaceful dream filled sleep, when I was shoved out of my bed, and hit the ground with a thump
"Ouch. What the fuck, man." I said, while sitting up and rubbing the back of my head. I looked at Charlie, face down on my bed, completely, spread out.
"Dude, get up." I said, kicking him in the side.
Charlie quickly, jumped awake, and sat up, running his hands over his face and through his hair.
"I'm up, I'm up. What time is it?" He asked, before looking down at me on the ground.
"Why are you on the floor?"
"Because you shoved me off my bed, you dumbass." I said while standing up and lifting my phone.
"It's almost 2PM. Do you want coffee?" I said, pointing at my clock.
"Coffee sounds great." He agreed, while standing up and stretching.
Once we were both dressed, and had gone to the bathroom, we went downstairs to start our day. Charlie took a seat at the table, while I grabbed two cups, and the coffee pot, before sitting down across from him, and handing him a cup. We sat in silence as we let the coffee electrify our system's before we started working on another song, for Josie.
"So, I think I have a song we can work on." Charlie said, making me look up at him.
"Taylor Swift, Wildest dreams."
That would actually be perfect. We could slow it down, make it sad, and give it a gothic feel." I said with a smile.
When we finished our coffee, we made our way into the living-room and took our seats on the floor with the keyboard between us. Charlie began to the tune, but in minor chords and alot slower, before I started singing. We spent the next few hours working on our version of the song, and when we were done, we decided to ask everyone to get dinner together. That way we could figure out what we were doing the next day, for the video.
Super-Squad Group-chat.
Cary:
Squad dinner?
Josie needs to pick a song, and we need to figure out exactly what we are doing tomorrow.
Josie:
Dinner at mine?
Cary:
Charlie and I are in.
Austin:
James and I are in.
Eli:
I'm in.
Lydia:
Sounds great.
I'll walk over shortly.
Adam:
I'll walk to your house Lyds, then we can walk to Josie's together.
Alex:
I'll be there.
Lexi:
Same here.
Alex, I'll pick you up.
Josie:
Good.
Everyone be here for 6PM.
Cary:
Eli. You can come with me and Charlie.
When I looked at the clock, it was nearly 5PM, and I decided I needed to shower. Charlie decided he was going to he was going to get Eli to come over and hang out with him, while I got ready.
After I let Eli in, he and Charlie got comfortable on the sofa, watching South Park while I went and got ready.
After I showered, I blow-dried my hair, and put it into two space buns on at the top of my head. I decided to be makeup free for the day, so I made my way to my wardrobe and slipped on a pair of black hipster underwear, and a black sports bra. I pulled out an oversized, off the shoulder, plain white t-shirt, with black high-waisted leggings, paired with a pair of black and red Jordan's, before grabbing my phone, my purse, and my cigarettes. After I put everything in my bag, I lifted my keys, and hung the lanyard they were on around my neck.
Once I was ready, I ran down the stairs and into the living-room to see Eli and Charlie, wrestling each other on the floor while Charlie sang the Kyle's mom song from South Park, except he replaced Kyle with Eli.
"So, do you guys want me to cover you in baby oil, or chocolate sauce?" I said, leaning against the door frame, drawing their attention to me, causing them both to jump to their feet.
"He started it." They both said in unison, while pointing at each other.
"No, he started it." They said again, in unison.
"Dude. Stop copying me." Again, in unison.
"Dude." I shouted, causing them to look at me again.
"Both of you, in the car." I said, while moving away from the door, and pointing into the hall.
Charlie quickly lifted his keyboard, and both boys walked by me with their heads down. I followed behind them, through the hall, and out of my house. After I locked the door behind us, we all climbed into my car, and buckled in, I connected my phone to the speakers and hit play on my Pink, Just like fire. I pulled out of my driveway, and started towards Josie's house, as the song played.
"We came here to run it, run it, run it. We came here to run it, run it, run it." I sang loudly, making Charlie and Eli laugh, before they joined in.
"Just like fire, burning up the way, if I can light the world up for just one day. Watch this madness, colourful charade, no one can be just like me any way." The three of us sang loudly, with the windows rolled down.
The three of us continued to sing along to any song that came on, some sad, some happy. Occasionally, Eli would sing a love song dramatically towards Charlie, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear they were about to kiss.
It was just after sing when we arrived at Josie's house, and as always, we let ourselves in. The three of us said our hello's to David and Samantha, before making our way down to the basement, to see Josie, Adam, and Lydia, spread out around the seats. Lydia was sitting on the two-person sofa, Josie was on the love-seat, and Adam was on one of the beanbags. Charlie sat on the other beanbag, beside Adam, while Eli walked straight over to Josie, as she jumped up quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck. Eli wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting off the ground slightly, as she giggled like a 5-year-old. I had never seen her that happy, because of a boy, before.
"Okay, okay. Stop the love fest." I said, dropping onto the sofa beside Lydia.
"Don't be bitter." Lydia said, watching as Josie and Eli cuddled up on the love-seat.
"They are pretty cute together." I said, taking out my phone and snapping a picture of the two of them. Eli was holding Josie's hands lightly, while she had her legs thrown over his lap. He was looking at her as if she had an entire galaxy in her eyes.
I sent the photo to the both of them, just as Lexi and Alex arrived, and took their place on the bigger sofa across from me and Lydia, after another five-minutes, we heard the doorbell ring.
"James and Austin still aren't comfortable just walking in, are they?" Josie asked, looking around at us all. We all shook our heads and laughed, as the King boys descended the stairs into the basement.
"Seriously, you two, you don't have to knock. You can just walk in." Josie said, looking at them.
Austin took a seat between Alex and Lexi, and took Alex's hand in his, while Lexi threw her legs over both of them and James took a seat on the floor in front of me and Lydia
"Give us time, we'll get there." Austin said with a laugh.
I looked down at James, to find that he was already looking at me with a bright smile, I poked my tongue out at him, causing him to laugh.
"Okay, Charlie, Cary. What did you come up with?" Josie said, lying back against Eli's chest.
"Oh yeah, we have an original song, then we have our version of Taylor swifts Wildest dreams." Charlie said, lifting his keyboard.
"Which one first?"
"Wildest dreams." I said, looking over at him, as he began to play the tune, slowly.
"He said, "Let's get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds" I thought Heaven can't help me now. Nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take me down." I sang slowly, along with Charlie's playing.
"He's so tall and handsome as hell. He's so bad, but he does it so well. I can see the end as it begins, my one condition is." I continued.
"Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress. Staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again. Even if it's just in your wildest dreams. Wildest dreams." I sang so slowly, it was almost a painful cry.
"I said, "No one has to know what we do" His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room, and his voice is a familiar sound. Nothing lasts forever, but this is getting good now." I sang quietly.
"He's so tall and handsome as hell. He's so bad, but he does it so well, and when we've had our very last kiss. My last request is." I continued, slowly and quietly.
"Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again, even if it's just in your wildest dreams. Wildest dreams." I sang, running my hands through James' hair.
"You'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down. Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories, follow you around. You'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down. Someday when you leave me, I bet these memories, follow you around." I sang loudly, sounding painful again.
"Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again, even if it's just pretend." I sang, quietly this, as Charlie played even slower.
"Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you'll see me again, even if it's just pretend, in your wildest dreams. In your wildest dreams, even if it's just stayed in your wildest dreams, in your wildest dreams." I sang even slower, finishing the song.
Charlie out his keyboard down and smiled at me, as we both looked to Josie to get her opinion.
"Well, What do you think?" I asked.
"I love it. It's perfect." Josie replied, with a bright smile.
Just then, Samantha shouted on us all to tell us dinner was ready. The ten of us made our way back up the stairs and out of the basement. Just in time to greet Brett, who was arriving home from his friends house.
"Cary, basketball after dinner?" He said while hugging me.
"Of course. It's been a while since I kicked your butt." I said while ruffling his hair.
We all made our way through the hall and into the kitchen, grabbing a plate of Samantha's homemade chicken and pepper pasta bake, before making our way into the living-room and taking various seats around the room with Josie's family.
"Okay, for real, though. I keep hearing that Cary plays basketball, but no one has ever actually told me if she was any good, or told me stories. I've never even seen a picture." James said, looking around the room.
"She was on the basketball team." David said, looking at James.
"I was her coach. She's a damn good player."
"Yeah, I played basketball alot. After school, for the school, summer teams, I love it, I played any chance I got. So, when I got to high-school, I tried out for the girl's team, and like most freshmen, I spent most of my time on the bench. Sophomore year, I became shooting guard, and we won the championship. Junior year, they cut the girls team. So, being the passionate person I am, I went to the principle, he said it was because the girl's team wasn't preforming as well. Even though the girl's team won the championship for the school, the boys team hadn't even made it to the championship in twenty years. But, the school had made their choice, something had to go, the girl's basketball team was the sacrifice." I told him, shrugging my shoulders.
"Luckily for me, I had a good coach, who taught me to never go down without a fight." I said, looking over at David, and smiling at him.
"So, she brought her fight to me. Turns out, there was no rule saying a girl couldn't join the boys team, the rules stated that the team should be made up of twelve players. It never mentioned gender, and since it was a brand-new year, and I knew how well Cary could play, I let her try out. Of course, the boys on the team had a bit of problem accepting it, until Cary beat them at a game of four on one." David said, smiling at us all.
"I beat him too, and I beat Brett, alot." I said with a laugh.
We all sat around, and talked while we finished eating. We talked about how Brett's lacrosse team was doing, how the Wayward High basketball team was looking at the start of the new year, and we talked about whether James and Austin liked any sports.
When we finished, Josie, Lexi, and Lydia went to help Samantha clean up the kitchen, while Brett, David, James, Austin, Alex, Adam, Charlie, Eli, and I went out to the backyard where the basketball hoop I used to practice with, still stood.
"Are you sure you want to do this again, Brett?" I asked, bouncing the ball.
"I'm getting better, and you know that I will not try out for the team until I can beat you, fair and square." He said, while tying his shoes. Brett was going to be starting his Junior year at Wayward High on Monday, and he really wanted to be on his dad's team.
"Game on, little brother." I said, throwing the ball towards him. I bent down and tied my shoes, before standing up straight and pulling off my t-shirt, so, that I was only in my sports bra and leggings.
Brett and I spent the next hour and a half, playing basketball while the boys watched, after a while, the girls came out and watched too, with intense curiosity. Brett eventually called it quits, so I grabbed my t-shirt off the table and walked back inside beside him, following everyone else.
"Man, if that last basket hadn't bounced back, you would have beat me, and I would have lost my champion title. But I guess a tied game is a good thing for now, but you should really try out for the team, you'll kill it." I said, ruffling his hair.
"You think? You don't seem upset that we tied. I thought you hated losing." He said, looking at me.
"I do hate losing, to the opposing team, but the day you beat me, will be the happiest day of my life, Brett. You should definitely try out for the team." I said, smiling at him.
"Now, tell your dad you want to try out, and invite me to the first game. Your dad was the best coach I ever had. He'll be the same for you." I kissed his forehead before running down the stairs to the basement.
When I got downstairs, everyone had spread out around the room. Josie and Eli were back on the love-seat. Austin and Alex were on the two-person sofa, while Lydia, Lexi, and Charlie were on the three-person sofa. Adam and James were on the bean-bags. I slumped down on James' knee, and he handed me a bottle of water.
"Thanks." I said, before kissing his cheek.
"So, what was the other song you two worked on?" Josie asked, looking between me and Charlie.
"Oh yeah, the original one." I said.
"Shall we?"
"We shall." Charlie replied, and he began to play. I sang along happily, until the song was over. We all discussed which song would be better for Josie's video, she felt it was important that we all love the song.
It came up a tie, Eli, Charlie, Lexi, Lydia, and Austin all the liked the cover, while Adam, James, Josie, and me all liked the original.
We spent the rest of the night watching movies and talking about the music video we would be shooting tomorrow. Eli had arranged for us to use the hall at the dirt-track from 12PM to 6PM. Lexi had selected a range of clothes to match any kind of song we picked. Lydia had chosen a range of makeup and hairstyles to match any outfit. James, Charlie, and Austin were playing instruments. Adam was helping with lighting and set up. Alex was doing something with a green screen. Josie was doing all the production and editing, and of course, I was singing. After we made our plan, we stayed in our seats, and talked about random things. When a sudden rush of inspiration hit me.
"I need a pen and paper." I said, jumping up, checking the drawers and shelves.
"What wrong Cary?" Josie asked, while everyone watched me as I finally found a pen and a notebook.
"Inspiration is flowing." I said, I dropped onto the floor beside James and started writing.
You sound good to me.