𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 08 | 𝗖𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁

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"His name is Ari and he's my best friend."

I could tell she was lying. They were definitely more than just friends.

Eden and I were sitting on the front steps of Rian's apartment. It was late and the sky was almost clear of the sun, the others had gone home, and now it was just the collie and me, wasting time. I felt a little disheartened to find out that the rumors were true, that she was dating someone, but I didn't think it would've been him. I felt a little disheartened to find out it was him as well. I felt strangely close to Ari, but I couldn't figure out why.

And now I was in the middle of their little romance. Fuck, I'm such a loser...

"Is there any particular reason why you've never mentioned him before?" I asked her, my arms resting on my knees. Eden sat with her legs crossed and stretched outward, leaning back onto her arms.

"He's homeschooled, Harvey. I don't know how I would be able to mention him."

"You told him to audition to our band, I think that's a step further than mentioning him."

Eden scoffed and shook her head.

"He's incredibly talented, Harvey, just... give him a chance—"

"—Oh, no, we're definitely hiring him, I'm just shocked you've never talked about him before."

"Well, I'll talk about him now. And he's coming to the high school next week anyway," Eden told me. Oh, God, he's coming to school? Am I gonna have to deal with watching them be all lovey-dovey with each other for the rest of the year? "I thought it'd be good to get him into some after-school activities so he wouldn't be alone or... feel like he's missing out on the fun of being a high schooler. Before it's too late."

That last thing she said struck me as odd.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, a little concerned.

"Hm?" She looked over at me as if she'd forgotten she had said it. Out loud. "Oh, nothing."

"Hey, lovebirds!" We heard the loud, towering voice of Rian yell from his apartment above us. We both flinched, turned around, and looked up at him, seeing his head poking out from his window. "It's almost nine, scram!"

Eden and I both stuck our middle fingers up at him.

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When I tried to contact Ari's phone the next day, I'd gotten the voicemail of a local record store for some reason. I don't know if it was either a prank or if he didn't have a phone, all I knew is that I had to contact him in person. So, I journeyed to the address he had given me during his audition yesterday.

I rode my bicycle into town, tracking down the street and building number that was written in the list of contacts. The neighborhood was usually pretty busy and there were pedestrians and cars everywhere I looked. It was eleven in the morning, so of course, this was the busiest hour. People were rushing to work, shops were opening up, etc. I flew through the cracks and openings of people and obstacles, venturing through the small city like my own game of real-life Frogger (with high, deadly stakes), navigating the quickest way across town.

Once I had located the address, I found myself parked in front of a record store. The same one from the voicemail.

"Huh," I said aloud.