𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 09 | 𝗔𝗱𝗮

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Later that evening, Eden had suggested we have a little hangout/band practice to make Ari feel more comfortable within his new group of friends. It was still a Saturday, and his first day going to real-life in-person high school was only one day away, so, we threw together a last-minute initiation meeting for Arizona after me and Eden's shift.

Torrence, Levi, and I made our way up the fire escape ladder and entered through Rian's window. We dropped our backpacks and belongings down on his couch and got ourselves situated like we always did. Rian's apartment was the one place we always crashed, considering he was emancipated and Rian really did not give two shits if we just showed at any time of any day. One night, I snuck out of my house and came over to Rian's at one in the morning to write songs or smoke a joint or something stupid.

Torrence collapsed onto the couch. Levi stood against the wall in the corner, typing on his phone. I paced back and forth in the middle of the living room/kitchen/dining room, oddly impatient for some reason. Eden and Ari were the last two people to arrive. Rian opened the refrigerator and whipped out a few juice pouches.

"Harv," He called. I turned around only to see a juice pouch being tossed directly at my face. With laser-fast reflexes, I caught it with my paw before it smacked me.

I looked at the drink and then back up at Rian. "A Capri-sun? Really?" I raised my eyebrows with a small chuckle.

"What? I got you guys beer, now you're drinking my shit," He smirked, tossing one over to Torrence, who caught it without looking, and one over to Levi, who didn't even see the pouch coming and got smacked in the shoulder by it.

"How long has it been since I drank one of these?" I asked myself as I ripped the straw off of the pouch and fit it between my molars, yanking off the plastic wrap. I then stabbed it into the small straw hole and took a sip. My mouth was flooded with the artificial flavor of 'Pacific Cooler'. I swallowed and began to laugh. "I feel like I just drank straight nostalgia."

Torrence squeezed his own pouch, sucking up the liquid through the skinny yellow straw. Levi was still having trouble impaling his into the Capri-sun.

"So... what do you guys think about him?" I struck up a conversation topic, hoping to get this discussion over and done with before Eden and Ari got here.

"Who? Arizona?" Rian asked as he sipped his Capri-sun.

I nodded my head and the room got quiet. It was as if no one wanted to speak up.

Well, except for...

"I like him," Levi shrugged, looking up from his phone. "He's no Harley, but he's very talented."

"Aw, you miss Harley, Lev?" Torrence teased his brother, causing the fox to blush. "It's okay, sweetie, we know you both had the hots for each other—"

"Shut up!" Levi groaned, crossing his arms.

"No shit, he's no Harley," Rian referenced Levi's statement. "And we shouldn't be comparing them. Harley is Harley, Arizona is Arizona. Two different people, two different styles of drum-playing. Two different band members, okay? No one replaced no one. Let's just try to make Ari feel comfortable, alright?"

"Sheesh, where did the lecture come from, dad?" Torrence mocked, only for Rian to whap him in the leg.

"I like him, too," I nodded my head. "Do you guys think he'll make a good addition to the band?"

"Well, we'll find out tonight, won't we?" Torrence responded.

"Hello, males," A female voice suddenly filled the room, coming from the window, causing Torrence to jump and Rian to flinch.