'Frisco.

Chapter Seventeen.

The next morning I let Bonnie know of our commitment to BOHDI's band practice. In all honesty, I think she was more excited than I was – probably thanks to Evan. She popped back to her house, which was luckily only a few doors down, to grab fresh clothes. Whilst she was away I showered.

Under the pressure of the falling water, I allowed myself to relax for the first time since I saw Jonah last night. The image of his captivating brown eyes and how trained onto me they were made me smile. The day ahead was going to be interesting.

I dried off, taking time to curl my hair into loose beach waves. After, I dressed myself in a white, graphic vest paired with black shorts. Lacing up my Converse, I took a moment to look at myself in the mirror. Is this how you're meant to dress to attend a band rehearsal? I had only a few moments to contemplate before Bonnie called down the intercom, "Hello? Is this on?"

I guess one of my parents must've let her in. I smiled to myself and replied back with, "Green household. How may I help you?"

I heard her giggle before saying, "Bonnie Cole looking for Kate Green?"

"Oh yes. She'll be right down."

Despite being in my sandals, I was intending on get some stair practice in. 5 down, 7 down, 7 down, 6 down... I was at the final few steps. Head down, I was determined to finish on a high note. In fact, I was so focused; I hadn't noticed my sandal come loose. My foot slipped completely off the step and I went flying down at insane speed. I closed my eyes, I guess hoping it would somehow stop me from dying.

I never hit the floor. Instead, a pair of strong arms caught me inches away from a very painful headache. I assumed it must've been my dad – the only male in the house.

Opening my eyes, I was proven very, very wrong.

"Jonah." I breathed a sigh of relief. His face was inches away from mine, he was grinning at my very silly attempt at being awesome.

"Hey," I said sulkily, obviously not impressed at his mocking, "that would've been really cool."

"If I hadn't caught you? Yeah it would've been rather painful too."

His comment silenced me. And so the two of us stood there at the foot of my stairs.

"So yeah if you guys are finished..." Bonnie joked.

I turned my head to see my friend standing a few feet away smirking at our encounter. She was dressed in a sky blue summer dress with faded, white flowers. Her sandal-clad foot was impatiently tapping.

I righted myself out of Jonah's arms and almost instantly missed the security of him. I sarcastically glared at Bonnie as I passed her to leave the house. I heard the both of them laugh as they followed.

The rehearsal was located at Ryan's house. His garage was decorated to look like anything but a place to park cars. The walls were fitted with a couple of panels that probably absorbed sound waves. Each instrument was already set up on the wooden floors. On the back wall of the room, a mirror was hung. In front of this mirror sat a large, blue sofa adorned with exotically patterned pillows and blankets.

Ryan and Evan were already practicing their own instrument as we entered. I saw Bonnie's face light up as Evan looked towards us from where his bass was, across his chest. His straggly blonde hair was darker than mine and almost completely covered his blue eyes. He didn't say anything as Jonah headed for his position behind the drum kit. Instead, he simply lifted his chin up; I guess a silent way of acknowledging his existence.

"Jonah!" Ryan exclaimed with glee – almost as if he hadn't seen his best friend in years. Jonah didn't reply. He simply grinned and lowered his head.

Is that embarrassment? I thought to myself.

Ryan reached over the drum set to give Jonah's hand a shake. I noticed Joel and Matt's absence, remembering Jonah's comment about them being the least committed.

"Hey Bonnie." Ryan greeted her with a friendly smile and a gentle hug.

"Oh shit," Jonah murmured, coming out from behind his drums and standing inbetween Ryan and I. "Ryan, this is Kate. She's a friend of Bonnie's."

'A friend of Bonnie's'? Was he too embarrassed to call me his friend?

"Yup that's me. I got lucky too, this is my personal favourite of all the Cole's." I stated completely dead pan. At the time, that wasn't actually untrue.

"If we're playing it like that, Green." Jonah's face was close to mine as he whispered, "Game on."

Ryan quickly interrupted our stare off with a joyful, "Hello Kate. I'm Ryan – what a pleasure to meet such a... gorgeous woman."

Ryan was attractive. At the age of 23, his buzzed black hair and vibrant green eyes gave the illusion of a much younger boy. I would've guessed he was 18. His flirtatious greeting made my face warm. I was charmed. He gave a small nod before spinning around and returning to his spot on guitar. My eyes traced back to Jonah who was giving a small glare towards Ryan.

Bonnie took my hand and led me towards the sofa at the back of the room. The rehearsal couldn't get into full swing until Joel and Matt arrived and so the boys spent the time practicing their latest composition sans lead vocals and piano. I felt awful for BOHDI; they've had to deal with this shit for way too long. An hour and half into a half full rehearsal, I asked Bonnie if she had either of their phone numbers. Looking at me with intense worry for what damage I could cause, I gave her a reassuring smile and noted down the digits as she read them out.

I excused myself out of the garage before dialing in the first number – unsure of who it was in particular. The dialing process reached the fourth ring before I heard my name called out.

"Kate, what do you think you're doing?" Jonah approached looking irrationally angry.

"Something you should've done the first time these pricks abandoned BOHDI for another goddamn band." I replied. At this time, the call connected and a rough voice barked down the line.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"Hi my name is Kate. Is this Matt? Joel?"

"What business is it to you?" the hostile man snapped.

"I'll have you know that you, ominous voice, have been severely wasting the time of my friends. If you're not going to come to rehearsal then at least have the decency to fucking-" I had no time to finish my rant. Jonah had snatched the phone out of my hand and quickly ended the call.

"Kate. What the fuck?" Jonah cried.

"Are you kidding me? Jonah, this is the reason you can't get out of Ryan's garage. The last thing a band needs is members like this."

"You're talking out your ass." Jonah muttered.

"I guess so. Carry on being irrationally passive, Jonah – its an incredibly attractive trait of yours." I commented sarcastically.

"Kate..." Jonah started. This time sounding a lot more apologetic.

"If you keep letting them walk all over you guys like this, you're not going to go anywhere. I'm sorry. Can I please get my phone back? I'm gonna go home." I said calmly with my palm out expectedly.

"No, Kate. You can get it back at the end of the session. You're staying."

"Who the fuck are you to keep my things hostage? You know what, never mind. I'll get it off Bonnie at some point. See you later." I, Kate Green, walked away. Granted, it may not have been the most rational and thought out plan but, in that moment, I had to get away from Jonah and his angry eyes.