Ruby//J.D

animal

This whole weekend has been a bust. I'm grounded, Tyler is grounded, and josh is grounded. My mom works so hard everyday leaving me home alone. Like i love personal time, but there is only so much to watch on Netflix and i can't eat another frozen pizza for lunch and dinner.

I've thought about sneaking out though. I mean it's so easy, but I'm not so comfortable about walking around town by myself. I get anxious anytime i see a car drive by or another person on the sidewalk.

After a lot of thinking, i grow a pair and decide to take a stroll around the area. There's not much that I've seen around here. Just small restaurants and barber shops, the occasional gas station. But tyler did mention the record store that josh would sneak off to play the drums. I haven't checked that place out yet. After i google map the place, i begin my walk.

I guess the only reason i get anxious when cars pass by is because i feel like they're judging me. Especially when i make eye contact. The look they give me when they see me just makes me feel small. They judge me like they already know me by the way i dress, look, or even the way i walk, i don't know. It just freaks me out.

I'm too stuck in my head to notice I'm on the other side of the street from the record shop. I look over and to my surprise i see josh. Josh sitting on the drum set. I carefully look both ways before i cross the street and enter the shop.

He doesn't see me walk in so i quietly stand behind the drum set and listen to him play. Seeing him play is so, how can i say this, different. Josh is quiet but talkative, shy but outgoing, but seeing him play the drums it just looks like josh being josh, faking out the crowd.

Once he's done, he's panting like a dog. "Wow." I say aloud. He jumps out of his chair. "Oh my god. How did you find me?" He asks.

"I mean to be honest, I wasn't really looking." I say slightly laughing. He shyly laughs along. "Why are you so jumpy?" He looks out the windows of the shop and turns back to me. "I'm not supposed to be here." He says still out of breath.

"Oh yeah. You're grounded," he nods. "Well I'm not supposed to be here either, but my moms working so she won't find out." I say with a small smile.

"Lucky. My mom thinks I'm at choir practice for the church." I laugh at that and so does he. It falls silent for a little. Which I'm normally used to, but this time it's weird.

"Um, what were you just playing?" I ask pointing towards the drum set. He nervously twiddles with the sticks in his hands. "Oh, I was just messing around. I'm not that good." He said humbly.

"Oh shut up. You sounded pretty damn good when i walked in." I said sitting on the stool. "Do you play any instruments?" He asked watching me tap each individual drum.

"I played the trumpet in seventh grade." I still play the trumpet, but i didn't want to seem like a nerd. "Ooh. Anything else?" He says teasing me.

"Does a tambourine count?" I say getting a chuckle out of him. "Hey, I'm not judging." He says as he stands behind me.

"The drums seem fun. Like watching all those rockstars hit this thing and make the crowd go wild looks so..." i said trying to find the work. "Powerful." Josh said finishing my sentence.

"Yes that's it." He smiles and hands me the sticks. He walks in front of the set and looks at me. "What?" I ask shyly. "Show me what you got." My eyes widen.

"Josh, I can't play the drums. I don't know what I'm doing." I know it looks easy, but at the same time it's not. "Just hit it and make a beat. Can't be that hard." I sigh and try my best.

I'm hitting all kinds of things and it does not sound good at all. Josh is just standing there with his arms crossed. He has one hand over his mouth hiding his laugh.

"You're laughing at me, aren't you?" I put the sticks down and hide my face. "No, you're doing great. Keep going." He had a hard time not laughing while he said that sentence.

"You obviously know how to play. Why can't you do it?" I say defensively. "Okay, okay. Here let me show you a little something." He kneels behind the stool I'm sitting on and grabs my hands. He hits on drum and says, "this one makes a dung sound." The. He goes to another drum and says, "and this one makes a dung sound." He does that with every drum.

"And so now you just gotta know what makes what sound and just go with it." I nod as he guides my hands where to go. We're both laughing as he uses my hands like a puppeteer. Then he does an 'animal' impression from the muppets and it's the funniest thing he's ever done.

We're so distracted by each other we didn't even notice that josh's mom walked into the store. We just hear a loud "Josh!" And it falls silent.

He let's go of my drum stick filled hands and stands up. "Oh hey mom." She just looks at him. You know how moms have that mean glare? Well you don't know what a real mean glare is until you seen Mrs. Dun.

"Choir practice is going good." He says nervously. "Oh, is it? Because i just ran into Stacy and she said you weren't at practice today, you're not even in the church choir!?" She says. I sit there awkwardly while the tension builds up.

"Is this what you do every time you say you're going to choir practice? Come over here and bang on the drums?" Josh just stands there looking at the ground.

"You are so grounded. More than you already are! Now get in my car and we'll continue this when we get home. And for you, ruby i suggest you go home. After what you guys did this weekend, i bet your mother is not so happy with you either." She says in a bittersweet voice. "Yes ma'am." I say out of nowhere. She scared the manners out of me.

Josh shyly waves goodbye and gets into his moms car. Now i can sort of understand why josh is scared to admit he plays the drums. He respects his mother so much that he doesn't want to disappoint her if his passion isn't what she has planned for him.

I quickly put the drum sticks away and walk home. Me now being scared of my own mom, i try to get home as soon as possible.

Luckily, she's still at work so I'm free. Hopefully Mrs. Dun doesn't rat me out. That'd be a real bummer.

The record shop was fun and all, but now I'm back to my usual day. Frozen pizza for dinner and more episodes of the office.

Before i go to bed, i check outside my window. I can see josh's house from here and i immediately think, "how am i gonna get josh to join Tyler's band?"