Lynne

Chapter 20

 Miku and Luka's apartment was a mess from our day together. All the girls were gathered in their living room, watching TV, eating junk food, and talking all day. Luka and I were in the middle of attempting a song amidst the chaos in the room.

"Let's make it, like, super girly," Luka chuckled.

I grinned. "I'm down."

"And then, he was like, 'dare me to spike the punch and I'll do it,'" Gumi was talking to the others. "And I was like, dude, no, you can't do that. Like, it's fucked."

"Did he do it?" Miku asked.

"I don't think so."

Meiko leaned back into the couch. "I hope not. I drank that shit."

Gumi laughed. "Did it taste like vodka?"

"No."

"Well, there's your answer."

My phone, sitting on the coffee table in front of us, vibrated. I set my notebook down for a moment to check it. I smiled like an idiot.

"Who's that?" Luka asked.

"Oh, what, Rin didn't tell you? She's got her first boy toy." Gumi nudged me with her elbow. "My little girl is growing up."

"Oh, shut up," I laughed at her.

"Who is it?" Luka leaned over my phone, trying to read my texts with Yuma. We'd been talking nonstop since the night of the party.

"This guy from that party at Erik's place."

"It's Yuma," Miku told the girl next to me.

Luka recoiled. "Yuma? If you were into pink hair, you should have gone to the gym with me," she sneered in fake jealousy.

"Whatever! Your hair is way nicer than his," I told her in an attempt to calm her down. My thumbs padded against the screen as I typed a response to him. I grabbed one of the chocolates on the table.

Luka swiped our notepad from the table, looking it over. I set my phone down, picking it up once again the next moment as it rang right away. She eyed my phone suspiciously. "Is that why Len has been so bitchy lately?"

I sighed in exasperation. "I really don't get it. Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean I need someone breathing down my back the whole time. I can do what I want."

There was an awkward silence that filled the room. I looked up from my phone to find everyone staring at me. "What?" My hand flew instinctively to my cheek. "Is there chocolate on my face?"

Luka shook her head next to me. "Let's just get back to writing."

Too excited to wait, Luka dragged me to the studio the very next day for our new song. We weren't the only ones with new songs to record, either, so everyone else came with us.

"Why would you let people party at your house?" I asked Erik the question that had burning in my mind since that night.

He shrugged, pulling up his chair to the soundboard. The recording room was empty. "I have people who do the cleaning for me, and the kids just always ask."

"Because your place is, like, the coolest place ever," Miku explained to him as she sat in the chair next to him. The others had settled onto the couch behind us. Luka stood next to me, nearly jumping out of her skin in anticipation.

Erik just shrugged. "It's alright, I guess." He motioned to Luka and I. "You two ready?"

Luka nodded furiously, pushing open the door to the studio. I slipped my phone out of my pocket, set it on the counter, and followed her.