mute [r. tozier]

nine

chapter song- just the girl by the click five

"fuckin finally," bev whispered as she walked up to richie and may. eddie, bill and bev had been waiting by the front of the school for the two since the bell had rang. "took ya long enough."

"the bell rang like two minutes ago— not my fault you skipped and had to wait for an hour," richie rolled his eyes, reaching out and grabbing mays hand. he intertwined their fingers together.

"but we normally skip together!" bev whined and skipped back to the other boys, who had stood from the grass at this point.

"hi may," eddie waved, and fixed the strap of his backpack. the girl waved back, grinning as well.

"let's go!" bev yelled. she dangled car keys from her fingers. richie furrowed his eyebrows, and let go of mays hand. he quickly patted his pockets for his car keys. surely enough, they were in beverly's hands.

"wow— you're getting good bev," he laughed as she tossed him his keys back.

"practice makes perfect," beverly smiled, walking next to may. she nudged may playfully with her elbow, "and perfect means free shit."

may sat in a rugged, beat up arm chair that was placed in a corner of richies and eddies garage. the other four stood by their instruments. richie had his drum sticks in his hands as he adjusted a microphone that was above his drum kit.
bev had her blood red bass guitar slung around her shoulder as she swayed back in forth. she was doing a sound check. as was bill, his guitar was jet black, with some old stickers on it that seemed to be peeling off.

eddie gripped the stand with his sweater covered hands, and gazed around patiently. he had tested the mic already, and was now but waiting for everyone to be ready. he caught mays wondering eye as he waited. he smiled at her.

"okay eds, I think we're ready," richie said, adjusting himself at his drum kit one last time.

"okay," eddie murmured quietly.

"so may," richie started to speak, poking his head around his drums to be able to she her, "this is a song eddie wrote for his girlfriend, there's no title yet but we're still goin to play it."

"richie!" eddie complained, his cheeks twisting into a red color. "shes not my girlfriend."

"she totally is, anyway..." bev argued back, and plucked at the strings on her bass. "let's start."

bill and beverly started to strum together as richie began to drum. the melody they were creating was good. may thought the pop punk vibes fit them well.
eddie swayed to the beat as he held onto the microphone. waiting for another four count to go by, he licked his lips and leaned in to the mic.

"she cold and she's cruel but she knows what she's doing," eddie softly sang, diverting his eyes from may. he hated singing in front of people. well, in front of new people. he always got nervous, and scared he would mess up. "she pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion."

may looked over eddies shoulder to look at richie. he wore ripped black jeans that were loose around his waist. he made them tighter by using an old shoelace as a belt. richie had a creme colored long sleeve on, but the sleeves were rolled up. his overgrown black curls were bouncing around in his face as he drummed along time the song. may smiled a little. she couldn't help but look at him. he was nice to look at.

"strange as it seems, she's the one i'm after," eddie sang out, a little louder as the verse ended and he got ready for the chorus. bev and bill began to play harder, and richie held up his drum sticks. he slapped them together a few times as he softly counted.

"1..2..3..4!"

" 'cause she's bittersweet, she knocks me off my feet. and I can't help myself, i don't want anyone else!" eddie grabbed the microphone from the sand and started to walk around. he shuffled back to richie, and he made sure his mic was in reach. eddie glanced at richie, and nodded his head as if to give him the go ahead.

"she's a mystery, she's too much for me! but I keep coming back for more..." richie sung as he stuck out his neck a little to get to his mic.

"she's just the girl im lookin for," eddie joined richie for the last line in the chorus. richie's eyes found mays as he sang the line, and he winked at her. sending the girl pink.

may stared at the drummer in awe. not only was she fascinated by his drumming abilities but also by his voice.
richies speaking voice was deep, sometimes husky in a way. though, when singing it sounded lighter. more gentle with some raspiness. may wanted to listen to him sing all day.

she sat with her eyes glued to the band as they finished the rest of the song. bev and bill were talking to each other as they set up for the next song. eddie went inside the house for some water.

richie motioned the girl over to him. may stood from the chair and straighten out her dress. she slowly walked over to richie with her hands tucked behind her back. he sat up straight when he saw her coming over. richie pushes back his hair and adjusted his glasses.

"how'd you like it?" he asked, looking up at her. may smiled, and nodded her head lightly. she gave him a thumbs up. "thats good." he smiled.
he reached up for a high five, which may quickly returned. yet after their palms touched, richie intertwined their fingers together. may blushed at the action.

"what do you think he should call the song?" richie asked, rubbing his thumb up and down the back of her hand. "we were thinking about bittersweet but it doesn't sound right."

may stood there next to him, thinking. she took all the lyrics in and scanned through them. most artists take something from the chorus and then make that their title. may thought for a few more seconds before walking back over to the chair.
she grabbed her bag and searched through it. may grabbed a pen and a ripped off piece of paper. while scribbling on the piece of paper, she walked back over to richie. may handed it to him before clicking her pen closed.

"just the girl?" he asked, looking at the neat writing. may folded her hands in front of herself, fidgeting with her fingers. richie smiled. he grabbed one of her hands and pulled her down. richie quickly placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "i love it."

may pulled away, face redder than richie had ever seen. she smiled and rubbed the back of her neck.

"hey you guys," richie called out, watching the other three turn to him. "we've got a title."