Rock On!: A Parb Story

Chapter 8: The Offer

Barb's POV

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Debbie flying around the room. My eyes felt pretty heavy, but I still found a way to wake up.

I got up to see Poppy was already up and making us some breakfast.

"Oh, you're up," she said, whisking some eggs, "yeah, I was just making us some eggs for the morning."

"Thanks," I said, getting out of bed, "what kind of eggs you making?"

"Sunny side up for me and scrambled for you," she said, scraping the eggs onto my plate.

"Yes! My favorite!" I said, digging in.

"Just thought I should make myself useful while I'm here," she said, cutting up her eggs, "speaking of which, there's something else I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind?"

"Yeah?" I asked, putting my fork down to listen.

"While I'm here, would it be okay if you and your friends taught me some extra Rock lessons? I mean not just the music, but like, how exactly to act around other Hard Rock Trolls because I don't wanna stick out like a sore thumb to the others."

"How come?"

"Well, since I might be here for a while, I don't want to inconvenience anyone or make them feel uncomfortable. You get what I'm saying?"

I thought it over for a moment. A few lessons on Rock would help her out a bit with some social situations when it came to the other Rockers. Plus, it would help her blend in more in case the Pop Trolls came around looking for her.

After a quick thought, I decided that since Poppy was gonna stay here for a while, probably wouldn't hurt to learn some new music.

"Sure, I can give you some extra lessons," I said with a smirk.

"Thanks, Barb, that means a lot coming from me," she said, smiling as bright as the sun.

"No probs, in fact I'm meeting the guys over at one of the stages for practice today, so you can pop over there and pick up some moves."

"Thanks, I'll get my stuff ready," she said, moving over to her rocker gear.

I sat back in the chair, thinking about what just happened. I was gonna be seeing a lot more of Poppy, just had to keep that in mind. Couldn't let my feelings for her cloud my judgment.

The stage where we usually practiced at was about the right size for us. It had pretty much what you would want for a rock stage. We entered in through the back door so we can surprise them.

"You sure about this?" I asked, waiting behind the door.

"Sure, plus it'll be nice to hang out with you guys a little bit more," she said, patting me on the shoulder, "especially you."

I almost blushed at that last part, luckily I was able to repress it before she could see.

"Alright, just wait for my signal," I told her as I opened the door.

I opened the door to the usual everyday sight. Riff was balancing with a drum stack, Sid Fret was fixing his smashed guitar, and Carol...well, she was busy spraying Cheese Whiz into her mouth.

"Hey guys," I said, which made everyone stop what they were doing and turn to face me.

"Oh, hey Barb," said Carol, who threw the can away.

"Sup?" Sid Fret said, dazed as ever.

"Ready for practice today?" asked Riff, who set his drums on the floor.

"Sure," I said, getting ready for the big reveal, "but before we start today, I just wanted to make an important announcement to everyone in this room."

Everyone ran right up to me like lightning after that, desperate to know the secret.

"I would like to announce...that we have a new member joining our Rock group today onward."

"Really?" Riff asked, confused, "who is it?"

"Is it Spike?" Carol asked.

"Is it Mosher?" said Riff.

"Is it Barb?" Sid Fret asked, annoyingly.

I ignored that last part and continued on.

"No, in fact, I think it's someone you just might know."

"Well, who is it?" Carol asked, desperately.

"Glad you asked," I said, motioning to the door, "Popsqueak, they're ready for you!"