TRACK #8 MUSIC:

🎵 "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" - 98 Degrees 

🎵 "Learn to Fly" - Foo Fighters

🎵 "Everlong" - Foo Fighters

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TRACK #8 - FALL

"Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" - 98 Degrees

The sun began to set outside my bedroom window as I typed away on the keyboard. Egypt is a country with rich history dating back to 6th-4th millennia BCE. My eyelids became heavy while I typed, my mind wandering to how much more bologna I could actually conjure before I fell asleep. This report was due Monday, and I barely had an opening sentence. With a busy weekend ahead of me, I knew I needed to finish it sooner rather than later. The familiar ding rang from my computer speaker as a gray message box popped up. A smile spread across my face when I saw Brock's username.

FenderBear412: no more homework

Piano__Rock: I wish. This is due Monday.

FenderBear412: a break then?

Piano__Rock: Maybe a few minutes.

FenderBear412: good. wanted to ask u about our date saturday... i know it's a little early in the season, but would u be up for a haunted house?

Piano__Rock: Yeah! That would be fun.

FenderBear412: pick u up at 7?

Piano__Rock: Sounds good. I'll talk to you later. I need to work on this!

FenderBear412: booooooooring. ttyl ;-)

The week continued as I was still flying high from the feeling of new friends and another date with Brock. Thursday came, and we walked the outdoor track during PE, watching as many of the football players practiced on the field. The coach would sometimes pull them out of their classes when he came up with a "brilliant new play," Brock had expIained to me once. I sighed contentedly at the thought of him and snuck glances in his direction every chance I got. Of course Kody called me out every time, but I couldn't help it.

"You're sure you can't come tonight? You can't be bribed with pizza and music?" I turned to Emma while I put on my best puppy dog pout. She wasn't convinced but was sympathetic.

"I'm sorry! It's Adrian's friend's birthday, and I told him I'd go to the party. He'd be crushed if I didn't go with him," she explained. I nodded even though I didn't want to be understanding. I wanted her to hang out with us.

"Well, I'm crashing," Kody declared before adding, "I just want to snoop on your dad's setup."

I laughed. "That's fine. I'll see you guys tonight then. Maybe around 5:00?" They agreed, and we all headed back inside to get ready for class to end.

Thankfully, the day went fast because I had been looking forward to hosting my first friend get-together at my house for the past several days. I had just finished ordering pizza when there was a knock on the door. I stood aside to let Kody in, and motioned for him to help me assemble some snacks in the kitchen to take downstairs.

Our basement was truly my favorite place in the house and another reason my father refused to move out of our slowly deteriorating neighborhood. It was completely finished with hardwood flooring that spanned the entire length of the house. On one end was a full-service recording studio with a fully insulated sound-proof booth and state-of-the-art sound system. Outside of the actual recording space was a practice area with a piano, drum set, amplifiers, and hookups for other instruments. The walls were lined with various awards and photos my father had accumulated over a long career– including his prized possession– his Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album in 1982, three years before I was born. The studio was built when we bought the house with the idea that my father would begin recording artists at home, instead of staying out on the road so often. My father's illness stalled these plans, so it was mostly used for personal projects.

The other end of the basement was my mom's brainchild– a cozy living space with large sectional couches that seated at least ten around a fluffy area rug. Bean bag chairs were stacked next to the couch for additional seating. A large TV faced the main couch, and my Super Nintendo sat below it with some games. A full service bar with high top tables and stools were next to the living space. Various posters of my father's favorite soccer players (including some signed ones) lined the walls, along with movie posters that all three of us chose to fit our own tastes at the time– The Godfather for my father, A Star is Born for my mom (the Barbra Streisand version, of course), and Empire Records for me because when I was ten, I watched the movie on repeat simply because I always wanted to work in a record store.

"This is amazing!" Kody marveled as he made his way around the room, looking at the numerous collectibles on the walls. He stopped when he saw various photos of my father with recognizable musicians– Julio Iglesias, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder. "Wow, your dad really is well-connected."

"Don't tell him that. It'll inflate his ego," I joked as I set a few bags of chips atop the bar.

Kody and I went back upstairs to break up and discard the soda boxes. We were in the kitchen finding some trash bags to take downstairs with us when the doorbell rang. I pranced over to open it, greeting everyone as they filed in with various instruments and equipment. I instructed everyone to take their shoes off and introduced them all to my parents. They all shook my mom's hand in turn– Will, Elijah, Zach, and Noah. But once they got to my father, it was a different story. It took some convincing to remove Zach's hand from my father's. He seemed to forget that his vocabulary was more than just, "The Phunkmeiser..."

"Elijah Walker," my father turned to him with a warm smile. "Cervello." I watched as the corner of Elijah's mouth turned up in appreciative understanding, and he nodded politely at my father while shaking his hand. It wasn't uncommon for my father to assign nicknames to the few friends that I made before we toured. Even though I wasn't necessarily close with Elijah, my father used to see him around church when we attended more regularly. He claimed this process made it easier for him to remember everyone's names. I was pretty sure he just thought he was funny.

But I was particularly caught off guard when my father zeroed in on Noah. "Noah Walker!" His smile reached his eyes as he grasped Noah's extended hand. "Genero–"

"PAPA!" I scolded. Was that really his nickname for Noah?! I had never heard him call Noah that before–

"It's so good to see you again. You grew so much!" My father pretended to ignore me, but I noticed how his eyes sparkled and his smile turned slightly mischievous. I also didn't miss that Elijah immediately looked anywhere and everywhere else but at me. Did he know that my father was referring to Noah as his son-in-law? I certainly hoped not.

"I'm sorry," Noah stood, bewildered. "What did you–?"

"Okay-we'll-be-downstairs-so-we'll-see-you-later-bye!" My words slurred together as I quickly broke their handshake and forcibly ushered the four band members down to the basement.

"Whoa, check this place out!" Zach was unsurprisingly first to comment while he scanned the various offerings on the walls. Everyone set their things down and followed suit.

"Your dad is such a rock star," Noah beamed. "These people are iconic."

I almost snorted at his comment. "A rock star? Maybe in the early 80s."

"Seriously, Aria, this place is amazing. Thank you for inviting us," Will said politely. Noah already ran off to test the drum set.

"Thanks for coming," I smiled at him, physically unable to get over how attractive I found him.

"Brock won't be joining us tonight?" Will asked casually.

"I think he said it's someone's birthday. Jason something?" I recalled. I saw Elijah press his lips together to make a thin line, but didn't comment. A moment of awkward silence was immediately cut short by Kody screeching.

"ARIA GRAY! What is THIS?!" Kody yelled, holding a framed photo of me on a stage with Ed McMahon when I was six years old. Everyone turned to look at it as Kody held it up. "Were you really on Star Search?"

"I won once, too. Lost the second time," I explained.

"How are you not famous right now?!" Kody exclaimed, obviously taken by my brush with stardom.

"You don't get famous because you win Star Search once!" I laughed, taking the photo from him to examine it. I set it down gently with a shrug. "My parents never wanted me to play professionally when I was younger, and now it's not something I want. Touring is a lot more difficult than it seems..."

Kody nodded as he continued to scan the rest of the photos. I heard Noah pick up sticks and begin tapping on the drum kit.

"So, what have you guys been working on?" I asked no one in particular. Elijah picked up his guitar and started tuning it while Will sat down at the piano to test the keys. Zach moved his fingers over the frets on the bass, warming up. Kody was still off in his own world as he examined the contents of my basement.

"We have attempted a few Foo Fighters songs– 'Learn to Fly' and 'Everlong'– to name a few..." Elijah broke out the opening riff to the latter to check his tuning.

"G is out," I commented instinctively. Elijah smiled and began to re-tune. "Well, let's hear it," I sat down on a barstool beside them. Elijah looked over at the rest of the guys to see if they were situated. Once they all gave a nod, Noah counted off, and they fired up their rendition of "Everlong."

After a minute, I couldn't contain myself and started walking around to adjust the reverb on the guitar and bass amplifiers. I also started assembling a microphone stand for Elijah since I could barely hear him over the drums. I placed the stand in front of him as he strummed and adjusted it for his sitting height. I plugged the microphone into the smallest amplifier and attempted to do a quiet tap test while they played. When it was ready, I scooted the microphone in front of Elijah and pointed to it. He obediently shimmied up to it to allow his smooth tenor to fill the room. As the song ended, Kody and I both clapped for them.

"Not bad," I smiled.

"Why don't you try one with us?" Will chimed in like he was almost daring me to play. I immediately shook my head.

"I don't really do the whole performance thing anymore." I laughed. "I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of girl."

"PIZZA!" my mom yelled down the stairs.

"Oh, let me go grab that..." I began up the stairs to get the boxes.

"I'll help!" Noah offered as he came up behind me.

"Yeah, you will!" Kody shouted after us. Noah pretended to cough to cover up Kody's remark, and I politely ignored it. We reached the kitchen, and to my surprise, my parents were nowhere in sight.

"Let me just grab plates and napkins..." I dug in the pantry while Noah stood behind me, seemingly waiting for instructions. I straightened up and turned to look at him when his mouth parted as if he was going to say something. He quickly closed it once again. I looked at him with a quizzical brow.

"Hey, listen..." he muttered lowly as he searched for words.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to sound casual, though the air felt heavy.

"Would you, uh... like to do something Saturday night? With me?" He managed to choke the question out through nervous stammering.

"That's, um... really nice of you, but I kind of have plans," I said gently and followed up with a sincere smile. "Maybe another time?"

"Oh... yeah... totally..." Noah tried to mask his disappointment with a smile, but I saw through it. I felt my heart break at the sight. I guess maybe he did have a thing for me after all. He pointed to the pizza boxes to quickly change the subject. "Need me to carry these?"

"Please," I nodded, and we both filed down the stairs before laying everything out on the bar.

"Aria, did our little Noah help you?" Kody batted his eyelashes at me, and Noah's face turned a deep crimson. "You weren't gone for very–"

"So, how long have you and Carly been dating?" I asked Zach as we all piled onto the couches. I gave a warning look to Kody, who seemed to find it more amusing than serious.

"Over a year now, actually," Zach responded. "We met at camp two summers ago. The same one where Noah and Elijah work."

"I'm not familiar." I shrugged. I had no idea they worked anywhere, as a matter of fact.

"Oh, well it's a Christian summer camp for kids. We're all counselors during the summer."

"That sounds like a lot of fun," I offered.

"What about you, Elijah?" Kody inserted himself back into the conversation as forcefully as usual. "Seeing anyone?"

"Not currently," he answered nonchalantly.

"Anyone special you might be thinking about seeing?"

Elijah grinned. "Not that I would be willing to share with you, Kody, less the whole world should know." The group let out a collective chuckle.

"You really love pushing everyone's buttons, huh?" I turned to Kody while he shoved pizza into his mouth.

He wiped his mouth before he answered. "It's kind of my thing. I like to observe and call it like I see it."

"Then who is it, precisely, that I should be 'seeing'?" Elijah asked.

"You'll eventually end up with Emma," Kody replied indifferently as Noah nearly spit his drink out.

"As much as I appreciate that assessment, you had better be prepared to be disappointed." While Elijah spoke, Oliver made his way down the stairs, weaving in and out of people as they sat and ate. I kept an eye on him, fearing another repeat of the Brock clawing incident. To my surprise, Oliver plopped himself right on Noah's lap and began to purr.

"Awww, Oliver must remember me." Noah smoothed his orange fur back a few times.

"That's... interesting..." I commented absently as I witnessed the absurd behavior.

"Why do you say that? I'm memorable!" Noah exclaimed defensively, which immediately made me laugh.

"No, it's just... last week he actually drew blood from Brock," I explained.

Kody snorted before interjecting, "Listen, Brock is great-looking and all, but animals know when someone is evil."

"Brock's not evil." I rolled my eyes, though I was silently gauging the group's reaction. It seemed like everyone was biting their tongue.

"I believe that now would be the best time to record," Elijah suggested civilly before disposing of his paper plate in the trash can.

"Yep! Time to record!" Noah agreed as he followed suit.

We spent the rest of the evening playing music, recording, and laughing. It was 10:30 when Will suggested that they pack up to make the 11:00 curfew. Everyone stood and helped gather equipment and clean up the area before filing back up the stairs.

"This was great," Noah said, standing in the door frame, not yet exiting. Although he was smiling, I couldn't help but notice a tinge of disappointment on his face. My feet stayed glued to the linoleum tile in our foyer while I wrestled with whether or not I should hug him goodbye. "Thanks for having us," he smiled softly before turning away from me and thus answering my own silent question. A chorus of gratitude followed his lead.

A sigh escaped my lips before I could stop it as I watched them all file into their cars and drive away, taillights fading into the night. I turned the porch light off and closed the door. Soft orange fur pressed against my legs. I bent down to pick Oliver up and stroked his sleek coat a few times as he purred.

"What are we going to do, Oliver?" I asked rhetorically. He mewed and jumped down, slinking down the hallway confidently. It was as if he was reminding me that he already gave me his answer.

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⭐ Hit the STAR to send a little love to our poor Noah. He needs a little pick-me-up after that shut down!