Taion

"You are so freaking cheating! How'd you get that gun?! Al~ex! Make him stop!" Jack is pissed, but it's all in good natured fun. I'm beating his butt on this stupid video game that I've never played before and one he's been playing for months. It's simple really: he's had more practice than me and he still sucks. 

Alex is laughing, a small sound that screams amusement as he's slouched down on the leather sofa, legs in Rian's lap. Zack is napping in the safety of his bunk and Jack and I are sitting in the small space on the floor, me smirking and him looking ever so annoyed as his character got his brains blow out. Again. For the fifth time in a row. "Okay. I'm done." He tosses the Xbox controller to the ground, sulking. 

"Oh, c'mon Jack," Rian chides. "You're going to just give up? You'll lose your high score!" But he's laughing at the thought: Jack lost his high score about thirty minutes ago the second time I killed him off. 

"He's just jealous that 'Nix is prettier than him and he's afraid I'll leave him." Alex is grinning, winks at me and my face flushes as I look away. 

"Psh. Envy has nothing on me! He can't play guitar! Or..fuck." He can't think of another excuse and repeats the guitar comment. 

Alex laughs. "Like you can?" Rian joins in to poke fun at the guitarist, bringing up some incident about how Jack couldn't even tune the instrument. 

But I break their playful banter. "Speaking of guitar," I flick my eyes to them as we hit a bump in the road. A soda on the cabinet sloshes out and Rian curses before he rushes to the scene and cleans it up. "Teach me?" 

Both are grinning hysterically and Jack has tackled me in a hug before kissing my cheek and screams, "I knew there was a reason I liked you! You're like my little prodigy! Alex, go get another kid. I'm taking Envy." 

He's stood up, dragging me behind his lanky frame and to the back where he's stopped at the bunks, shoving Zack's curtain open and obnoxiously announcing, "Zacky, as Phoenix's new guardian, I've limited your visiting hours with him due to his newly found passion of playing a six stringed instrument." Jack stresses the 'six string' part, but Zack sounds drunk, and slurs, "What the hell?" 

He pulls back his curtain, obscuring the view and moans for Jack to leave him "the fuck alone" in which Jack whines and pleads for his "dearest boy toy" to get up because after all it is four PM and we'll be home in an hour and he wants to introduce me as his prodigy. 

And then, the whole situation is a bit strained. The bunk curtain is ripped back again and Zack is glaring at Jack before he lazily flicks his eyes to me. His eyes are half closed and he looks tired, but he smiles anyways before reaching out and ruffling my hair. "I knew he was a musician." But his eyes are closed again and his hand has slipped from my head and hangs lazily in the air -dangling off the edge of his bunk. 

"Jackaby!" Alex is calling and Jack has scampered back in the main room, completely forgetting about me. I turn to go. 

"So...Jack's prodigy, yeah?" I turn back to Zack. He's smiling, a sluggish, coy look and his fingertips are flexing slightly. He knows he has my attention. 

I nod. "I told them I wanted to play guitar." My eyes are interested in the stain on the bus's carpeting, but I'm really more interested in the five o'clock shadow Zack is sporting that makes him look a lot older than he is. I focus back on him, grin. "It'll be a good way to spend my time when you guys are on studio, don't you think?" 

The pillow rustles as he nods and I can practically feel each follicle of hair on his chin scratch against the material. "It'll be good for you, but what about your drawings? Alex mentioned something about them before. You don't do it much anymore?" 

"No," I say, sitting down on my bunk. "I still draw. It's just that I left my sketch pad at home when I was dragged out with you guys on this last leg of tour." 

"You'll have it in about an hour. You have any ideas to sketch out?" 

I'm fumbling through an old magazine. An issue of Alternative Press with a review of 'Nothing Personal' in the back. "Tons. I get inspired when I'm around you guys." I look up and he's got that stupid grin on his face again. 

"Like what?" 

I know I'm blushing, but I just quickly shake my head and refuse to make eye contact. Attention, even now, is still discomforting for me despite the numerous times I'd been on stage with ATL. "Nothing Interesting. Maybe I'd show you them sometime." 

"I'd like that." When I don't respond he adds, "And ya know, if your interested, I could teach you bass, too." 

I laugh dryly. "Im not even sure when Alex and Jack will teach me guitar. Your leaving again soon, remember? Studio." I lean back to knock on the window, trying to show him the leaves zooming by. The different colors. "It's starting September. Fall is here. Touring is over for this year. Besides I've missed a few weeks on school since I've been back on the road -against my will, mind you- with you guys. I'll be back in school for the two weeks you guys are here." 

He yawns and stretches his arms out into open space. A few muscles, joints, bones crack and pop. "Well be at home for two weeks. I live fifteen minutes away from the Barakat's. Twenty away from the school. I could pick you up twice a week and take you to my place to teach you. Alex and Jack can have you the other three days." 

He seems to notice my distress. "You won't be flooded with it," He's laughing. "Honestly. The two instruments aren't that different. Not that I've heard, anyway. Bass just has a lower tone." He pauses and looks at me. "You up for it?" 

Under normal circumstances, I would've most likely turned the offer down, but as I open my mouth, about to disregard the idea, he states, "And I'll be picking you up a bit anyways. No one wants you walking home after school. Or riding with your peers." I try not to notice the way he didn't say 'friends'. Surely this is another mental note slung in my direction that reminds me that they don't want me acquainted with Avery, Adrian, and Marcy. "Alex asked me to get you on Wednesday, I think. Rian is getting you Mondays." He shrugs. "You'll be coming over anyways." 

"Then sure. Why not? I'll be bored out of my fuckin' mind anyways." I roll my eyes. School, I was not looking forward too. 

"Language." He warns, then waves a hand at me. "Now get out. I've gotta change." He shuffles under the sheets again and borrows his face into pillows, but I notice the smile. 

"I changed in front of you last time. You were watching!" I accuse with a frown playing my lips. I resist the temptation to point at him. 

He peeks at me, a single dark eye glancing at me from his security of the pillow.  A coy smile speaks for it self, and he bluntly -somewhat seductively with a hint of innocence- admits, "Pheonix, I'm naked." 

"Fuck." I couldn't leave the room fast enough.