Keep Away

“If you look closer in the text, you find that the second sentence in the 3rd paragraph is a periphrasis. A periphrasis is using more words than necessary and an example of this is......” My English teacher trailed off.

I tapped my pencil against my skull and shot another glance at Connor, who looked incredibly irritated, his eyes glued to the board. I looked away and back down at my notebook. Today was another one of those few days, I couldn't concentrate on writing. Every event was unfolding quickly and I couldn’t keep up. Living with the McDonoughs? Befriending Riley? Getting into another argument with Connor? The fact that Joan still made me go to school with a sprained ankle?

The bell rang and I grabbed my silver crutches that still seemed a little large for me. The class who just simply stared when I had walked in gave me no looks of pity, but of indifference. They did seem surprise though, when Connor came up right behind me. I looked at Connor again who had already gathered up all his things and was halfway throughout the door when I blurted out, “Hey wait! Where are you going?”

For the first time, I ignored the world around me and it actually felt good and new to me at the same time.

“Somewhere.”

“Joan told me that you and Riley have to wait for me!” But Connor had already dashed out the door.

He was doing it on purpose! Connor was purposely avoiding me even when I actually needed his help! Maybe it was a lesson towards me, after he gave me that little lecture about accepting help, that he was gonna show what I was doing to him. Lesson or not, I was angry that he had the nerve to ditch me. I grabbed the crutches and moved inch by inch, completely alien to this device, like a child trying to walk for the first time. Riley was nowhere to be found, I had no knowledge of where his classes were, except for the fact that he was a grade lower than us, a sophomore.

The whole time home, it took me longer than usual, almost twenty minutes before I finally reached the McDonough residence. I struggled up on the porch’s tiny steps and entered the living room, spotting Connor's purple backpack sprawled on the wooden floor.

“That little...” I cursed under the breath, stretching my neck to look for him.

I was prepared to walk past by the basement door and head for the kitchen, when the sound noises came from inside. A voice that sounded like Connor could be heard from behind the door, murmuring the words, “Two, Three, Four.”

Suddenly, the sound of guitar playing echoed from the basement, along with chimes from a keyboard. I threw open the door and moved carefully down the stairs, the step groaning with each step I took. I peaked from the rail of stairs to see the boys sitting in a row, with microphones in front of them. Connor and Riley had both a guitar. Two boys who I didn't recognized sat on either side, one at the far end had a drum cymbal in front of him, but he was gripping a tambourine. The other who was the closest to me was playing a keyboard.

“Going back to the corner, where I first saw you. Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move,” Riley suddenly sang in the microphone, making me hold my breath. “Got some words on cardboard and a picture in my hand saying.”

Then the thing that made me most surprised was when Connor opened his mouth, “Trying to make it work, but man these times are hard.” He smiled and I found myself blushing.

Wait. Blushing? I touched my cheeks and they suddenly felt warmer than usual. I quickly removed my hands away and looked back at the boys. The one I didn't recognized with spiky black hair and a white v-neck stared at me for what it seemed, for a long second, then quickly turned away. I ignored him and kept my eye on Connor the whole time. There was something about the way he looked right now that made him even more attractive.

“Cause if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me,” Riley was now singing. “And your heart starts to wonder...” Suddenly Riley turned his head to the side and his eyes met mine. I panicked for a brief moment, knowing that I probably wasn't supposed to be there, watching them. Instead Riley just smiled and turned away, continuing to sing.

“She's in line at the dole with her head held high,” Connor turned to to look at me and I immediately turned and dragged myself back up the stairs and into the living room.

I collapsed on the couch and thought about everything I witnessed from inside the basement. First thing's first. Connor can play guitar and sing. Riley can play guitar and sing. Those two other guys can play instruments. If you put them all together, then they equaled to a band. My breathing slowed. Connor and Riley were in a band? I felt myself freaking out now because it just didn't seem right. I didn't listen to much music when I thought of bands, I thought of books with a plot line of a girl falling in love with the incredibly popular and hott band member. Who knew they even existed? I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes, listening to the rest of the song and their melodic voices. Who knew that behind of Connor's uninteresting lectures was a beautiful voice? My eyes flew open and I grabbed my notebook, jotting down ideas, inspiration flowing through my hands. It was perfect. Everything I needed to know was perfect and it was all because of their beautiful performance.

I must have been writing for so long that I didn't notice the music had stopped, and that four boys walked into the living room. The two unrecognizable ones stared at me with confused faces, Connor took an innocent sip of soda, and Riley pulled out a bag of chips from the cabinet.

“Hi.” The spiked black haired boy said, taking the seat in front of me.

“Hey.” I replied back in a quiet tone.

“Not to be rude or anything but who are you?”

“Her name is Trinity Weastly.” Connor spoke before I could answer. He gave me a hard stare and set his soda down on the counter.

“Cool name.” The boy turned back to Connor. “Is she your sister or something?”

“If she was my sister, then wouldn't you have known that already?”

“Cousin?”

“She's just a random girl that goes to our school. She's gonna be living with Riley and I for a bit.”

“Whoa, why?”

“Um...” Connor shrugged. “Family reasons?”

“Is she close to your family?”

“I think you're being a little too nosy.” I stood up for myself. “What about you?”

“Oh, well hi.” He smiled and gave me a little wave. “I'm Thomas Silvers.”

“You haven't met them yet.” Riley said. “But yeah, this is Thomas. He's the drummer for our band. This quiet kid here is Braiden Wood, who's our guitarist.”

The boy who hadn't said a word, who stood quietly by the fireplace, looked up at me with his glowing gray eyes and gave me a small smile. His head gave off a small nod, a sign that I recognized as a common “Hey.” I could only stare at him because he was just about the most cutest boy I've ever seen, probably even cuter than Connor. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out, instead I gave a dumb smile.

“I saw you watching our performance.” Thomas said, causing me to tear my eyes away from beautiful Braiden. “Did you like it?”

“Uh...it was alright.”

“Really? Connor said without a difference in his tone. “You looked like you were in awe the whole time.” I blushed and looked away, while Connor simply shrugged. “C'mon guys, let's go play C.O.D.”

Thomas and Riley looked at each other once then raced to the large tv. Connor's eyes met mine, before joining the two. I got up from the couch to fetch a an of soda from the counter. I jammed my finger under the metal lid and pulled as hard as I could, fumbling with the an. Honestly, I survived off of juice instead of soda, so my little scene could have been an act to fit in. I just hoped no one was watching -

“Need some help?” I jumped, someone noticed. I turned my head and saw Braiden staring at the can in my hands.

“Um uh....sure.” I handed the soda to him with a trembling hand, but he didn't seem to notice. Compared to my struggling, he popped open the lid in just a second, producing a sharp hiss in return. He handed it to me with a small smile. I took the can awkwardly, turned a little to the side and took a sip, feeling Braiden's eyes still on me. Suddenly I became aware of the large amount of caffeine going down my throat and started coughing uncontrollably.

“I'm guessing you don't drink soda that much?”

“I rather stick to juice.” I gasped, finding my breath and setting the barely drunk can back on the counter. Braiden chuckled a little.

“So....” He changed the subject. “I think your opinion of our performance was more than just alright.”

“Huh?”

“You looked like you really enjoyed it. I saw you too, but you didn't notice because you were staring at Connor the whole time.”

“Not true!” I blurted out. “I was just generally surprised that he could sing.”

Braiden gave me a small nod and looked at the guy playing the game, then back at his feet. I studied him with interest. He was tall, with a v-neck, with perfectly combed brown bangs that covered the frame of his face. He was, as cliché as it sounded, perfect. He looked up at me and I fell under the spell once more.

“Wanna see a magic trick?” This question surprised me.

“You can do magic?”

“I'm not the best, but I could do a lot more than an average person can. I mean, that's okay if you don't want to.”

“No! No! I wanna see. That sounds cool.”

“Okay, hold on.” Braiden ran into the kitchen and hurried back with three cups.

He pulled out three yellow sponge balls from his pocket and placed a cup in front of each one. Carefully, he took one of the yellow balls and placed them on the top of a cup, then covering it with another cup. He tapped the the cup and lifted them both, revealing a yellow ball underneath. Braiden removed one of the little cups and showed me the underneath to assure that there wasn't any secret contraption. He placed the first cup that was resting on the other over the ball. He placed another ball on top of the cup and cup to covered it. Like the first one, he tapped the top and removed the two cups, now revealing two balls. He did the same with the third ball and I just couldn't believe it.

My eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets. “Whoa! How did you do that!?”

“A lazy afternoon, boredom, an interest, and lots and lots of practice.” He grinned proudly.

“I've never really met anyone with magic as their hobby.”

Probably because I don't really talk to people and ask them what their hobbies are.

“Really?” I think it's because people give up too easily. Most people just want to show someone the trick immediately. You can't do that though. You gotta keep practicing each time, until you get it perfect.”

“I see.” To be honest, I was only half listening to what he was saying. I was getting too distracted by her face and the way his mouth moved. He was a good, unlike bothersome and stubborn Connor.

Connor...I had completely forgotten that he was in the same room. I turned my head to look at him. To my surprise, he was already staring at me with a blank expression. Well....not just me, but Braiden too. He quickly turned away and in mid-turn, I saw his half open mouth form into a frown.

Xxx

Once everyone had left the McDonough house when the sun went down, I was all alone with Connor, while Riley had gone to take a nap. Connor was glaring at me, while he picked up pieces of Doritos off the floor.

“Why are you look at me like that?” I snapped.

“I don't know what you mean.”

“I mean you're glaring at me, not just now but all the damn time! Did I do something wrong?”

“Well yeah you did. You really do hate me.”

“I don't hate you!”

“Well you at least dislike me!”

“Says the person who's always looking like he wants to kill me!”

“That's because you treat me differently from everyone else!”

“What are you talking about!?”

“I mean you talk to everyone else and treat them as your friend, except for me! You and Braiden are practically best friends now!”

“So? Why do you even care?”

“Because I'm wasting all my breath trying to convince you that you're not alone and that people might actually like you!”

“And who do you even know likes me!?”

Connor stared at me and I desperately stood there trying to read him, but like always, it was impossible. He was just naturally unreadable or very good at hiding things. He shook his head and muttered, “Forget it.”

“You care way too much.”

“That's what caring is.”

“How many times do I have to tell you!? You don't even know me! You shouldn't care about me at all!”

“No, but I can't stand being around cynical people like you! You know what else I can't stand? People who talk to other people, but the person who actually cared enough to try and help them in the first place. It's bullshit.” Connor left the living room and I was beginning to think these fights were becoming a common occurrence.