Say You'll Stay

2011

Ross! Get you're ass down here we're going to be late!" I heard my sister Rydel shout and I took one last look in the mirror, I guess I looked okay. I walked out of the bathroom and quickly ran downstairs towards the front door where my sister was waiting, her hand on her hip and her foot tapping to an imaginary beat impatiently. I knew my mother was sat waiting in the car already, she was every morning. I was always late. We made our way towards the car together, her getting shotgun and me instantly getting in the back, that was always the case, I was younger than her after all. We started our way towards school and I stared blankly out of the window, watching the passing scenery with little interest. Today was the first day back after having the summer off, and I was not looking forward to it. As soon as we pulled up to the large building, I let out a sigh and climbed out of the car, waving goodbye to my Mom before walking up the path towards the schools double doors. Rydel ruffled my hair slightly before walking off to meet her friends. I walked over to my locker and started shoving in my bag when there was a loud clash by my head. I screamed slightly and turned to see my brother Rocky and his friend Ellington standing there with giant smirks on their faces, trying their hardest not to laugh.

"Come on guys, really?" I sighed and their smirks faltered, turning into full blown laughing fits. I rolled my eyes and slammed my locker door forcefully before turning away.

"Awh, come on Ross! We're only kidding!" Rocky shouted and I huffed as I turned around and saw the apologetic faces of them both. I rolled my eyes before punching them both forcefully on the shoulder.

"Just don't do it again, asshats." I stated with a smirk and Rocky put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me down the hall with them."Don't cuss Little Brother, it's rude." Rocky said and I chuckled as they pushed me towards my classroom. I walked inside and sat down instantly in my regular seat. Rydel's best friend Charlotte was sat next to me and I smiled softly at her, she smiled back before looking back down at her phone. last year she wasn't sat next to me, so I instantly became curious as to why she had to move. Charlotte lived across the street and to say her and Rydel had been friends as long as I remember, I don't think I'd ever spoke to the girl. She gave me passing glances and small greetings when she was hanging out at my house, but other than that we didn't talk at all.

"Hey Shor, what's up?" She asked and I smiled softly as I sat back in my chair.

"Not much, how come you all of a sudden want to be within my presence?" I asked and she snorted slightly.

"Don't get big headed, Shor. I had to move. The end of last year me and the girl next to me nearly got in a fist fight, so we had to be seated as far away from each other as possible." She explained, pointing at the girl with bright red hair that was glaring at her from across the room. I smirked lightly, running a hand through my already messy hair.

"Yeah.. I vaguely remember that happening. Didn't you end up calling her a bunch of awful names, and then went on to tell her to crawl in a hole and die?" I stated with a small chuckle and she cracked a grin, breaking her eyes away from her phone to look me in the eye.

"That I did!" She exclaimed with a chuckle and I couldn't help but laugh along with her. Soon after, Mr Landen walked through the door making us fall into silence as he started talking. After History and Dance with Charlotte had gone by, it was finally time for lunch. I walked to the cafeteria and got a slice of pizza before going to the table in the middle of the hall that held my brother, sister and their close friends. Rydel was sat with Charlotte as always, Rocky was sat with his friends Jase and Ellington and my friend Damon was sat at the table waiting for me so I went to sit down beside him. I slammed my tray on the table with more force than first thought and everyone jumped, I smirked at them slightly before mumbling an apology. Charlotte glared at me before slapping me across the head, pretty hard might I add.

"Ross Shor Lynch! You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!" She exclaimed, everyone in the lunch room turned to look at us and I smiled sheepishly. My sister and brother were in hysterics by this point.

"Sorry Char, I didn't mean too." I stated and she seemed to except this as she sat down with a sigh. Conversation continued after our little outburst, I talked to Damon until Rydel waved at me to gain my attention. I looked her way quickly.

"You coming to Jase's bonfire on the beach tonight?" She asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Sure, I'll catch a lift with you guys." I stated towards my sister and she nodded before turning back to Charlotte. Annoyingly, since my sister was two years older, she was able to drive, even if it was our Moms car it was still better than nothing. Soon after the bell rang I stood up, shoving my tray on the metal table for the workers to clean. I turned around and saw Charlotte waiting for me, Rydel was nowhere to be seen.

"Come on Shor, we have music together." She stated with a smile and I nodded before following behind her timidly. I think today we'd spoken more than we ever had before, I wasn't used to it. "It's strange, I don't think we've ever had a conversation before. We've said hello in passing, but never a serious one." She read my mind. The combat heels she wore made her only slightly smaller than me, which annoyed me to no end.

"Well, Char, we'll have to start talking from now on." I smirked and she rolled her eyes softly.

"Only the best are able to talk to me, Shor. So we'll start off slow, then I'll know if you're cool enough to be seen talking to me or not." She smirked and I laughed slightly.

"Way to get a big head Charlotte." I stated as we reached our class. "Actually, do you think you'll fit through this door? I can see it getting bigger by the minute." I smirked and she rolled her eyes as she walked through the door laughing loudly.

"Charlotte, Ross. So glad you could make it." Our music teacher, Miss Daniels said as soon as we walked in, her brow was furrowed and her lips set in a thin line, showing her annoyance. We both smiled apologetically before sitting down in the two remaining seats at the back of the class. I was just getting out my note book and pens when I heard our teacher speak up from the front of the class. "Okay everyone, I want you to get into pairs for your first assignment of the year." She stated and I looked over at Charlotte, she looked back at me with raised eyebrows.

"You, want to partner up with me?" She asked with a small smile and I shrugged, sending her a smirk.

"Why not? We did say we wanted to get to know each other." I said and she rolled her eyes, a childish grin lighting up her face.

"Well, I didn't think it would be this soon.. Plus, what would my enormous group of friends in this class think?" She laughed and I chuckled along.

"Sadly Charlotte, I know you don't have any friends in this class." I stated and she sighed with a nod of her head.

"I hate it when people are right, Shor. Well, let's get too it then, partner!" She exclaimed before running to the front of the class, she grabbed a piano and a guitar before running back and passing me the acoustic instrument.

"How the hell did you know I played guitar?" I asked with a chuckle as I pushed my chair away from the desk and turned it towards her, placing the strap over my head before getting comfortable again.

"I've heard you playing in your room before, plus, Rydel always goes on about how you guys have a band together. Rocky plays guitar, you play guitar and sing, Riker plays bass, Rydel plays piano and Ellington plays the drums." She stated and I found myself dumbfounded. She knew all this, and I hardly knew anything about her.

"Okay, I see everyone has found a suitable partner. For your first assignment I want you to write and perform your very own song. You can not copy, it has to be completely original. Okay?" The teacher asked and everyone nodded in agreement before going off their separate ways. It ended up being just us and the teacher in the room as everyone else went to private music rooms to practice. I started plucking at the strings of my guitar as Charlotte plugged her keyboard in and turned it to the right settings.

"So, Shor, since you're family is so musically gifted, what have you got for us?" She asked and I instantly froze.

"Um.. I've never actually written a song, Riker usually does that and I help out with the other stuff." I stated quietly and she faltered, her lips pressed in a straight line as she thought about something. She smiled softly at me before releasing a small sigh.

"Okay, well there's a first for everything right? I have a few things running in my head so I'm sure together we'll be an unstoppable force." She smirked at me and I let out a small chuckle in return.
Around half an hour later of aimlessly strumming, Charlotte tapped my leg with her pencil, a notebook held in her other hand.

"So, I've just been messing around with a couple of things. Why don't you read along with me and I'll show you what I'm thinking?" She asked and I smiled softly as I took the warn out book from her hands and started reading as she effortlessly started playing the tune in her head.

"It's summertime, and you are all that's on my mind, Everyday.
It seems like we, Could stay up and talk through the night.
Oh what do you say?" I furrowed my brow and instantly started to play the guitar over her piano. I scanned the notebook in front of me before joining in.

"Say you'll stay ([Charlotte:] hey-ey)
Heyy ([Charlotte:] Sta-ay)
I just keep on wishing everyday. ([Charlotte:] hey-ey)
Hey ([Charlotte:] Sta-ay)" I sang and stopped strumming the guitar, I looked at Charlotte and she looked back at me a giant grin eating up her face.

"That's what I'm talkin' bout!" She exclaimed and held her hand into the air. I chuckled softly at her before slapping my palm against hers, resounding in a loud crack in the air, instantly giving our teacher that was still sat at her desk a heart attack. We apologised instantly before looking at each other and bursting into a fit of giggles. Classes after went rather quickly and before I knew it everyone was rushing out of the double doors to get home as quickly as possible. I walked out after everyone else had left and sat on a bench waiting for my Mom to pick me up. Rydel and Charlotte came out moments later and sat on the bench next to me, also waiting for our ride.

"I need a car." Rydel whined as our Moms car parked up in front of us. We all climbed in, Rydel sat shotgun once again and Charlotte climbed into the back with me.

"Good afternoon Stormie! Looking beautiful as always." Charlotte said with a wide grin as she leaned over the centre console to look at my mothers face. My Mom blushed slightly while giggling.

"Charlotte, my dear, you are always a pleasure to have around. Thank you, sweetie." She said and Charlotte giggled before sitting back in her seat and looking towards me.

"How you feeling about our music project, Shor? Got any ideas for the rest of the chorus?" She asked and I smiled as I played with a small piece of string that was hanging from my T-shirt.

"I have a few.. I'll try and write something down tonight and I'll show it you tomorrow in class." I smiled and Rydel turned her head towards us sharply, looking at me before moving to her best friend.

"Since when do you guys talk?" She asked and Charlotte answered for us.

"I had to move seats in homeroom because of the fight with that girl last year. I ended up being sat next to Shor and we started talking, we're partners in music, we have an assignment together and we have to write our own song." She said with a smile and Rydel nodded, a ghost of a smile on her lips as she turned her head back towards the road. Five minutes later, our car pulled into our driveway and we all climbed out. I grabbed my backpack along with Charlotte and my sisters and took them through the front door where both girls thanked me and took them out of my hands.

"So Ross, be ready for around six, okay?" Rydel said and I nodded softly as I ran upstairs to my room to get ready. When I was ready it was five and I had an hour to kill so I picked up my guitar and grabbed my notebook where I'd copied down Charlotte's lyrics. I started strumming and sung the song from the beginning.

"It's summertime, and you are all that's on my mind, Everyday.
It seems like we, Could stay up and talk through the night.
Oh what do you say?

Say you'll stay,
Heyy, I just keep on wishing everyday.
Hey, No More running around, running around, Running around,
When I'm Around, Just say you'll stay." I added to our original lyrics and smiled softly as I wrote them down in my notebook. I looked up when I was about to start playing again to see Charlotte stood in the doorway a smirk on her face. She was wearing a black and pink dress, lace style flat shoes and her make up and hair was already done. She looked good. She walked over and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Sounds good, Shor. See, you can write music." She smiled and I blushed lightly as I dropped my head to look at the guitar strings I was aimlessly plucking.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without you starting it off." I smiled and she shrugged.

"You're better than you think, Shor. I just gave you a push in the right direction." She stated as she stood up, ruffling my hair before holding her hand out to me. I looked at it quizzically and she rolled her eyes playfully.

"It's six, we need to set off now to be there on time." She giggled and I laughed along as I grabbed her hand and pulled myself up, inches separated us and I looked down at her with a smile.

"Thank god you took those shoes off. I much prefer you at this height." I smirked and she rolled her eyes before punching my shoulder lightly.

"You just like the fact that I'm a short ass now." She said before flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away from me. I shook my head slightly before following her down the stairs where my sister was waiting for us. Rydel smiled at us before running and climbing into our Mothers car, ready to drive us to the party.