She took a lock out from her backpack and chucked it at Ben. He caught it midair, turned around, and locked one of the many empty instrument lockers at the end of the room. Inside was Clint's guitar. The innocent prisoner.

"Like that." She said.

"What the hell Ben. You're taking her side?" Clint asked.

"Hey, it's for the betterment of your health." Ben said sarcastically.

"You just want to see me tortured."

"Dude, you've been playing that thing nonstop ever since your sister bought it. You still sound as shitty as you did the day she gave it to you. It's not like practicing is doing much." He shrugged and walked back to where his own, unopened, case lay.

"You both suck." Clint said.

Claudia walked in.

"Clint, what happened to your arm?" She asked.

"He beat up a Coyote." Ben said.

"Really? It only bit his arm?" Claudia asked, skeptically.

Clint joined in.

"You see, I was holding it back with this arm. My forearm was in it's mouth. With my free hand, I punched it." Clint said.

"I thought Coyote's didn't attack people." Claudia said.

"Well, It was rabid." Clint said.

"That's a better story than you running over the poor thing." Lina said.

"You ran one over?!" Claudia asked.

"Yeah. On my way home last night. It just came out of nowhere and I didn't have time to stop. I flew off Ben's skateboard and hit a stump."

"Are you okay?" Claudia asked.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"I took like three different pills and smoked half a joint before coming. For now, yeah."

"Have you seen a doctor?" She asked.

"No. My sister cleaned it up."

"You should go see one. Get a note to excuse you from Shield's for a bit." Ben suggested.

"You're right. I don't need that kind of stress in my life right now."

"Such a stressful class." Ben agreed.

"You definitely can't play. Why are you here?" Claudia asked.

"I wanted to see if I could. These two barred me from trying further. My guitar's in a cage right now." He pointed, with his good hand, at his guitar.

Claudia said, "Hm, this could actually be a good thin-"

"Me getting injured could be a good thing?" Clint interrupted.

"Think about it." She was talking to Ben and Lina, "He's going to get bored. He has no option but to study theory."

"Oh no. Not you too." Clint said.

"Why don't you give him your old keyboard?" Lina asked.

"That's perfect." Claudia said.

"I don't want to learn the keyboard." Clint said.

"I don't think you have a choice anymore." Ben said.

"My parents are dragging me on a hike after this. I'll be back after sunset. You can pick it up tomorrow." Claudia said.

"Yeah, sure." Clint said.

"Are we ready?" Lina asked.

Claudia quickly rushed over to a keyboard that was next to the drums and turned it on.

"What are we playing?" Ben asked.

"How about some Nirvana?" Lina asked.

"Lithium?" Ben asked.

"Yeah thats perfect. You got the guitar part?" She asked Claudia.

"Let me listen to it first. Why don't you sing the lead?" She told Clint.

"I haven't really sung before."

"It's not that hard. You have a decent ear. Im sure you can handle it."

Lina plugged her phone in to an aux chord and the pre-chorus riff filled the room.

"I think it's tuned down a whole step." She told Lina.

"Is it?" She asked.

Claudia echoed the riff on the keyboard.

Ben and Clint looked at each other.

"You've played this before?" Ben asked.

"No." She said.

The drums came in and Lina echoed the drummer.

"What the hell." Ben muttered.

Lina and Claudia continued to echo the song. Not perfectly. But, competent.

"Ready?" They asked after the song finished.

"Yeah, sure." Ben said.

"Don't stress too much. Stick to power chords. It's not that complicated." Claudia said.

"What the hell are power chords?" He asked Clint.

He looked blankly at Ben.

Lina handed Clint her phone, they lyrics were on it.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Sure." Ben said.

Claudia opened with a riff that almost sounded exactly like the original.

Lina came in on the drums and Clint followed with the lyrics.

"I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends, they're in my head. I'm so ha-"

Ben came in. He played random chords for the first few measures. Some fit, most didn't. Then he found the groove and started paying a simple descending two note bass line.

The rest of the song was surprisingly coherent.

"Wow." Ben said, "So that's what happens when we get you off the guitar."

"Shut up. You messed up at the beginning." Clint said.

"But, I didn't stop playing." Ben replied.

"Let's try again?" Lina asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Clint said.