Clark's P.O.V.

I pick up my controller, wondering what song she chose. Come on, load!

It finishes loading. The title flashes on screen.

Seriously?

I look at her with an are you kidding me face. Out of all the songs, she just had to choose this one?

"Really, Starling? Carry on, Wayward Son?"

She pauses the game and laughs at the look on my face.

That sound. I didn't even realize that I'd been waiting to hear it.

She has a great laugh. I don't even care that she pulled this joke on me anymore.

"Come on, Clark. The name of the band is Kansas and that, as I'm sure you know, is where they're from. Why do you think I chose it?"

There's still some laughter in her voice.

I did know that the band is from the state, actually. Pa likes them but I, on the other hand, have been teased with this son before by Lois.

"Because you wanted to have fun with me. Can you not let that become a habit?"

She pulls herself together then nods. "Do you still want to play the song?"

I smile at her. "Sure. You've got a great laugh, by the way."

She thanks me then restarts the song.

This game is actually pretty fun. I don't win the round but there's always the next one.

She lets me choose the song this time.

I don't recognize a lot of them.

She nods when I tell her. "That's okay. It's not like I'm going to judge you for that or anything. No offense but I didn't really expect you to. A lot of the music used on these games doesn't really seem to me like it would fit your taste."

She ejects the game and puts it back in its case then picks out an 80s one. "This one should be good though."

She has it load then, soon, I'm going over the song list. Well, she was certainly right.

I make my choice then we're continuing to play, alternating between who chooses the song. Every time, I get better but I never win.

We stop after we've each chosen a total of three songs then I look at her. "You know, you really have an unfair advantage in these games. Can I ask you my questions instead? I know it's much earlier than you wanted but can you please humor me? You can even skip a question if it isn't one that you want me to know the answer to."

She slowly breathes out then looks at me. "Okay, I guess that's fair."

She ejects the game then turns the TV off soon after putting it in its case.

It's not too long before I'm asking her my first question.

"Yes, that was Dad's controller you were using. I obviously didn't mind or I wouldn't have let you use it. Now, I'm going to get the question that you've asked me before out of the way by telling you that I'm sensitive to the sound of popcorn popping and fireworks. Both are kind of easy to get teased out but, hey, it's not like I haven't tried to work on that."

I put my right hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Starling, I understand. I used to be sensitive to noises too. You don't need to try and fix the fact that that's the way that you are."

She smiles then wipes her eyes. "Dad used to say something similar to your last sentence. I'll go with it for both of you." She removes my hand from her shoulder then asks me what other questions I have.

"When will you let yourself cry?"

I'd tell her that I'm starting to get a little worried but I can already picture her rolling her eyes.

What is it with this girl and concern?

I don't think that's a question I should ask because I'm not sure if I want to know the answer.

"No comment."

I laugh then decide to ask the question about her and concern.

She rolls her eyes. "Having a lot of women fuss over you because you don't have a Mom has that kind of effect on a girl. I'd tell you more but I doubt very highly that this is something you can understand."

She does have a point. I'm the exact opposite of her, family wise.

She must not have any other family. They would have taken her in. I hope so, anyway.

I decide to ask her, feeling that it couldn't hurt.

"It was always my Dad and me. Well, okay, technically not always. I do have one memory of Mom."

She tells me what Babs was thinking though I do find out that she does remember her Mom saying her name. She says that it may not be much but at least it's something.

She apparently also knows that starlings were her Mom's favorite bird along with some other things about her because her Dad would tell her something about her Mom every Mother's Day. I'm not told the rest of the things though she does go to her room and come back holding a picture of her with her parents.

"Why didn't you tell John that you have a memory of your Mom?"

She puts the photo down on a table in front of the couch. "I didn't want to. I don't even feel all that comfortable with you knowing. It feels personal to me. Your next question better not be like this, okay?"

I laugh gently. "Okay. I'm done asking you those kinds of questions anyway. Do you want to show me your set list?"

I'd ask if she wants to put her picture on the mantelpiece but I don't want to push it.

"Not really. I kind of want the songs that I chose to be a surprise. I will tell you though that you'll probably be familiar with at least one of them. I don't need to rehearse any."

She smiles and tells me that she's feeling confident with her choices, especially the first one.

"Why that one in particular?"

Her smile widens. "It's one of my favorite tracks from the Guitar Hero games. Pandora for the win!" She fist pumps.

I laugh. "Do you have the app?"

She nods. "I'm pretty sure that this won't come as much of a surprise to you but I have a lot of music apps, including one that I use to tune my guitar. Sure, I can do that by ear because of my perfect pitch but I got an ear infection once and that led to me downloading the app. I still have it, just in case, but I mostly use it to help other musicians."

That's nice of her.

"What was the first song that you learned to play?"

She rolls her eyes. "You're going to have to be more specific. At least give me a genre."

I tell her that she can choose.

"Foo Fighters' Times Like These. The solo's pretty fun even if it is on the short side*. I'm so calling bullshit if you tell me that you've never heard of them."

I tell her that I have and she grins. "See? There's also a number of songs by that band in the Guitar Hero games."

I'm not surprised.

She looks at the clock after her stomach growls. I guess she's used to having a snack at 3 o'clock.

Well, that would be when school gets out. Is she mostly homeschooled?

I ask her after she gets the chip bag that she started and a glass of water.

"It looks like I'm not the only absentminded one today. Tell you what, look at a calendar. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

She starts eating.

I do what she told me and...Oh, right.

Summer vacation.

Starling's P.O.V.

I finish my snack feeling excited. It's so much closer to being time for me to meet the members of Just Dank Gray.

I go the room and put my songbook in my jacket pocket after, obviously, doing some clothes swapping.

Whoops, I forgot to throw away my trash. To be fair, I do have other things on my mind.

I grab my guitar and head back then find out that Clark handled it for me. I'm starting to feel spoiled though I don't think I mind.

I'm asked if I'm going to be hot in that jacket.

I pull out my phone then check the weather for tonight. I should probably go with my hoodie.

I'm definitely not changing the shirt though.

I put my guitar on the couch then, after putting my phone back in my pocket, go change back into my hoodie.

Yeah, this feels better.

I get my pick from where I had it then come back with my phone in its case and in my pocket, while carrying what I got from it in between two fingers of my right hand. I'll be showing it to Clark now.

I do so then decide to put it in between my guitar strings and the fretboard.

Okay, I'm ready. It's probably still too early though.

I think I"ll play some Guitar Hero while I wait.

I tell Clark that there is another track that I could have chosen to tease him with.

"Really? What is it?"

I turn the TV back on then, soon, I'm loading up Guitar Hero 5 and picking out the song because, hey, he did ask.

He does the same thing that he did for Carry On, Wayward Son, which makes a wide and toothy grin spread across my face.

Shortly, the song's loading.

He looks at me once the title appears on the screen. "Thank you for not going with this one."

It's Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down.

I nod then pause the game and decide to choose a different track. I want to play something harder.

Hmm. Nothing here really looks good to me right now.

I remember when I used to dream about seeing one of my songs in a game in this 's not very likely, sure, but, like I said, it was a dream.

I end up going with Heart's Barracuda off of the third Guitar Hero game instead. I freaking love to play that opening riff.

I even hum and sing along to the song then, before I know it, I'm getting ready for, in my opinion, a much better go time.

*The song was released in 2002.