I couldn't answer him. I was astounded by the sudden drastic change he had made. Black hair made him look suddenly very pale and sick.

"What did you do?" I demanded, abruptly. "And why? What possessed you?" I wasn't quite sure if I was shocked or angry. I suddenly wished that he would just go back to normal.

"Well, I did it for the band," he explained, simply. "I like the idea of us being a gothy band." He paused to read my expression, which must have been frightened, because he quickly added, "You don't have to dye your hair if you don't want to. You just have to use a lot of straightener. Then you can be our emo guy! But, you know what that means, don't you?"

"What?" I asked, shaking my head in frustration.

"We'll have to get an emo girl for balance," he answered, as if this was common knowledge. "I'm sure Peach will agree."

Oh, great, I thought. Another reason for Peach to hang around. "Whatever," I said, harshly. "Let's just go."

He followed me almost meekly. I could tell that he really wanted me to go along with his ideas, and was trying to earn brownie points by not making a scene.

I could read him now almost perfectly.

--

We rode mostly in silence on the way to school. Phineas spoke to my dad every now and then to make polite conversation. I figured that Finny wouldn't say much to me until I complimented his band somehow. But I wasn't about to give in.

Neither was he.

As soon as my dad had dropped us off and gotten out of the parking lot, Finny started up again. "I thought of a great name!" he exclaimed. I could almost see the stars in his eyes.

"For what?" I wondered out of meanness. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"The band, Gene, focus!" he said jokingly. "We'll call ourselves the Eclectics!"

Eclectic, I thought. Sounds more like Phineas than any of the rest of us.

This was going to be all about Finny, just like everything else we did.

Then, he bewildered me once again by showing me one of his songs. "This one is going to be your solo song," he explained. "I'll show you how it goes."

As we hobbled up the hill, I held the paper while Phineas sang to me. And, I realized how perfect his voice was.

"Sinking into my darkest fears,

Into the night, the demon's tears,

Chasing me down my faith prevails,

Because of your chase my soul's impaled.

Waiting—hoping that your love wasn't meant for me.

Blindness will always make it easier to see.

Love is the last thing I hope for.

Why do you long for my hand?

I sicken at these tales of lore,

Sprinkled around like grains of sand."

By the time he had finished, he was out of breath and we had gotten to the art room. "What do you think?" he

panted.

"Beautiful," I said simply, though I didn't make the distinction that I was talking about him and not just the song.