Chapter 7

10 Minutes Later…

George played his guitar more and that actually managed to cheer me up. I nearly forgot about my near-death experience.

"So what's up?" George asked me. "Why were you rolling down the canal? You seemed terrified."

"I…don't wanna talk about it." I couldn't talk about it.

"You new here?" He guessed right.

"Yeah," I replied. "A lot's happening, I guess."

"Well, my notes seem to cheer you up." He pointed out. "Must mean I'm doing something right."

"Something right?" I looked at him. "You're amazing!"

"Hehe." He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, my sisters and I do practice here a lot. Sound's great here."

"I'd like to hear you guys sometime." I told him.

"Well, we practice here pretty often, so you'll find us here a lot." He told me. "By how you swayed, I'm guessing you're looking to get into the music scene as well?"

"Yeah!" I replied. "I wanna be a DJ!"

"DJ, huh?" He seemed intrigued. "Well, I don't personally know any, but I do know of some around here."

"Really?" My eyes widened. "Do you think any of them can teach me?"

"Not sure." He replied. "A lot of them are just getting their start or are big already. Marina's too big, I saw this one group get a 10-year-old to join their group, and Ikkan from Squid Squad's been hanging out with a beatsmith too. Well, I wouldn't say hang out since they avoid each other at all costs…"

"So no one to help me out…" I lamented.

"Hey, it's never easy getting your start." He told me. "But once you get going, you get going. Things just start happening."

"Wow…thanks for the words of wisdom." I said.

"Eh, I'm just spitballin' phrases to see what sticks." He said. "What's your name anyway?"

"Octim." I'm just now telling him. "Tim for short."

"Well, I like you already, little man." He remarked. "Come watch us practice any time. You can be our first fan."

"Yeah!" I got excited. "So where are your sisters anyway?"

"Carol's still trying to find us a gig and Sheryl brought a guy back to the apartment." He groaned at the last part. "So yeah, I think I'm gonna hang here for a while."

"So what are they like?" I wondered.

"Carol's the drummer who handles the business stuff." He told me. "Sheryl's our bassist and she's…how old are you?"

"13." I told him.

"A party girl." He said. "We'll just leave it at that."

"Oooookay…" I wasn't sure what he meant by that.

"But they're both really energetic and pretty sweet." He assured me. "You'd love 'em"

He then got a text.

"Oh, Carol's coming back to the apartment." He informed me. "That means we can go back now. You can meet them."

"Cool!" I started walking with him, starting another chat along the way.

After about 10 minutes, we got back to his apartment. We saw a squid girl with her hair tied up standing next to a door while it was just now being opened for her.

"Seriously, Sheryl?" The squid girl said.

"Hey, don't hate." A squid girl with long hair on one side and a loose-fitting shirt said.

"You know other people live here, right?" George asked, getting both of their attention.

"And you're free to come in and go as you please." She told them. "Don't shame me."

"We have a guest." George told her as we got to the door.

They both looked over to see me.

"Aaawww, he's adorable." Sheryl's comment made me blush a bit. "Can we keep him?"

"He's not a pet." George told her.

"Well, I still wanna pinch his cheeks." She said, kneeling down to get a better look at me.

"I-I can see your shoulder." I blurted out.

"Oh," She pulled her sleeve up. "Well, make yourself at home. I'll go change."

"She's unbelievable…" The other squid girl mumbled as we entered the apartment.

"So you're Carol, right?" I guessed.

"Oh, yeah." She shook my hand. "I see you've met George."

"Yeah, he's pretty good with his guitar." I told her.

"He is." She agreed. "I'm also a pretty decent Drummer myself."

"And I'm an experienced Bassist!" Sheryl shouted from her room.

"Yeah, you're experienced alright." Carol said as she sat down on the couch.

"Carol!" George covered my ears. "We have a little man here. Let him keep his innocence."

"I'll try." Carol assured him and then looked to me. "But I make no promises for my twin sister."

"Hey now," She just came out wearing jeans and a hoodie. "I can control myself around kids."

"I'm 13." I told her.

"Oh, cool!" She said. "So I can be PG-13."

"Aaaanyway." George wanted to change the subject. "This is Octim, Tim for short, and he liked my music and wanted to meet you guys too. We may have a new fan."

"Wow, we haven't had a fan since that stage dive incident." Sheryl said.

"Stage dive incident?" I asked.

"Yeah, we were in a music competition last year and George took a stage dive, but no one caught him and he broke his nose and guitar." Carol explained. "One of the judges rushed him to the infirmary. We lost that competition."

"Yeah, that was embarrassing." George sighed.

"Buuuuut," Sheryl grinned. "That judge that rushed him to the infirmary was Marie from the Squid Sisters, so he got some alone-time with a star!"

"Sheryl, please." George groaned. "For the last time, nothing happened."

"Oh come on." Sheryl crossed her arms. "I refuse to believe you didn't at least ask for her number."

"I didn't." He said.

"Then you missed your chance." Sheryl sighed. "You got a chance to confess to your idol and you missed it."

"Sheryl, be realistic." George told her. "Like I could land a huge celebrity like Marie."

"You never know unless you try." Sheryl stated.

"Aaanyway, maybe we should acknowledge Tim." He said. "You guys know any DJs who can teach him?"

"I don't." Carol replied. "What about you Sheryl? Invite any to OUR room?"

"Mmmmmm-nope, no DJs." She said.

"Great…" I sighed. "I'll never be a DJ…"

"We need to cheer him up." Carol said. "Quick, give him the headphones."

They quickly put some headphones on me and pressed 'play.'

There were some pretty good songs on there. It turned my mood right around.

"These yours?" I asked them.

"Yup!" Sheryl grinned.

"Can…can I have a CD?" I asked.

"You can keep the music player." Sheryl told me. "I have another one."

"Thanks!" I gave her a hug.

"Aaaw, hugs are nice." She returned the hug.

"Kid, if you feel down again, come here." Carol said.

"Yeah, my sisters are great at cheering people up." George told me.

"Thanks." I said. "Well, I guess I better get home now."

"Stay safe." George waved me goodbye.

"I'll try!" I waved them goodbye.

Well, they're definitely a bit older than me, but I think I finally have some friends here. I hope I make some more.