Hi again! Welcome back!

A no-prize goes to whomever knows what I'm referencing by the title of this story! I'll tell you the answer next chapter.

Luna woke up that morning feeling refreshed and excited.

WOOOO! TODAY'S THE DAY! **** YEAH! LET'S GO!

She switched off her alarm clock, then slid out of bed.

I think I'll wear something a little different today, you know, just to mix things up. Also, I did read that the color red increases perceived attractiveness.

Luna pulled out from her closet a black T-shirt with a red Rush 2112 logo on it, a pair of blue jeans, and a red jacket.

She dressed and ate breakfast rapidly so that she would have time to tune her guitar before hitting the road.

She ran up to her room, grabbed her phone, and opened a tuning app. After a minute of adjusting the pegs, she strummed a power chord with finality, then carefully put away her guitar and shoved her phone into her pocket.

Oh, right! It's my turn to wake up Lynn!

Luna ran into Lynn and Lucy's room and leaped on top of Lynn, startling her awake.

"GAH!" Lynn yelled. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Luna stood back up and folded her arms. "I wanna see ya get out of bed first. I'm not having ya miss the bus again."

Lynn groaned and rolled out of bed.

Luna walked back downstairs and quickly made herself a ham-and-cheese sandwich for lunch. She stuffed it into her lunchbox, stuffed that into her backpack, grabbed it, and headed out the door to the bus stop.

...

Luna walked into the lunchroom just seconds before the bell sounded. That was a close one.

She paused and scanned the room for Sam. She spotted her sitting at a table with Tall Kate and Mia. Luna walked over to the group.

"Wassup, guys?" she asked, plunking her backpack down next to Sam.

Sam gave Luna a playful punch in the arm as she sat down. "Moon Unit! Cool shirt, buddy!"

"Thanks!"

Mia glanced up from the book she was reading. "Hey, James Halliday called," she remarked. "He wants his shirt back."

The three girls looked at Mia with confusion. "Who's James Halliday?" asked Tall Kate, turning her attention away from her laptop.

"He's the rich genius guy in Ready Player One."

"What?"

"You know, the book Ready Player One? The one where this kid finds the key to-"

"Okay, I get it. It's a book; it's good; I should read it."

"You'd like it, though. It's about a video game."

"I kind of gathered that."

Sam turned from Tall Kate's and Mia's banter and looked at Luna. "So, you ready to play today?"

"Totally! You want me to bring anything 'sides my axe?"

"Nah, you're set. I can hook up one of Pat's old amps for you."

"All right. Saves me a little back pain in the future."

Sam chuckled. "You, of all people, thinking about the future? Wasn't it you who told me to live in the now?"

"I was younger then."

"That was less than a year ago!"

Luna feigned an air of superiority. "I have matured very much since then."

"Says the girl wearing paperclip earrings."

"Dude! Those are a fashion statement!"

"Yeah, they're a statement, all right. A statement that, uh, your head is full of paper or something." Sam looked down at her feet, evidently displeased with the simplistic nature of her jab.

"Nice comeback, there, dumb***."

"I've been trying to get better at those."

"I prefer you when you're just being nice."

Sam smiled sweetly. "So you don't want me to go changing, just to please you?"

"I like you just the way you are, bro!" said Luna, beginning to feel vaguely uneasy but maintaining her smile.

Tall Kate smacked the Enter key on her laptop violently, then looked at the screen and clenched her teeth in annoyance. "God! ****ing! ****it!" she exclaimed.

Luna looked over at her, concerned. "Whatcha doing, Kate?" she inquired.

Tall Kate responded, "I'm trying to fix some ****ing robot code, but it won't ****ing compile! It's driving me up the ****ing wall!"

Sam asked, "What're you trying to get the robot to do?"

"It's supposed to follow you around if you attach this special tape to you. But that's not what it's doing now."

"That's neat! Man, I wish I could do stuff that cool!"

Luna said, "I thought PLAYING IN A BAND qualified as cool."

Mia responded, "If that was the case, then Kate wouldn't really be cool."

Tall Kate jokingly said, "Hey!"

Sam threw up her hands in mock apology, then said, "I'm sorry, Kate! You're really cute - I mean cool!"

Tall Kate gave Sam, who was beginning to blush, a sidelong look that lasted for an awkwardly long time. "I have a boyfriend, you know," she said pointedly.

Sam began to stammer, "I- I- Th- that's not what I meant! It was a slip of the, of the tongue is all!"

Luna sat quietly while her mind tore itself apart. Half of her thought, YES! SHE'S TOTALLY INTO GIRLS! I HAVE A CHANCE WITH HER AFTER ALL!

The other half thought, OH GOD OH GOD SHE'S GOT A CRUSH ON SOMEONE ELSE RED ALERT RED ALERT!

Despite the mental torture, Luna remained calm as she bit into her sandwich.

...

Luna got off the bus and practically sprinted to her house. She unlocked the front door, being careful so as not to tear off the doorknob by accident, and ran up to her room, where she threw down her backpack and grabbed her guitar case. She took a pick off of her desk and placed it into her pocket. Then she opened up Google Maps to make sure she knew where the house was.

Luna calmly walked out of her house and down the street until she reached house number 854. Her heart pounded in both anxiety and excitement as she walked down the driveway.

She rapped on the garage door.

No answer.

Sam might not have gotten home yet. I'll try the front.

Luna walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.

About half a minute later, a tall blond lady answered the door. "Yes?"

Sheepishly, Luna said, "Hi, Mrs. Pestillo. I'm Luna Loud, Sam's friend from school. I'm here to practice with her band."

After a pause, Mrs. Pestillo smiled warmly and replied, "Hi, Luna! It's nice to finally meet you! Uh, why don't you come inside?"

"Okay, sure! Thanks! Good to meet you, too!"

Luna shook Mrs. Pestillo's hand, then stepped inside.

Mrs. Pestillo led her to a fairly clean kitchen. She asked, "So, you're a musician?"

"Yep! D'you think I would be in Sam's band if I weren't?"

Mrs. Pestillo chuckled. "I was just making sure! And you are carrying a guitar case."

Luna smirked. "It's actually an assault rifle in there. We're playing Russian Roulette later today," she said sarcastically.

"Uh, what's the number for 911 again?" Mrs. Pestillo joked, pulling out her phone.

"Thank God I'm not in school right now. I'd have detention right now for saying that."

Mrs. Pestillo nodded and smiled. "Sam talks about you a lot, you know. She says you're a good kid. And, uh..." She glanced at Luna's delinquent-looking outfit briefly before continuing hesitantly. "...Although you do look like the type who would egg my house, I trust her judgment. I don't mean to offend you or anything, though."

Luna smiled. "Nah, it's all good. Clothes may make the person, but they don't make the personality."

"That was very eloquent."

"Yeah, I'm the smart druggie type. You know, like that guy from Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Although I don't do drugs or anything like that."

Just then, Sam barged through the door. She stopped short upon seeing Luna talking to her mother. After recovering from the initial shock, she said, "Oh, hey, Luna! I see you found your way here all right."

Luna waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, I got lost in Detroit on my way, but it's all good."

"Okay, hold on a second, I have to get some sheet music." Sam turned and ran up the stairs, presumably to her room.

Luna watched her go, then thought to herself, **** it, I forgot to bring sheet music!

Sam ran back down a few moments later, carrying a binder packed full of leaves of paper. "Okay, I got the music," she said. "Let's go set up before Jamie and Alex get here. Come on!"

Luna picked up her guitar case and followed Sam through a doorway into the garage.

I rapped this out in like thirty minutes. I hope it's not too poorly written.

Hope to see you soon!