Unexpected Friends

Zacky's car wasn't that far, so it came into view in no time. We caught a glimpse of Zacky's spiky hair and ran up behind him. I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, grinning when he saw it was us.

"Oh hey guys!" Zacky said, unlocking his car. "Perfect timing!"

Johnny and I climbed into the back seats, while Matty sat in the front passenger seat. Zacky placed his backpack on the empty seat next to Johnny and we set our own backpacks down near our feet. Zacky started up the car and joined the sea of cars exiting the parking lot. After about 15 minutes, we arrived at the Baker's house. We all climbed out of the car and walked inside the house. The boys placed their backpacks down near the door and I placed mine next to theirs. I heard the sounds of a T.V. on in another room. I followed the boys into the living room, where a woman was sitting on a couch, watching the television. She heard us enter the room and looked away from the T.V.

"There's my boys!" She said, getting up and hugging Zacky and Matty. She looked over at Johnny. "And who could forget my third son?" Johnny grinned and hugged her. She looked over at me, then turned to her sons. "And who's this lovely young lady?"

"Mom, this is JJ." Matty said, introducing me. "She's in a bunch of me and Johnny's classes and she actually lives close by. She just recently moved here."

I smiled shyly, extending my hand.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Baker," I said, as she shook my hand, smiling.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you too, JJ." Mrs. Baker responded. "I always love meeting my boy's friends from school."

She turned to Zacky and Matty. "Alrighty, if you kids need anything, I'll be here. Are you guys going anywhere today?"

Zacky nodded. "I'm going up to Matt's for band practice. I'll be back for dinner."
Mrs. Baker nodded, then looked at Matty.

"Me, JJ, and Johnny are gonna hang out here first. Then we'll head over to Matt's 'cause JJ wants to watch them practice."

Zacky looked at me, a surprised look on his face.

"You wanna watch us practice?" He asked. "You guys could just come up there with me right now."

"Nah, that's okay Zack," Matty said. "We already made a plan. We'll head up there in about 30 minutes."

"Alrighty, sounds cool." Zacky said, heading upstairs to grab his guitar. "I'll see you guys later!"

I followed Matty and Johnny out of the living room and into the kitchen. Matty opened up the fridge, examining its contents.

"Do you like fruit punch JJ?" Matty asked, turning to me.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Alrighty, cool." Matty said, grabbing three cans of fruit punch from the fridge and setting them down on the kitchen table.

Johnny emerged from the pantry with a bag of Doritos and threw it to Matty, who caught it smoothly and placed it on the table. We all sat down and began eating our snack.

"So JJ," Johnny said, grabbing a chip from the bag. "How do you like your new house?"

"It's nice, " I said, envisioning my home. "The backyard is smaller than my old house, but my room is bigger than before."

"That's good," Matty said, nodding. "How do you like your neighbors?"

"Well, they seem nice. There's only one other kid on the street and he's a year older than me."

"Oh that's cool!" Johnny said. "What's his name?"

"Tyler Lund. " I answered, picturing my neighbor. "He's kinda mean though, so I try to stay away from him and his friends."

"Oh ok," Matty said, nodding. "Just don't let him get to you."

"Don't worry, I won't." I said, taking a sip of fruit punch.

The three of us talked until it was time to head up to Matt's house. We threw away our empty cans and placed the chip bag back in the pantry. We said goodbye to Matty's mom then walked out the door. Even from Matty's front porch we could hear the guy's music booming throughout the neighborhood. Matty's house was a few houses up the street, so it wasn't a long walk. On the way, we talked and joked with one another.

We stopped in front of Matt's house. From here, I could feel the bass rumbling through the garage door.

"Wow," I said. "They got that bass cranked up! It's a wonder the guys aren't deaf yet."

"Yeah," Johnny chuckled. "Their bass player blows though."

I laughed and turned to him. "Who's their bass player again?"

"One of their friends named Justin."

"Come on," Matty said, heading to the side of the house. "There's a side entrance into the garage."

We followed him to the side door. We waited for the current song to end before cracking the door open. Matty and Johnny pushed me to the front since I was the shortest and we stuck our heads in.

I was met with a pretty impressive sight. Jimmy was behind his kit, twirling his drumsticks in both hands. Brian and Zacky had their guitars and behind each of them was a full stack amp. Matt was placing his microphone down on a table to the side and an unfamiliar older boy was setting his bass guitar down. They all looked over at us when they noticed the door was open.

"Hey, look whose arrived!" Jimmy cried happily, placing his drumsticks down on the snare drum.

Matt smiled, beckoning us to come in. We obeyed and stepped in, closing the door behind us. We said hello and Matt walked toward us, Justin following close behind him. They stopped in front of me.

"JJ, I'd like you to meet our bass player, Justin." Matt said, gesturing at his friend, who smiled and stuck out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you JJ," Justin said. "The guys have told me about you."

I grinned and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you too Justin."

An amused look came over Justin's face.

"Hey, " He grinned, gently poking my cheek. "You got dimples like Sanders does."

"Sanders?" I asked, unsure of who he was talking about.

"He's talking about Matt." Johnny explained, pointing. "He's got dimples too."

I looked over to a grinning Matt, who indeed did have dimples. I guess I hadn't noticed them all this time.

"Alright, alright." "Brian said, coming over to us, a beer in his hand. "The kid's got dimples like Matt does. Let's move on. We still have about 20 minutes of practice left."

We all chuckled and the guys went back to their instruments. Johnny, Matty, and I sat down on some chairs, observing the older boys getting ready to resume practicing. They each warmed up for a little bit on their own before they started playing together again. I was actually impressed. I hadn't expected them to be bad, but I was surprised at how tight the band sounded. I tapped my toe to the beat and leaned back in the chair, enjoying the music my new friends were playing.

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