ERIKA

"You girls need to get out you know. Just staying inside the house all day is not a way to spend summer." Mom said, standing at the doorway of the room Meg and I were sharing. "We do go out, aunt Jess. Just yesterday we spent hours at the mall." Meg replied.

Mom put a hand on her hip and leaned on the door. "That's not what I meant, sweetie. Why don't you girls check out the neighborhood? Or the beach, it's literally right before the backyard."

"The neighborhood?" I asked, unsure of why she'd suggested it. "It's just a simple neighborhood, what's there to check out?" I said and shared a look with Meg. "Apparently, there's a reason why I want you girls to go out and enjoy the day." Mom said looking between us. Of course there's a reason; Jess Nolan never did anything without a purpose.

"Which is?" I asked. "Maria and I are going out, we've got the whole day's events planned. And I really don't want you girls to spend yet another day inside the house. You're both young; go out, have some fun." Mom suggested and entered the room.

"She wants us to hit the bar?" Meg whispered in my ear and I narrowed my eyes at her. Well, I don't really blame her; that was how we had our fun. "I don't think she wants that, but it's not a bad idea." I whispered back with a smirk. I should ask Zack about the bars nearby. "Aunt Jess!"

Think of the devil, and the devil's here. "In here, Zack." Mom replied, scanning through some of the shopping bags. "In my and Meg's room, if you still can't figure out what 'in here' means." I said loudly enough for him to hear from the stairs.

"Do you always have to be miss smarty pants?" Zack said once he was standing next to me. "I don't have to necessarily, but I do have the intelligence pants on anyways." I replied with a shrug. "Hate to burst your bubble, but you're wearing denim shorts today, not pants." Before I could come back with a reply, he opened his mouth again.

"Aunt Jess, mom's looking for you downstairs." He said, turning on his good boy charm. Mom nodded before going down. "So, I was wondering if you two would come down to see my band practise today." Zack said with a grin.

All he had been talking about ever since we got here was his band, and how it sounded almost as good as Metallica. As good as Metallica? Was he kidding me? I may not be a great fan of metal, but I think I knew where Metallica was. And I was pretty sure it was nowhere near what Zack claimed as his band. No offense though.

"Actually, Meg and I...we-we had plans." I lied and shot my best friend a look. She knew how much I sucked at lying, so she'd have to play the right cards now.

"No you didn't." Zack said and shook his head. "You're lying, that too on my face Erika." He replied nonchalantly and my face turned red. "You, my friend, need to work on your ability to lie." Meg said and I could feel heat emanate from my face. "Shut up." I mumbled and looked away from her. "She's right though." Zack said and I covered my face with my hands.

"I said shut up, and that goes for both of you." I muttered and plopped down on the bed. Meg and Zack shared a look before focusing on me. "Come on E, I swear you won't get bored." Zack said. "I thought you were gonna spend time with us. Not us and your friends." I said as a matter of fact.

"Erika, you know how much your opinion matters to me. That's why I want you to see us play." He tried again. "I appreciate that Zack, but it's just your band. And you play guitar for it, that's just it. It's not like that's your profession." I said and the look on his face started to change. I really hoped he was taking my words seriously. "You should focus on school, and then college."

"I thought you weren't going to college." Meg said to Zack in confusion and I looked at him in shock. "What?" I practically hissed at him when he remained silent. "You didn't tell her." Meg said seconds later, and Zack looked slightly embarrassed. "I thought you told her..."

"You're not going to college?" I asked calmly. The last thing I wanted was to make Zack uncomfortable around me. "E, I was gonna tell you but didn't know how." He replied looking at me directly. "You told Meg, but you didn't know how to break the news to me?" I was confused as hell now.

"I was kinda scared about your reaction, so I told her first. E, mom and dad both support my decision. We, I mean my band, play shows every month and people really appreciate our art. We're gonna record our demo in a few months, everything's going smoothly so far. I know what I'm doing," he licked his lips before continuing.

"I just don't want you out of all the people out there to make me feel like I've made the wrong decision." He admitted, looking kinda helpless.

"You told Meg first cuz you were scared of my reaction?" I said disbelievingly, feeling slightly disappointed. "That's all you took from what he just said?" Meg looked at me like I was crazy but I chose to ignore her one time. "E, you know what I meant. I was afraid that you'll start looking at me differently. And...that's exactly what happened. "He said softly with what seemed like a really sad look.

Damn, these were the situations that I mostly avoided. I really didn't know the exact right thing to say at moments like these. But now, at least I had to try for Zack. I stood up and walked to him before putting a hand on his arm. "I'll never look at you differently, you're my brother and I'll always respect your decisions." I kept it short and simple.

A smile made it's way on his face and he hugged me. "That means so much, Erika. I can't wait for you to meet my friends." He said happily as I hugged him back. "Um, yeah, uh, I'm looking forward to meet them?" I heard myself say and glanced at Meg. She just nodded which meant I was doing the right thing.

"So where exactly are we going?" Meg asked once we were out of the house a few hours later. "Matt's garage, that's where we play." Zack enlightened. He was quite enthusiastic about us meeting his friends. And if I wanted to see him happy, I'd have to at least try to like his friends. "Tell us about your band." I said because that seemed like the best question to ask.

And he provided us with all the information he thought was necessary for us to know about his band. Exactly ten minutes later, we found ourselves standing inside the garage of a beautiful house. Band posters were all over the walls, there was a drum set placed right at the back, a few mic stands and amps. A voice spoke up, making me jump slightly.

"Since your brother isn't doing the introductions, allow me." A tall, lanky figure of a guy appeared in front of us out of nowhere, taking me by surprise. "Whoa." Meg whispered as she looked up at the guy. His hairstyle, goatee and height must've surprised her. She really needed to be more subtle like I was. "I'm Jimmy and I'm-"

"The drummer." I said, remembering what Zack had said earlier. A huge grin spread over his face and he made his way towards us. "You know me?!" He asked, standing about a hand away from us. "She does, now get away from her. You're standing a little too close." Zack grumbled.

"I do, just a little. I'm Erika, and she's my best friend Meg." I said with a smile. And you know what? I didn't even have to fake it. "Erika...am I standing too close like Zack said?" Jimmy asked after exchanging a hi with Meg, who seemed a little overwhelmed by his friendliness. "No, you aren't; he's just playing the big brother card." I said, making Zack shake his head, and Jimmy grinned.

"Is Wendt here today, or Johnny?" Zack asked, making his way further inside. Wendt was their bassist, and Johnny was a substitute as far as Zack had told me. "Short Shit. Johnny's Short Shit." Jimmy let me know. A few minutes later, we were joined by Johnny. He was younger than Zack and Jimmy, and probably his other bandmates. But he seemed like a pretty cool guy.

"Is Haner here?" A new voice said and I looked up from Jimmy who was showing me his kit to see the owner of the voice. A tall, well built guy for his age appeared in the room and I surprised myself by looking at him a little longer than necessary. He had brown messy hair, pierced ears and lips. Shit, that one must've hurt. His physique clearly manifested that he worked out regularly.

It was then that his gaze fell on me and I looked away quickly. "Weren't you supposed to pick him up?" Zack said, appearing next to me. I glanced over at the guy again, only to find him still looking at me. He looked away seconds later and said, "Yeah, he wasn't home so I returned." And once again his hazel brown eyes were on me.

"My best friend's disappeared?" Jimmy shrieked out of the blue, startling both Meg and I. "Shut up, Rev." Zack said and I wasn't even gonna ask who Rev was. "So that makes him which one of your friends?" Meg asked referring to Matt in confusion. "He's Matt, and this is Meg and that's Erika. I told you about them already, so..." And I didn't hear the rest.

Meg exchanged a hi with Matt and concentrated on what Jimmy was showing her. "So, uh, you're from Washington?" Matt asked me while everyone else was busy with themselves. "You score a point. So, you sing?" I asked, playing it cool. "And now Erika scores a point." Matt replied with a small smile, revealing his dimples. Oh shit.

I had to smile back, how could I possibly not?!
Matt and I made small talk, and once again I was surprised by how well we got along. He knew what to say at the right time and it was all so bloody perfect. "I'm gonna get us all something to drink." Matt said a while later and shot me a smile before walking out of the garage. Just...wow.

"I need to use the washroom." Meg whispered to me before leaving after Matt. "Matt, wait for me!" I heard her call him and sighed. "You having a good time, E?" Zack asked and I looked at him. He bore an unsure look, only to transform it into a smile when I showed him a thumbs up.

I was looking around, studying some of the music sheets that was laying over the table. And that's when he appeared.
"Who's the chick?" I turned my attention to another tall, well muscled guy with the most amazing brown eyes. He wasn't bad looking but it was his attitude that got me. The way he was looking at me seemed like he was a rockstar and that I should fall at his knees.

An arrogant, cocky smile was plastered on his face unlike the others. "Erika, my cousin. E, that's Brian." Zack said before focusing on an amp. I looked at the Brian guy to exchange a hi despite his first impression, which to be honest made me put him on my blacklist for the moment, only to find him looking at me with a nonchalant look. Well, forget a hi, let's not talk to him at all.

I sat down beside Jimmy and tried to understand the conversation he was having with Zack. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the cocky guy smirk at me and I glared at him. "What are you smirking at?" I kinda snapped in a low voice so that Zack or Jimmy wouldn't hear.

"A hot chick," he replied cockily. I froze, not expecting such an answer. I would've thanked him for the compliment but I was not gonna talk to him until and unless he quit the whole diva persona around me. I narrowed my eyes at him before looking away. After that, I caught him a couple of times looking at me, but he didn't seemed to be bothered by it. I even showed him the evil eye, and glared at him the way I'd never glared at anyone before.

Yet he continued to shoot me his annoying, little smirks. Why the hell wasn't he getting intimidated?! Oh boy, we so weren't going to get on fine.

Notes

Look who met the guys!

So, any ideas on where I might take this story? ;p
I love making Brian like this, slightly cocky and asshole-ish :D I'm not sure how I like to write Matt cuz I never wrote a story with him in it. What's your favorite version of Matt?!

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter!