11th June 2019

"I should have told her the way I feel,

But our time is drawing near,

"What about this one?" Jaxon held up a piece of paper with a few scribbled notes on it, a small head photo attached to the top corner. "He could really sing."

"But seemed more interested in chatting up the girls than listening to us," Tori chimed in. "Number 3, whatever his name was - Tom, Toby - had stage presence."

"Nah, he seemed like a complete control freak to me and we've already got one of those." Jaxon playfully winked at Tori, who glared at him.

"It's not controlling to want everything perfect," Tori retorted.

"True, but it does seem a waste of time to have your socks lined up in order of the day you want to wear them."

Tori's mouth fell open. "How'd you know I do that?"

"You really think my sister doesn't talk to me? She loves talking with her baby brother." Jaxon batted his eyelashes whilst holding back a smirk.

Tori rubbed a hand over his face. "What else has she told you?"

"Maybe something, maybe nothing. Whatever ammunition I've gained shall be revealed when, and as, needed." Jaxon rubbed his hands together in obvious glee.

"I'm going to kill her."

"If I thought you were serious, I'd be worried, but we all know she's got you whipped," Jaxon said.

Tori seemed to swell with the words he wanted to retort, but then he sighed and deflated.

"True."

Jaxon clapped him on the shoulder. "Nothing to be ashamed of, bro. At least when my sister is happy she isn't nagging me so you carry on doing you."

Tori grumbled under his breath but let Jaxon walk on.

"So what do you think? Think we can find a replacement for Hunter in these candidates?" Tori nodded to the wad of papers in Jaxon's hand.

I hiked up my guitar bag, so it was sitting higher on my shoulder, giving me time to think.

"There's some potential there but... I don't know." I dropped my head in frustration.

"None really seem to fit." Tori finished my thoughts for me.

"Exactly. I just can't see any of these being our frontman."

"I know what you mean," Jaxon said looking dejected. "Can't believe we had to bail on Evie for this."

"I think her and Hazel had a good day though." Tori pulled out his phone and flicked through Hazel's messages. "Plus the weather is better tomorrow, anyway."

I glanced up at the sky, noticing the grey clouds rolling overhead. It had been raining on and off all day.

"I hope this June gloom passes by tomorrow, otherwise the observatory will be one epic washout."

Jaxon and Tori nodded in agreement.

"Wonder if Evie's still here?" Jaxon pushed through our front door, taking off his raincoat and boots.

Each of us, just in our socks, padded through the hallway towards the main communal space that served as kitchen, dining area and living room.

"Mmhhh something smells good." Jaxon's head lifted, and he breathed in deeply.

"Hazel's veggie burgers," Kotori agreed.

We followed the sound of laughter towards the kitchen. I stopped dead when I saw Evie decked out in one of my favourite old t-shirts that Alexa had designated for charity.

Hazel could see my look and was quick to explain. "There was a minor accident with the blender."

I watched a pink blush spread over Evie's face as she avoided our gaze.

We looked up at the ceiling to see a few bits of strawberry still hanging precariously.

"Strawberry Daiquiri anyone?" Hazel held up a pitcher.

"Yes, please." Jaxon placed his equipment on the dining table and flung himself on the couch.

Hazel passed them out whilst Tori went to get himself a juice.

"I told Evie that you would take her home," Hazel said to Tori as he poured himself a drink. He nodded, as the only one in the house who didn't drink; he was used to being the designated driver.

I went over and stroked Teddy's fur where he laid in his basket. He lifted his head lazily and licked my hand, before snuggling back down. Whatever the girls had been up too had clearly exhausted him.

"So what did you two get up to?" Jaxon sipped at his drink, looking between his sister, Evie, and a tired Teddy. We all knew it took a lot to use up Teddy's seemingly endless supply of energy.

The girls turned to each other and giggled. "Mostly some window shopping and then we got lost in the market," Hazel answered.

"We have markets in Cornwall every Thursday in my town, but nothing that big. It was brilliant." Her smile was wide and genuine.

"Hazel loves to go to the market when she can. And when she makes us food like this, it's so worth it." Jaxon was practically salivating at the smell wafting from the burgers.

"Well, it was nice to have some company as enthusiastic as Evie to help me." The girls smiled at each other as they finished up the burgers and started handing out plates.

"Samual?"

Everyone's head turned as Alexa rounded the corner, a key dangling from her hand.

When did I give her a key?

Her designer trainers skidded to a stop on the linoleum when she caught sight of all of us.

"Oh, didn't realise I was interrupting a little get together." She smiled, but I could see that she was annoyed.

"I could do you plate, Alexa." Though I knew Alexa wasn't Hazel's favourite person, she still treated her well, even though the same could not always be said the other way round.

Alexa sniffed the air and grimaced. "No, I already ate. I just came by to see how the band tryouts went."

She squeezed her way in beside me, forcing Hazel to sit somewhere else. Her eyes locked on Evie across the table, who was biting into her burger with gusto.

"Who's this?" Her tone a perfect imitation of polite enquiry, with only an undercurrent of annoyance that I was beginning to recognise was evident when she spoke about most people.

"This is Evie, we're showing her around whilst she's in Torrance," Jaxon said, spraying bits of burger everywhere making Alexa cringe away from him.

Evie waved at Alexa across the table, her mouth also full. She swallowed quickly.

"Hi, I'm Evie. You must be Alexa."

I watched as Alexa's face clouded over, confused by how Evie knew her.

"Yes, I'm Samual's girlfriend." She placed a hand on my arm as if that constituted proof of ownership. "Can I ask how you ended up wearing one of Samual's shirt?"

I swallowed, wondering how she'd spotted that so soon.

Evie looked down and blushed. "There was a small accident with the blender and the lack of a lid. My top was in a state so Hazel washed it for me."

"Yes, but why are you wearing one of my boyfriend's t-shirts?"

Evie's eyebrows scrunched together, and she spoke slowly, clearly questioning Alexa's IQ. "Because it was in a bag to go to charity and I love Supernatural."

"Oh, you know what that sign means?" Alexa pointed to the silver pentagram on the black shirt, acting superior.

"Sure, it's an anti possession pentagram." Evie shrugged, and I smiled without knowing it.

"Bitch." I smirked.

"Jerk." Evie fired back at me, making us both laugh, whilst everyone else watched the exchange with wide eyes.

No one else in the house watched my favourite programme and yet this girl, from Cornwall, was clearly a fan. Not even my girlfriend fully understood the intricacies of the Winchester brothers, despite me trying to explain it to her on multiple occasions.

Alexa remained quiet whilst the rest of us continued to eat, apparently at a loss for words.

"So how were tryouts?" Alexa finally voiced once we were almost finished.

"Alright," I said.

"Could have been better," Tori answered.

"Useless," Jaxon grumbled at the same time.

Evie and Hazel looked between us and laughed.

"I don't think this is something to laugh over," Alexa snapped at them, making both girls stop. "This is serious. The boys need a frontman or they can't play anymore."

I patted her hand where it was on the table. "It's alright. We've still got time to find someone," I reassured her.

"Have you really got time to be showing... Evie was it...around? You should be focusing on finding someone to replace Hunter. No offence, Evie," Alexa added, throwing Evie a small smile that quickly disappeared.

Evie bit her lip, looking torn. "Of course. You've all been so welcoming to me already. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

Jaxon slapped his hands on the table, looking angry.

"Don't you worry about that. We offered to show you around and that offer still stands." He said it to reassure Evie, but he glared at Alexa, who was unmoved.

"But you don't really have time now, do you?" Alexa retorted.

"Well, you can always have a look when we take Evie to the observatory tomorrow. L.A. is probably crawling with potential bandmates," Hazel said, making Tori smile as she automatically invited herself along.

It seemed that the two girls had formed a pretty tight connection after only one afternoon together.

"The observatory?" Alexa looked between us all, her gaze finally zeroing on Evie.

"The boys said they'd take me today, but they had to cancel so Hazel's going to book tickets for tomorrow." Evie's eyes sparkled with excitement, though I could tell she was still a little worried about wasting our time.

"Well, if you're all going, an extra person shouldn't be too bad. I guess I can come." Alexa pulled out her phone, no doubt to rearrange the plans she had for the next day.

Jaxon placed his head on the table and pretended to cry where Alexa couldn't see him. Tori patted his back in mock consolation.

"Ahh sure." Hazel accepted as graciously as she could. "But we'll have to take two cars."

"I'll drive one," I volunteered, feeling responsible, as it was my girlfriend that was making things more difficult.

"Me and Evie will ride with Hazel and Tori then." Jaxon shot up, making sure everyone heard him. "Tori's car is bigger than Sam's so it works out."

Nobody pointed out that Kotori's car was only a smidgen bigger than mine. Nobody wanted to be in the same car as Jaxon and Alexa. And even, I had to admit; I hadn't liked the way Alexa had questioned Evie about my shirt. It had seemed a little defensive.

"That works for me." Alexa leaned forward and captured my lips in a kiss.

I wasn't one for big displays of public affection, so wasn't prepared for it. When I finally extracted myself, I saw Jaxon pretending to be sick and Evie almost falling off her chair with laughter. Even Hazel and Tori seemed to find it amusing.

Alexa, oblivious to everyone's reaction, looked rather pleased with herself.

It was ironic that a girl who could notice so much about what people were wearing missed the fact that she was most definitely not welcome on our outing tomorrow.

And yet still my friends were happy to put up with her, for my sake. I knew I would owe them big time for tomorrow.