Author's Note: I've decided to give the chapters actual titles. Sorry for any confusion. :P

On Friday after school, I went back to the doctor's, where they told me I didn't need the crutches anymore. Personally, I didn't think I had needed them in the first place, but they were the ones with medical degrees, and I was the one with the twisted ankle.

Scar and I decided to have a sleepover so that I wouldn't have to awkwardly go to Ted's house alone tomorrow. Granted, the boys and I had gotten closer, but now the thought of going to his house got a little bit overwhelming.

I don't know why, I always just kinda assumed maybe they were faking in school.

Scar and I sat on my bed with my dog laying across us listening to Van Halen.

I was hanging my head upside-down over the bed, trying my best to read a magazine before I got too dizzy and fell over. It was my favorite reading position and no one could tell me otherwise.

Scar picked up my dog and cradled him like a baby as he tried to get away from her.

Often times our sleepovers worked this way; we didn't need to have constant conversation, we could just sit and enjoy each other's company.

"So you're still coming to Ted's house with me tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah sure. Don't want to leave you alone with three boys; who knows what you'll get up to," she winked. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh man, I should probably call Ted and see if we're still on for tomorrow,"

"You didn't bother to ask him today?"

"Shut up,"

I got off the bed and dialed the number. It was still on the back of my hand, but I'd also copied it down into my book.

I had to take a few deep breaths before I dialed and I saw Scar roll her eyes. I could never help how bad I was at talking to people if it wasn't in a business way (or if they were a close friend, if course.)

It was ringing. My hands were kinda sweaty.

"Hello?" It sounded like Ted's dad. I always hated when parents picked up the phone.

My mouth was dry as I spoke, "Uh, hi, is Ted there?"

"Ted! Phone!"

There was silence and I heard feet pounding on the floor. The phone was picked up again.

"Hello?" He said nervously.

"Ted? It's Lucky,"

"Oh hey babe-- uhh-- dude," he sounded relieved that it was me. I decided not to ask why he sounded worried. He probably didn't. After all, I always sounded like a man on the phone.

"Am I still coming over tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah, dude, of course. If you still want to, that is,"

"Of course! Is it okay if I bring my friend Scarlet? She's staying over tonight," I started playing with the rip in my old sweater for something to do with my hands.

"That'd be excellent! We can have an audience! Uh, okay, I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe around lunchtime? I make excellent grilled cheeses." He sounded proud. It was kinda cute.

"Sure thing. Uh... okay, bye Ted." I hung up quickly before I could realize how bad I was at ending conversations.

"How's your boyfriend doing?" Scarlet teased. I hit her with a pillow.

***

Ted didn't live too far from me, as it turns out, and I found out later that River lived even closer. I was walking my dog with Scar by my side. She was holding my little portfolio of possible locations I could set up gigs, as well as price ranges for t shirts, posters, and similar items.

I was about to knock on Ted's door when the garage opened up and he waved me inside. His dark hair flopped around excitedly.

Bill was tuning his guitar and River was reclined with his feet on the speaker.

"Welcome, manager dude!" Ted grinned, waving me in. For a brief moment, he ushered me in with his hand on the small of my back, but his hand suddenly jumped away as though I'd shocked him.

I was definitely overdressed for the occasion. While the boys were in jeans or sweats, I had gone through too much trouble to look professional. I knew I should've just gone casual.

I'd done up my hair a bit in a sad excuse for a bun, wore my most professional white button-down blouse, and a black jacket over it, as well as my favorite skirt and nice shoes. I'd even gone through the effort of putting on makeup, only to feel like the guys were staring at me too much.

Scar couldn't care less if she tried. She had on a Led Zeppelin shirt, jean jacket, and her favorite ripped jeans and sneakers. People often said she looked like a dude, but she didn't really care.

"Sup," she gave them the usual nod.

"Hey guys," I awkwardly said, stepping out of the high heels while trying not to be obvious. Almost instantly I took my hair out of the bun, but I was still way too overdressed.

"How's your foot?" Bill called from his spot on their make-shift stage.

"A little bruised, but no more crutches!" I said proudly.

"Excellent!" He grinned.

"See?" I held up my foot a little bit to try and show him how I didn't need the wrap anymore.

"You showing off your leg for the pretty rockstars?" Scar called, petting my dog with River.

My face started burning and I instantly put my leg down. "Shut up, Scarlet!" I hissed.

I started to remove the jacket because I was dying of heat (partly from blushing) when Scar pinched my arm.
"Stop stripping," she said, a little too loudly.

The boys laughed and I wanted to die.

"Cool dog, can I pick him up?" River asked changing the subject as he knelt to get eye-level with my chocolate lab puppy.

"Sure thing. His name is Montague."

"Hey Montague," he whispered, a genuine smile breaking out on his face. He picked him up, cradling him like a baby the same way Scar always did, and took a seat again.

Ted pulled out his Wyld Stallyns notebook. As he flipped through, I noticed he had torn a few pages out. He probably didn't want anyone seeing the ones that were too personal.

They were going to play a few for us and get a bit of feedback.

Ted tapped on his microphone and swung his guitar over his shoulder.
"GOOD AFTERNOON SAN DIMAS, ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?" He yelled to the three of us.

River let out a "whoo!" from under Montague, who had made his place on his lap.

"Thank you River," Ted pointed to him, "This song is called What Rock Is."

They started to play. Some parts of it was screechy and off key, other parts didn't sound too bad. I couldn't focus too much on the lyrics, I just knew they were singing. As bad as they could sound at certain moments, their singing voices were nothing to be ashamed of.

Bill and Ted had all the potential in the world, and that's why they needed me. I found myself falling in love with the song, despite how bad it sounded.

When Scarlet held up her hand and commanded them to stop, I was jolted out of my trance and blushed. River lazily sat up at the silence, scratching my dog's ear.

"Okay, nice lyrics, bad chords," Scar began, picking up their notebook. "Look, you replace this E chord here with a D, change the F sharp to a G, and tune everything into the key of A.... now listen." She held up the notebook. They gave it a once-over and tried to play it.

It sounded a lot better already, even after just the first verse. They high fived.

"Most triumphant decision, Scarlet!" Bill exclaimed, impressed.

"You guys mind if I rewrite the music for your other stuff? I take music history class this year, I love doing stuff like this."

"Sure thing," Ted agreed eagerly.

"Where do you get your inspiration?" Bill asked excitedly, looking over her shoulder as she wrote.

"The great man himself, Eddie Van Halen!"

"EXCELLENT!" Bill and Ted exclaimed, air guitarring excitedly. River gave a rock on sign in agreement, not wanting to disturb the dog with air guitar.

I don't know why, but something didn't settle in my stomach quite right at the way they all were getting so excited about this. It wasn't jealousy, it couldn't be. Besides, I was happy for Scarlet for getting to do what she loved the same way I did.

They all talked excitedly about their favorite bands as she changed the chords, Ted had his arm around her, Bill had a hand on her knee, and I felt just a little incompetent that I hadn't gotten into the music history classes.

But then Bill swung his arm out and grabbed my elbow and pulled me in close so I could be involved too. River took a seat on my other side, still snuggled up to my dog, and I realized they still needed me as much as they did her.

We were a team now. A real team, for the first time in my life, where I had a close group of friends.