9th ♬

"Here, place your middle finger here and it will be easier," said Jace, placing one of Cad's fingers on the thickest string.

I stared at them, watching as Cad did everything he could do to bend his stiff fingers, and tried placing them on the correct positions. Jace was keeping his patience in one piece, with Cad's unyielding fingers that were far from being flexible and wanted to be placed everywhere except at the rightful spots. Another roaring of thunder echoed, but the music playing along in my ears kept me calm.

I was afraid of thunders. It had all started when I was in kindergarten. One day, our class was having a field trip. And unfortunately, as much as I never planned to, I was suddenly left behind. It was raining at that time, the clouds as heavy as they could possibly be. Wearing my yellow raincoat and soaked boots, I continued walking, even though I had no clue where I was supposed to go. We were in a forest at noontime for lunch, and no one had seen the rain coming.

The next thing I knew was that I was in the middle of the woods, alone as the thunders growled loudly around the place. Quivering in fear, I tried to call for help.

Mommy, I remembered repeating over and over again. But sadly, no one came to my rescue for the next few minutes. With loud echoes from the wrath-smitten skies, I swore I could have been hit by a lightning at that time. And it had triggered my aversion to thunders and the falling rain. Even more, I became afraid of being left alone.

"Reese," I heard Jace call my name, holding my right arm tightly as he shook me.

I snapped back, realizing that the flame was almost in my face. I instantly moved away from the uneasy heat and obviously dangerous flare.

With a worried voice, Jace asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I stammered, holding my gaze at the burning candle. I put the candle holder back on the floor. I remembered picking it up a while ago, but nothing after that. At times, I was really fond of doing things without much thinking. A lot of events could attest to that. And as I almost burned my face, I was reminded that I should be more careful and pay closer attention to things, especially the ones that I did unconsciously.

"If you want to burn yourself, you should at least warn us," said Cad. I stared half-heartedly at him. Jace should be my brother instead. He sounded more worried than my supposedly brother.

"I was just distracted with something. Go ahead, sorry to startle the two of you," I told them both, switching to the other side and facing the darkness instead.

The lights went out about an hour ago. It must be due to the heavy rain and streaks of light that were crossing the skies. I started to wonder how much longer it would be, before the electricity would come back again. The start of my weekend was totally ruined by the storm and the unwelcome guest in our house.

Jace eyes lingered a little longer on me. Even though I wasn't looking directly at him, I could still see him from the corner of my eyes. And there was Cad's peeved clearing of his throat, which confirmed what had caused my cheeks to catch the color of crimson. And thankfully, the darkness hid it from him.

I heard Jace continue his lecture, and I was somewhat relieved that the matter had ended like that. It was funny that since we were not fighting and he wasn't pulling pranks on me, I felt awkward with him instead. Hating him was easier than not feeling sure how to act around him.

He was now teaching Cad how to strum. After a while of useless efforts, Cad tediously asked, "Jace, why is this so hard?"

"It's all about the rhythm," Jace said that familiar phrase.

"Rhythm?" Cad repeated.

"Yes," he replied, "everything has a rhythm. You can't go fast, nor can you slow down."

I remembered the continuation of his words and finished it in my mind, 'Or you'll just end up getting lost and plucking out of will. It just needs to be right, like with everything else. In time, Reese, you'll know why.'

Almost three years later, I still didn't know why things, aside from songs, had to be in rhythm. In fact, I hadn't felt the rhythm that he was talking about all along. It was as if I was randomly plucking the strings, hoping that it would create a melody. But like with everything else, there were none, only empty banging and cluttered noises.

After listening to them for another thirty minutes, I sort of became envious that at least they got something to do and I had none. I almost played all of the music in his Favorite Playlist, and the storm wasn't in the least near stopping. Heavy rain was pouring outside, and the waves were vigorously hitting the rocks on shore. The winds were getting profound, and you could almost hear swooshing sounds, despite the closed windows.

Seeing that there wasn't anything good to stare at the vast darkness in front my eyes, I turned back and faced the two instead. Jace was still showing Cad how to properly strum. I imagined myself being in his situation before. After all, I was once Jace's student, too. And because of him, I learned how to play well. And that sort of came in handy during that event before—that one event that made me abstain from touching a guitar ever again.

I stood up, lighting another candle, before I headed toward the empty kitchen. I placed the candle on the counter. From the window above the sink, I caught a glimpse of the local diner, The Wings of the Mighty Chicken. It was closed due to the heavy storm. And like I told Jace before, what he did was definitely unforgivable, because I was reminded of it each day.

It wasn't as if I could move our house to where I couldn't see that diner every day.

Although Jace was nicer than what I had expected him to be, it wasn't enough. There were some scars that not even this music player or saving me yesterday could ever mend. It was far more deeply embedded in my heart, uncertain if it would ever heal.

I would never make the same mistake again. We had been in closer terms before, almost getting to the point wherein we could have ended up together. He was kind, exactly like he was today. And it was my fault that I fully trusted him just because he was kind.

"Hey."

I pulled the curtains back. Pulling the earphones from my ears, I turned around. With an uninterested voice, I asked, "Do you need anything?"

"Not really. Just wondering what you're up to?" Jace answered, studying me.

"Why?"

"Nothing," he told me, grabbing a glass and pouring some water into it. "Just wondering."

"Okay," I replied, still leaning against the counter and watching his moves.

He put the tip of the glass to his mouth, and the water slowly came down as he gulped them along. Then my phone started ringing, making me jump. Jace laughed a little at my surprised reaction. I disregarded his teasing and looked at the screen.

And he was what I needed.

"Hi," I said, answering the call.

"We're still going tomorrow, despite the weather?" Nick asked me in that deep voice of his. But truthfully speaking, I wasn't that type of girl who got swayed by this kind of thing.

Regardless, due to the situation where I was in right now, I took the opportunity. And with an animated voice, I answered, "Of course, why wouldn't we be? I bet the storm will leave this evening, and we'll have a sunny day for our date."

Jace kept his face straight, finishing the glass of water in his hand. And even after he had already emptied it, he just stayed there beside me. I didn't move from where I was, letting him hear the conversation some more. It would be better this way, for him to know that I was now over him...

♫♩♬♩♬

"Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, waving goodbye.

He just smiled, watching me softly as I started walking back. He leaned against his car, crossing his arms over his chest. I hadn't taken my eyes from him, watching as he carefully guided me in my attempt to successfully walk back without looking where I was going.

After several steps, I saw his eyes widened in alarm. He held a hand in the air. I stopped, feeling whatever was behind me. Then I realized that I was close enough to hitting a tree. I laughed, tracing the trunk and walking back some more. Seeing that I was now past the tree in our yard, I headed to my left.

He continuously nodded, going along with my attempt to make it back home without hitting myself on something, or tripping over and falling backwards. I laughed, feeling the craziness seeping into my veins. This had been the longest yet probably the happiest walk back home I'd ever had.

I didn't have to look to my left to see that I was already at our front door. The huge window of our living room that I just passed by told me so. Jace motioned for me to go inside. I slowly shook my head in response, prolonging the moment.

I heard his soft laugh again, and saw him getting something from his pocket. Then I heard my phone beeped.

Go home now. Good night, Sweet.

It could have been better if Sweet was an endearment rather than a teasing remark. Regardless of my sudden thought, I typed my reply, carefully hitting the buttons.

Thanks for the stare home. It could have been better if you walked me back instead. But anywho, thanks. And good night too, Jace.

I saw Jace waved at me, and I did the same before entering our house. Sparks and glitters were flying around as I opened the door and made my way in. I felt unusually happy and overwhelmed with joy, as if my heart would burst any moment soon. Looking down my contacts for Claire's name, I skipped blissfully to my room.

♫♩♬♩♬

...way over. I was through with the good side of our story.

"Good. I'm actually nervous that you'll eventually change your mind," Nick said to me on the other line.

"Why should I? I'm actually excited about it," I replied, trying to sound cheerful.

Eyes sparkling, checked.

"That sounds very believable," said Jace, loudly.

I eyed him intently. Then I heard Nick ask, "Is someone else with you?"

"Um... my brother?" I stuttered, telling half the truth.

"Oh, of course..." Nick began saying, but he was immediately cut off.

I wasn't able to hear the rest, as Jace yanked the phone from my hand. For a moment, I was so surprised that I wasn't able to say or do anything. I just didn't see that one coming.

"Nah, it's me, Jace. You probably know me. It's a small town, like what they said," Jace was saying in a low voice. "Yeah, that one."

"Give it back!" I said to him, trying to snatch back my phone. But he was good at dodging my every move. As I was trying to get it back, they continued having a not so friendly conversation. It was something about warning Nick to stay away from me.

Seriously.

Of course, I was clueless on why, seeing that I was now forcefully being held in both arms by Jace, steadied on my place as he went on talking with Nick. He miraculously balanced the phone between the side of his head and his right shoulder.

And since I could not move my arms, I tried kicking him, but he was not in my kick-able distance. He should thank those long arms and legs of his. So I had no choice but to let him do as he pleased, until the conversation had ended.

Then letting me go, he finished the call without even showing any courtesy of giving it back to me and letting me talk to Nick. I forcefully snatched the phone away from his hand. "You seriously have a death wish."

"Anyone but him, okay?" Jace said to me in a flat and cautious tone, putting his hand on my phone and preventing me from calling back Nick.

And that alone made me smile, wickedly.

He was aggravated with Nick. Now that he was highly disapproving of him, I was more eager to pursue this thing. Finally, things were going right. And with a smug, I asked him, "Why?"

"I saw him with Brittany the other day. Want me to explain the details?" Jace offered, still frustrated.

Disregarding his doubtful warning, I insisted on the matter that being with Nick made him infuriated. And that was more I like it. "So?"

He looked straight into my eyes. I could sense that he was dead serious about the matter. But then, what he said could possibly be a lie, too. He once lied to me, and Nick never did. So definitely, he was on the bad side.

And Nick also warned me about him, since he saw everything that night of the first incident. He told me that he knew Jace before he moved to the city with his grandparents. And he said that he was the type of person who would do everything to get even.

"Just don't say that I didn't warn you," Jace said in a cold voice.

I was about to answer back, but Cad suddenly appeared. It seemed like he was hiding behind the fridge for a while now. With a speculative voice, he asked the two of us, "Are you guys fighting? You sound like some married couple, even worse than Mom and Dad."

"Do we even look like a couple to you?" I replied in disgust.

"Yes, with all honesty," Cad replied without even thinking, holding his right hand up. "Swear."

"And I'm with the boy. You two bickered quite well," said a very girly voice, which I didn't expect to hear at all. Claire was standing at the doorway. She was holding the seashell curtain away from her face.

With an astonished voice, I asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm not alone. I brought Mason with me," she answered.

"In the middle of a storm?" I asked her, still feeling dumbfounded.

"Yeah," she replied. "At first, we thought you would be lonely and scared with all the thunders going around. But it seems like you're very much preoccupied."

"I'm not!"

"It seems like it. You two were so engrossed in your lovey-dovey conversation that you both didn't notice that we came in and were talking loudly in the living room," Claire continued blabbering, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"You could have called our attention," I suggested.

"She did," said Cad bluntly.

"Yeah, I did, a couple of times," Claire added. Then she turned her attention to Cad and said, "Come on, Cad. Let's give them some space."

I saw her wrap her arm around his shoulders and dragged him to the living room. She turned back and winked at me. I glared in response, which she found amusing. Without a second thought, I followed her to the living room and heard a pair of footsteps doing the same.

"You're here!" Mason greeted me with a friendly nod, as he was strumming the only song he could play using a guitar.

Putting it down, Claire slid to his side and I did the same by sitting next to her. Jace sat next to Cad and Snickers, keeping a fair distance between us. Circled around the candle, an eight seconds silence pulled in. No one was saying anything. Sure, they all knew each other, but then there was a huge gap in between.

"So what are we going to do now?" I was the one who had broken it. After all, I was the middle line in all these various relationships.

"Let's play," suggested Claire.

"Play?" I echoed back with utter disapproval.

"How about two truths and a lie?" recommended Mason. We played that game before. It was fun, at times. But with Jace around, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go along with this game.

Without letting the idea succeed, I suggested, "How about the M&M's game?"

"Boring," said Cad. "What are you, a fifth-grader?"

"Just saying." I shrugged.

"Let's start," said Claire, adjusting her seat and looking at Cad. "You go first since you're the youngest. You're cool with this, Jace?"

Jace smiled. "Of course."

But I wasn't. However, when Cad already carried on with it, I wasn't able to object. Cad said, "I speak two languages. When I was seven, I bought my first pencil using my own money. And Cheetos is my favorite snack."

"Me first. Snick has to pass. Right, boy?" said Mason, stroking Snickers' head. "So I'm guessing that the second one is the lie."

"One?" said Claire, turning to me for the right answer.

It was expected that I should be the one with the correct answer. But honestly speaking, I was torn between the first and the second one. "The first one? What other language do you know?"

After I answered, Jace said, "The last one."

Cad's face brightened up when Jace mentioned the words. With a proud smile, he said, "He got it right. It's such a shame that my sister doesn't know that I like Doritos better, and that I'm fluent in Spanish."

"Wait! Does that even make a difference? Come on, you eat both!" I protested, sensing some injustice going on. He finished my Cheetos in the fridge the other day. "And when did you become fluent in Spanish?"

"Jace knows me even better," Cad wistfully replied, shaking his head and mocking my lack of practical knowledge about him.

"I used to give you that before," Jace told Cad.

"What for?" I asked him.

"It's our secret. It's your turn, Mason," said Cad, shoving my questions aside.

"I'm going out with Claire. I take drugs. I like to sleep in my pajamas," Mason enumerated his three.

Without even thinking, Claire and I both said, "The third one."

"Great! I lost," said Mason after realizing that we were both seated to his left. And the thing was, we both knew that he hated wearing pajamas. He would stick to whatever he was wearing that day and go to bed with it.

"Third one? Even though it sounds funny, but they seemed convinced," said Jace, looking at the two of us who answered like we knew the absolute.

"You do drugs?" Cad asked.

I hurriedly corrected him, "Not illegal drugs. He has severe allergies."

"Oh," Cad mouthed, finally enlightened. Then he was taken back again by something. With an intriguing stare, he asked Claire and Mason, "You two are together?"

I turned my gaze to the two, wondering how they would react. Claire firmly nudged Mason. With a shrug, Mason said, "Yeah? I forgot that it's not yet publicly declared."

"Stop," Claire hissed.

Slipping his arm around her, he continued, "But hon, there's no need to be shy."

Claire's face was priceless with his teasing, and we all laughed.

"Really?" I heard Jace ask, a little bit surprised. With a smile, he added, "I used to think before that you two suit each other. Although, I haven't heard if it's okay with Reese?"

"She'll be okay," answered Claire, "We're not really isolating her or anything. But it would be better if she finds herself a guy, too. The four of us could hang out if that happens."

I eyed her intently, but Claire ignored me all the way. Just what did she mean by that us? Unless she was talking about me falling in love with my younger brother, Jace was the only one left.

I saw Jace slightly smile, not denying or saying if he liked the idea. So for the two of us, I said to her, "Don't worry, Claire, I'll find another person to make that us with."

"Whatever. So here goes mine. I am a vegetarian, I always keep my hair mid-length ever since I was in grade school, and I wear contact lenses," said Claire.

"First one," I affirmatively answered. This bacon-lover was far from being a full-pledged vegetarian.

"And you Jace?" she asked him.

"Second? I can see your contact lenses now," Jace said.

"I always see you have that hair before. So I'll go for the first one, too," said Cad.

Mason turned Claire to him. Then he stared at her eyes. Catching him by surprise, he skeptically asked, "You already got one?"

"Dumbo. I thought you'd be the first one to notice," she answered, shoving his hands and giving him a forceful slap on the arm.

I laughed. So Mason had no clue that Claire already got her prescription last Thursday. I guessed there were some things that you only share with your girl best friend and not with your best/boy friend. Maybe she also wanted him to notice it himself.

"So who's winning so far?" asked Claire.

"Me," said Cad. Counting that he had the three of us fooled a while ago, we all agreed to his declaration.

"Your turn," said Claire, telling me to go along with this game.

I gave it a thought. Of course, I had chosen the safest statements. "I used to play the guitar. I won a prize in spelling in fourth grade. I don't use fork while eating."

"That's lame," said Jace.

"Yeah," agreed Mason. "We're being honest around here. Disappointed, Reese."

And on the count of three, they all answered, "the third one."

With their well-thought guesses, I was declared as the absolute loser. I was cool with that. With a steady voice, I told Jace, "Your turn, make sure you win."

"Okay," Jace paused for a while, looking at his audience, who were deeply anticipating what he was about to say. Everyone's eyes flickered the light coming from the candle. "So here's mine."

I found myself holding my breath. I had a bad feeling about this.

A smile pulled at the corner of his lips, lingering there for a while, before he finally said, "I had no clue why Reese got angry with me. I admire Reese because of her impulsiveness. And I also used to love her."

The world stopped moving, and everyone gasped at what they had heard. I was dumbfounded. Sure, the three were being a bit honest, sharing a thing or two. But then, Jace was doing this much? Taking it this far? And not to mention that I was entangled in all of them. My breaths stilled, as I stared at him closely. And that was it, his two truths and one lie.