Time had gone by fast, and before I knew it, Clover and I were walking side by side to the HQ. Both of us were busy with our own activities—me reading a book and her examining herself in a pocket mirror.

"How do I look?" she asked suddenly, turning to me.

"With your eyes, Clover."

"I don't need your sarcasm right now, Autumn."

"That's the millionth time you've asked me. You look fine, okay? You look pretty." I tried not to sigh.

We heard tuneful guitar strums when we entered the room. There he was, sitting on the same stool as last time, drowned in his thoughts while playing his instrument. The black binder was laid open on the table before him, and his eyes were focused on it.

"Hey, Michael. How's it going?" Clover greeted.

"Good," he said.

When he glanced at me, everything that had transpired during lunch rushed back to me, and I panicked. I ended up waving my hand and grinning like a lunatic at him.

He frowned.

God, Autumn. How awkward can you get?

"Where are the others?" asked Clover, who was now tuning her guitar.

When he turned his attention to her, I took the chance to rush to the couch and pretended everything was cool. Just say hi next time, jeez, I mentally scolded myself.

"They went out for snacks," Michael replied. His bony fingers continued to pluck the strings with such nimbleness and dexterity. The music was hauntingly beautiful, the kind that makes you think of a story.

"That sounds amazing. What song is that?" Clover asked.

He hesitated for a bit. "It's a composition I've been working on."

My eyebrows rose at the same time Clover said in awe, "Wow. An original? That is so cool. I wish I could write songs like that. It could sell."

A moment later, Nate, Rose, and Clint arrived with snacks in their hands, and right away, the room burst with energy. Clint tossed a drink to Michael while Rose offered me some chips.

"Nice to see you here again, Autumn."

I tried not to stare too much at the dress that made her look like a fairy. "Thanks," I said, taking a chip from the bag. She lingered in my area so I felt obligated to say something. "So, um, what are you guys doing this for?"

"You mean this band? Just for fun, mainly. Sometimes to blow off some steam. But right now, we're practicing for a contest."

"A contest, really? That's cool."

"Yup. Battle of the bands, high school edition." Rose sat next to me and continued to munch on her chips. "If we passed the first round, we'd move to the statewide competition. The prizes are neat, so this will be a tough battle."

"You guys can do it," I said.

"Aww, thank you. I also believe we can do it, but there's one huge problem." She sighed. "We still don't have an audition piece yet because our diva hasn't shown up for days."

"Who?"

"Claire Enriquez. Once you see her, you should immediately roll your eyes at her."

I thought she was joking so I laughed. She waved her hand to stop me.

"No, seriously. She always makes excuses for everything. It's eye-roll-worthy at this point."

"Can't you guys find a replacement for her?" I asked.

Rose leaned a little close to me so the others wouldn't hear her. "That's what I've been saying, but Nate and Clint won't let go of her. Well, I can't totally blame them because Claire has an amazing voice. Like, superstar-amazing voice. I've asked Clover to take the spot—I mean, that's one of the reasons why I invited her to join us—but she refused."

I looked at Clover who seemed to be arguing with Clint over guitar stuff. My extroverted sister would take on any challenges, but singing? She'd rather shave her head than let a crowd hear her voice.

"Speaking of the she-devil," I heard Rose murmur to herself.

I turned to see Claire darting into the room, breathless. There were no words to describe her, but she was beautiful. Flawless brown skin. Slender figure. Dark brown hair so soft that it swayed with her every movement. She hadn't spoken yet, but her posture had already emitted confidence and authority.

"Finally! Her royal tardiness has arrived," Nate said, hitting the drums and cymbals like some fanfare.

"Hi. I'm so sorry, you guys. I was busy helping Ryan with his research project," Claire announced.

"Now's the time to roll your eyes, Autumn," Rose hissed without looking at me.

"Research on what? Frenching?" Clint chuckled. Michael shook his head and turned to the window as if he was done with everyone.

"Dude, you're always gross. Shut up. It was for his elective." Claire rolled her eyes and wiped the sweat off her neck. "Anyway, can we get this over with? I have a shift at Crumby's in two hours, and I can't be late."

"Since when did you start working at a convenience store?" Rose asked. The cattiness in her tone made me shrink in my seat. I didn't like to be in stressful situations like this especially when the argument was between people I didn't know. I shouldn't be here, I thought.

"Since, like, a week ago? Haven't I told you guys about that?" Claire asked in a scoffing tone.

"You literally haven't spoken to us for almost two weeks now, except for your song suggestions and occasional emojis in text," Rose replied.

"Oh. Sorry." Claire's smile fell off as she nodded. Her eyes landed on me for the first time, and I suddenly felt chilly. "Who are you?" she asked.

Everyone in the room stared at me, and I almost buried myself into the couch by sinking even lower.

"I'm... I'm Autumn. Just hanging out here," I stammered quietly.

"Cool." Claire whipped her head around to face her friends. I wasn't sure if they were still friends at that point. "Okay, let's not waste any more time now. We're going with that mash-up I suggested, right?"

The rest of the group gave a half-shrug and a nod.

"Mike already gave us the arrangement, and we've been working on it," Nate said.

Claire turned to Michael, and her face grew gentle, almost as if she was cautious of him.

"Thanks," she said.

Clint coughed and cleared his throat suggestively. Clover elbowed him to make him stop.

After a few rounds of bickering and experiments, they finally played and recorded a mashup of Breakeven and Fast Car. Rose had been right—Claire's voice was amazing. It had a velvety quality to it. And with her voice and Michael's arrangements combined, the whole session was like a mini-concert to me, and I felt giddy.

Unfortunately, it had to be cut short because Claire's coworker called her, and she bolted away without so much as a goodbye.

"Jesus, Claire," Nate muttered, throwing his head back.

"Do you think it went okay?" Clover asked no one in particular. "I swear I heard Clint miss a beat in the second chorus."

"Because your ugliness distracted me," the guy replied with a scowl, putting away his bass guitar.

"Wow. Nice second-grader comeback, Clint." Clover threw him a wicked smile. I raised an eyebrow at her. I might be reading too much into it, but something was definitely in that smile that she hadn't realized yet.

I liked this one thing about being quiet in a corner and just observing. It's like watching a movie and you know what's going on but the characters in it are moving around clueless.

After listening to their recording on Rose's laptop, Rose said it was passable, but they could do much better next time. Nate exhaled loudly and ended the session.

We walked out of school together. Their voices and laughter dominated the sidewalk as the sky took a dark orange hue and the sun slowly dipped behind the trees. I couldn't stop smiling. It wasn't just a smiley mask. It was a real smile, the one that I felt in my core. And even if I didn't speak much, I felt belonged in that moment. Like I was meant to be there with them.

We had to separate ways when we reached the intersection. Nate went east to check his pickup truck in the repair shop, and the two other guys went with him. Rose had to stop by the church for some youth group duties, and before leaving us, she left Clover a cryptic reminder about Michael's number.

"What was that about?" I asked when my sister and I were left alone. We continued to walk north.

"She gave me Michael's number and told me not to tell anyone about it, especially him," Clover said, giving me a sly look.

I wanted to tell her about her flirtatious banters with Clint back in the HQ, but I supposed it was too early for that, and I didn't want to ruin her high spirits.

Instead, I asked, "So, what's the deal with Claire? Why do you guys seem to dislike her so much? And does she and Michael have a thing for each other?"

"Whoa, slow down there." Clover laughed. "Well, you saw how she acted back there, right? Like she didn't care at all? Like she just wanted to get away from there? I think it all started when she and Michael broke up. She was his first love."

"First love?" I echoed to clarify.

"Yup. According to Rose, he was madly in love with her to the point that he even cried."

"Wow," I replied. "So, how did they break up? I bet they looked cute together back then.'

Clover grimaced. "Ugh. Everyone keeps saying that. I don't see the cuteness in any angle of their relationship, to be honest."

"What happened?"

"Well, this used to be like the major talk of the school last year. Long story short: Claire cheated on him. With his ex-friend Ryan," she said. My jaw dropped. It was like one of those books I read. I couldn't keep myself from being intrigued.

"Really?"

"That's what the rumor said. Claire broke up with Michael, and the next twelve hours after the Big Bad Breakup, she's hooking up with Ryan like nothing happened. We think it's because the affair has been going on for a long time. But Claire keeps saying, 'I did not cheat on him blah, blah, blah.'"

Rumor. That was what the rumor had suggested, and I hadn't heard Claire's side yet so I wouldn't perceive her as evil. However, I did feel sorry for the way she and Michael had ended.

"I see. It makes sense that he cried," I said.

"Out of anger. And out of love." Clover turned her eyes downward. She was both sad and envious, and these feelings were evident in her voice when she continued, "It seems like he can't let go of her despite what happened. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at her. His feelings for her are still there, just buried down deep."

I nodded in understanding and looked at the darkening sky. "Well, that's what people say. It's hard to forget your first love."