“No! I don’t care. I can’t do it. I was civil for your sake when we met, but you can’t seriously want her in our band.” I stared at Quinn, my brow furrowed and my jaw set. I was almost breathing hard from how worked up I was.

Quinn’s gaze was unnervingly calm. “You haven’t even heard her sing yet, Jinx,” she said, her voice even. “Give her a chance.”

I threw my arms up in the air and looked to Marsh for support, but she was much too invested in staring awkwardly in the opposite direction to participate in our argument. “It doesn’t matter if she can sing, she’s a bitch and I can’t be around her.”

“Jinx…”

My voice turned up an notch. “Did you not hear what she said? Do you not understand why I’m upset? You know how long I’ve been dealing with shit like this, and you know that this band, with you two, is the only place where I feel completely normal.” I quieted down a bit, turning serious. “I don’t want her here. I don’t want to hide who I am, not with you. I can’t do that anymore.”

Quinn’s face softened. “I understand,” she said, and I smiled a little, the tension leaving my shoulders. “But we need her.” And suddenly I was angry again. “Maybe she meant something else,” she tried to argue, but I was already walking away.

“Obviously you don't understand. I don’t give a fuck what she meant. She said what she said, and she can’t just unsay it.” Marsh looked up as I passed by, her mouth open to say something, but I shot her a glare and she looked back down at her hands without a word. I almost tripped over her amp chord, but thankfully both of them had the decency to ignore my slip-up.

The trip to the door felt longer than it was, their eyes following my every move, and I let out a breath when it was closed behind me.

Solar or Sunshine or whatever the hell her name was would show up whether I wanted her to or not, so I didn’t stick around for long. Granted, there weren’t many places I could go since we weren’t exactly within walking distance of much of anything. Marsh’s uncle had lent us his cabin for practice ever since he heard about our band, and as kind as that was, the location wasn’t always ideal.

I looked around for a place to hole up for a few hours.

Why’d I have to catch a ride with Marsh today of all days?

Out of options--save for wandering off and getting lost in the middle of the woods--I ducked around to the back of the house and sprawled out on the deck. They wouldn’t see me unless they went through the kitchen, and chances were they wouldn’t even leave the garage.

From where I lay I could hear them talking though I couldn’t make out any words. I’d be able to hear the new girl sing when she finally showed up. Not that I cared whether she was good or bad--I wanted her out. But still, it would be nice to see why Quinn was so adamant about meeting with her.

She’d better have the voice of a fucking siren luring me in to my death or I’m killing Quinn.

I’m a terrible gauge of time, and I had left my phone in the garage, but it felt like a long time before I heard a car roll up the driveway. Quinn must’ve told her how to get in. I heard a door open and slam shut before they began greeting each other in those high-pitched, annoying girls on the street voices.

Then they started playing. A large part of me wanted her to be terrible, if only so that I had a more convincing reason to kick her out, but she wasn’t. Even muffled, I could tell why Quinn had fought me. She wasn’t singing one of our songs, and it was muffled as all hell, but whatever it was sounded good.

Sounds wrong without the drums.

I frowned, letting out a sigh as the song ended. Excited voices sounded quietly, and I closed my eyes to try and focus harder on what they were saying.

Evidently I was focused enough not to hear Marsh walk up the steps of the deck until she nudged my side with her foot. I will maintain to this day that I did not scream. Marsh will argue, but she’s a liar.

She didn’t say anything, she just sat on top of me and pulled out her phone. I couldn’t tell if she was jotting down some lyrics or playing a game, but either way, I knew she was doing it to ensure that we didn’t have to make eye contact. She was nice like that.

Eventually I got tired of the silence and shifted a little under the extra weight. “Why are you stradling me?”

She winked at me over her phone. “Because I can’t have you running away now, can I?” Her voice was much more suggestive than necessary, and I scoffed at her.

“What good would that do me?” I turned away to stare at the wind blowing through the trees. I knew she came to find me and convince me to give Sky a chance, but I really didn’t want to.

Marsh lowered her phone for a minute, watching the trees with me. “I’m not telling you to like her,” she started hesitantly.

“Good,” I bit out curtly. “I don’t.”

“But we do need our drummer there before we can make any decisions.”

“Oh,” I said sarcastically. “So I do have a say here.”

To her credit, Marsh ignored my tone and nodded. “You’re more important than she is, Jinx. I think you should be there before Quinn decides everything for us.”

I pouted, earning me a smirk from Marsh. “Quinn would do that, wouldn’t she?” I knew the answer before I asked the question. Quinn would do a lot of things without my permission.

Marsh pushed herself up off of me, confident that I had been thoroughly persuaded. “One song. That’s it. We can kick her out after if we need to, but play one song with us.”

I refused to move. “I don’t want to.”

Marsh shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Well, you can play one now, or let Quinn have her way and play hundreds with her later.” She raised a single, perfect eyebrow. “It’s your choice.”

I groaned and forced myself to sit up. “Fuck,” I breathed. “Fine. One song.” A smile tugged on Marsh’s face. “I can’t promise I’ll be civil.”

She snorted. “I’d never expect that of you.”

“I… don’t know how to take that.”

She grinned at me, holding out her hand to help me up. “However you’d like, ‘Jinxette.’”

I rolled my eyes. “Fuck you, Martian.”

"I dare you," she shot back.

I was almost in a decent mood when we walked through the door and into the garage, but one look at the nervous smile on Sky’s face and I was ready to fight her again.

I didn’t shake her hand when she offered, and I didn’t bother greeting her. I simply walked past her and sat down on my stool, picking up my sticks from where I had dropped them on the floor.

“One song,” I said. “Your pick.”