Marc walked with his arm looped around Toby’s arm the entire way to his house. It was almost as if he was scared Toby would change his mind and run away. When they got to his house, Marc finally let go and pulled out his keys from his pocket. Toby looked around the outside of the house. It was small, but it looked like it was well cared for. The hedges were nicely trimmed, and the outside looked like it got power washed every so often. There wasn’t any grass, Toby observed. Instead the area where grass normally would be was covered with wood chips. Toby had never seen someone replace their grass with wood chips, and was curious as to why. He made a mental note to ask about it.

     “You know, you can come inside instead of just standing on my porch.” Marc teased, bringing Toby out of his thoughts. Embarrassed, he nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

     It had been a few years since someone had invited him to hang out at their house, so Toby was unsure of what he was supposed to do. Did he sit down? Did he follow Marc to wherever he was walking? While Toby debated what he was supposed to do, he stood at the entrance awkwardly. Marc noticed after a moment, and turned back around, grabbing Toby by the wrist and dragging him throughout the house.

     “You don’t hang out at people’s houses much, do you?” He asked. Toby shook his head in response, only to realize that Marc couldn’t see since he was in front of him.

     “No, not really.” He quietly answered.

     “Well, that’s about to change. You’re welcome to hang out here anytime you feel like it.” Toby guessed he wasn’t going to have a choice and that Marc was going to expect him to hangout most days.

     Marc lead them through the house. There was a front living room, which had a couch, recliner chair, and a fireplace. Next to the fireplace was a drum set, and a couple of amps. Marc continued to lead them through the house, letting go of Toby’s wrist as they entered the kitchen. It was open, and a center island in the middle that had bar stools pulled up to it where people could sit and eat. Seated on one of the barstools was a man reading the newspaper. Toby guessed he was around 26 years old.

     “I’m home, and I brought a friend with me!” Marc declared loudly.

     “Do you always need to be so loud whenever you enter the room? I’m right here, you know.” The man said, lowering the newspaper as he cast a lazy glance towards Toby, sizing him up. “You brought a friend? Did you forget we were going to have practice today? Rex and Layla will probably be here in a few minutes.”

     “Oh crap I totally forgot! My bad.” Marc said without apology. He turned towards Toby before saying “You can stay and listen. We’re pretty bad though.”

     “Hey, speak for yourself. My vocals are on point.” A woman’s voice said from behind Toby, causing him to jump a little, and scoot as close to the wall as he can. The woman was short, but looked like she could kick anybody’s ass if she wanted to. She wore black leggings, thigh high boots, and had on a tight black shirt. Her hair was long, black, and her makeup was done so well Toby almost couldn’t tell if she was wearing makeup or not. Another person entered the room behind her, throwing a slightly confused glance at Toby as he walked past him.

     “Marc’s just jealous Layla, you know that he wishes he could sing like you.” Marc just scoffed at that statement, then went to the fridge and started rummaging through it. Toby watched from his place against the wall as Layla walked over and took the soda that was in Marc’s hand. After popping open the can and taking a sip, she turned towards Toby and pointed a finger towards him.

     “So, who’s the scared puppy against the wall?” Toby tried to move closer to the wall, not comfortable with so many people suddenly looking his way.

     “He’s Marc’s friend from school. Marc forgot we were going to practice today.” The guy with the newspaper responded. The woman, Layla, nodded as she took a sip.

     “Marc forgot practice again?” The man that came in after Layla said. “Is anyone really surprised at this point?” Toby watched as he walked to the pantry and opened it up. He was wearing tight blue plaid pants that had straps that connected the legs. His shirt was ripped in random places, and looked very worn out. His hair was dirty blonde, and shaved on both sides, almost as if he had a mohawk at some point, but had let the rest of his hair grow too long to spike.

     “HEY! I don’t forget that often.” Marc said defensively, walking back towards Toby with two soda’s in his hand. “This is the only soda we have. We also have water, if you prefer?” Marc said, holding out the soda. Toby shook his head and took the soda, keeping his gaze towards the ground, uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room. Satisfied that Toby took the soda, Marc continued “Right, so let me introduce you to everybody. The guy reading the newspaper is my cousin Jake. He plays guitar. The chick standing next to him is Layla, our vocalist.” Layla glared at Marc, not liking that he called her a chick. “And the weirdo over there digging through our pantry is our drummer Rex. Everybody, this is Toby. We’re friends from school. Be nice to him.” Marc said that last part in a playfully threatening way. Toby continued to not make eye contact with anybody, standing there awkwardly as Marc introduced everyone. He really wasn’t mentally prepared for so much attention to be suddenly on him. Toby preferred to fly under the radar, and tried his best not to attract too much attention. Marc continued “ They all attend the university that’s near here. Layla and Rex are freshmen, and Jake has been there for 3 years. If you ever need help with homework, they make great tutors!”

     "Don’t volunteer me to tutor! I’m bad at all my classes!” Rex said, finally emerging from the pantry with a bag of chips.

     Clearing his throat, Jake folded the newspaper he was reading and placed it onto the counter. “Marc, you should grab your bass so we can get started.”

     “Oh, right! Come on Toby, I’ll show you the best place to sit!” Marc said, turning around and exiting the kitchen. Toby was glad to leave the crowded room. Instead of turning back towards the living room, Marc turned down a hallway, and opened a door. Toby stood outside and peeked in. Inside he saw a messy bed, clothes randomly thrown around the room, and posters all over the walls. Marc dropped his backpack onto his bed, and grabbed his bass from a stand in the corner.

     Once they got back to the living room, Marc told Toby he could sit on the couch and listen, or start doing homework. Rex was already sitting at the drum kit, getting warmed up, and Jake was tuning his guitar. Marc joined him, and once they were all tuned up, they began to practice.

     Marc is kinda right, they aren’t really that good. But they really look like they’re having fun. With more time and practice they probably could be good. Toby thought to himself after the first song. Then he wondered what it was like to have fun with a group of people. He spent the entire time sitting on the couch rigidly, having a hard time relaxing. His therapist had once told him that he had severe social anxiety, and he believed it. He took a deep breath, and tried to allow himself to relax, but wasn’t succesfull. There was just too many new people and things happening for Toby to allow himself to relax.

    After about an hour, the group decided to end their practice session. Marc leaned his bass against his amp, and walked over to Toby. If he noticed that Toby never opened the can of soda, he never said anything. He asked if Toby wanted to stay longer and hang out more, but Toby shook his head, declining the offer . Marc tried to hide his slight disappointment, but Toby still noticed it.

     As Toby walked out the front door, Marc asked him “Do you have a phone? We should exchange numbers so we can text!” Without thinking about it, Toby pulled his phone out of his pocket and passed it to Marc, who passed his to Toby. Once they finished and gave each other’s phones back, Toby said a quiet bye, and walked back to his house, relieved to be surrounded by the silence of the night. Once he got home, he skipped dinner in favor of going to sleep. The day had drained all of his energy.