Singing Sight

AN thanks everyone for being so patient, im really tired but i wanted to get this up. enjoy! comments appreciated.


Chapter Five: Week or Month?


The rest of the week progressed quickly for me, before I knew it, Friday was there. Rachel and I every day ate lunch together, on Thursday we sat with Jake, Caine, Julia, and some of their theater friends who I\'d really started to like. Rachel and I laughed and teased each other a lot, she reminded me of Meg, my best friend at my old school with her sarcasm and dark features. Julia was the big sister I never had; her bright smile and warm, open friendliness were a welcome asset. She and Jake had explained the whole workings of the theater, and after singing with Julia and Miss Lothgan, the music director, Julia had whispered I was a shoo-in soprano for the BB\'s. Jake was the pretty boy I knew at every other school; flirty, conventionally attractive, melting the hearts of even Rachel like girls on every corner. Trey, the sweetest comedian I\'d ever met, although his eyes tended to drift lower than eye level.

And Caine. Where to even begin.

He drives me to and from school, which my parents love, because that means they don\'t have to ship me to a friends house, give me more money for the bus, or pick me up themselves. And he\'s just so chill and fun, he makes these little one liners that aren\'t laugh out loud funny but are enough to make you smile. He gives good hugs and ruffles my hair sometimes, which is nice, but he treats me like I\'m just any other friend like Trey or Jake. Like I\'m a cute little sister, or something. And every time I think he\'s flirting, or looking at my legs or something, he just has this smile on his face like he wasn\'t. So maybe I\'m an optimist- but maybe I\'m just not his type. He probably likes girls like Julia, loud and fun and upbeat and tall and blonde, not me. I wouldn\'t call me unattractive, but I\'m young. I\'m too young for a guy like Caine, who\'s smart and kind of geeky and tall and smokes.

But there are those moments, maybe I make too much of them, but there are these cute little moments he has with me... I don\'t know.


The doorbell rings- it\'s him, who else? Well, Rachel. Caine was sitting in the car, Rachel in front of the door.
I picked up my bag and shouted goodbye to my parents before closing the door behind me. The door opened.

\"Ariadne, what is your plan for tonight?\" Mom asked me.

\"Ah, I\'m hanging out at Julia\'s and she\'s taking me to the show tonight at the Lion\'s Den.\"

\"Julia? Who is this?\"

\"She\'s a senior.\" Rachel interrupted. \"Really trustworthy.\"

\"I thought you said Caine was driving you.\"

\"He\'s driving me home.\"

\"What time is that going to be?\"

\"I\'ll get her home by one, Mrs. Galen. Unless you\'d like her back earlier?\" Caine shouted from the car.

\"No later than one thirty, I know you teenagers.\" My mother smiled at Caine. He grinned back.

\"On the dot, Mrs. G.\"

\"You kids have a good day,\" mom told us as she headed back inside.

\"Bye, mom.\" I waved and got in the back of the car.

Caine turned and looked at me amongst the pile of backpacks.

\"Seat-belt, dearie,\" He reminded sweetly.

\"Where\'s yours?\" I retorted.

\"Hey, your mom wouldn\'t like you driving with me without a seatbelt.\" He said as he began to pull out of the driveway.

\"I still find it humorous that you\'re trusted by her.\" Rachel said, leaning back to hand me a styrofoam cup of coffee.

\"You\'re an angel,\" I told her.

\"Three ninety one.\" Starbucks was on the way to my house for Rachel and Caine, so they picked up coffee for me with their own every morning.

\"I am really trustworthy.\" Caine replied. \"Anti-Flag, Op Ivy, the Jam or Placebo?\" He asked.

\"Op Ivy.\" Rachel voted.

\"Too early for Op Ivy.\" I said.

\"Never too early.\"

\"The Jam.\" I shrugged.

\"Too early for the Jam.\" Rachel teased.

\"Too early for your mom.\" Caine mumbled.

\"Your mom too.\" Rachel laughed.

\"Compromiso, Aquabats.\" Caine said, putting in a CD.

\"No!\" Rachel and I both shouted.

\"They\'re the geekiest band in existence!\" Rachel said.

\"Too early!\"

\"Just Worms Make Dirt and then we can switch to the Jam.\"

\"Why not Op Ivy? How come you always side with Aria?\" Rachel sneered.

\"She\'s more fun than you.\" Caine stuck out his tongue at her.

\"There\'s more to it than that.\" Rachel mumbled.

\"What?\" Caine and I both asked at the same time.

\"Nothing.\"

Mommy?
Yes son?
Where does dirt come from?
Dirt comes from the worms.
Wow!
Awesome!
There is a chipmunk at the center of the earth-


\"Caine, I can\'t take it this early. Switch, I beg of you.\"

\"I like torturing you too much. Besides, it helps me concentrate.\"

\"Electronic geekazoids help you concentrate?\" I asked.

\"No one asked you, cutie pie.\"

\"Come on, Caine!\"

\"You want to get in an accident?\"

\"I\'m surprised you haven\'t already.\" Rachel scoffed.

\"People hold hands and feel terrific.\" Caine said along with the song. \"Not in my car.\"

I smiled. Those were the one liners.

\"Good luck on your audition today, Aria.\" Caine said when we pulled into school.

\"Oh, BB\'s! Yeah, you\'ll get in. Jules loves you.\" Rachel smiled.

\"Have fun at chem.\" Caine winked.

\"Sadist.\" Rachel rolled her eyes.

\"Oh, I loove chemistry,\" I crooned. \"Almost as much as I love lead being injected into my stomach.\"

\"I\'m more of a mercury guy myself.\" Caine smiled.

\"Well, unless you\'re coming with me to the second floor, I\'ll see you after school.\"

\"Why not at break?\"

\"Auditions.\"

\"Ah, right. You\'ll do great.\"

\"Thanks. I hope so.\" I looked up at him sideways.

\"Know so.\" He corrected with that half smile of his.

\"Crap. Now I can\'t get your stupid Aquabats song out of my head. Thanks a lot.\" I said, smacking him in the
stomach with the back of my hand lightly.

\"It\'ll keep you laughing in chemistry.\" It probably would.

\"True. Or I\'ll think about you, and I\'ll laugh.\"

\"Laugh at me?\" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

\"And your ugly face.\"

He stood where he was, mouth agape, then broke in a smile. \"I\'ll think about you being a tub of lard, then.\"

\"Shut up about the weight!\"

\"Weight? What weight? You weigh nothing.\" He said, picking up my arm, his whole hand closing easily over
my forearm.

\"I do so.\"

\"Do not.\"

\"Do so!\" Before he could open his mouth to protest, I felt arms tighten around my waist and pull me up in the air. I squeaked and kicked my legs in protest, one flip flop falling to the ground.

\"Put me down! Put me down!\"

\"I don\'t have anything in my arms! What are you talking about?\" Caine laughed, one hand around my waist
tickling my stomach gently. I laughed and kicked more.

\"Cut it out! Put me down!\"

\"Put what down? Aria, where are you?\"

\"Fuck you, Caine! Put me down!\"

\"If I put you down, you\'ll fuck me?\"

\"No!\" He didn\'t need to put me down to get that favor.

\"That\'s what you just said.\"

\"No! Put me down!\"

\"Really, Ari, you\'re causing a scene.\"

I was, kind of. Trey\'s voice from behind me was heard as Caine spun me around.

\"Don\'t drop her, she\'ll break!\"

Finally, after a bout of dizziness, Caine set me down gently. I stumbled, he\'d spun me a bit too much.

\"See, you need someone to hold onto you.\" He smiled. Yeah, you.

\"Only after someone else assaults me.\" I replied dryly.

\"Get to class, delinquent,\" He smiled, \"Sorry for assaulting.\"

\"You better be.\"

\"Can I get a hug?\" He asked cutely.

\"Of course you can get a hug.\"

So we hugged. Sadly, the most action I\'ll ever get out of him.

I hurried out of fourth period english and quickly over to the music room. Jake sat at a piano bench in the corner of the room, Julia on top of the piano, and Miss Lothgan in a chair at the other end of the room. A few students, some I recognized from hallways and the theater meeting, were lounging on the floor, including a few of Jake and Julia\'s friends. I walked over to them and Julia smiled when she saw me.

\"Hey, Aria. Glad you could make it. Just sign in on this, and have a seat, we\'re waiting for five more minutes before we start warming up.\" She handed me a legal pad, and I filled in my name, class, voice type and phone number before handing it back to her.

\"Thanks.\" She smiled. Jake gave me a little wink and turned his attention to a few more kids coming in.

I sat on the floor with my legs crossed, smoothing my hands over my dark jeans and playing with my rings. A kid behind me tapped my shoulder, and I turned.

\"You\'re in my Chemistry class, aren\'t you?\" He asked.

\"Uh, yeah.\" I answered, recognizing him.

\"I\'m Nate. I\'ve been wanting to talk to you for a while.\" He smiled.

\"Are you auditioning today?\" I asked him. Wanting to talk to me? What?

\"No, I just sit in the music room for shits and giggles,\" he replied. I guess that was fair. I smiled.

\"Sorry, I\'m a bit out of it.\"

\"I\'m actually not auditioning, I don\'t have to because I\'m a senior and I\'ve been in BB for two years.\"

\"Oh. You must be good, then.\"

\"I\'m all right,\" he shrugged with a smile. \"Jules has told me a lot about you.\"

\"Really? Why?\" I asked, surprised.

\"Just that you\'ve got a good voice and you two have been hanging around a lot lately.\"

\"Are you guys friends?\" I asked him.

\"She\'s my cousin.\"

\"Wait, isn\'t Dana her cousin?\"

\"Yeah. Dana\'s my cousin, too. We\'re a big family.\"

\"Jesus. How many of you are there?\"

\"Too many.\"

\"Ok, guys, let\'s warm up!\" Julia said, and began to lead the warm up. We stood and walked the room, going along with the warm ups they gave us while the seniors sat on the floor, comparing notes for evaluations. Jake played the piano along with Jules leading.

When we\'d finished warming up we were all asked to sing our solo audition pieces, and afterwards we were given music to sing along to for different pieces of an arranged version of \"Build Me Up Buttercup\". They kept rearranging us and asking each individual to sing their part alone. Jules was so intimidating, and Jake just kind of went along with it. I was shaking like crazy and hoping my voice didn\'t waver on any of the notes.

We went over into fifth period, and were finally excused.

\"Post-ups will be at the end of the day! Thanks, guys!\" Jules called after us.

\"First meeting is Monday at break, in room 120.\" Jake added. Nate winked at me as I left and gave me a thumbs up. I couldn\'t wait for the end of the day.

Now, to go to class, or not to go to class? I thought to myself as I wandered towards the call board by one of many entrances to the theater. I saw Caine standing by the call board, squinting carefully at a list. His arm was up on the wall and he leaned casually there before brushing his shaggy dark hair out of his eyes. In doing so, he caught a glimpse of me and turned fully, the corners of his mouth upturning into a soft smile.

\"Hey, how were auditions?\" He asked.

\"They went ok. I was so scared, I was shaking practically the whole time. But as I was leaving some senior named Nate gave me a thumbs up, so I don\'t know.\" I shrugged.

\"Nate? Nate talked to you?\" He asked, his eyebrow raised.

\"Uh, yeah. He\'s in my chem class, he seems nice.\"

\"Nathan Tripoli is not a nice guy, Aria. Watch out for him, he\'s a real creep.\"

What the hell was he talking about? \"Whatever, psycho,\" I smiled, punching his stomach lightly. He smiled and caught my hand in his as I pulled it away, not letting go. \"Give me back my limb, Caine.\"

\"Why?\"

\"You\'ll break it if you keep squeezing so hard.\" I said, pulling myself free.

\"Hah,\" he smiled, eyes flicking back to the list.

\"Who are the chosen ones?\" I asked, standing on tiptoes to read the list better.

\"Want me to pick you up so you can see?\"

\"Oh, we all know how that went this morning. No thanks,\" I smiled. His name was at the top of the list, lights designer. \"Congratulations, Mr. Lights Designer.\" I smiled at him.

\"Thanks.\"

\"Clay\'s sets designer, Dana\'s costumes... I don\'t know anybody else on this list.\"

\"You will.\" Caine smiled. \"Don\'t you have class?\"

\"Technically, yes. But I just got let out late and it\'s pointless to go if I only have twenty minutes left of it.\"

\"First week of school and you\'re already cutting class. Aren\'t you a little terror.\" He smiled wryly. Why was he so delectable? Why?

\"I suppose I am.\" I smiled.

\"Well, we can get to Smoothie Haven and back in 20 minutes if I\'m driving.\" He smiled. \"You up for it?\"

\"You bet.\" I grinned. \"Let me just grab my wallet.\"


25 minutes and a peach-mango smoothie later, I was late to class. All I could think about was how great it felt to just hop in Caine\'s car with the Libertines playing loudly, singing along and looking at my laid back new friend drive and shout at pedestrians trying to cross in front of his car. Caine. He was just so much fun to hang out with. There were no obligations or restrictions when you were with him, you were just chilled and relaxed and could laugh and make fun of him and be made fun of without feeling awkward or terrible. Even though I\'ll never get closer to him than I am now, not the way I want to, it\'s still nice to just be around him in all his sexy senior glory.

And tonight we were all going out; me, Jake, Caine, Rachel, Julia, Dana, Trey... it was just going to be awesome. One week felt like one month. I couldn\'t believe it.

\"Get in the car, cutie!\" Rachel called out the passenger window to Aria, who was exiting the school.

\"Did you get in?\" I asked her. She looked so neutral, and as she approached the car, her heavy bag flapping alongside her legs, and she bent down and grinned.

\"Yeah I got in!\" She smiled.

\"That\'s great, Ari,\" I smiled at her. Of course she\'d get in. She\'s fucking perfect.

\"Congrats, sexy. Now get in the car.\" Rachel smiled.

\"Hey, how bout a real congratulations and you get in the backseat?\" Aria winked at my sister. Jesus, she\'s adorable.

\"Get in the back, Rachel. It\'s Aria\'s momentous moment.\"

\"Well spoken, good sir.\" She agreed with a smile.

\"Thank you, m\'lady.\" I replied.

\"Chivalry is dead, you two. And yes, Aria, you can sit in the front but you have to sing along to Caine\'s shitty songs the whole way home.\"

\"What?! No!\"

\"Only fair, little miss soprano.\"

\"You\'re kidding,\" Aria laughed as Rachel clambered over the seat into the back, and took her seat in the front,
dumping her bag at her feet and closing the door.

\"Nope. Sing.\" I smiled as I started the car. Some Bob Dylan came on, and Aria glared at me.

\"Ha ha, Caine. Drive. I\'ll sing for you some other time.\"

\"Why not now? Along with the Dylanator? C\'mon, you\'ve got to know something here, Tangled Up In Blue, Meet Me in the Morning... What do you know from Blood on the Tracks?\" I asked her. I was teasing but serious.
Her voice was probably as beautiful as Julia\'s, higher and purer.

\"It\'s not pretty enough, you idiot. Here, put in the Decemberists,\" the brat said from the back, leaning forward
to slide the CD in after taking out my Dylan, the bitch.

\"Next time you replace Dylan with some shitty Canadians, I\'ll kill you, you understand?\"

\"Fuck you, Caine. Aria knows them.\"

\"Doesn\'t change that you replaced the master.\"

\"Shut up will you? Here, sing to this, Ari.\"

\"No, I really don\'t want to. Not in the car, when we\'re back at your house I\'ll sing you something else.\"

\"WEAK!\" I shouted.

\"Drive, you little shit!\" Rachel yelled at me with a whack on the head.

\"I can\'t when you hit me and call me a little shit, now, can I?\" I retorted. Shit, she\'s such a brat.

\"Guys, chill out.\" And the pretty one is always right.

\"You two pumped for the Boomerangs tonight?\" I asked them to change topics.

\"Hell yeah!\" Aria smiled. \"I\'m ready to celebrate and party hard. I never in a million years thought I could get into a group like this. Wow.\"

\"You deserve to celebrate your first week,\" Rachel agreed.

\"Shit, it\'s only been a week? Feels like we\'ve been lugging your tiny ass around forever,\" I smirked.

\"Very funny, jerk.\" Aria laughed. \"And I resent the tiny comment.\"

\"Jesus, how many times do we have to cover this? I can wrap both hands around your ribcage, I\'ll bet, and one around your thigh.\" Flirting never hurts when she\'s adorable. And it was probably true, too.

\"Oh, fuck you.\"

\"Yes please!\" If she only knew.

\"Jerk.\"

\"Seriously! Every time we hug, you like, disappear in my chest you\'re so tiny.\"

\"This is going to be the new dead baby or your mom jokes. Aria\'s so teeny you can squeeze her through a tube of toothpaste she\'s so tiny!\" Rachel joked.

\"Aria\'s so little when she turns to the side she disappears.\" I added.

\"Aria\'s so tiny-\"

\"Shut up! Leave me alone!\" Aria whined. She was playing around with us, too, but I couldn\'t help but get the vibe that there was something sensitive about her weight.

\"Sorry, Ari. I\'m an asshole,\" I said, patting her shoulder with my right hand. It felt like I could crush it if I gave the gentlest squeeze.

\"Yeah you are.\" She smiled.

\"Aria\'s shoulder is so tiny-\"

\"Oh, fuck you.\"

AN: I know it\'s short, I\'ve been busy. No promises, but feedback would be lovely to get this ball rollin again. Cause this story\'s cute, and I want to finish it, and motivation from readers helps tons. Thanks so much!
--DC