Chapter One

Unlocking the door to my new house, I step inside to examine the home again, taking it in. It's a two story, the stairs on the right side of the wall as soon as you walk in the front door, with the family room on your left. It's a pretty big family room, with a sliding glass door on the left side of the kitchen, that also links into the family room. When you walk through the front door, there's this hall you walk down to get to the kitchen. The stove is on the far right, between the refrigerator and a counter space, then links up to the sink, and it, again, has some more counter space on its left. When you walk into the kitchen, facing the stove, there's a dinning room, that links to the front door. I can already tell this place is awesome.

I walk into the kitchen and begin to sit some boxes down. After sitting the two boxes down I had in my arms, I go back out and collect some more out of my car. When I reach my black car, my phone starts ringing in my back pocket. I fetch it out and read the caller ID. When I see Amy's face on my screen and read her name, I smile and answer the call.

"Hey, Amy." I say, as I grab another light brown box from my truck. "What have you been up to? I'm sorry I didn't get to call you earlier like I planned but, I'm in the middle of moving into the house."

"Hey, it's alright." Amy says from the other end, causing me release a breath I didn't know I was holding. "It's kind of a good thing you didn't call me. Bumper actually came home early than planned and he and I did some catching up. We got to talking and I just lost track of time with him and the kids."

"Oh, that reminds me!" I say, sitting the box down and walking to my car again. "I forgot to ask you about your ultrasound, yesterday. How did it go? Did you find out the gender yet?"

"Uh, no, not yet." Amy says, sounding a little disappointed. "The doctor said that it's still too early to find out and that my next appointment, we should be able to find out. Hopefully."

"Fingers crossed." I say, causing her to laugh. "What are you hoping you get? Boy or girl? I hope you guys get a boy."

"I really hope we have a girl, although, Bumper wants a boy." Amy says with a sigh at the end. "I think Bumper is enough boys."

I chuckle at the mention of her husband being enough boys in the house. "Makes sense." I say. "Do you guys have any names picked out yet?"

"Uh, we have a few but they're not definite yet." Amy says. "Like, if it's a boy, we're probably going to name him after Bumper. We might let him be a junior."

"Aw, that would be so cute. You should definitely let the boy be a junior, if you have one." I say. "So, um, I'm at my house right now and I was wondering when you and Bumper were gonna come over and help me settle in?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that!" Amy says, raising her voice, causing me to jerk the phone away from my ear, allowing it to ring for a few before I placed the phone back to my ear. "We're actually leaving for our flight Friday."

"This Friday? as in, six days from now?" I asked. "Why so late? Did you guys book the latest flight to get from Atlanta to LA?" I sarcastically asked, causing Amy to chuckle.

"Well, Bumper wasn't supposed to be back until Tuesday but he got here today, instead." Amy says. "I was going to book it for Wednesday. Or Thursday, depending on how things were gonna go. But, just in case if things didn't work out like planned, I just booker it for Friday. At least we're gonna be able to make it and help you out, still."

"Ha, you have a point." I say. From the corner of my eye, I see a blurry figure move closer towards me, causing me to look over and see the object more clearer. When I get a better look, two girls and two guys were walking towards me, through my yard and the one before that, one girl waving and the rest smiling.

"Bec, are you still there?" Amy says in my ear. I finally snap out of my thoughts and away from the group of people. "Beca? Answer me, Flatbutt. Are you alive? Do I need to call the cops?"

"What? No." I say, resting my gaze back on the boxes and bags in my car. 'Wait, where's my computers? Where are all my things?! Damnit, all that stuff hooks up to my computers, to make my stupid music!' My heart drops in my stomach as I look around for all my stuff that is missing. "Wait a minute, Amy?"

"Yeah?" Amy asks, sounding a bit worried and confused. "Is everything all right? Were you kidnapped? Do I have to call the cops?"

"No, it's not that." I say quickly. "Did I leave any bags at your house when I stayed there?"

It takes Amy a little bit before she answers my question. "Uh, I don't see anything." She says. "Why? Did you lose something?"

"I can't find any of my computer bags. I can't find anything that helps me make my music." I say, starting to freak out some more. I close the trunk of my car and run into my house real quick, to see if I brought it in and not even realizing it. I scan the whole house, finally landing my eyes a three, black bags that belong to all my stuff. I get out a sigh of relife, as I plant my hand on my forehead. "Never mind, Amy. I found it."

"Okay, good." She says. "I swear, you would lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body."

"I know, I know." I say as I walk out back to my car. I hear a sudden beep in my ear. I take the phone away from my ear and see I have another incoming call. "Hey, Amy, I have to go. My dad's calling me. I'll talk to you later, though."

"Okay. Don't forget about Friday. We'll be there around noon." Amy says.

"Okay, see you Friday then." I say. I hang up the call and go to answer my dads call, but he already hung up before I could do it. "Well, that settles that." I grab another box and walk into the house, sitting it down on the family room floor. I walk over to my computer bags, grab them, open them, and start setting them up on a small desk I moved in here a few days ago. I hook up some speakers to my computers and hang them up all over my family room walls. After getting that done, I start playing some of my new finished mixes through the speakers, making sure they weren't too loud for the neighbors. After getting that done, I walk back to my car and get the remaining boxes and shut and lock my car door and trunk. After locking my car up, I go back to walk back inside before someone stops me.

"You the new neighbor?" Someone asks, causing me to turn around and see the four people who were walking towards me. All I do is nod my head. I was never the kind of person to meet new people, but it wasn't that hard of a task. "Well, I'm Cynthia. This is my roommate Stacie. We live three houses down from here." Cynthia says then points to my right. "This is Donald, and his friend, Unicycle."

"Your name is, 'Unicycle'." I say, looking at him confused.

"People just call me that because I'm always carrying one of those things around." He says with a smile.

"Okay, because I was about to say, your parents must have been drunk when they had you." They all chuckle at my joke, which, wasn't really a joke. I actually mean it.

"Well, we couldn't help but gear that you make music," Stacie says, causing me to nod. "That's actually really cool, because my brother is a music producer. He makes loads of money, which is awesome." I just nod my head with a smile on my face and keep listening.

"Well, if you don't mind, we were wondering if we could hear some of your music, because there is this party that is thrown every year, and we need some more music." Cynthia says. "If you got some sick beats, we want you to drop by and meet some people in the neighborhood."

"Well, thanks and yeah, you guys can hear some of my music." I say, as I motion for them to follow me. I open the door and let them in, then head over to my computers, and start looking for some of my mixes. I find one and turn up the volume for them to get a better hearing on it. "I just finished this one, like, three days ago. Before I decided to move." They listen for a bit and I can see smiles about to appear on their faces. It's in their eyes.

"This is sick." Cynthia says with a smile, causing everyone to agree with her. "How long did it take you to make this one?"

"Uh, a few months. I look for a few things, blend them together, and make sure it's everything that I want in one."

"If all of your mixes are like this one, you need to come to the party and play your music." Stacie says. "How much music do you have?"

"God, Stacie, music is practically my life." I say with a smile on my face. "I have hundreds of mixes. After I get settled in, I want to continue making a one I started after I finished this one."

"Well, if you do decide to come by, please bring your music. This is just, awesome." Donald says. "Why don't you become a music producer or something?"

"I, uh, tried." I say, focusing back on my computer and playing another one of my mixes. "It's a long story I'm willing to tell at the party. When is it, exactly?"

"Wait, you're coming?" Unicycle asks, causing me to smile with a nod. "It's this coming Tuesday. It'll be at Cynthia's house. She has a bright red Mustang in her driveway."

"Are you the one singing, in all of these?" Donald asks, causing me to nod. "Damn, I didn't know you could sing."

"Yeah, well, I'm not really that much of a singer. I mean, I can sing, it's just something I'm not absolutely passionate about, you know?" I say. "That also goes with the long story I'm gonna tell you guys at the party."

"Sweet, we'll see you there, then." Cynthia says. "I have to go or I'm gonna be late for work. See you later...uh..."

"Uh, Beca." I say. "I'll see you later too, Cynthia." Cynthia walks away, leaving the rest of us to talk amongst ourselves.

"Damn, it's getting late." Donald says, looking at his watch that's on his wrist. "I'm gonna get going. Nice meeting you, Beca."

"Yeah, nice meeting you." Stacie says. "I'll see you at the party. Don't forget about the music."

"I'll see you later, Beca. Nice meeting you." Unicycle says. "Welcome to the neighborhood." He adds, then walks away. I walk to the door, shut it, then lock it up and head upstairs to my room. Today was a long day.