The New Place chapter 4
#4 of The New Place
"Man, I hate traffic" Phil sighed as he got out of the bus.
The way back home took them three times more time because of the heavy traffic on the road. At some point Jack even suggested that walking would be faster, but Phil refused to cooperate with that.
"At least the bus wasn't crowded, it wasn't as bad as it could be" Chris replied following his tiger friend.
"Don't even say that. Man, I wish I've had my own car..."
"Well, then you have a long wait ahead of you" Jack chuckled.
"Shush you. Okay, that's my place, we can drop our bags here before we go for your stuff Chris... Jack, if you want, you can wait for us here."
"Naw, I'll go with you, waiting is boring" the bunny replied and followed Phil into his house.
His house was looking like pretty much every house in the neighbourhood. It was a three stories high, well taken care of family house. There was an old Mustang parked on the driveway, apparently belonging to Phil's father.
"Uh... Your parents won't have anything against bringing strangers and playing music when they're around?" Chris asked dropping his bag next to his friend's.
"Oh, I'm sure they won't. They'll probably be happy that I won't be bugging them for some time, and we're playing in a basement, they've made sure that no sound will escape from there after we've played few times" Phil laughed as he closed the door behind him and they've headed for Chris' house.
"So" Jack started, putting his arms behind his head as he walked "How long have you guys been playing together?"
"Uh... I guess this'll be second year. Hard to say when we've started taking this seriously, we've just used to hang around and play when there was nothing better to do. I think it was Mike's idea to start meeting regularly... You'll meet him later" he added as Jack gave him a confused look.
"Okay, we're here" Chris exclaimed as they've approached the house at the end of the road.
"Oh, you're living right next to the forest, cool" Jack said looking around curiously
"Yeah, welcome in the middle of nowhere" the lion chuckled as he reached into his pocket to get the keys.
"Don't complain, it's an awesome location, you'd prefer to live on a main street?"
"I guess not" Chris shrugged as he let his friends in "Okay, let's just get this stuff and go, my room is up-"
"What's going on?" a curious female voice could be heard and Kate appeared in the living room doors "Oh, hi!"
"Aand that's my sister, Kate. That's Phil" the tiger nodded his head "and Jack" Jack raised his paw and smiled at Kate.
"Wow, you've actually made some friends" Kate taunted him
"Why does she always has to be like that?" Chris thought with an embarrassment "We're just gonna get some things and leave, you go back to your TV" he said.
Kate just shrugged and went back into the living room and the rest started climbing the stairs to the top floor.
"Okay, that's my room... I'm still just moving in, so don't mind the mess" Chris said as he opened the doors.
"Naw man, that's cool, an attic room!" Phil exclaimed as he entered looking around
"And a good view included" Jack added as he approached the window and looked through it.
"Well, thanks guys. Phil, can you get the case? It's in the closet" Chris said pointing at it.
The tiger followed the direction he was pointed to and Chris crouched down and unplugged his amp, then grabbed his guitar from its stand.
"Whoa, is that a real Gibson?" Phil asked as he came back with a case in his paws.
"Unfortunately not" Chris smirked and turned the guitar around, showing the logo on its head to his friend"
"Epiphone... Is that good or bad?" Jack asked as he approached them
"Well, not the best guitar ever, but she can play almost everything equally good, can't complain." Chris replied as he took the case from Phil and carefully placed his guitar in it. "Okay, can one of you grab the amp?"
"Sure man" Phil said as he crouched to pick it up "Damn, it's heavier than it looks"
"That's why I've asked you to come" Chris chuckled and walked to the doors "I needed a slave that can move the heavy stuff for me"
"Oh, shush." Phil said, but he was unable to do anything else because of the box he had to carry.
***
After a brief walk they've arrived back at Phil's house to find Mike leaning against the door, waiting for them. He was talking with someone on his cellphone, but as soon as he's seen them he ended the conversation and waited for them to come closer.
"Heeey Mike, what's up man!" Phil greeted him as soon as he was close enough.
"Nice timing. Keith just called, your cellphone is dead. He said he'll be a bit late, his parents decided that they absolutely need him right now." Mike replied moving aside and taking the amp from Phil who's reached for his keys.
"Great, just what we've needed. Did he say how long will it take?"
"About 30 minutes or so... I don't believe we've met?" Mike looked at Jack and held out his paw.
"Nope, I'm Jack" Jack introduced himself shaking the wolf's paw
"Okay, now that everyone know who's who let's take this stuff down, shall we?" Phil said catching the amp that almost fell out from Mike's paws and lead them to the basement.
It was a rather large room, apparently used not only for band sessions. Most of the space was taken by amps and Phil's drums, but there were also two guitar stands, one with Mike's old guitar and one with a bass, that Chris thought probably belonged to Keith. In the other side of the room, however, was standing a sofa with a gaming console and TV, along with a table, most likely covered with soda cans and pizza boxes after Phil's pack was taking a break from practising.
"So, we still have some time before Keith gets here, anyone have some ideas?" Mike asked after plugging Chris' amp in.
"Well... what do you say we warm up playing GH?" Phil asked with a smirk as he pulled the drums set from a box.
"Sounds fine for me" Jack shrugged picking up one of the guitars
"You're sure you'll be able to keep up?" the tiger taunted him as everyone got their instruments
Jack only glared at him as the game started.
He was able to keep up. In fact, the match soon changed from a band play into a pro face-off between him and Chris, both playing expert guitar. In the end, Jack won by 800 points.
"Oh come on, where did you learn to play like that" Chris sighed as the bunny raised his paws in sign of victory.
"You're just jealous because I'm a better guitarist" Jack replied sticking out his tongue.
"What's going on here?"
Chris turned around to see who said that and would drop the guitar if he wasn't using the strap.
There he was, standing in the doorway - most handsome fox he's ever seen. He had a very sleek figure, emphasized by a rather tight shirt and matching pants and he had most beautiful amber eyes.
"What the hell are you thinking, calling a guy beautiful" Chris punished himself in his thoughts as Phil started clapping.
"There he is, the Hero of the Day! Man, you sure like to keep us waiting"
"Hey, blame my parents, not me!" Keith said in defence "They've decided to clean up the garage and they've needed their slave for that" he looked at Jack and Chris.
"Oh right! That's Jack, a weirdo we've picked up at school" Jack glared at Phil "And that's Chris, I've told you about him"
Keith greeted with Jack then looked at Chris "So, you're supposed to be our new guitarist, huh?" he asked holding out his paw.
"Well, it's up to you guys to decide that" Chris replied shaking his paw
"I think anyone will be better than Mike" Keith chuckled
"Charmed" Mike said turning the console off "Well, should we get going then?"
"Alright squad, get in positions!" Phil exclaimed as he vaulted over the sofa
"I think you play too many games" Keith laughed picking up his bass
Jack turned the sofa around so it was facing them and waited for the show. It took them some time to decide what song they're going to play - after all, Chris didn't know any of their own songs, so they've had to find something they can all play. Finally they've found one and Chris took place on the left from Mike and plugged his guitar in, waiting for Phil to start.
***
Phil finished their third song with a loud smash on his drums. Chris, at first tensed, soon relaxed and played as good as he could. He lost the rhythm few times in the beginning, distracted by other instruments, but quickly recovered in the solo part.
When they've finished, Jack started clapping his hands, and Mike bowed, causing them all to laugh.
"Well, that was cool! Hey, Jack, what do ya think, shall we keep it?" Phil asked poking Chris with a drumstick
"You'll earn more if you sell him" Jack said with a smirk
"Probably" Phil laughed "But to be serious for a moment... I think that after you get used to playing in a band, you'll rock. What do you say, guys?"
"Don't complain, it's already good as it is, I guess you'll fit in" Mike said turning the amps off
"Seconded. Even Mike's singing sounded better now that he can focus on it fully" Keith chuckled
"Welcome in the best band ever Mister Chris!" Phil exclaimed hitting the lion on the back "You're one of us now, isn't that awesome?"
"Yeah, belonging to a pack of weirdos is a very exciting thing" Jack smirked from the sofa and got hit by one of Phil's drumsticks.
After they've finished playing they hanged around in Phil's house for few more hours, playing games and talking, so they could all get to know each other. At 7 PM Jack received a call from his mother, ordering him to go home.
"Oh come on, it isn't even that late!" Phil protested
"Actually, it is. We still have homework to do, and I'd prefer to finish them before weekend. Also, we should start packing" Chris said as he stood up and stretched out. He couldn't help but notice that Keith was looking at him rather carefully.
"Bleh, you can do that Sunday evening" Phil shrugged
"Then it'll be too late."
"For you. Okay then... But what will you guys say that we raid the mall tomorrow? We have a music shop there and a great food court"
"If there's taco, I'm in" Jack said causing everyone to giggle.
After they've arranged a meeting Jack and Chris got their bags and left, while Mike and Keith decided to stay a little longer. They've said goodbye in front of Phil's house and Jack went left, towards the bus stop and Chris headed right, heading for his house.