19 Chapter 19: Suspicions
NASH'S POV:
Creed plays us the song that he wrote yesterday, and I'm floored. It's far too serious to be something Creed has written.
"Are you sure you wrote this?" Ziggy asks, apparently I'm not the only one who finds it hard to believe.
Creed only smiles, leaning back in his seat. Smug bastard.
Rigby hands us each a sheet of music. Automatically I pick up the base and begin to play my part, acquainting myself with the sequence of notes. It seems simple enough.
"Should we give it a go?" Jett asks some time later, once we've all looked over the sheet music.
There's a murmuring of agreement and then we're playing the song. We don't get five bars in before Creed is stopping us to correct something. He's softer about it than usual though. Where normally he'd call us all lazy sh*ts and tell us to sort our crap out, today he's fully constructive in his criticism.
He even borrows my bass guitar for a moment to show me how to play it, confusing the hell out of me. Since when has Creed been able to play bass?
He's still a slave master though, not letting us stop until its damn near perfect.
Even when Nona and Crimson walk in with iced coffees, he simply raises his hand and asks them to wait a moment. I expect Crimson to get sh*tty with him - they've never got on - but instead she looks entertained. Her lips are turned up at the corners and her eyes seem to dance with humour.
When he finally puts down his guitar, Nona is the first to speak.
"Wow. I love the new song. Did you get it from Clover?"
Creed offers her a smile before shaking his head but it's Rigby that answers for him.
"Nah, Nona," he says as he wraps his arm around Creed's shoulder, "our boy Creed here wrote it himself."
Crimson looks even more entertained if that's at all possible and I'm left wondering what she knows that I don't. Ignoring the conversation, I watch her closely but she's giving nothing away. It's only when Nona says that she met Clover yesterday that my attention returns to the others.
"We went to the pub," Nona tells them. "She's really cool." She sounds like she's totally fangirling.
"Yeah, I guess so," Creed replies, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
It's not like Creed to be slow to praise his sister. We've heard a lot about her over the last nine months. Creed has always had a slightly protective edge to him when talking about her. She's as much his best friend as she is his sister. His hesitance makes me wonder if they've fallen out or something.
"You didn't tell us she was back," Ziggy is saying excitably. Having heard so much about her, we've always been eager to meet her.
Rigby is pulling a weird face as if he's suspicious of something, although I'm not sure what.
Realisation hits me. The girl I saw yesterday with Jasper!
"Did she come by the studio yesterday?" I ask, my words rushed.
It's Jett that answers.
"Yeah."
"Nona, what was she wearing?" I need to confirm it. "Is her hair pink?"
"Black shorts..." Nona looks thoughtful. "Her hair is rose gold, yeah."
It's her. The girl that I've had stuck on a loop in my mind for the last twenty-four hours is Clover. Sh*t, she's Creed's sister.
Before I can stop myself, I say, "She's really fit."
Instead of hitting me like I expect him to, Creed actually blushes. Jett doesn't hold back, swiping his hand across the back of my head before I can duck out.
"Back to work," Creed says more nervously than I've ever heard him before.
"You really do look alike," I say, turning my head as I consider his face. "Except she's like a million times better looking."
His eyebrow raises as he pulls his guitar over his head.
"Is she really that hot?" Ziggy asks.
"I mean... her legs are killer long."
"That's true," Nona pipes in. "I was seriously jealous of those yesterday."
Creed snorts.
"It's amazing what six inch heels will do."
"And her boobs." My voice is wistful as I recollect what she looked like.
"Enough." This time it's Rigby that cuts across the conversation. "We haven't got time for you to behave like a man wh*re."
"Hey!"
"I want to show this to Switch before we go home tonight," he says, his words final.
Caged Lyrics
You leave the cage door open
Its an illusion, mocking me
Telling me that I am free
Telling me that I can escape
But, I'm caged in, confined
Restricted by words
Wrapped in someone else's dream
I'm caged in, confined
Restricted by words
Wrapped in someone else's dream
You let me fly free
There's a time limit, holding me
Living for those moments
When I feel finally free
But, I'm caged in, confined
Restricted by words
Wrapped in someone else's dream
When will I finally be free
Of this destiny you've forced on me
When will you finally see
That I'm not who you want me to be
'cause, I'm caged in, confined
Restricted by words
Wrapped in someone else's dream
Someone else's dream
