Chapter 4

They reached the fountain and Arnaldo spotted Laura and Sven sitting and conversing on one of the many benches that were placed outside the school.

"At least she seems more comfortable around him now."

"Is that the rest of the club members?" asked Nick with a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Yes."

"Cool."

"Although...there should be one more member somewhere around here..." said Arnaldo as his eyes scanned for the boy in black he met earlier.

"You mean that guy hiding behind the fountain?" asked Nick, pointing with his fork.

And sure enough, hiding behind an ornate and elaborate baroque fountain was Matt Friday.

Arnaldo walked behind and placed a hand on his shoulder which caused Matt to almost jump over the fountain itself.

"O-Oh, Arnaldo. It's only you. Don't do that!"

"Never mind me. What are you doing hiding behind a fountain for?"

"You never told me that these would be the people I would be working with!" whined Matt.

"You never asked. Can't really blame me for that one. And just what is wrong with these people?"

"One is larger than this fountain and the girl is..." Matt stopped as a blush appeared on his face. He quickly shook his head to force it away.

"And who is this?!" he asked pointing at Nick.

"Nick Hart. I'm a new member of this school's club, just like you," answered Nick with a grin full of spaghetti.

Arnaldo sighed and handed him a handkerchief that he pulled out of his vest and wiped the guitarists' face.

"You told me that there were only going to be three people!"

"No. I told you that there were currently just three members. Now, with you and Nick, it's five members," replied Arnaldo flatly and Matt hung his head in defeat.

"I feel betrayed..."

"Oh, quit whining. You'll manage," said Arnaldo as he began to push Matt towards the bench, with Nick following behind with his plate of spaghetti.

"Well now, colour me impressed! You actually did it!" exclaimed Sven.

"Sven, this is Nick. Nick, this is Sven."

"Sup? Nick Hart," greeted Nick as he saluted Sven.

"Isn't that the spaghetti we had for lunch today?"

"And yesterday," stated Nick matter-of-factly with another bite.

"That's a pretty good looking guitar you have slung over your shoulder there. Can you play it?" asked the Swede.

"You bet he can! I don't think I have ever heard anyone play as good as he does," commented Arnaldo.

"I'll be the judge of that. Report tomorrow at fifteen hundred sharp in classroom 2A. And bring your guitar," ordered Sven.

"Sure thing. By the way, do you guys have like a name or something? Or is it just 'the music club'?"

"Hmm...never really thought about a name before..." pondered Sven, grabbing his pale chin in deep thought.

Arnaldo rolled his eyes and he began to search around for Matt.

He found him standing nervously in front of Laura with a face as red as the Outback.

Granted, Laura wasn't much better off, being an almost mirror image copy of the raven-haired boy.

"M-M-Matt Friday. Pleased to m-m-meet you," he greeted nervously.

"Y-Yeah...Laura Riverman...H-How's it hanging?"

Arnaldo couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

"Well, Sven. Looks like you're paying. But hey, since I'm a nice person, I'll pay for next week."

"You'd better. I'm not exactly rolling in cash right now."

"Don't worry about it. I never go back on my word," he said as he pulled out the cigarette packet and placed one of the nails in his mouth. He was just about to light his cigarette when Nick spoke up.

"Are you really gonna smoke?"

"Yeah...why you asking?"

"Dude, you just had one not three minutes ago."

"So?"

"Don't you know that's bad for your health?" chimed in Matt.

"Again I ask: so?" snarled back Arnaldo, beginning to grow annoyed.

"It also smells really bad," commented Nick.

"Deal with it."

"You could be spending your money more wisely," said Matt.

"It costs just as much as a sandwich in the cafeteria," snarled the Italian through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.

"Come on, put that back. That's an order," said Sven.

"Don't tell me what to do!" screamed Arnaldo, his ocean blue eyes filling with rage.

He felt something cling onto his arm and he was just about ready to smack it when he saw Laura's purple hair on his shoulder.

"Arn...please...just put it away for now...please..."

Her voice was barely louder than a whisper and although he couldn't see them, he knew that tears were in her eyes, threatening to pour down her pretty face. Arnaldo's eye twitched before he sighed and reluctantly put the cigarette back in with the others.

"You guys are such killjoys," he muttered under his breath.

"You're a killjoy too ya know," said Nick.

"Yeah, yeah. We're all just a bunch of killjoys. Whatever. Let's just eat."

"Agreed. I'm so hungry I could eat a whole Elk!" commented Sven as they all made their way to the city in search of a restaurant.

"Killjoys...has a nice ring to it actually-" thought Arnaldo.