Ryker
Copyright © 2014 by Joanne Schwehm
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, including photocopying, recording or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any full resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental; unless author has received permission to do so which will be reflected in the acknowledgment section of this novel.
This book is dedicated to my mom. I miss her every day. She’s my angel who guides me.
I love you Mom. xoxo
I had never seen anyone like him in my life. I was on my way to my neighbor Max’s house when an older boy walked toward me. He must be here to audition. Max had told me he was finalizing the band members and just needed a drummer. He’d invited me to watch the auditions, which I couldn’t wait to do.
I observed the strange guy look at the house, then at a piece of paper in his hand, and then at me. My legs kept moving toward him even though I couldn’t feel my feet touching the ground. His eyes caught mine, and my heart fluttered. I prayed that when I spoke, my voice wouldn’t crack.
“Hi, are you trying out for the band today?”
“Yeah, are you Max’s little sister?” His voice was deeper than I’d expected.
I laughed. “No, we’re just good friends. I don’t have a brother.”
His expression changed as he looked at me. He nodded.
“But you can come with me,” I said. “I was going there too. Max invited me. I usually hang out with him even though he’s older.” I didn’t know why, but I was rambling. By the look on this guy’s face, he didn’t know why either. It dawned on me that I didn’t know his name. “By the way, I’m Faith.”
He smiled and held out his hand. “Ryker.”
As I placed my hand in his, an indescribable feeling went through me. Maybe it was just nerves. “It’s nice to meet you, Ryker.” Just saying his name made me smile. He was so cute! Much cuter than Mark Nichols, the cutest boy in my school. “We can go around back.”
We walked around the back of the house, and my hands shook as I reached for the door knob. I opened it and was greeted by Max.
He smiled. “Hey, Faith, I see you brought a friend.”
Max winked, and I felt blood rush up my cheeks. I stood there and glared at my so-called friend.
Ryker walked around me and extended his hand. “Hey, I’m Ryker, the drummer.”
Max shook his hand. “Good to meet ya, man. Come on in. The other guys should be here soon.”
“Sounds great. How many others are there?”
“Just two. Jake plays the keyboard, and Tim plays bass guitar. I play lead guitar and sing. I went to high school with them, and we always toyed with the idea of a band, but now we’re going to do it.”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Ryker as he walked toward the drum set. He sat down, and I noticed a tattoo on his arm. I didn’t get a great look at it though. My head tilted, and I stared at him. All I could think of was his hand holding mine. I was beginning to daydream when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Faith, did you hear me?” Max was right next to me, grinning.
“I’m sorry, what?”
He chuckled. “I said, why don’t you have a seat while we warm up?”
Tim and Jake stood next to Max with their instruments; I never even saw them walk in.
“Yeah, okay.”
What the heck is wrong with me?
Max turned to me. “You good with Zeppelin?”
Am I good with Zeppelin? Are you kidding me?
I smiled, nodded, and tapped my sticks together. The guys fell in rhythm with the tempo I set. The guys were good, but I had to say that Max was a great guitar player. I looked at Faith. Her eyes were closed as she bobbed to the music. I grabbed the cymbal as the song came to an end.
Max turned to Tim and then to Jake and then to me. “Boys, I think we have a band.”
My smile grew as I stood to acknowledge what Max said, but my eyes caught Faith’s. There was something about her, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Max came up to me. “Good thing you answered the ad, man. You’re really good.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
Faith came up to us. “You guys sounded great!”
“Come on, let’s have a seat and talk about where we go from here,” Max said.
She kissed Max’s cheek and said she needed to get going. Then she looked at me, and her blue eyes sparkled. I didn’t know what it was about the girl, but she was something special.
“I should get going too. I need to catch the bus,” I said. Max offered to take me home, but I didn’t want him to do that.
Jake and Tim shook my hand and told me that I’d killed it. Max walked me out, and Faith trailed behind him. Once we were outside I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Max clapped me on the back. “You did great, and because of you, we’re going to rock. I’ll catch ya later.”
Max turned and went into his house, but Faith still stood next to me fiddling with her long brown hair.
“It was good meeting you, Faith. I’ll catch ya ‘round.”
Before I could leave, she called, “Ryker?”
I looked at her. “Yeah.”
“It was good meeting you too.”
