C5 Casted Away - A

Few months had passed and the school's Foundation Day celebration was getting near. All the students were practicing diligently. Cissie's section was also diligent in practicing as their performance was really well-thought of. Steph's team almost did not go home so they could finish an excellent choreography. Cissie and her team, on the other hand, were talking about their rehearsal during their recess.

"What songs do you think would appeal to the audience?" Jay asked his teammates.

"People here in our province are not fond of street music and novelty songs, so we can't play them. It's better if we sing alternative and 80's rock," Cissie suggested.

"Well, thank you for the suggestion Cis, but what band do they usually listen to?" Jay asked.

"It's more on Guns 'n Roses, Bon Jovi, Metallica when it's comes to 80's rock. Creed, Staind, Default, Nickelback for alternative," Jun replied.

"Jay, how many songs are we performing?" Jeff asked.

"Probably ten songs, five for 80's rock and five for alternative. What do you guys think?"

"That's okay with me, at least we are performing different genres. The question is how we could make them happy with the songs we are going to sing? I mean, how are we going to incorporate it in the script?" Cissie asked.

"Let's sing Enter Sandman first, then don't finish the song since we have a limited time. As much as possible, we should have the guitar solo. Then we could have the alternative songs, then 80's rock again, so we're doing one genre after another," Jay replied.

"That's good! Enter Sandman, When I Come Around, Sweet Child, Higher, Livin' on a Prayer, So Far Away, Love of a Lifetime, It Only Hurts, Still Loving You, and Here Without You. It's like a story that we connected!" Cissie exclaimed in excitement.

"Your idea sounds great, Cis. Are all those songs your favorite? I can see it in your face," Jay got curious.

"Just the 80's songs. I appreciate alternative songs but 80's rock is cooler for me," Cissie grinned.

"Yeah, I agree. So, when will we start kicking?" Jun asked.

"I was hoping to do it later so that we can better prepare for it. 80's rock is a bit difficult for me," Jeff suggested.

"Right. Let's do it this way, let's practice by ourselves first. Jeff, focus on the lyrics as well on the song itself. Jun, listen to the drums' scale. I still have to teach Cissie bass so we need to practice together," Jay divided their tasks.

"We're cool with that. I live near Jeff's place so we can also practice together," Jun said.

"Okay, that's better. Let's rehearse every weekend. We still have few months," Cissie added.

"Let's go inside the room, class is about to start. Let's just talk about it every now and then." Jay went in the classroom first. The rest followed.

The time passed quickly and the whole day in school ended like that. As always, Cissie left right away because of the house chores. Also, she didn't want to walk home with Jay since she might think of something else, or people might think that she's sticking to him. But when she was going out of the gate, someone was running after her.

"Hey! You walk so fast. By the way, I'll go to your place later at 8 to practice. Is that okay with you?" Jay was panting as he ran after Cissie.

"Really, this guy!" Cissie thought herself. "I'll try to ask permission from my boss first and I'll text you what will be if he agreed. I'll finish my chores quickly so that I'd have nothing else to do when I ask for their permission. But how can I contact you?" Cissie asked.

"Is that a problem? May I have your cell number so I could text you later?"

Cissie got nervous again. Jay was just asking her number yet her heart was beating really fast. Was that because he's going to text her or because his appeal was really strong that even her speech was affected?

"Uhm, z-zero nine z-zero six e-eight…" she even forgot her freaking cell number! "wait, I forgot...uhm, zero one t-three four e-eight two," she catched her breath.

"Are you okay? What is happening to you? Are you nervous?'' Jay laughed loud.

"What? I'm not! I just don't memorize my number." Her face blushed because Jay guessed her feelings right.

"If that's what you said. See you tonight, okay? I'll bring some snacks too. I'll go ahead since I'd pass by the grocery, or would you like to come with me?" Jay invited Cissie.

"No, thanks. I still have tons of things to do."

"Okay then. Bye, see you later," Jay smiled to her. His smile was so sweet that anyone who had seen it would be hypnotized.

Cissie couldn't help but smile while she followed him in sight. Not in their knowledge though that Steph heard everything they talked about. Steph followed Jay when she saw him leaving. Steph really wanted to ask Jay to come with her but she wasn't able to ask him as he ran after Cissie. Steph went near where the two were and listened to their conversation.

"What! They are going on a date? This is not good. I really need to find a way to get that girl out,"Steph mentioned herself. It was evident in her face that how bad her plans were.

When Cissie arrived home, she hurriedly did all the chores. She seemed excited because they were practicing for the first time. But she was more excited with the idea that she'd be with Jay again. She could not understand herself why she felt like that towards Jay when he's someone she just recently met. Because she was in a hurry, Cissie forgot to ask permission to her employer. She was really nervous when she was texting Jay. She panicked for no reason, hence she calmed herself in front of the mirror.

"Relax girl." She tapped her face while looking at her reflection in the mirror. She got surprised when her phone rang.

"Goodness! I'll be be having a boil because of you," she said while picking up her phone. She read the message and realized that Jay was waiting by the bench on the top of the sewer tunnel. She hurriedly ran towards where Jay was. She was even panting when she reached their meeting place.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait that long?" Cissie asked.

"It's okay. I only waited for five minutes. By the way, I brought some snacks," Jay offered Cissie snacks. Cissie accepted the snacks and sat down on the upper covering of the sewer.

"Is your guitar already tuned? Let's start so we could practice more songs," Jay smiled. He projected with his signature smile again. His charm stand out, which made Cissie's heart fluttered. If only she wasn't in front of Jay, she could scream as if she had seen an idol.

"Hey, are you with me?" Jay snapped his fingers to catch Cissie's attention. He caught her gaping at Jay. So embarrassing!

"Of course! I even said that we have to start. What song are we playing first?" Cissie said as if nothing happened while plucking guitar strings. She wondered if her face blushed, that would be so freaking embarrassing.

"Well, let's start with our intro song, Enter Sandman. I'm sure you're familiar with the song but do you know the bass line of it?"

"Just a few. The thing is, I find it difficult as guitar riffs are complicated when you listen to it with bass."

"Alright, let's play it first and we'll see if there are lots to be improved."

While playing the song, they didn't realize that Steph was observing them in her parked car. Since it was already night and there were no checkpoints, she could drive without her license. They didn't notice Steph because Jay and Cissie were busy with each other. Both started eating when they got tired. Cissie was excited with Toblerone since it was her first time trying it. The two started laughing while chatting heartily.