Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic, #1) Read Free Page B

joined, you have
to take the band seriously.”
    “I do take it seriously! My parents don’t. I
can’t help it.”
    “You miss practice today, you miss it again
tomorrow—” Mitch said.
    “I didn’t miss it today, though. Mrs.
Dullahan didn’t want me at her house any more than I wanted to be
there.” Jason held up the muffin basket. “Who wants a muffin? Erin,
chocolate chip?”
    “Thanks! I could use some chocolate.” Erin
smiled at him, and he suddenly felt soft and warm inside.
    Jason punched through the cellophane and
handed the muffins out. Mitch took both raspberry muffins and
stuffed them in his mouth, puffing out his cheeks like a
chipmunk.
    “So, no more missing practice,” Mitch said to
Jason, spraying wet muffin bits as he spoke. “Got it?”
    “I have to stay home tomorrow,” Jason said.
“I’ll be lucky if my parents even let me go to the audition. My
mom’s still not sure. It’s a school night.”
    “Dude, you’re seventeen already,” Dred said.
“You should be able to go anywhere you want.”
    “Okay, just call my mom and tell her that,”
Jason said.
    “You’re not going to make the audition?”
Mitch asked, looking alarmed.
    “I’ll make it. I can handle my parents. But
that means staying home tomorrow.”
    “Work it out,” Mitch said. “Don’t miss
another practice after tomorrow. And don’t mess up this
audition!”
    “I won’t,” Jason said. He looked at Erin.
“Are you feeling better?”
    “Yep, don’t worry about me. I’m the happiest
girl in the world.” Erin said. She blew cheerful notes on the
harmonica. “Let’s play.”
     

Chapter Four
    Saturday night, Jason sat at home in his
living room, his guitar in his lap, trying to pick out the music
for “Angel Sky,” the song he’d written for Erin. He was having
trouble getting the music and lyrics to flow together.
    His mother had dragged his father to a
collectible ceramics convention in Minneapolis, an hour away, and
they still weren’t back.
    “Jason?” Katie asked. She stood in the
doorway of the living room in her Bert and Ernie pajamas.
    “What is it, Katie?”
    “Um…” She fidgeted, looking nervous.
    “What’s wrong? You should be sleeping.”
    “I know, but…there’s a monster.”
    Jason sighed and put his guitar down. “Did
you have a bad dream?”
    “It’s not a dream! I saw it go into Mom and
Dad’s room.”
    “If it’s not in your room, you don’t have
anything to worry about.”
    “But I could be next!” Katie looked
terrified.
    “You’re completely safe, Katie. There’s no
monster.”
    “Is too!”
    “Okay.” Jason stood up and stretched. “Let’s
go check it out. I’ll show you there’s nothing to be scared
of.”
    “Thanks, Jason.” She took his hand as he
walked toward the steps, something she hadn’t done in a couple of
years. She really was frightened.
    They walked upstairs and to the end of the
short hall in their split-level house. Katie stayed back, clinging
to the frame of her bedroom door, while Jason approached the master
bedroom.
    “See, Katie?” he said. “Mom and Dad’s door is
still closed. How could a monster get into their room?”
    “He just went puff,” Katie said.
    “He went puff, huh?” Jason said. He had no
idea what that meant, but Katie had a very busy imagination.
    Jason pushed open the door to his parents’
room and glanced inside. “See, Katie, there’s no….”
    But Jason had seen something. He
looked again.
    There it was—a small creature, about two feet
high, standing on his parents’ dresser. It looked like a tiny
person, dressed in a ratty, dirty wool overcoat, with a woolen cap
pulled low over its eyes. Its pudgy green hands pawed through his
mother’s jewelry box. Jason watched the creature drop a pair of
ruby earrings into a pocket of its coat.
    “Hey!” Jason said.
    The little creature jumped and spun around to
face him. Its face was green and ugly, with an underbite, its eyes
big and yellow under the low