Rhythm & Clues: A Young Adult Novel Read Online Free Page A

twinkling stars. Other instruments I didn’t recognize joined the sound, creating something of an urban symphony. And then there were sounds that were harder to pinpoint. I thought I caught the brief hint of gushing water and the squeak of a rusty bicycle wheel mixing into his ballad.
    “Found sounds?” I asked.
    He nodded, surprise widening his eyes. “Sometimes digital music sounds fake.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a digital recorder. “So I always carry this. It’s amazing what sounds you can capture and then turn them into a song.”
    I listened to his ballad, letting the music seep into my body. My eyes closed, and I sang a low, throaty tune that harmonized with his music. His ballad had a bluesy vibe to it, so I scatted like the jazz singers of the olden days, dragging out simple words to make them sound sexy. The voice of a phone sex operator. The voice that Krystal—my mother, though I would never give her the satisfaction of calling her that—probably used with her clients.
    I lapsed back into humming while my mind replayed a memory from freshman year, one that always seemed to attack me whenever I thought about Krystal. She hadn’t been home in days. Maybe even weeks. When she finally staggered in, she took one look at my face and slapped me.
    The imprint of pain still throbbed on my cheek.
    “From now on, you stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours.” She slurred her words, losing her balance when her hand left my cheek. She grabbed the doorjamb for support and for a few seconds after, I told myself she was just drunk. She didn’t mean it.
    As I stared at her though, I realized how hollow my conviction was.
    I’d been expecting those words, wondering why it took her so long to say them. So instead of getting upset, I got tough. Krystal had ruined my life at school without ever stepping foot inside it, tore away my best friend without ever saying a word to her, and drove away my father the day after my birth. I wouldn’t let her break me too.
    I was startled back to reality when Gavin’s music abruptly stopped and he shut the lid. “Wow. You’re really good.”
    I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Thanks.”
    “So you want in? I mean, I know this isn’t the most ideal situation for a band, and clearly no one else showed up, but—”
    “What kind of situation is this?” I asked.
    “Meeting here. Instead of in public. And I only have certain hours I can sneak out.”
    Sneak out. “You just said the magic words. I’m in.”
    “The magic words are in public ?”
    He made me smile. I stood and placed my security blanket lantern on its hook. “So just for future reference, what kind of band are we? The ballad was cool and all, but I don’t think it’ll get us many gigs. What do you play?”
    He pointed at the computer. “Anything.”
    “No, seriously.”
    He shrugged. “I play piano, but only at church. We don’t even have a keyboard at home. My computer and sneaking headphones in the middle of the night are all I have.”
    Church. The idea of it was more myth than practice for me. “So you’re pretty religious then?”
    “If I was, I’d feel worse about ditching my church piano lessons to come here.” He laughed. “I hate the music they make me play there. And my parents won’t let me listen to anything else, so…”
    “What kind of parents don’t let their kids listen to normal music?”
    “The kind that homeschool them and don’t let them hang out with non-homeschooled kids they haven’t pre-approved of like a credit card application.”
    I stared at him in shock, both because of the info and because he’d given it to me without my prying.
    My face must have surprised him too, because a rush of words fell out of his mouth. “But I swear, they mean well, this isn’t something for Child Services. I know that’s what you’re thinking.” He looked like he was holding his breath, like he said too much.
    “I wasn’t. And besides, if any