| �Miss Independent� Miss Self-Sufficient� Miss Keep-Your-Distant�� �Damnit. That doesn�t sound right.� Kelsey stopped singing as she pushed her reading glasses further up her nose and pushed a few stray strands of brown hair that had fallen from her clip behind her ear. She was in the middle of writing a song and was stuck on the lyrics for it, and the notes she was singing with the lyrics jotted down on the half crumpled up piece of paper didn�t sound right. She sighed and looked at the numbers in the corner of the computer screen she sat in front of, noting the time and sitting back in her chair. She glanced around the dimly lit control room and through the glass window separating it from the studio, sweeping her eyes over the baby grand piano and drum kit that were in use only hours prior. It�s late enough, she thought, standing up and stretching her arms above her head, standing on her tiptoes to get the knots out of her calves. I�ve been here entirely too long, it�s about time I got home. Fifteen minutes later, after she had collected her purse and the large messenger bag that held her appointment books, sheet music, track sheets and CD-R�s, she pulled her red SunFire into the driveway of hers and her friend Lisa�s apartment, which was one half of a double block. She noticed a few SUV�s parked in front of the house, one of which was Lisa�s boyfriend�s Yukon. The others were his friend�s cars; the blue BMW was Toby�s, the black Explorer was Rob�s and the silver Jeep Cherokee was Eric�s. Brooks was sure to be there with Toby since they were roommates, Rob was probably alone because his roommate was out of town and Eric had probably brought along his roommate Tom. Before going into the house, she glanced at the clock on the stereo of her car. 1:56AM. Not only had she been at the studio for over twelve hours, she had to come home to what was apparently a small party. Judging from the muffled music coming from the window near the foundation of the house that connected with the basement, she guessed that they were all playing pool and drinking. She opened the door and threw her bag on a nearby chair, looking up to see Toby sitting on the couch, by himself, flipping through the channels on the TV. He looked up to see who was walking in the door and smiled when he saw Kelsey. �Hey Kel,� he said, turning his attention to her instead of the television. �Why�re you home so late?� �I think the real question,� Kelsey replied, taking a seat next to him and grabbing the remote from his hand, �is why aren�t you at your house?� She paused while Toby shrugged. �Don�t you guys have practice or something tomorrow morning?� �Yeah, we have a morning skate at nine,� Toby replied, watching Kelsey flip through the channels. Kelsey rolled her eyes. �You guys, I swear� Stupid hockey players, don�t you guys realize that you have to be at the rink in seven hours?� She paused and wrinkled her nose while Toby laughed. �Seriously, you guys get hit way too often. It�s affecting your memory.� Toby grinned. �Yeah, but it�s an optional practice. Brooksey and Rob weren�t gonna show up anyway, since they�re D-men.� Kelsey looked at him and raised an eyebrow. �D-men?� she asked. �Tob, you have to remember that I�m not the walking Penguins encyclopedia, like Lisa is.� Toby laughed. �Sorry, I forgot. They�re defensemen, so they weren�t gonna show up anyway. I honestly don�t feel like going, and I�m sure Eric and Tommy feel the same way.� Kelsey nodded. �I see. Where�s Lisa and Matt?� she asked, standing up and making her way to the kitchen. �Basement?� Toby followed her. �Yep. They�re playing pool with the others,� he said, watching her take a bottle of water from the fridge. �No, thanks,� he said when she held one out for him. She took a quick swig from the bottle. �Lisa can�t play pool to save her life,� she commented, closing the door of the fridge and leaning on the side of it. �She�s watching with Rob. Watching Matt and Brooksey get their asses kicked by Eric and Tommy.� �I see.� She paused to yawn. �Well, if you don�t mind, I�m gonna get some sleep. I have an early day ahead of myself tomorrow, Breaking Benjamin is coming in to record the last song for their album and I�m gonna be the only Engineer in there. Heaven help me, those boys are going to be the death of me yet.� She eyed up Toby momentarily while he smiled and let out a small snicker. �Them and you guys,� she said, putting a pout on her face. �Damned hockey players and musicians, you�re all trying to kill me, aren�t you?� Toby laughed and followed Kelsey to the bottom of the stairs, and watched as she climbed them, headed for her room. �Looks like you have us all figured out,� he called. �I�ll have to talk with the guys and revise our plan of trying to kill you by annoying you to death.� �You do that, goodnight Toby,� she called over her shoulder. �Night Kel,� he yelled. �I�ll tell them to keep it down.� �Thanks sweetie, I owe ya,� she commented with another yawn. I really have got to stop keeping these hours, she thought as she began changing for bed. I spend entirely too much time at the studio, I really do. But hell, it�s well worth it. She glanced around the room at the various awards she had received and all the album credits her name had been on in the five years she that had been a professional recording engineer. After attending college for engineering for a year when she graduated from high school, she moved to Pittsburgh and jumped into the job market, making connections whenever she could. Sweet-talking, ass kissing and empty promises got her where she was, and she was not above stepping on toes and over bodies to get what she wanted. She was always careful of the toes she stepped on, because she always believed that someday, they might be connected to an ass that she had to kiss in order to get a job or a booking. Within a year, she had sweet talked her way into a job as an assistant engineer at a local studio, and since then she had been working her way up; her client list included the likes of 3 Doors Down, Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind, and she was currently working on Breaking Benjamin�s third album. She was making good money doing what she loved to do, and could certainly afford a house of her own, but she liked living with Lisa. Even after she had pulled in high five figures in the past year, it was still nice to save money on something she didn�t need right away. She was completely content being alone and had lived in Pittsburgh for almost a year before Lisa moved in with her. They both used to live in Wilkes-Barre, where Matt had played with Pittsburgh�s AHL team, but just as Matt and Lisa began dating exclusively, he got called up to play in Pittsburgh. Lisa didn�t want to leave him and Kelsey had an empty bedroom, so she jumped on the opportunity. They had been best friends before Kelsey moved, and spent almost every day together, and they picked up where they left off when Lisa moved� but the time they spent sitting on the couch and watching movies was getting small as of late. |
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