After drumming his heart out, Eric sat there panting, his breath coming in heavy gasps. Sweat drenched his entire body, but a massive grin plastered his face.
"This is incredible. I had no idea hamring away on a drum kit could bring this much relief to my chaotic mind," he muttered.
"Clang."
A sharp sound echoed through the empty venue from a distance. Eric’s eyes darted toward the entrance, imdiately recognizing that the noise had co from the stairwell. He stood up, walked to the edge of the stage, and jumped down. He made his way to the door, opened it slowly, and looked up toward the security gate halfway up the stairs. His eyes went wide as he spotted a silhouette shifting behind the tal bars.
"Who’s there?" Eric called out.
"Oh, hi!" a girl’s voice answered.
Driven by curiosity, Eric approached the rolling gate, reached into his pocket for the keys, and with a heavy scrape, opened the access door slightly. He froze. Standing on the other side was a gorgeous girl with long black hair, striking green eyes, and a tall, slender build. She was wearing a school uniform that hugged her fra perfectly.
"Can I help you?" Eric asked, completely thrown off.
"Hey there... I’m Emma Cruz. I heard the drums from upstairs and couldn’t help coming down," Emma said, flashing a bright smile.
"Oh... um... hey. I actually just moved in here today," Eric replied honestly.
"Wait... you live here?" Emma asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
Emma openly checked Eric out, scanning him from head to toe before locking eyes with him again. Under normal circumstances, Eric would have felt incredibly self-conscious.
But strangely, his usual insecurities about his look and fra were completely gone; he felt entirely grounded and confident. He looked back at Emma, who seed eager for him to continue.
"Yeah, I live here. This is my grandfather’s place," Eric answered smoothly.
But mid-sentence, Eric caught himself. His voice sounded different. He stopped talking, the smile fading from his face as he placed a hand over his Adam’s apple and swallowed hard.
"Wow, why does my voice sound so deep and raspy all of a sudden? My throat doesn’t even hurt," Eric thought to himself.
"Wait... this is your grandfather’s place? Like, the whole building? The shop too?" Emma asked enthusiastically.
Instead of speaking, Eric just gave her a firm nod. Emma took a step back up the stairs, keeping her eyes on him with a warm smile.
"Well, I should get going. I have plans to go to a karaoke bar with so friends," Emma said.
"Oh, okay. Thanks for dropping by," Eric replied.
"Haha, sure! See you around," Emma said.
She turned and ran up the steps, pausing at the top to throw a quick wave over her shoulder. Once Emma disappeared from view, Eric locked the security gate and headed back down. He couldn’t shake the bizarre feeling running through him.
Usually, Eric would freeze up or feel totally inadequate talking to a girl—especially one as stunning as Emma, who looked like she belonged on a magazine cover. The only girls he could ever talk to normally were Vivian and his sisters.
When he walked back up into the first-floor storefront, his eyes caught the mirrors lining the display walls. He stopped dead in his tracks, completely shocked by his reflection. He looked slightly taller. His face was sharp, chiseled, and undeniably handso.
The nose that had been broken and bandaged just yesterday was now perfectly straight and defined. His gaze looked intense and striking, and his previously scrawny fra had filled out into a lean, athletic build.
"Wait... is that... ?" Eric muttered in disbelief. He pinched his own cheek. "Ow... okay, it’s definitely . How the hell did I change this drastically? I’m not a tank like Jason, but man, I actually have so muscle now," Eric thought.
He stood there studying his new face, running his fingers through his ssy hair. He traced the sweat dripping down his neck, realizing the look gave him a rugged, effortless charm.
"Knock," "knock."
Eric snapped out of his trance and looked toward the shop’s front entrance. A silhouette was visible through the blinds covering the glass door. He walked over, unlocked it, and pulled the door open. He blinked in surprise. Standing on the threshold was Emma.
"Hey again!" Emma greeted him cheerfully, flashing a dazzling smile that made his heart skip a beat as she raised her hand in a wave.
"Um... I thought you were heading out for karaoke?" Eric asked, confused and a little skeptical of this random girl, despite how incredibly beautiful she was.
"Change of plans, my friends bailed. Mind if I co in and look around?" Emma asked.
"Oh... sure, go ahead," Eric said, stepping aside to clear a path.
Without hesitation, Emma strolled right in. As she brushed past him, a faint wave of her perfu and hair caught him off guard, causing him to lose his train of thought for a split second. He shook his head, closed the door, and watched as Emma began exploring the storefront as if she owned the place.
"So... looking for anything in particular?" Eric asked, perplexed.
"Nope... just looking," Emma replied effortlessly.
She circled back toward the entrance, stopping right in front of him. She stood so close they were almost touching. Tilting her head back, she stood on her tiptoes to examine his face closely. Eric instinctively leaned back a bit to keep so distance so he wouldn’t accidentally kiss her. Emma dropped back onto her heels.
"What’s your relationship to Mr. Elliot?" Emma asked.
The question caught Eric completely off guard. He hadn’t expected her to know his grandfather. Masking his surprise behind a cool, expressionless face, he answered,
"I’m his grandson. Did you know him?" Eric asked.
"Yep! Your grandpa and my grandpa were old friends. They used to play in a band together back in the day, apparently," Emma chatted away casually.
"Oh, I see," Eric murmured, completely in the dark about his grandfather’s past.
"My grandpa and dad brought here once to watch a live show in the basent. I was around ten years old, and I rember being absolutely obsessed with the band playing," Emma shared.
"Oh, wow," Eric replied, still a bit stiff as he processed the information.
"Do you go to school around here? You don’t look much older than ," Emma noted, studying him.
"I actually just graduated. I’m planning to attend the university nearby," Eric replied.
"Oh, really? So you’re 18? A year older than ?" Emma asked, surprised.
"Yep. That makes you 17, then," Eric calculated.
"Spot on! Anyway, I was supposed to hit karaoke down the street, but my friend just texted saying it’s off. See for yourself," Emma said, turning her phone screen toward him as if they were already close friends.
Eric glanced at the group chat on her screen. Sure enough, a bunch of people were dropping out, claiming they had to head ho early or deal with family stuff.
"Oh... damn, that sucks," Eric smiled.
"Hey!" Emma suddenly pouted.
"Huh... what?" Eric blinked, startled.
"Shoving my phone in your face ans I’m asking for your number. Why are you just saying ’that sucks’?" Emma huffed, crossing her arms.
"Oh... right. My bad," Eric laughed, pulling his phone from his pocket.
They quickly scanned each other’s chat app QR codes and swapped contact info. Emma stared at her screen, watching Eric’s na appear in her contact list, and smiled brightly.
"Perfect. Thanks!" Emma bead, her bubbly energy returning instantly.
"Anyti," Eric replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Alright, I’m gonna head out. I’ll swing by again soti, so make sure you text , okay?" Emma said.
"Oh... yeah, definitely. Stop by whenever," Eric replied.
Emma walked past Eric toward the exit, opened the door, and turned back to wave. Eric waved back. He watched from the doorway as Emma strolled down the sidewalk, occasionally looking back to wave until she finally turned the corner. Eric closed the door and paused.
"What a quirky girl... We literally just t and she acts like we’ve been friends for years," Eric thought.
"Vwoom."
A glowing holographic screen materialized directly in front of his face, causing Eric to jump backward in sheer shock.
"What the... what is this?" Eric gasped.
He reached his hand out, trying to touch the display, but his fingers sliced right through thin air while the floating screen remained locked in his field of vision. Eric read the text floating before him:
[Welco to the Music System.]
[Quest: Record yourself playing the guitar for five minutes, post it on social dia and gained 200,000 viewers .]
[Completion Reward: $100,000 and Sound Designer Skill.]
Eric read the text on the screen a second ti, blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes. His gaze was completely glued to the cash reward of $100,000. But before his brain could even begin processing that massive number "ding" a loud notification chid from his smartphone.
He pulled it out, and his jaw dropped. It was an alert from his banking app. He tapped the notification, entered his secure PIN, and was redirected straight to his account balance page.
Eric’s eyes went wide. "Thud." He stumbled backward, slamming hard against the closed front door behind him. Staring at the screen, an unbelievable figure reflected back at him: a fresh deposit of $500,000 had hit his account today, exactly twenty minutes ago.
"Hold on... wait... I’m rich... Oh my God," Eric thought, his chest heaving in absolute disbelief.
anwhile, a few blocks away, Emma skipped down the sidewalk, humming a cheerful tune to herself. Images of Eric kept flashing through her mind—his ssy hair, his chiseled jaw, his defined fra, and the effortless way he carried himself. Her cheeks flushed bright crimson. She buried her face in her hands, a sweet, giddy smile taking over her face.
"He is so incredibly handso and cool... and he plays the drums... Man, I really hope he’s single. I’m so glad I had the guts to ask for his contact info, haha," she thought to herself as she walked ho.
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