the best out of this situation.

She was stuck here for two more months in a beautiful house located on the water.

Might as well take advantage of it, right?

Ayoluwa was sitting on the deck, dressed in Nike Pros and a t-shirt, her legs crisscrossed and her eyes closed.

Next to her was her songbook and a black pen just in case inspiration struck her.

The silence and the heat from the sun's rays were providing Ayoluwa with some heavily needed peace and relaxation.

Her phone rang and without checking the caller ID, Ayoluwa snapped, "What?"

"Woah. Just wanted to see how you were doing?" Shareef replied.

Ayoluwa let out a dry, sarcastic laugh at his question,"How am I doing? How am I doing? Let's see. In the past three days since I've been stranded here by you, because that is a very necessary detail. I've been in two screaming matches with trout, had to sleep on a bathroom floor, and an old couch because he won't share the bed, and on top of that my grandma hasn't been answering the phone so I have no fucking idea how Lauryn is doing."

Ayoluwa took a deep breath, "So yeah, I'm not doing so hot, Shareef."

"I'll check on her today. And why were you sleeping on the floor?"

"It's not important," Ayoluwa waved away the question, forgetting that Shareef couldn't see her gesture.

"Lauryn's preschool is holding a summer camp. I already paid for five weeks, it starts next Monday. I need you or someone to make sure she gets there and-."

All of a sudden, the bass from Martin & Gina by Polo G filled the house behind her and shook the deck.

Ayoluwa grit her teeth at the music and turned around to see Joshua rapping along, his own speaker in his hand.

"Ugh!" Ayoluwa palmed her forehead in frustration.

"What?" Shareef said.

"He's just..." Ayoluwa closed her eyes in frustration, "Reef, we've known each other since kindergarten and you know you're one of my best friends, right?"

Shareef let out a wry chuckle, "Yeah, I would hope so."

"So if you care for me in any way, shape or form, you'll be here to come and get me by tonight."

Shareef let out a great sigh, "Have you even given it a try? Have you tried talking to him?"

"Yes! He told me that he's not a good cook so I tried making a compromise: I'll cook for both of us if he shares the bed and he basically told me that there's no chance in hell of that happening." Ayoluwa complained, "There's no point to any of this. Let it end! This is torture!"

"For two people who dislike each other so much, you guys are way too similar," Shareef laughed, "I'm gonna go check on Lauryn for you. Bye!"

"I'm nothing like that asshole," Ayoluwa sighed then scooped up her songbook and pen to head back inside.

Joshua had went upstairs and Ayoluwa could hear Yes, Indeed by Lil Baby thumping from the bedroom.

Ugh, I can't focus like this.

Ayoluwa opened the basement door, sat on the oatmeal colored carpeted steps and opened her songbook to the love song she had been previously working on.

Ayoluwa looked around and then reached out her hand to touch the unusual walls.

They were covered with black foam panels like...

Like a recording studio.

Ayoluwa immediately closed her songbook and made her way down the stairs.

"Holy shit." Ayoluwa exclaimed and she dropped her songbook in surprise at the sight.

The basement was built to be a music lover's dream.

A black grand Steinway piano was in the middle of the room while various guitars, both acoustic and electric were lined up in rows, propped against the wall.

Towards the back of the basement, was a microphone with an isolation shield around it.

Unable to help herself, Ayoluwa brushed her fingers against a slightly dusty bright red Gibson electric guitar.

The notes were off just a tad, making Ayoluwa frown, pause then look around to see that she was still alone before picking up the guitar.

Ayoluwa strummed a little more then tightened the strings, tuning the guitar.

Ayoluwa hooked up the electric guitar to the amp and began to strum a bluesy type of chord.

"This could be the last time, that could be the fault line slipping away," Ayoluwa sung, starting to feel just a little better.

"This could be your last line..." Ayoluwa easily improvised a guitar solo that matched the rest of the song.

The sound of someone stopping down the stairs made Ayoluwa falter a bit in playing.

"What are you doing? You always go into someone else's house and touch shit?" Joshua snapped as he snatched the guitar away from her.

"What do you do when you see a guitar? You play it, dumb ass!" Ayoluwa shot back.

Joshua glared at her, put the guitar back in place, then strolled up the stairs and away to another part of the house.

"Asshole." Ayoluwa sighed but followed him.

"Aye," Ayoluwa called after Joshua, "Can you stop?"

Joshua stopped at the foot of the stairs then turned to look down at her, "What?"

"We're gonna be here until August. It might be a little easier if we try to put our differences aside until then and try to be cordial." Ayoluwa said.

Joshua blinked then went up the stairs without another word.

"Or not." Ayoluwa muttered and shook her head, feeling her locs move with her.

"What the fuck is your problem with me?" Ayoluwa asked and Joshua paused on the staircase, his back turned to her.

"Huh? What the fuck did I do that makes you hate me so bad that you can't swallow your pride and try to compromise?" Ayoluwa asked.

Joshua turned his head over his shoulder, "You really wanna know?"

"Yes!" Ayoluwa was exasperated.

Joshua made his way down a few steps, "You remember seventh grade art class?"

Ayoluwa furrowed her brows, "With Ms. Poole? Yeah, why?"

Joshua balled his tongue in his cheek, "I used to wear my grandpa's chain a lot and one day you dipped the entire thing into paint. He died a couple of months after and he died disappointed in me. Because of you."

Ayoluwa's mouth was open slightly as the memory of her playfully tossing the chain around with Nicholas and then purposely dropping the chain into a jar of teal paint replayed in her head.

He was right this entire time.

I'm a horrible person.

"Josh... I didn't know that's what it was. I'm so sorry, I would take it all back if I could."

"Yeah. Well. You can't," Joshua's tone was stale.

Ayoluwa's heart sunk as he turned to go back up the stairs.

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