The smell of Chris’ sweat reached Sin’s nose, arousing her common sense, which got the best off her; of course, the drummer had not showered between the takes. Without warning, Sin pushed the musician away and rushed to the living room where she grabbed her bag.

Chris followed, “Hey, wait. I didn’t mean,ㅡ.”

“Where’s my friend,” Sin yelled at the very wasted guests.

“Hey,” Chris gripped her wrist, “I’m sorry, okay.”

Sin freed herself, ignoring him, she continued to advance in the corridor where she opened every door, “Shawna, Shawna, are youㅡ.”

The shock was immense if only her friend were with Roy alone. Another guy was there too. There were too many arms and legs for Sin to identify who they belonged to; from the door’s frame, the trio’s bodies formed a beetle.

“Sin,” her friend, embarrassed, tried to grab the sheets to cover her naked body.

Sin turned away, ready to run, only to bump into Chris’s chest, “Hey, don’t overreact, okay. Your friendㅡ.”

A single tear trickled on Sin’s face, “I want to go home.”

The moment Chris looked down on her, the man was a goner. He took Sin by the hand, back to the balcony and called.” Yeah, can I have a cab for 49 clover street, 10 minutes.” Okay. Chris hung up and approached Sin.

“Hey, little girl, do things little girls do.”

A little girl, Sin, wished to die for the first time. She wanted the man to see her with a different eye. She didn’t like the image of a cry baby the man painted in his mind because she wasn’t one. The unforeseen situation made her panic, thus crying was an automatic reaction.

Chris took off his shirt and pulled Sin out of the wall’s corner, “Hey, what are you doing?” she protested.

Chris tied the checkered red and black shirt around her waist, “you know, you can’t be walking around with skimpy shorts like that and expect a man to think you are not looking for something. Especially in a place like this. We men have a hard time controlling our instincts if you know what I mean,” he tugged on the knot he made while staring into her eyes.

His mellow stare did not reassure Sin, who returned to the corner of the balcony. The girl looked like a wounded rabbit, afraid but alert and ready to hop away in Chris’ eye.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I thought -I forget it, I thought wrong,” Chris shook his head and took out a cigarette. He hesitated and put it back as he remembered it bothered her.

“So Sin, perhaps we can start over. My name is Chris,” he stretched out his hand, but Sin didn’t budge.

“Geez, I must have scared the shit out of you.”

Chris felt terrible; he never flirted with girls who came to their concerts. Most just wanted to say they slept with a Hollows member. The man thought Sin was one of them; Chris couldn’t be more wrong. Sin drew him, in that there’s something-about-her kind of logic.

When he gazed into her eyes, the man’s instincts told him to protect her. Beautiful women were everywhere, but innocent girls were a rarity. Despite the make-up and the enticing attire, Chris knew Sin was lamb and as immaculate as snow. Tinted if not to say pitch black The Hollows universe was darker than the girl could imagine, Sin had no clue where she set foot.

No, the girl had no idea what she woke.

The cab arrived, and Shawna, fully dressed, came to join Sin.

Chris gave his last instructions to the cab driver and came to the back window where he knocked for Sin to unwind.

“I hope you don’t hate me.”

Sin remained silent.

“Where do you live?”

Still no answer.

“What school do you go to?”

Highbury Meadows,”

“Shawna,” Sin blurted in protest.

The girl shrugged and slumped back on the seat. Shawna didn’t understand why Sin fussed. Chris was that guy every mother would want their daughter to stay away from. His aura reeked trouble, and it was what all the Hollows groupies desired. Shawna saw it as an honor to sleep with Roy, and she assumed Sin would like the attention too, but Sin knew better.

“Highbury Meadows, huh,” Chris smiled, “see you around, Sin.”

In the cab, silence reigned, “aren’t you going to talk to me?” Shawna rolled eyes, she hated when Sin had what she considered a childish attitude, but she tried to break the ice again, “come on, Sin,” Shawna said as she nudged her friend.

“Shawna, youㅡ.”

“Please Sin, don’t be judgmental, like the bitches at school, don’t slut-shame me. It was not my first time, so forget it.”

Sex had no value. It was an activity like jogging and hiking for Shawna. Getting off with a rockstar was now a ticked box on the bucket list of the girl who saved up to get Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero tattooed on her next birthday.

Sin sighed, “ㅡShawna, but there were two.”

“So what? I got enough holes to go around.”

The girls looked at each other and burst into laughter.

The driver looked in the rearview mirror and shook his head in disapproval while praying his sixteen-year-old daughter slept well tucked in bed.

Sin wished never to see Chris again, and she did not. A month passed, Shawna kept in touch with Roy, who continued his mini-tour with The Hollows. Shawna loved the band more than before, while Sin did not want to hear their music anymore. Every song reminded her of the concert. And the bastard with his piercing green eyes.

“Sin, Sin,” Mary ran up to where Sin laid on the bench with her head on Shawna’s lap.

Sin placed a hand above her eyebrows to see, “you are blocking my view, Mary.”

Mary shook her head, “there’s a carbon copy of The Hollows drummer Chris Lundberg at the gate looking for a girl called Sin.”

Sin shot up,

“Wait, Sin, it’s probably a hoax,” her friend reassured, but a second later, Shawna’s beeping phone confirmed otherwise.

Hi, Shawna, it’s Chris, is Sin with you?

Shawna looked at Sin and stretched the phone out to her. “It’s him.”

The girls hurried to the gates, it was lunch break, and they could go out if they wished.

A grin appeared on Chris’s face; he took his hand out of one pocket to give a shy wave, “hi Sin”

Slack-jawed many girls stopped to stare.

“Fucking hell,” Sin exclaimed.

Chris gave Sin a deadpan stare, “wow, what a welcome. Nice to see you too, little girl.”