Page 84 of From Drummer to Gamer

When I wasn’t recording or spending studio time with Raphael, I’d been listening to a lot of demos and scouring the internet for some fresh sounds, but till now, I had no luck.

Finding talent was a process, and I wasn’t rushing it.

Raphael shrugged, not even sparing a glance at his sister.

“Really?” she whined. “That was my last bag! I’m going to murder you. Write this down. Today is the day you die, Raphael Rui Chan.”

“Like you can even try, Sierra Daisy Chan.” Raphael poked a tongue at her.

A thunderous expression crossed her face and she was about to lift her weary body off the couch when I asked, “Wait, you’re middle name is Daisy?”

As if someone had stopped time, she froze midair while Raphael stilled, his pencil an inch away from his paper, while he volleyed his eyes between us.

I narrowed my eyes at them. What the hell were they both hiding?

“Yes, my middle name is Daisy,” she shouted louder than necessary as her eyes flew to me. Those hazels were brimming with nervousness. “Like the flower. It’s a pretty common flower, right, Raphy? Very, very common. Like it’s everywhere. I don’t know what my mom was thinking when she named me Daisy,” she rambled, which only added to my suspicion.

What did her middle name have to do with her secret?

Fuck, was she dancing in bars or something with that name? But that worry soon deflated, knowing my firecracker had two left feet.

Hell, there I went again, twice in a row, calling hermyfirecracker.

I was way past drowning in trouble. I was fully submerged now.

The two girls who made me a madman were named Daisy.

Was it purely a coincidence, or was life fucking with me?

I nodded toward her, not knowing what to say, and she let out a loud sigh and melted against the couch.

A moment of silence passed, and she literally fell asleep, snoring softly with pursed lips and her fingers folded as her pillow.

Wow, that was the fastest I’d ever seen someone fall asleep. She must be exhausted.

And before I could drape the blanket over her, Raphael beat me to it with a softness shining in his eyes. He shocked me when he glided back the strand of her hair sticking on her nose and removed her shoes and set them carefully near the coffee table.

The Chan family bond was something else. Even though they all acted like they barely tolerated each other. But it was quite the opposite. Jen called me from time to time to check on them both. Victoria even kept tabs and texted me every day to ask if her children ate and were healthy.

She cared more about them than she let on. If Sierra wanted to do something else, I had a feeling her mother would understand and support her.

But I trusted Sierra to do the right thing whenever she felt it was the right time.

“She must be tired,” he said in a hushed whisper as he returned to his spot. “She’s been working hard lately.”

Working hard for what? Did she have exams or something?

I didn’t go to college, but still, wasn’t the summer before college supposed to be fun?

Raphael and I spent the next hour working on the verse before Sierra slowly stirred awake from her sleep, rubbing her eyes. “Hey, guys,” she murmured as she sat up, the blanket pooling over her hips. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Duh, dork,” Raphael replied.

“Raphy.” She pouted. “Did you really eat all my Cheetos? I really want one. I have to ga…” Her eyes quickly darted to me before sliding to him. “To study tonight.”

He shook his head. “That was the last one, Si. I’ll go buy it for you.”

Her eyes lit up. “Yes, please. Thank you.”