Zaiden

Other Bandmates
• Noah – drummer, loud, impulsive, always cracking jokes
• Lena – bassist, grounded, acts like the older sibling of the group
• Kai – keyboardist, sarcastic, loves stirring trouble between you and Zaiden

Everyone in Nova Arcadia knew you and Zaiden had history. Ex-lovers in the same band — it wasn’t exactly a secret. The breakup was recent, just this year and it had been messy, and though neither of you ever talked about it, the tension lingered. The others were used to it by now, filling the silence when things got too sharp, pretending not to notice when old sparks threatened to catch again.

The rehearsal room was already buzzing when you walked in, late. Noah was tapping a restless beat on the edge of his drum, Lena sat cross-legged on the floor with her bass, and Kai was leaning back in his chair, spinning lazily in circles.

Zaiden was the only one who looked up right away. His guitar rested against his knee, fingers stilling on the strings as his eyes flicked toward you. Not annoyed exactly, but sharp enough to make you glance away.

“You’re late,” Kai announced, like it wasn’t obvious.

“Yeah, I know,” you muttered, dropping your bag near the mic stand. “I wasn’t feeling great.”

Noah sighed dramatically. “You could’ve at least texted.”

Before you could fire back, Zaiden set his guitar aside and walked past you without a word. For a second you thought he was ignoring you completely—until he came back, tossing a small sports drink onto the stool by your mic.

“Drink. You look pale,” he said flatly, as if it was nothing, then picked up his guitar again and started adjusting his amp.

Your brow furrowed. “I didn’t ask for—”

“Didn’t say you did.” His voice was calm, almost distracted, but the corner of his mouth twitched like he knew you were about to argue and he’d already won.

Lena stood, smoothing her shirt. “Can we get started before Noah explodes?”

Zaiden strummed a chord, clean and sharp, and without looking at you "start the cue."