I know it's
been a bit of a slow burner but hopefully this chapter will start to steer things
in the direction you're probably hoping for.
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Chapter 9
\\\ Nick ///
Walking down
into town on a late Sunday morning was by far one of my favourite things to do
since coming back to Emberville. All I had with me was
my trusty paint splattered guitar and a plan, but I didn't need any more than
that. The day before I'd hung out in the
music shop with Sammie but it was pretty quiet in there which surprised
me. Ok so we were just coming into
October, but I really thought more people would be coming in to ask about
ordering instruments for Christmas or maybe even a few people coming in for
music lessons. I know Christmas is a way
off yet but if anyone wanted custom made instruments or even some bigger ones
to be delivered on time then they'd need to act soon or miss out. While it was quiet though I
was able to play one of the new guitars that came in on Thursday's delivery. Everyone always seemed to like the Fenders or
Gibsons but there was something about this Jackson
guitar I just loved. As soon as I
plugged it in and tuned it up I knew I'd have to get it myself, unfortunately
it was going to take me ages to save up for it so I'd just have to hope no one
bought it in the meantime.
Throughout
the day though I'd noticed there were only a handful of customers coming in and
even though Daz had a couple of music lessons on,
Adrian just seemed to be spending more time with us than he was actually
selling anything. That was where my plan
came in. Emberville
had a thriving town square with an ornate fountain in the centre and shops,
cafes and bars all around the edge, then there were a few side streets that led
out of town with more shops along them.
Adrian's shop unfortunately was on a side street that just led to the
service yards of the main shops, so unless anyone really wanted to go down
there it got overlooked a lot. What he
needed was some advertising so I had a plan to send a few more people his
way. Mum was out on her date with Luke
the night before so I used some cardboard from one of our moving boxes and some
markers to make up a crude sign, then messaged Ben to see if his dad would let
me use one of the A frames they had outside the comic shop to hold it up. Hopefully having me play a few songs in the
square would drive customers into the shop and help business to pick up.
Taking my
usual route past the park, I noticed Jamie, Noah and Tom over by the outdoor
gym equipment and made a quick detour to see them. They didn't look like they'd been training
much, even though they were wearing their Fleek Flow hoodies, more like just
hanging out than anything else. When I
explained my plan to them they decided to help out so I didn't have to keep
stopping during a song to tell people where the shop was. When we made it into town I set myself up by
the fountain as Noah dashed over to the comic shop to grab the A frame. Once he was back I stuck my sign to it and
stood back to inspect my handy work.
"I learned
to play at Evans Music Store." Jamie
read from the sign. "You think it'll
work?"
"I hope so;
even if it'll get a few people in there it's better than nothing." I replied.
"Could've
done with putting the address on it though, it's kinda hidden away isn't
it." Tom said.
"Yeah but
that's where we come in, he plays the music and we show them the way." Jamie grinned. "Just one more thing." He took off another of his seemingly endless
supply of caps and dropped it at my feet, giving me a little wink as he did.
I sat down
on the edge of the fountain and started to play the first song that came into
my head which was Good Riddance by Green Day.
Probably not the best title to start with when I'm trying to get people
into a shop but what the hell, let's go with it. As I started to get into the song I felt the
world melt away and nothing else mattered but the music. I went straight into another song and
another, hardly noticing what was going on around me but praying my plan was
working. After a couple more songs I
could feel my voice going hoarse and decided to take a break. After I finished up a rendition of Jeff
Buckley's Hallelujah my focus came back and I noticed a crowd of people
standing around me, all singing along and then finally applauding when I was
done. I felt my face go red as I'd never
experienced anything like this before, then my eyes landed on Daz who was just putting his phone away but grinning from
ear to ear, and standing nearby was Lucas with a look of awe on his face.
"Wow...you're...incredible." Lucas said, coming over to me as the crowd
started to disperse a little.
Oh my god!!
Lucas called me incredible!! I didn't
know what to say, I just hoped I wasn't blushing. Oh crap!! I could feel my face heating up!!
"He's right,
that was amazing Nick, well done." Daz said.
"What are
you doing out here?" I asked, worrying
that he was here because the store was dead, and glad for a reason to take my
focus off Lucas.
"Are you
kidding? I had to come see what was
going on, I've never seen Dad's store so busy.
He had to draft Sammie in to help out and even Ben's in there booking
people in for music lessons." I suddenly
felt something cold tap on my arm and looked over to see Danny holding out a
bottle of water for me with a big smile plastered on his face.
"Wow, looks
like my plan worked." I replied, and
then took a swig from the bottle to help my vocal chords. Soon we were joined by Jamie, Noah and Tom, which made me remember Jamie's hat was still on the floor.
"Holy shit!! Look at all the cash!" Jamie exclaimed as he looked down at my
feet. The cap was full of money, and not
just coins either, there were a few notes in there as well.
"Fuck
working in the music store, you should be busking for a living." Tom said, and then his face went red as he
looked over to our teacher. "Sorry Mr
Evans."
"Don't worry about it Tom, but you should definitely think
about entering the showcase at school this year Nick."
"The what?" I asked.
"Every year
before we break up for summer the school has a show for the pupils to perform
anything they want to, just as a bit of fun before the holidays. There's no prizes or anything like that, just
people having the opportunity to get creative and show off what they can
do." Daz
replied. Me on stage? I was a little scared at the thought of
performing in front of loads of people but maybe I could persuade Adrian to
lend me that Jackson guitar I'd fallen in love with.
"We're
entering it this year too." Danny said.
"Wait, we
are? Since when?" Tom asked.
"Well I
haven't told everyone yet but I've had an idea for it so I'm gonna sign us up."
"So who else
knows?"
"Well, so
far you guys, and Jamie if he's paying attention."
"Huh?" Jamie suddenly looked up from counting the
money in his cap but had no idea what they'd been discussing as he'd missed the
whole conversation.
I thought
about staying to play another few songs but suddenly the idea of playing to
loads of people made me really nervous, and besides, my idea had already worked
better than I'd ever hoped so there was no need to send any more people to
Adrian's. I decided to head over to the
comic shop instead to see how my mum was getting on. I hadn't seen her since before she went out
on her date so she must've stayed out until after I went to bed and then gone
out to work before I got up. Our group
started to split up as Daz went back to the music
shop to relieve Ben and Sammie while the Fleeks
headed off to hang out in the park again.
I tried picking up the A frame to take back to Ben's dad but it was too
heavy and awkward to carry with the guitar in my other hand so Lucas offered to
help me out, easily carrying it in one hand, which surprised me. When I walked into the shop I saw Luke
standing behind Mum with his arm around her waist, kissing her on the back of
the neck as she giggled like a schoolgirl.
I noticed a red haired woman behind the counter who looked like she was
about to greet us when Luke looked up and a big smile spread across his face.
"Mini me!!" He called out as Lucas rested the A frame
against the wall.
"Hey Luke." Lucas replied with a smile then turned to
look at my obviously confused face. "I
was named after him and Sammie was named after his brother, so it's become a
nickname."
"Summer,
this is one of Alex and Josh's kids, Lucas this is Nick's mum." Luke added.
"Nice to
meet you Lucas, I remember your dads from school." Mum said and then typically followed it up with
the customary embarrassing question. "So
are you a freak too?" I rolled my eyes
at Mum's attempt at humour but I noticed Lucas, Luke and the lady behind the
counter looking absolutely horrified.
"Mum! How many more times? It's Fleek Flow not Freak Show." I whined. "And no, he's not a free runner like the other
guys." The others suddenly realised what
she meant but there was still an uneasy look on their faces.
"Wow, so
this is Nick? Summer you didn't tell me
he'd grown into such a handsome young man."
The lady behind the counter said as I stood there looking puzzled as to
how she knew me; fortunately she could see my confusion and filled me in. "I'm Becky, Ben's mum. Last time I saw you was
when you two were in primary school together."
"Oh...uh
right..." I didn't really know how to
respond but luckily Mum came over and I just had one question burning on my
mind. "So what time did you get in last
night?" I asked and immediately saw her
face go red.
"Um...I
didn't." She replied sheepishly. I quickly turned to Luke and gave him my
sternest look.
"Didn't I
say you were meant to have her home by ten?
And no funny business?" I said, shaking my finger at Luke and he
suddenly started squirming.
"Um...well you
see...she...we..." He
could barely string any words together but then I couldn't hold it anymore and
burst out laughing. "You
little bastard!!" Luke yelled
with a smile as I suddenly looked at my mum horrified.
"Did you
hear what he called me? I can't believe
you want to go out with this guy." I said,
changing from horrified to amused. "So what did you guys get up to last
night?" Before she could answer Luke
jumped in first.
"Oh you know
the usual...dinner...movie...the first five chapters of the Kama Sutra..." Mum suddenly whacked him in the chest and looked
embarrassed as I tried to keep my breakfast down.
"Luke
please, there's children here." Becky
chastised him as she pointed to us, and Lucas seemed to know exactly what they
were talking about as he looked as horrified as I felt. Luke on the other hand looked rather pleased
with himself as he'd got me back.
"So what've
you been doing today then? Becky said
something about you needing a sign outside."
Luke asked. I quickly told them
about my busking by the fountain and showed them how much money I'd made. "Sounds like you've really helped them out, I
know Adrian's been struggling to get people in as he doesn't do much
advertising."
"Yeah, I
enjoyed it too."
"And Mr
Evans said he should enter the showcase too cos he was amazing out there." Holy crap!! Lucas said I was amazing this time!! Don't go red, don't go red, don't go
red. I suddenly felt my face heat up
again. DAMNIT!!! It was at that moment I decided to go home to
save myself any further blushes so I said my goodbyes and left the shop. As I hurried across the square to go home I
suddenly heard footsteps coming up behind me.
"Hey, wait
up!" CRAP!!! Lucas had decided to follow me. I thought about ignoring him but he was soon
by my side so that was out of the question.
"I was serious before, you were amazing.
I mean, Sammie said you were good but you just made it look
so...effortless."
"Uh...thanks..." I really didn't know what else to say so I
just carried on walking with him by my side.
All the while my insides were in turmoil, I mean, I'd hated him for
years. He knew I'd hated him for years
and now it was like trying to flick a switch and be ok with each other. The problem was, that was what I wanted, so
why was I holding back so much? After a
few minutes of silence I guess Lucas couldn't take it anymore and suddenly
stopped me by the park, grabbing my shoulder and turning me to face him.
"Can I ask
you something? I need to know...do you
still have a problem with me?"
"I don't
know...I don't think I should but I don't really know you." That sounded so lame but it was the truth.
"You didn't
know Ben when you came back here either, but you two seem to be getting on now
that you've stopped hating him." Ouch,
that kinda hurt.
"But it's
different with Ben." I protested.
"Why?" Lucas asked.
I couldn't really tell him it was because I didn't want to rip Ben's
clothes off.
"I dunno,
maybe cos I got to know him through his friends you know, so it wasn't just the
two of us trying to make awkward conversation."
Oh shit, that was totally the wrong thing to say but Lucas didn't look
offended, he just seemed to be thinking for a minute.
"Ok, so how
about this; you hang out with me at school this week, none of Ben's crew or
Sammie, just you, me and my friends. If
everything goes ok you can come over to my place next weekend and hang out away
from school, deal?"
"Alright,
but I get to ask your friends anything I want about you." I replied with a smile and watched as his
face sank.
"Ok fine, I
can always hide if it gets too embarrassing.
Meet me at the dance studio after school tomorrow."
"Dance
studio?"
"Yeah you
know, the big room with all the mirrors in the performing arts building. You'll get to see the real me in there." With a quick wink and a smile he turned
around and headed in the other direction as I carried on home.
All the way
I kept thinking about how things would go at school the next day. Would his friends be there? And would I even like them? Should I chicken out just go home
instead? I could always say I forgot and
hope he didn't mind. By the time I got
home I was starting to panic about all the ways I could screw things up, even
trying to play my guitar just made me think about how he called me amazing
earlier so I gave up and just lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I bet Lucas wouldn't be acting like such a
loser.