29 August 2012
Perform a song. Those three words often reduced me to a state similar to a vegetable. Maybe a potato. On a good day, a leek. "It doesn't matter what it is, and you can pair up or form groups, but at least one of you has to sing. No backing tracks except for drums, all accompaniment live." I relaxed slightly, knowing that at least one of my friends had to be able to sing. "Okay, you two together, you two, you two and so on." He said, gesturing to the pairs of students sharing tables. I realised that I would be performing a song with Roman. My vegetative state was returning. "Can you sing?" We asked each other simultaneously, during the commotion the whole class was going through. Mr Pascale had allowed us the rest of the lesson to choose the song. "No." He said. "No." I said. "Crap." I added helpfully. "Is it nervous can't sing or can't sing can't sing?" He asked, gesturing to my throat. "Really, I can't sing can't sing." I nodded vigorously. "I can sing, I guess. So...if I'm singing, you'll have to choose the song and play it." Roman gave in. "Okay. Can you do high?" I asked. "Yeah. It sounds kind of odd, but I'm better at the really high notes." He said. "And...electric guitar?" I asked, to which he nodded. "Okay then...have you heard of Muse?" I asked tentatively. I personally adore their music. He looked at me with a smile on his face and said- "When can we start?" Next thing we had was break, and I felt like hanging around with him. Plus, we had to decide which song to play. "I have to do something, and I can only do piano. There are some really good keyboard parts in a lot of them, aren't there? And I can do the baseline too." I said, as I bought a packet of sweets from a machine. I often kicked the machines vigorously as they didn't work very well. That time, I bought sweets and was provided with a packet of crisps. I snorted and accepted the crisps, but only after kicking the thing repeatedly. "Mm hmm." Roman nodded, ignoring the ongoing confectionary machine mugging. "Bliss has a good mix..." He suggested, before cutting himself off. "Got one." He said. "What about Starlight?" He asked. "It's got runs on the keyboard, that piano solo's good." He said. "Yeah...I can play the drums from a good keyboard, the bass when you can't play it, and if you can do the rest, it's sorted." I agreed. "Can you meet tonight?" I asked. "Sure." He said. "Hey, Laura." Jo appeared, followed as ever by the quiet Henri. "Hey." I said. "Roman, right?" Jo said. "I'm Jo, this is Henri." She introduced for both of them, after he nodded. "Yeah, I remember you." He said. "Nice to meet you again." I opened my crisps and began to consume them heartily. "Let's go." I said, to the general congregation of my friends/acquaintances, of which there were now many. Henri, Jo, Roman, Naomi, Lee, Avan and I sat round one table in the courtyard, eating our break. I could tell that each of them was a tiny bit wary of Roman, but I asked them all what they were playing in the next music lesson and they perked up. The rest of that first day passed much better than I expected it would. Roman shared all his classes with me, as it turned out, and we decided to meet at my house, which I gave him directions to, at five. My parents were in Hamburg working on a case, and wouldn't be back for a week. My older sister Jamie doesn't mind my noise, though she goes to a 'proper' school. Somehow, I get the feeling my parents prefer her.
Thanks for reading :-) Chapter 5 on its way.
Baywood - Chapter 4 • Opuss № I