Living for the Music

Finally, I couldn’t stand the silence between us. I reached into the compartment between the seats and pulled out Seth’s iPod, quickly flipping through the menu. My eyes landed on a playlist. Just one word. “Sophie.”

I glanced over at Seth. He was watching the road, like a good driver. I quickly hit the button to play the songs, plugging it into the stereo. The first song that started playing was an old Simple Plan song I remembered loving in the month before Seth left.

“Oh my God,” I laughed. “I can’t believe you still have this song.”

“Really? You’re talking to Mr. 10,000 here,” he reminded me, and I smiled as he gently threw my words back at me. “Why would I delete anything?”

“Which other ones do you have on here?” I asked. I hit the menu button, scanning through the songs. My Immortal. Nobody’s Home. Shadows and Regrets. Well, no surprises there. I kept moving. “Oh my God,” I murmured, hitting a new song. “You need to make me a CD. I lost all these songs.”

He listened for a moment. “Sugarcult?” he asked. “Seriously? You lost this song?”

“I know,” I sighed. “I love it.”

“You used to,” he agreed.

“And that’s what you get for falling again, you can never get him out of your head,” I murmured.

Seth laughed softly. “You still know all the words, at least.”

“I was crazy obsessed with this album,” I reminded him. “The one thing about music is you never forget the words. Once you know them-”

“They’re stuck in your head forever,” Seth interrupted.

I swatted him playfully. “I happen to think that’s a good thing.”

He shrugged. “Depends on the song. If you’re talking Carrie Underwood…”

“Hey,” I protested. “I liked her.”

“I know you did,” he assured me. “Trust me, her music would never have been played in my house otherwise.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I laughed. “I bet you even have some of her on here.”

I quickly flipped to his genres and selected country. “See? The night before life goes on. Right there.”

He didn’t reply, and I suddenly had a hunch. Sure enough, when I flipped back to the Sophie playlist, I found that song halfway down the list. “Aww, Seth, its on there for me? Thanks.”

He didn’t look at me, but I could see the pink creeping up his cheek. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “Just start a play list and I’ll burn you a CD.”

I nodded happily and began to shuffle through the songs, quickly selecting some. Before I knew it, the playlist was forty songs long. I smiled to myself, continuing to cycle through his library. Maybe he wouldn’t put all of them on, but I’d venture to bet he’d make me at least two CDs.

I put the iPod away as we turned into his driveway. “Thanks, Seth,” I murmured, grabbing my backpack off the floor. “I needed this.”

He grinned at me. I think I could fall in love with that smile. “No problem,” he said. “But Sophie? Do me a favor?”

I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”

“Promise me we’ll never fight like that again,” he said seriously.

I laughed quietly. “I don’t think you want me to do that. I tend to be involved with a lot of broken promises.”

“Well, at least say you’ll slap me if I ever get that self-righteous pissed-offness again.”

“That I will definitely do,” I replied, grinning at him.

“Good.” I pulled open the door and sent him one last look before I shut it behind me. I flew into the house as if I was floating on air, and even got up the guts to do some homework. Maybe I’d actually be ahead of the game, for once.