Status: 36/51 chapters!
Music Girl
A Lesson in Music
Sam was at home all day for a week straight. Although Aravic guessed she mostly just played her guitar, he worried she might go a little crazy.
Things had changed at school. No Sam to stalk, no Cynthia to gently flirt with, and his friends had changed too. Tomas’s self-confidence had turned into extreme assholey arrogance, Kevin retreated into a shell of not talking, and Jared wouldn’t shut up. With the week to himself, it gave Aravic lots of time to think through everything.
Saturday morning, Aravic woke later than usual. He took a quick shower, dressed, and walked down to the elevator. He rode it up to the third floor and wandered through the empty library, wondering if Sam was up yet. He knocked on her door and said, “Sam, you awake? It’s Aravic.” Her footsteps were uneven on the wood floor as she crossed to the door. The lock clicked and the door swung open.
Her face was in the usual frown, and her hair looked like she hadn’t combed it in a while. Most her makeup had worn off, some of her piercings were missing, and she wore purple pj pants and a black tank top. “Morning,” Aravic said, offering a weak smile. Sam yawned wildly and walked away, leaving the door open.
“Hi,” she grunted, throwing herself down on her bed. Aravic entered and closed the door behind him.
“Well?” she finally asked. “What do you want? Breakfast? To flirt?”
“No. I just, er… want to talk,” said Aravic casually, sitting down in her desk chair.
“About?”
He sighed, searching for the right words. He finally simply said, “You were right.”
“About what?”
“Everything,” Aravic said heavily. Sam pushed herself up to sitting.
“Well? Elaborate,” she coaxed.
“You were just… right. Everything’s fucked up. Society, Regalism, life… me,” he said, sighing heavily.
Sam smiled slightly. “Glad you’ve seen the light. What made you?”
“Just… the whole thing with Cynthia, and…” Aravic was lost for words. Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Have you got any idea what America was like before the turn of the century?” Aravic shook his head. “America was actually a pretty cool place. Women and men were fairly equal. You could be whatever religion you wanted, dress how you wanted, listen to any music, do anything… just be yourself.” She sighed heavily. “I wish I had lived back then. All the freedom… and all this –” she gestured to the posters on the walls, “–wouldn’t be controversial.”
Aravic looked around the walls for the first time. Most were dark colours. There were some movie posters, lots of what he assumed were bands, and a couple that he had no clue what they were. “What’s this?” he asked, pointing to a black and green poster with two women that said, “WICKED.”
Sam smirked. “Poster from Wicked. One of the best Broadway musicals ever. Saw it twice when I lived in Boston.”
“And what’s this… ‘Metallica?’ You have a lot of posters of that.”
“Metallica’s only the greatest metal band in the history of music!” Aravic was still confused. Sam’s jaw dropped. “You’ve never heard of Metallica?”
“Not that I know of…” Aravic said slowly. Sam looked as if she might just die of shock.
“Oh – my – holy – Darwin. How the HELL do you go through life not knowing who Metallica is?!”
“I listen to rap –”
“NO! Rap is crap without the c!!!” she practically screeched. Aravic flinched as she jumped off her bed and began circling around the room, the boot-cast on her right foot clunking with every other step. She pointed to each poster as she mentioned it. “Metallica! Guns ‘N Roses! Aerosmith! Avenged Sevenfold! Papa Roach! Green Day! Joan Jett! Three Days Grace! Iron Maiden! Slayer!” She took a deep breath. “You’re telling me… you’ve never heard of… any of them?”
“Sorry, no. I listen to stuff like Kore, Psyc and KZX.”
Sam shook her head, twitched, and made a barfing face all at once. “Alright, that’s it… you need to be educated.” She crossed the room, locked the door, clunked back to her bed, and pulled out from underneath it her guitar. After she checked its’ strings, she plugged her iPod into the speakers of her computer.
“Alright, you must have heard this before…” she muttered, and started playing a song on her guitar. When she finished, she looked at Aravic expectantly. But Aravic had no idea of what she had just played. “The intro to Master of Puppets? Holy mother of – alright, you have to know this…” She started playing another intro, this time one that Aravic knew.
“Yeah, that’s Sweet Babe by KZX,” he said earnestly. Sam gave him a distastefully look.
“What the HELL? No, that’s the intro for Sweet Child ‘O Mine by Guns ‘N Roses!”
“No, that’s defiantly Sweet Babe.”
“Then your stupid rap crap people stole that line, because Sweet Child ‘O Mine came out in the 1980’s,” she said definitively.
Sighing, she set her guitar down and grabbed her laptop. “What’s your e-mail?” Sam asked as she tapped away.
“hockeyman698@google.chrome.com.”
“Alright, I’m sending you some music you need to listen to,” she explained as she continued clicking around.
Aravic simply said, “Okay,” and stared out the nearest window.
After a few minutes, Sam said, “Alright, I just sent it. Go check your e-mail later.” She turned off her laptop and walked off to her bathroom. Aravic decided to check the e-mail in private, so he went back down to his room. He booted up his feather-light laptop and sat on the plush bed that was yet to be made. He logged into his e-mail account and found a new message from JKR_FTW@mugglenet.com. The file was massive and took a few moments to completely download.
“Listen to all these and let me know – Sam,” read the message. The attached file merely said, “Playlist.” Aravic opened it with iTunes and discovered it was a list of about fifteen songs. They were as follows:
Master of Puppets – Metallica
Sweet Child ‘O Mine – Guns ‘N Roses
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘N Roses
Dream On – Aerosmith
Hollywood Whore – Papa Roach
Beast and the Harlot – Avenged Sevenfold
Raining Blood – Slayer
One – Metallica
American Idiot – Green Day
Brain Stew – Green Day
I Love Rock & Roll – Joan Jett
I Hate Everything About You – Three Days Grace
Pain – Three Days Grace
Number of the Beast – Iron Maiden
Getting Away with Murder – Papa Roach
Aravic sighed and started the playlist. He smiled to himself with the satisfaction that he was starting to get on Sam’s good side.
Things had changed at school. No Sam to stalk, no Cynthia to gently flirt with, and his friends had changed too. Tomas’s self-confidence had turned into extreme assholey arrogance, Kevin retreated into a shell of not talking, and Jared wouldn’t shut up. With the week to himself, it gave Aravic lots of time to think through everything.
Saturday morning, Aravic woke later than usual. He took a quick shower, dressed, and walked down to the elevator. He rode it up to the third floor and wandered through the empty library, wondering if Sam was up yet. He knocked on her door and said, “Sam, you awake? It’s Aravic.” Her footsteps were uneven on the wood floor as she crossed to the door. The lock clicked and the door swung open.
Her face was in the usual frown, and her hair looked like she hadn’t combed it in a while. Most her makeup had worn off, some of her piercings were missing, and she wore purple pj pants and a black tank top. “Morning,” Aravic said, offering a weak smile. Sam yawned wildly and walked away, leaving the door open.
“Hi,” she grunted, throwing herself down on her bed. Aravic entered and closed the door behind him.
“Well?” she finally asked. “What do you want? Breakfast? To flirt?”
“No. I just, er… want to talk,” said Aravic casually, sitting down in her desk chair.
“About?”
He sighed, searching for the right words. He finally simply said, “You were right.”
“About what?”
“Everything,” Aravic said heavily. Sam pushed herself up to sitting.
“Well? Elaborate,” she coaxed.
“You were just… right. Everything’s fucked up. Society, Regalism, life… me,” he said, sighing heavily.
Sam smiled slightly. “Glad you’ve seen the light. What made you?”
“Just… the whole thing with Cynthia, and…” Aravic was lost for words. Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Have you got any idea what America was like before the turn of the century?” Aravic shook his head. “America was actually a pretty cool place. Women and men were fairly equal. You could be whatever religion you wanted, dress how you wanted, listen to any music, do anything… just be yourself.” She sighed heavily. “I wish I had lived back then. All the freedom… and all this –” she gestured to the posters on the walls, “–wouldn’t be controversial.”
Aravic looked around the walls for the first time. Most were dark colours. There were some movie posters, lots of what he assumed were bands, and a couple that he had no clue what they were. “What’s this?” he asked, pointing to a black and green poster with two women that said, “WICKED.”
Sam smirked. “Poster from Wicked. One of the best Broadway musicals ever. Saw it twice when I lived in Boston.”
“And what’s this… ‘Metallica?’ You have a lot of posters of that.”
“Metallica’s only the greatest metal band in the history of music!” Aravic was still confused. Sam’s jaw dropped. “You’ve never heard of Metallica?”
“Not that I know of…” Aravic said slowly. Sam looked as if she might just die of shock.
“Oh – my – holy – Darwin. How the HELL do you go through life not knowing who Metallica is?!”
“I listen to rap –”
“NO! Rap is crap without the c!!!” she practically screeched. Aravic flinched as she jumped off her bed and began circling around the room, the boot-cast on her right foot clunking with every other step. She pointed to each poster as she mentioned it. “Metallica! Guns ‘N Roses! Aerosmith! Avenged Sevenfold! Papa Roach! Green Day! Joan Jett! Three Days Grace! Iron Maiden! Slayer!” She took a deep breath. “You’re telling me… you’ve never heard of… any of them?”
“Sorry, no. I listen to stuff like Kore, Psyc and KZX.”
Sam shook her head, twitched, and made a barfing face all at once. “Alright, that’s it… you need to be educated.” She crossed the room, locked the door, clunked back to her bed, and pulled out from underneath it her guitar. After she checked its’ strings, she plugged her iPod into the speakers of her computer.
“Alright, you must have heard this before…” she muttered, and started playing a song on her guitar. When she finished, she looked at Aravic expectantly. But Aravic had no idea of what she had just played. “The intro to Master of Puppets? Holy mother of – alright, you have to know this…” She started playing another intro, this time one that Aravic knew.
“Yeah, that’s Sweet Babe by KZX,” he said earnestly. Sam gave him a distastefully look.
“What the HELL? No, that’s the intro for Sweet Child ‘O Mine by Guns ‘N Roses!”
“No, that’s defiantly Sweet Babe.”
“Then your stupid rap crap people stole that line, because Sweet Child ‘O Mine came out in the 1980’s,” she said definitively.
Sighing, she set her guitar down and grabbed her laptop. “What’s your e-mail?” Sam asked as she tapped away.
“hockeyman698@google.chrome.com.”
“Alright, I’m sending you some music you need to listen to,” she explained as she continued clicking around.
Aravic simply said, “Okay,” and stared out the nearest window.
After a few minutes, Sam said, “Alright, I just sent it. Go check your e-mail later.” She turned off her laptop and walked off to her bathroom. Aravic decided to check the e-mail in private, so he went back down to his room. He booted up his feather-light laptop and sat on the plush bed that was yet to be made. He logged into his e-mail account and found a new message from JKR_FTW@mugglenet.com. The file was massive and took a few moments to completely download.
“Listen to all these and let me know – Sam,” read the message. The attached file merely said, “Playlist.” Aravic opened it with iTunes and discovered it was a list of about fifteen songs. They were as follows:
Master of Puppets – Metallica
Sweet Child ‘O Mine – Guns ‘N Roses
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘N Roses
Dream On – Aerosmith
Hollywood Whore – Papa Roach
Beast and the Harlot – Avenged Sevenfold
Raining Blood – Slayer
One – Metallica
American Idiot – Green Day
Brain Stew – Green Day
I Love Rock & Roll – Joan Jett
I Hate Everything About You – Three Days Grace
Pain – Three Days Grace
Number of the Beast – Iron Maiden
Getting Away with Murder – Papa Roach
Aravic sighed and started the playlist. He smiled to himself with the satisfaction that he was starting to get on Sam’s good side.