My Girl

“Can I show you something before dinner, Elise?” Nick exited out of the kitchen a few minutes later with Kevin trailing slowly behind him, shooting a look when he couldn’t see. I nodded my head and followed Nick as he led me up the stairs and to a bedroom door.

We entered his room and I laughed at the mess on one half of the bedroom. Picking up an action figure off the floor, I twisted it’s arms in my hands. “Aren’t you a little old to have dolls in your room?” I twisted it’s head around backwards before Nick snatched it out of my hand.

“Don’t do that! It’s a collectors item!” I glanced up at him with wide-eyes until I saw the smile playing across his lips. He tossed it to the side. “I share a room with Frankie. He’s eight.”

I laughed and nodded my head, sitting down in the desk chair he pulled out for me. He sat on the edge of his twin bed and pulled an acoustic guitar out of it’s case slowly, along with a few pieces of sheet music.

“Have you heard of Matt Nathanson?” He asked, tuning his guitar quickly. I watched as his dexterous hands moved over the strings quickly.

“A song or two.” I told him, watching as he nodded his head to the music he started playing.

“I haven’t memorized it yet, so I’m sorry I can’t look at you when I sing.” He laughed, playing the opening measures of the song. He cleared his throat and glanced up at me before he sang, smiling as our eyes met.

I tasted, tasted love so sweet
And all of it was lost on me
Bought and sold like property
Sugar on my tongue
I kept falling over
I kept looking backward
I went broke believing
That the simple should be hard
All we are we are
All we are we are
And every day is a start of something beautiful
I wasted, wasted love for you
Trading out for something new
Well, it's hard to change the way you lose
If you think you've never won
'Cause all we are we are
All we are we are
And every day is a start of something beautiful
And in the end the words won't matter
'Cause in the end nothing stays the same
And in the end dreams just scatter and fall like rain
'Cause all we are we are
All we are we are
And every day is a start of something beautiful, something real
All we are we are
All we are we are
And every day is a start of something beautiful, beautiful

“You're amazing.” I told him, that electric feeling shivering down my spine. I glanced down at the floor and saw a manila folder next to his case, where a few sheets of paper we sticking out. “Will you play another?”

Nick saw me glancing down at the folder and nodded, throwing it gently onto my lap.

“You choose.” I smiled and bit my bottom lip, looking through folder quickly. The titles were mostly unknown to me, but I wasn’t one to spend a lot of my time on music. Not recent songs, at least. Classical, for the piano, and oldies my dad used to sing with me were the only songs I really knew of.

So when I finally found a song I had heard of, I instantly pulled it out of the folder and glanced down at the title once more.

“Did you pick a song?” Nick questioned, standing up and walking behind me. He glanced over my shoulder and then back down at me. “You sure?” I stared at him for a few seconds but nodded my head slowly, watching as he took the pieces of paper out of my hand.

Walking back to his spot, he put the paper down next to him, but stared up directly at me as he started playing the beginning of it.

“I know this one.” He informed me, licking his lips and inhaling quietly before he opened his mouth to sing.