I'll Be There

“Do you mind if I play some music?” Dj suddenly said, breaking the silence between them. I wonder what he had been thinking about this whole time. It was a little…strange. “No, not at all.” I said quietly. I wasn’t quite sure what to say to him actually. Deep down inside, in the farthest corner of my mind, I knew what he must be thinking; how he could get rid of me. No rockstar wants to be stuck teaching a kid while they’re in L.A. for a few days playing shows. I’m not a kid though…I may be 19, but I’m definitely no kid. Maybe I could prove that to him. Dj grabbed his phone and connected it to his radio, flipping through his music. I looked at him, then to the phone. “May I?” I asked. He looked at me curiously, debating whether to trust me with his phone, then handed it over. I looked through his music. Suddenly I laughed. He looked over at me. “What? You goin through my messages or something?” I continued to giggle, “No.” I said, clicking on a song. He laughed as soon as the catchy beat started. Then he started bobbing his head, which made me even happier because let’s face it, he looked pretty adorable while he was doing it. Besides, he looked so serious before, I liked to see him more friendly. Then, to my surprise, we both began singing, “Dear Chasey Lain, I wrote to explain, I’m your biggest fan!” We laughed and then continued singing until it ended. Then Dj took his phone back, scrolling through his endless list of music. What I heard though wasn’t Chasey Lain, or heavy rock, or even some classical composition; in fact, it was a song I knew very well. A song he had composed with his solo group, ASHBA. A song called Someday. I began singing it softly. “You know this song?” he asked. I nodded and continued reciting the lyrics. Then he picked up on it too, matching his own voice perfectly. “If you feel alone, just always remember…that any time you close your eyes I’ll be there.” I stopped singing and watched him.
Dj noticed about half way through the song that she had stopped singing, and was instead watching him intently. He finished the last line in a whisper, “With you, I’m home…” the song changed, thankfully to a Van Halen beat that was an easy situation changer, and he was silent as he continued driving. “You have a beautiful voice.” Raven whispered sincerely. He looked at her, instantly reacting emotionally to her age, but remembered to soften up. His blue eyes stared into hers, and he was sure a cacophony of alarm bells were going off in her head. Girls liked to stitch things together, and the song plus the look he was giving her must be creating quite a mess for himself. But he had stopped the car, and he didn’t want to stop looking. His sister was right. When he looked at this girl, when he really looked at her with a clear mind, he would see the woman she was trying to be. Then he blinked, and his hormones resumed being prejudiced. “I’m sorry.” He said politely, stepping out of the car before she could reply. He then got the door for her as he did every time. She stood up gracefully, only a couple inches shorter than him, and looked at him questioningly before turning to the building they were at. It was an old shack of a place, a completely brick building with no windows and a door in an alley.
I watched the ominous building with a nervous gaze. “Dj,” I said, “this isn’t some strip club or coke house is it?” Then he laughed, the first genuine one since his awkward mood in the car. “No, of course not!” he said, glancing around before taking my hand and leading me inside. Once again I didn’t want him to let go, but his hand left mine the second the door shut behind us. To my left was a long bar, and the rest of the building was a dimly lit restaurant with a few TV’s playing football games, and one lonely one playing CSI. “Hey, Dj!” a man called from the bar. He had scruffy facial hair, but a nice body and didn’t look too old. The smell of smoke wafted off of him. “Jackie, my man!” Dj said, going over and hand slapping him in the typical guy fashion. “Who’s your lady friend?” The scruffy guy asked, looking me over. I nervously walked up and stood slightly behind Dj. He gave me a confident smile. “This is Raven, she was at the show last night and I decided to tutor her while I’m here.” Jackie tilted his head slightly, still gazing at me. “Tutor? Daren, I’ve known you to be with some fine women, and not once did you ever ‘tutor’ one of em!” I noticed Dj get a little rigid, and I watched him as he coolly kept his composure. “Well, I’m tutoring her.” He said, taking my hand and leading me to a table. Jackie called from behind me, “Hey, if this ‘tutoring’ doesn’t work out with Mr. Boy Toy, I’ll be here!” Dj pulled out a chair for me then sat down across the table with a sigh. “I’m real sorry about that, I don’t know what’s gotten into him today.” “It’s alright” I replied with a slight smile, “He’s kinda funny.” Dj gave me a strange look. Then, without thinking, I said “Maybe he just likes us together and got jealous.” I’m glad I had a slightly joking tone while I said that. To my surprise though, he just gave me a slight smile in return and said “Yeah, maybe.” Then his phone rang. He frowned slightly and slid the red button to end it. Then he went to message whomever had called. “Who was that?” I asked nosily. “Oh…just my sister.” “You should text her, I understand if you don’t want to talk in front of me, and I won’t mind.” He considered this for a moment. “Alright, thanks.” I smiled and picked up a menu.
The guitarist immediately messaged his sister, What’s up sis? A minute passed before he got a reply. Just checking up on you. He knew what that meant, and immediately launched into his situation. I’m at lunch with her. Lunch? Was her only reply. Axl is watching me, I’m trying to avoid him. This time the reply took a couple of minutes, in which time he ordered something light to eat and conversed with Raven about one of the many games on television. His phone buzzed. Watching you? Dj he’s not your boss, and you know what I said about her. How is she? He considered this thoroughly. He held the phone at an angle, tapping his fingers on the table until he thought of something to say. She’s…wonderful. A brilliant young woman just as you said. He could just picture his sister smiling as she received that text, knowing she was right yet again. And?? She replied. And…IDK. He really didn’t. Suddenly Dj liked this girl, this mysterious, playful girl. And he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. His sister sent one reply, one that he knew would end their short discussion. Follow your heart. He set his phone down. “Everything okay?” Raven asked. Dj smiled. “Everything is wonderful.”