Omnia vincit amor

I stumbled down the stairs leading to our basement my head throbbing from pain. For two weeks I had been suffering from the summer flue and I was a mess. No make-up in my face and my hair gathered in a messy bun wearing my oldest sweatpants and my dad’s old t-shirt I opened the basement door and stepped inside the room where my brother and his band were practicing, causing the noise, I mean the music that they were playing stop. I felt the gazes of the four young band members on me. They were year or two older than me. My brother Heath was the bassist. Niles, who’s my best friend, played the guitar and Tyler drums. Then there was a new guy that I didn’t recognize. He was a good looking guy; he had dark brown curly hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was standing behind the mice and was holding an electric guitar in his hands. Seems like they have found a solution to their missing singer- problem, I thought to myself just when my brother opened his mouth.

“Em, this is our new singer Nick” he stated, confirming my thoughts. Nick gave me a shy smile, which puzzled me. My first impression of him was that he would be very confident about himself, a true ladies man. Not letting my thoughts brother me I said: “Well, nice to meet you. I’m Heath’s kid sister Em and I’m sick and my head hurts and I’m here to ask you guys to turn your volume down just a little bit”, doing the exact thing that I was there to do. My head needed silence! It felt as if my brains were trying to get out and were banning on my scull with a hammer. “No offense, I’m still you’re biggest fan” I gave them all a geeky smiled and exited the room.

The walk from the basement back to my room felt like a marathon. My head was throbbing so painfully I felt like screaming. When I finally made it back to my own bed I felt like a winner. To ensure complete silence I pushed a pair of ear-plugs in my ears and slumped on my bed. I don’t believe in painkillers so I just wanted to sleep my headache off. It took me a while, but slowly I felt myself drifting to long needed sleep.

*

I woke up confused. My curtains were closed so I didn’t know if it was day or night. I sat up. I was still feeling a little light-headed but got up anyway and walked to my closet. I changed my oversized t-shirt into black long sleeved t-shirt of my own size.
Since I’ve hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast I headed downstairs to kitchen in order to find something to eat. To my surprise I found all the members of my brother’s band sitting at the kitchen table eating pizza. They all lifted their heads from their plates and smiled or nodded towards me and quickly continued their meal and conversations.

“Hey guys. I’m hungry. Any pizza left for me?” I asked rubbing my belly emphasizing my hunger. “On the counter” my brother said pointing the two pizza box behind his back with his thumb. “Thanks.”

I took a plate and two slices of pepperoni pizza. The only free seat at the table was in front of the new boy Nick. Without any hesitation I sat down, gave him a quick smile and started to eat. “So” I said. “How did it go?” Nick looked confused. “How did what go?” “You’re first jamming session with the Stir-Fry Vegetables, of course!” Stir-Fry Vegetables was their bands name. “Oh, it went well, I think.” He’s cheeks blushed a little bit. “Okay” I smiled at him. It seemed to me that he was being too modest.

He gave me an apologetic smile and continued eating his pizza. I noticed that I had stopped eating and was observing Nick. He had dark curly hair and warm and gentle eyes. He was very good looking. When Niles asked him something related to guitar amps he lifted his head from his plate to answer him and I had a better look of his eyes. It’s like I had seen straight to his soul. They were filled with compassion, wisdom and love. I had a feeling that he was very caring and for some reason a little shy.

He must have caught me staring at him because he cleared his throat a bit. I blushed slightly and finished my meal. I stayed in the kitchen for a while chatting with the boys. Everyone seemed to have nice time. Soon we realized it was getting late and time for the boys to go home. I promised to call Niles the next day and everyone said their goodbyes. “Well, I’m off to bead” Heath said climbing up the stairs “Good night”. “Goodnight” I said and soon enough I followed him.