Status: Finished.
Your Melody Sounds As Sweet As the First Time It Was Sung
Chapter Twenty-One
Two days later I went on my date with William. It was good. Nothing too fancy; just a casual coffee and a movie. There was nothing awkward between us anymore, now that we knew where everything stood. He was really sweet. A perfect boyfriend, which is what I considered him to be after he asked me to be his girlfriend. I really liked him. He made me feel special. Sure, other people have made me feel special before, but he made me feel special in a different kind of way. He was interested in me as more than a friend, he liked to hold me and kiss me. I’d never had that before.
As my birthday present from Pete, I got a box full of Clandestine merchandise and CDs. He told me to tell him what I thought about some of the music, because some of the bands he wasn’t sure if he should sign or not. I listened to some and gave my opinion.
But my best birthday present would have to be Sebastian’s. When I got home after the club that night, I found the most beautiful white electric guitar tucked under the covers of my bed on the side that I never slept on. A black heart was embossed on the body, and small silver hearts replaced the usual dots in every other fret along the neck. I couldn’t believe that this masterpiece of an instrument was within my sight, let alone that it could possibly belong to me. There was a hand-written note slipped between the taut strings, and even if it hadn’t been signed I’d have known that untidy font.
‘Dear Charlie,
Happy Birthday!
I can’t believe I’ve known you for almost two years now!
At the risk of sounding cheesy (which I know I will anyway), you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Much love,
Sebastian.’
Honestly, I felt a pang in my heart when I read that. He was my best friend, and he still didn’t know such an important part if my past. It was then that I decided that one day I would tell him. One day I would tell him all about my life in Vegas, and everything that happened. One day…
But not today.
A few months down the track, William and I were together and everything was going good. Static Failure was going better than ever, and Megz loved to describe us as her ‘favorite little indie rock band’. She’d taken it upon herself to become our manager and was working on booking some underground gigs. I wasn’t quite sure if we were up to that, but it was worth a shot, right?
Anyway, the next part of my story starts with William and I in his car. He was taking me to meet his band mates for the first time, and I was kind of nervous.
“Are you sure, Bill? I mean, it’s your band practice. Won’t they be somewhat disturbed by an audience?”
He chuckled a little.
“Charlie, we’ve played in front of crowds of thousands. One person isn’t all that horrific to consider.”
I sighed. He had a point. I kept forgetting that he was minimally famous. Although I couldn’t deny that I was excited to hear his music, I was still naturally freaking out about what his friends would think of me.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the car ride, instead lulling in a relaxed atmosphere as Led Zeppelin played on the radio. I wasn’t a huge fan of their music, but William loved it so I digressed. There had been a stage earlier when we were listening to a more commercial radio station, and a certain familiar song involving burlesque queens and daiquiris had haunted me for a few lines before I could hastily change the station. Thankfully, William didn’t question me about it.
After about ten minutes we pulled up outside a small, charming house that just spelled ‘suburbia’. William took my hand and led me through the house to the garage, whispering comforts in my ear. Although I was on the verge of shaking, I still managed to find it in me to feel happy at the idea that even this semi-big time band still gathered in the garage.I also found it in me to push away the dull ache of nostalgia in the back of my chest.
“Hey guys,” William began, dragging me into the room. “This is my girlfriend, Charlie.”
I winced just a little. The word ‘girlfriend’ still sounded weird to me.
“Finally!” one of the other guys in the room exclaimed, jogging over to us.
You know how when you first meet someone you can think of one distinguishing feature to identify said someone by? Yeah, I didn’t even need to think about it with this guy, because his afro was so crazy I couldn’t even concentrate on his face.
“Hey,” he grinned before attacking me in an unexpected hug.
“Um, hi…”
William sighed, shaking his head in amusement.
“Charlie, this is Adam. Adam, this is Charlie.”
“Call me Sisky,” Adam grinned, pulling back.
The other guys around the room were all watching on in amusement.
“Sisky?” I questioned, straightening out my colourful scarf.
“My last name’s Siska,” he clarified.
Siska… why did that sound so…
“He’s Jason’s brother,” William explained.
“Oh! Jason, as in Seb’s roommate? That makes sense. Wow. And here I thought I’d moved to a big town.”
Sisky laughed, and I got a better look at his face. He looked really young.
“How old are you?” I blurted out before realizing. I was about to apologize but he didn’t seem to have taken any offence, answering my question proudly.
“I’m seventeen. Almost eighteen. Yeah, I’m young, but I’m Sisky Biz the Bass Whiz and these losers are all gonna die before me!”
I laughed a little as a cushion was thrown from someone else across the room, hitting Sisky squarely in the head.
“Anyway,” William chuckled. “I better introduce you to everyone else. Over there is Andy, but we usually call him 'the butcher'…”
“What is it with you guys and weird nicknames?” I mumbled, but he just laughed quickly and ignored the interruption as a shirtless and very very tattooed guy with curly light brown hair grinned and waved at me from behind a drum kit.
“And that’s Mike over there…”
A tanned guy with long dark hair gave me a smile as he tuned his guitar.
“And we’ve found a replacement lead guitarist, but he can’t make it today. His name’s Michael too.”
“What happened to your old guitarist?” I asked.
No one answered for a moment, but then Andy – or ‘the butcher’ – sniffed a little.
“Conflicting interests,” he answered for me. “But we’re still on good terms.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t ask about that again. It seemed to be a bit of a touchy subject. Soon enough, though, Sisky lightened the mood and we all ended up having a surprisingly captivating discussion about cheese and Italian eating habits.
***
William’s band was absolutely fantastic. It blew me away. I couldn’t believe that I’d never heard them until now. Of course, with a voice like William’s I should have expected as much, especially knowing that they were signed and in the process of making their second record, but… wow. I never wanted to stop listening. It was great. Think of as many positive adjectives as you can, multiply them by a million, toss them all in a blender and maybe you’ll know a fraction of how amazing they were.
… Yeah, yeah, I’m an addict for dramatics. Surely you know that by now.
They played great music, and after that afternoon just hanging out with them I guess I considered the other guys my friends too. Later on I even met Butcher’s (yeah, okay, so the nickname sticks easily) girlfriend Brigitte. Even though he was twenty-three, he still didn’t have his license so she seemed to drive him everywhere. The tall blonde girl, same age as me, seemed completely content with this arrangement.
William and I left about ten minutes later, dropping Sisky off along the way. I was thrilled to discover that both he and William shared my obsession with The Smashing Pumpkins, and so the journey to his place was spent singing along to ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘1979’ at the top of our lungs. They even mentioned that they were considering doing a cover of ‘Mayonnaise’, something which I supported wholeheartedly.
“I’m really glad you got along with them,” William smiled after we dropped Sisky off, taking my hand as he drove.
“Me too,” I smiled. “They seem like really great guys.”
“And I can tell that they liked you. Sisky especially. Although, truth be told, you’d have to be pretty horrible for him not to like you. And you did like them, right? You’re not just saying that to make me happy?”
“Of course I mean it,” I laughed lightly. “I do like them. I guess it’s just kind of hard to believe that I have so many friends now. I pretty much didn’t have any close friends apart from my parents until I was fourteen. Now I have more than I can be bothered to count.”
“And so what happened after you reached fourteen? Did you become an insanely popular teenager who made an appearance at every rave for the drugs and alcohol?”
I could hear the joking smile in his voice and shoved him lightly, and surprisingly it didn’t take so much effort to hold back the memories that I knew would hurt me to think about.
“Shut up. Not quite,” I sighed, looking at the stars dotted across the dark blanket that had taken over the sky. “Then I had three best friends. Three best friends that I’ll never be able to forget.”
“That Kiah girl?” he questioned.
He’d only met her once, and only briefly. Kiah did a lot of travelling now, crossing the country from Chicago to Las Vegas. Noelle seemed to be going a bit batty – even more so than usual – from loneliness so Kiah spent a lot of time there taking care of her.
“Uh, no. She came a few years later.”
“Ah.”
He seemed to accept my reluctance to discuss the topic and dropped it, allowing Billy Corgan’s voice to resonate throughout the car.
***
Okay, so to be honest, I can’t quite remember how I found myself in this situation.
Instead of being at home I was at William’s apartment, lying on his bed with him and his lips on top of me (still fully clothed, for your information). I think I’d gotten better at the whole kissing thing since meeting him. Make-out sessions were regular and enjoyable. He treated me so tenderly, and he was honestly too sweet to put into words.
So yeah, we were making out again, a mess of swollen lips and messed-up hair. His body was pleasantly warm, and his lips on my neck were truly one of the greatest feelings in the world. My hands played aimlessly in his hair, managing sighs every now and then. It was lazy and relaxed, harmless fun as it always was. After a while it began to get more heated for the both of us, movements more hurried and actions more desperate, the movie ‘Heathers’ still playing forgotten on the small television screen. Barely aware of what I was doing, I unbuttoned his plaid short-sleeved shirt and slid it off his chest and arms, fingertips feathering over his pale skin. I felt his hands dance over my own body – a body that had changed so much over my awkward teenage years. Once skinny and flat had transformed into curves that William seemed to be appreciating right now.
This is why I liked him so much; because he could make me feel so special and beautiful whenever I had my doubts.
His fingers found their way to the button at the front of my three-quarter jeans, and after fiddling with it I felt his hand brush the sensitive skin just beneath my stomach. That’s when I returned to myself and pushed him away so I could sit up, still dizzy. I saw him breathing heavily and fighting the lust out of his eyes and I almost wanted to cry.
“I’m so sorry, Bill,” I gasped, holding my head in my hands as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I debated whether or not to leave – to get out of the room, at least – but he spoke first.
“It’s alright, Charlie,” he said softly, as I let a tear leak down my cheek. “I’m sorry. It’s too fast. I just lost control.”
I couldn’t even form a reply, but I didn’t feel like I needed one when he threw his shirt back over his shoulders, not bothering to button it up as he came to sit next to me, placing an arm around my shoulders.
“No, I’m sorry,” I babbled. “I shouldn’t have let it go that far if I wasn’t willing to let it go further.”
“Shh…” he whispered into my hair, hugging me and rocking us back and forth. “It’s okay.”
Time passed and we didn’t speak. Instead we just fell back onto the bed, held in each other’s arms. At some point William turned off the television screen, Winona Ryder’s face disappearing in black. Fatigue began to weigh down my eyelids, and just as sleep was about to claim me I opened my mouth to whisper.
“Bill?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He pulled me closer to him and I rested my head against his chest, both falling asleep with our breathing in a synchronized rhythm.
As my birthday present from Pete, I got a box full of Clandestine merchandise and CDs. He told me to tell him what I thought about some of the music, because some of the bands he wasn’t sure if he should sign or not. I listened to some and gave my opinion.
But my best birthday present would have to be Sebastian’s. When I got home after the club that night, I found the most beautiful white electric guitar tucked under the covers of my bed on the side that I never slept on. A black heart was embossed on the body, and small silver hearts replaced the usual dots in every other fret along the neck. I couldn’t believe that this masterpiece of an instrument was within my sight, let alone that it could possibly belong to me. There was a hand-written note slipped between the taut strings, and even if it hadn’t been signed I’d have known that untidy font.
‘Dear Charlie,
Happy Birthday!
I can’t believe I’ve known you for almost two years now!
At the risk of sounding cheesy (which I know I will anyway), you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Much love,
Sebastian.’
Honestly, I felt a pang in my heart when I read that. He was my best friend, and he still didn’t know such an important part if my past. It was then that I decided that one day I would tell him. One day I would tell him all about my life in Vegas, and everything that happened. One day…
But not today.
A few months down the track, William and I were together and everything was going good. Static Failure was going better than ever, and Megz loved to describe us as her ‘favorite little indie rock band’. She’d taken it upon herself to become our manager and was working on booking some underground gigs. I wasn’t quite sure if we were up to that, but it was worth a shot, right?
Anyway, the next part of my story starts with William and I in his car. He was taking me to meet his band mates for the first time, and I was kind of nervous.
“Are you sure, Bill? I mean, it’s your band practice. Won’t they be somewhat disturbed by an audience?”
He chuckled a little.
“Charlie, we’ve played in front of crowds of thousands. One person isn’t all that horrific to consider.”
I sighed. He had a point. I kept forgetting that he was minimally famous. Although I couldn’t deny that I was excited to hear his music, I was still naturally freaking out about what his friends would think of me.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the car ride, instead lulling in a relaxed atmosphere as Led Zeppelin played on the radio. I wasn’t a huge fan of their music, but William loved it so I digressed. There had been a stage earlier when we were listening to a more commercial radio station, and a certain familiar song involving burlesque queens and daiquiris had haunted me for a few lines before I could hastily change the station. Thankfully, William didn’t question me about it.
After about ten minutes we pulled up outside a small, charming house that just spelled ‘suburbia’. William took my hand and led me through the house to the garage, whispering comforts in my ear. Although I was on the verge of shaking, I still managed to find it in me to feel happy at the idea that even this semi-big time band still gathered in the garage.I also found it in me to push away the dull ache of nostalgia in the back of my chest.
“Hey guys,” William began, dragging me into the room. “This is my girlfriend, Charlie.”
I winced just a little. The word ‘girlfriend’ still sounded weird to me.
“Finally!” one of the other guys in the room exclaimed, jogging over to us.
You know how when you first meet someone you can think of one distinguishing feature to identify said someone by? Yeah, I didn’t even need to think about it with this guy, because his afro was so crazy I couldn’t even concentrate on his face.
“Hey,” he grinned before attacking me in an unexpected hug.
“Um, hi…”
William sighed, shaking his head in amusement.
“Charlie, this is Adam. Adam, this is Charlie.”
“Call me Sisky,” Adam grinned, pulling back.
The other guys around the room were all watching on in amusement.
“Sisky?” I questioned, straightening out my colourful scarf.
“My last name’s Siska,” he clarified.
Siska… why did that sound so…
“He’s Jason’s brother,” William explained.
“Oh! Jason, as in Seb’s roommate? That makes sense. Wow. And here I thought I’d moved to a big town.”
Sisky laughed, and I got a better look at his face. He looked really young.
“How old are you?” I blurted out before realizing. I was about to apologize but he didn’t seem to have taken any offence, answering my question proudly.
“I’m seventeen. Almost eighteen. Yeah, I’m young, but I’m Sisky Biz the Bass Whiz and these losers are all gonna die before me!”
I laughed a little as a cushion was thrown from someone else across the room, hitting Sisky squarely in the head.
“Anyway,” William chuckled. “I better introduce you to everyone else. Over there is Andy, but we usually call him 'the butcher'…”
“What is it with you guys and weird nicknames?” I mumbled, but he just laughed quickly and ignored the interruption as a shirtless and very very tattooed guy with curly light brown hair grinned and waved at me from behind a drum kit.
“And that’s Mike over there…”
A tanned guy with long dark hair gave me a smile as he tuned his guitar.
“And we’ve found a replacement lead guitarist, but he can’t make it today. His name’s Michael too.”
“What happened to your old guitarist?” I asked.
No one answered for a moment, but then Andy – or ‘the butcher’ – sniffed a little.
“Conflicting interests,” he answered for me. “But we’re still on good terms.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t ask about that again. It seemed to be a bit of a touchy subject. Soon enough, though, Sisky lightened the mood and we all ended up having a surprisingly captivating discussion about cheese and Italian eating habits.
***
William’s band was absolutely fantastic. It blew me away. I couldn’t believe that I’d never heard them until now. Of course, with a voice like William’s I should have expected as much, especially knowing that they were signed and in the process of making their second record, but… wow. I never wanted to stop listening. It was great. Think of as many positive adjectives as you can, multiply them by a million, toss them all in a blender and maybe you’ll know a fraction of how amazing they were.
… Yeah, yeah, I’m an addict for dramatics. Surely you know that by now.
They played great music, and after that afternoon just hanging out with them I guess I considered the other guys my friends too. Later on I even met Butcher’s (yeah, okay, so the nickname sticks easily) girlfriend Brigitte. Even though he was twenty-three, he still didn’t have his license so she seemed to drive him everywhere. The tall blonde girl, same age as me, seemed completely content with this arrangement.
William and I left about ten minutes later, dropping Sisky off along the way. I was thrilled to discover that both he and William shared my obsession with The Smashing Pumpkins, and so the journey to his place was spent singing along to ‘Tonight, Tonight’ and ‘1979’ at the top of our lungs. They even mentioned that they were considering doing a cover of ‘Mayonnaise’, something which I supported wholeheartedly.
“I’m really glad you got along with them,” William smiled after we dropped Sisky off, taking my hand as he drove.
“Me too,” I smiled. “They seem like really great guys.”
“And I can tell that they liked you. Sisky especially. Although, truth be told, you’d have to be pretty horrible for him not to like you. And you did like them, right? You’re not just saying that to make me happy?”
“Of course I mean it,” I laughed lightly. “I do like them. I guess it’s just kind of hard to believe that I have so many friends now. I pretty much didn’t have any close friends apart from my parents until I was fourteen. Now I have more than I can be bothered to count.”
“And so what happened after you reached fourteen? Did you become an insanely popular teenager who made an appearance at every rave for the drugs and alcohol?”
I could hear the joking smile in his voice and shoved him lightly, and surprisingly it didn’t take so much effort to hold back the memories that I knew would hurt me to think about.
“Shut up. Not quite,” I sighed, looking at the stars dotted across the dark blanket that had taken over the sky. “Then I had three best friends. Three best friends that I’ll never be able to forget.”
“That Kiah girl?” he questioned.
He’d only met her once, and only briefly. Kiah did a lot of travelling now, crossing the country from Chicago to Las Vegas. Noelle seemed to be going a bit batty – even more so than usual – from loneliness so Kiah spent a lot of time there taking care of her.
“Uh, no. She came a few years later.”
“Ah.”
He seemed to accept my reluctance to discuss the topic and dropped it, allowing Billy Corgan’s voice to resonate throughout the car.
***
Okay, so to be honest, I can’t quite remember how I found myself in this situation.
Instead of being at home I was at William’s apartment, lying on his bed with him and his lips on top of me (still fully clothed, for your information). I think I’d gotten better at the whole kissing thing since meeting him. Make-out sessions were regular and enjoyable. He treated me so tenderly, and he was honestly too sweet to put into words.
So yeah, we were making out again, a mess of swollen lips and messed-up hair. His body was pleasantly warm, and his lips on my neck were truly one of the greatest feelings in the world. My hands played aimlessly in his hair, managing sighs every now and then. It was lazy and relaxed, harmless fun as it always was. After a while it began to get more heated for the both of us, movements more hurried and actions more desperate, the movie ‘Heathers’ still playing forgotten on the small television screen. Barely aware of what I was doing, I unbuttoned his plaid short-sleeved shirt and slid it off his chest and arms, fingertips feathering over his pale skin. I felt his hands dance over my own body – a body that had changed so much over my awkward teenage years. Once skinny and flat had transformed into curves that William seemed to be appreciating right now.
This is why I liked him so much; because he could make me feel so special and beautiful whenever I had my doubts.
His fingers found their way to the button at the front of my three-quarter jeans, and after fiddling with it I felt his hand brush the sensitive skin just beneath my stomach. That’s when I returned to myself and pushed him away so I could sit up, still dizzy. I saw him breathing heavily and fighting the lust out of his eyes and I almost wanted to cry.
“I’m so sorry, Bill,” I gasped, holding my head in my hands as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I debated whether or not to leave – to get out of the room, at least – but he spoke first.
“It’s alright, Charlie,” he said softly, as I let a tear leak down my cheek. “I’m sorry. It’s too fast. I just lost control.”
I couldn’t even form a reply, but I didn’t feel like I needed one when he threw his shirt back over his shoulders, not bothering to button it up as he came to sit next to me, placing an arm around my shoulders.
“No, I’m sorry,” I babbled. “I shouldn’t have let it go that far if I wasn’t willing to let it go further.”
“Shh…” he whispered into my hair, hugging me and rocking us back and forth. “It’s okay.”
Time passed and we didn’t speak. Instead we just fell back onto the bed, held in each other’s arms. At some point William turned off the television screen, Winona Ryder’s face disappearing in black. Fatigue began to weigh down my eyelids, and just as sleep was about to claim me I opened my mouth to whisper.
“Bill?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He pulled me closer to him and I rested my head against his chest, both falling asleep with our breathing in a synchronized rhythm.