Pop - Ch.3

                “Ugh.” It was already ten in the morning, but Niv and Alekk were still passed out. Whatever visitors they had had already left and whatever parts of the house I did clean yesterday were cluttered in food and trash again.

               With nowhere to go I decided to clean up the house, again. The boys were obviously hung over, so I conveniently made them breakfast as well. By that time it was nearing noontime, so I walked over to the boys.
              “Man, you guys stink.”

                Niv was the first to awaken. He groggily opened his eyes, looking around the house to see that last night’s disaster had miraculously disappeared. Then Alekk was next.

             “Alekk, she cleaned the house for us again.” Alekk shrugged.
             “Convenient,” sighed Alekk, “this means you can fire our actual maid, Niv. There’s no use of having two maids run around the house. Saves me money, too.”
             “On it!” shouted Niv as he made his way to the kitchen for the phone.
             “Hey, she made us breakfast too!”
             “Convenient,” repeated Alekk.
             “So, do I get paid then? I mean there’s really no point in me cleaning your house if I don’t get anything in return.” Alekk looked disappointed.

 

 

 

                “I’ll make you a deal. You clean my house, and if you come up with one good song on the guitar, I’ll let you be my opening number on one of my shows at the end of the summer. In front of thousands of people, may I add.”

I gulped.

“But I-,”

“But you what?”

And then I remembered. I had to be in character with this “Alyssa” girl. While I had never played or touched a guitar in my life and hated being in front of crowds, being Alyssa was the only way I was going to stay here. And have somewhere free to sleep. And not have to put a financial burden on Wes.

“I’m afraid of crowds.”

 

 

 

                “Well then I guess that’s something you’ll just have to get over then. Or not. It doesn’t bother me how great you are after this whole ordeal. I have plenty of other charities that demand more of my attention.” He smirked before walking towards the kitchen. And that’s when I realized that he was only wearing underwear. I blushed and ran up the stairs toward my room.

“Don’t stay up there too long! I’ll be appropriately dressed and showered within the hour to give you your first lesson!” laughed Alekk. How embarrassing. I slammed my door shut only to hear more laughter. This time coming from both Alekk and Niv.

 

 

 

                How stupid it was, I thought, that whenever something trivial happened inside this house the first thing I would do was to run in this room. What was I hiding for? I had successfully fooled both Alekk and Niv, cleaned their house, made them a “post-hangover” breakfast… what else did I need to do? I had realized that my summer break had started a couple of days ago, and I still hadn’t had anything to show for it.

  Deciding not to wait in this room, prison cell, or whatever appropriate adjective sufficed, I changed into my bathing suit and headed down to the pool and enjoy the afternoon sun. Such a beautiful place to spend a summer. I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to be so close to the salty ocean waves.

  Niv was already basking in the sun, but I didn’t seem to mind his presence. He cherished a calm demeanor that led me to believe he wouldn’t be as threatening as being next to Alekk in this same situation. I sat down in the lawn chair next to him.

 

 

 

                “You gravitate towards water, too?” he asked simply.

  “I haven’t had much of a chance to be around it. I like being outside though, and it’s too nice right now to pass up. Summer is always too short.” He smiled slightly, a small breeze tucking strands of hair away from his face.

 “It is. For something so short and splendid, you have to enjoy it in its entirety.”

 That was all he said for a while. We just sat there, soaking up the rays of the sun. I had never felt so content in such a long time. It made me miss Wes as I wondered how he was doing in this moment in time. Had I abandoned him? I hope he didn’t think in that way. That he was alone.

  Niv smiled again.

 

 

 

                “C’mon,” he smirked as he jumped in to the huge crystal-like pool. I shivered. He repeated his demand again as he swam around effortlessly in grandiose gestures. I smiled and nodded towards him as I sat up in my chair.

Before I knew it I was in the same cool blue Niv was in, a look of shock plastered on my face mixed from both disbelief and pure cold from the icy chlorine water. Niv laughed at my expression. Then he pulled himself under the water’s surface in a sudden jerk, descending down to the bottom floor. I gasped.

After sixty menacing seconds, Niv pushed off the bottom floor of the pool and ascended to the surface, immediately sucking in copious amounts of air. He looked at me again and laughed. My face must have been an open book!

“You don’t have to worry, you know,” Niv sighed, “I’m practically a fish!”

 I shook my head.

“Not all of us can be so lucky,” I replied jokingly. I swam back towards the edge of the pool, trying to find a ladder before Alekk himself pulled me out of the water. Another look of shock swept across my face.

 

 

 

                “Lesson time,” Alekk simply stated, “get dressed and meet me out on the deck.”

  Alekk walked away swiftly, disappearing around the wall of his house. I looked back at Niv apologetically as I frantically tried to get dressed as quickly as I could. He did his smile again before diving back into the deep waters of the pool.

 

 

                I almost had a nervous breakdown as I climbed the stairs up to the deck where Alekk was. I began thinking about who I was pretending to be, the girl Alyssa, and whether Alekk would be upset that I had never touched a guitar once in my life. One could only hope.

It was odd seeing Alekk this way, on his deck. It was “his” space. The combination of the ocean breeze and the slight privacy made Alekk look like a calmer version of himself. It seemed fitting. Being the most popular musician in the world had to mean that he hardly had any time for himself, to be by himself. I hadn’t thought of it in that way before.

“This will be the shortest lesson you will ever have from me. But that’s because I want you to be able to perfect whatever I’m teaching you and be able to show me your efforts tomorrow. First however, a question. Do you know how to play guitar?” I knew it. The dreaded question. I gulped.

“No.” No sign of anger from Alekk.

“Not surprising. It’s amazing the stories I’ve heard of how many people “fake” their way through the competition in order to win the scholarship. You’re not the first.” Yea, to be next to you, I thought. I probably would have done the same thing. Oh wait, I did. Alekk picked up his guitar and began to play.

 

 

 

                “Three simple chords I want you to learn. A, D, and G. The easiest chords to make a song out of.”

  He was playing those chords, I figured. He kept switching the order, making the progression his own. It all sounded so magical. Such a basic short melody, but he closed his eyes. He had found his source of life. It was like Niv and his love for being in the water.

 “Basically what I want you to do is make a song out of these three chords – no lyrics – and have it ready to play in front of me tomorrow.” He didn’t say anything else. I just watched him play. Was I supposed to leave?

  I must have watched him play and play that guitar for thirty minutes. I didn’t know what else to do other than to just watch. It was one thing to see this man on a TV in front of me, but for some reason the barrier of glass and space made the difference. I wonder if this was how he touched so many of his devoted fans.

 “You may go now. You have a lot of practice to do. Oh, and there are dishes in the sink.”

  The aura I was in was now wiped clean. Alekk Weston, famed musician… certified pain the butt.

 

 

END OF CH.3