The rest of the day breezed by with the same monotone introduction speeches from all the teachers. Lunch was interesting with everyone figuring out their new designated seating arrangement. Nick let Laney and I pick our spot, leaving us to debate the pros and cons of sitting outside. I, of course, was in support of inside, with the food being closer and air conditioning readily available. Laney complained of the smell and the obnoxious noise. It came down to a vote, 2 to 1, with Nick on my side. We now had our places in the chaotic cafeteria.
When I got home, I did my homework like a good little school girl. This included getting my mother to sign all of my syllabi and label tabs in my binder. The usually first day of school homework.
After finishing my demeaning task, I sent a text to Nick telling him I was coming over. He usually expected me around this time, but I just wanted to make sure he was home instead of off on some ridiculous errand for his older sister.
When he first acquired his driver's license in May, Alyson made him drive her all over town despite the fact that a) she had a perfectly good license herself, and b) it was illegal. I had wanted to celebrate with ice cream and was shocked when I came to his house to found him and his car gone. From then on, I texted before heading over. Waiting on a person's front porch and ice cream do not mix.
I received the come-on-over text and set off on my bike. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and a light breeze. An uncharacteristic weather pattern in Mobile. There was almost no humidity, even more unusual. I thought to myself how clear the night would be. Lost in my thoughts, I was to Nick's house in no time.
He sat waiting for me on the steps, a perfect figure, frozen in place. The image was ingrained into my mind as I pulled up into his driveway. While I pulled off my helmet, Nick came up beside me and said the usual teasing comments.
"You have helmet hair." He ruffled my hair to compliment the already messy ponytail.
"Happy Friday and first day of school to you too. And you know what they say. Safety first." I smiled up at him. "So what's the agenda for today? Borderlands? Garry's Mod?"
"I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Team Fortress. Sound good to you?"
I scoffed at him. "Please. Like I serve a purpose besides someone to banter with and tease."
He smiled and laughed, leading me inside and up to his room. "Very true. You always cut to the root of the conversation don't you?"
"Always and forever." I pushed open the door to his room and flopped down onto his bed. It had changed little over the years. There was still a single bed against the wall with the same side table and lamp. The color had always been dark blue, and there had always been a desk underneath the window to the right. A few things had changed though, like the shapes of giraffes for posters of various famous people and sayings. Instead of a jar with pens and pencils on the desk, there sat a giant monitor, two actually. A guitar leaned against one wall, eager to be played by its master.
There was also a hatch to the left, with an improvised knob that included a nail stuck into the piece of wood with a cloth tied around the head so it wouldn't hurt anyone. Specifically me, who over time had scratched my leg on it multiple times. This hatch led to the interior of the house and to another door that opened to the roof. Unseen from the ground or the street, a person could hide there without much trouble from parents or nosey neighbors.
Nick sat down in his swivel desk chair, another addition to slowly shifting room. He shook his mouse, waking the sleeping beast that was his computer. While he set up his gaming station, I sat back up and grabbed his guitar, strumming a few chords.
The Noccson family had decided against the traditional route of piano lessons and instead forced both of their children into guitar. Alyson dropped it as soon as middleschool hit, deciding her friends at the mall wouldn't approve of her blistered fingertips from playing the same tune over and over. Nick kept going past his sister, taking fewer lessons, but still continuing to practice. When he graduated from the Guitar School of Learning, his parents handed him his very own Gibson. Nick had taught me a few tunes over the years, so I was decent, but never a master like him. No one could play Green Day like Nick.
Good Riddance was stuck in my head, and I played a few chords.
Nick groaned and grabbed the guitar from me. "Are you tone deaf? You keep hitting G wrong. G! Come on Lily that's a beginner note." Like a master to the apprentice, he slowly strummed through Good Riddance, showing each note so I could follow.
"Well apparently it was good enough for you to recognize what I was playing."
"Attempting to play. Not the same thing. And you're a die-hard Green Day fan, of course you would play that song." I ignored him and leaned back on his bed again, letting the notes take me away for a bit. Soon, Good Riddance morphed into Moon River, and the lyrics flowed out of my mouth without hesitation.
"That's supposed to be on the ukulele." I teased him as the song concluded.
"If I had a ukulele, I would play it for you properly, your majesty." He bowed from his chair with the guitar, causing it to make an awkward twang noise. Wincing at the sound, he handed it back to me, and I placed it back in its corner.
"You should really play professionally. You know, like get a gig at the local coffee shop or something."
He scoffed at this. "Our local coffee shop as you put it so eloquently is Starbucks. And I will not conform the the hipster musician look and play there. I might as well buy a beanie and and write poetry." He turned back to his computer and began opening up his game. "Besides, I'm on the football team now." He started to say something else but I interrupted him.
"Don't you dare tell me you don't have time for music. Nick, its your passion."
"I know, I know. I wasn't going to say that. " He shrugged, guilty. "I just need to take a break. School stuff. All honor classes remember? Somebody who's name starts with an L convinced me of that." Nick elbowed me playfully and I let it go, smiling. "Now let me concentrate on this."
I allowed him to play for a bit before starting to talk again. He responded when prompted, but mostly he just listened. Some girls complain that guys don't pay attention, but Nick did. I could tell from his reactions to things. And if I ever doubted him, I would say, "So I got a tattoo on my stomach." If he didn't laugh or roll his eyes, I knew he wasn't listening.
Before long, his mom came home and checked on him. She invited me to stay the night, and I accepted, texting my mom what I was doing We had been best friends since before the guys and girls are gross fiasco, so we were comfortable with each. I would either sleep on his floor, on the couch downstairs if his mom was worried, or in his bed while he was on the floor if he was feeling chivalrous. After Nick and I grabbed a couple slices of pizza from downstairs, we went back up to his room.
"It's almost 8 Lily." He interrupted our current debate on the best type of pizza, pepperoni, cheese, or pineapple sausage.
"Perfect. Come on, you know the drill." I crawled across the floor to the hatch and attempted to open it. "Nick, I need your help. Stop standing behind me watching all the work get done."
He kneeled beside me and pulled it open in a fluid motion. "Ladies first."
I rolled my eyes and crawled inside, using the slats on the interior of the house as a ladder to the door in the roof. I got out and gave a hand to Nick. After he was through, I placed the door back on the hole so neither of us would fall into it, something that had happened before. Nick was already stretched across the roof, taking up most of the room on the precarious space. I lay down beside him and lay my head on his arm. Then, I looked up.
Stars. Stars everywhere. The music of the night was perfect for the lights, spinning and swaying to the notes. The Milky-Way was prominent in the night-sky.
"Look. Sagittarius." Nick spoke in a murmur, as if he could disturb the stars' dance in the sky. Star-gazing was one of our shared passions. A shooting star graced the sky with its bright streak. "Make a wish," he whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes and did as he asked. When I opened them, he was staring at my face with that look in his eyes. I turned back to the stars, breaking the moment. The wind blew, shaking the leaves. I snuggled up to him, absorbing the his warmth. He just lay his head against mine, drawing me close.
We lay there for eternity.
The next morning, I woke up in his bed with the sheets around me. Looking down, I saw Nick on the floor, fast asleep, peaceful and young, with no worries to plague him. I watched him for a bit, before falling back asleep, a hand falling off the bed. In the last moments before sleep, I felt his hand intertwine with mine.