Playing some music.

We had a small window between classes that Friday morning. An hour and a half, to be precise, so anticipating that, Steven booked one of the music rooms for our group.

Since we were already getting into serious classes and not just introductions, we’d all begun to carry around our instruments of choice. Luna had her violin, Ruby had a relatively small keyboard, or at least smaller than the one I’d seen her play at the mall, Steven had an acoustic guitar, I had my electric guitar (the old one because I’m not bringing the new one anywhere unnecessary) and Eric… was hard at work learning the bass because there was no way he was carrying around a whole drumkit. We all had to start learning new instruments, actually, as part of some classes. The moment he saw the drums in the music room, though, he sat there like it was where he belonged.

“Hey, is it just me or did this week go by really quick?” Steven asked, checking the tune of his guitar and quickly fixing it.

“You think so? It’s been a drag for me,” Ruby said right before a big yawn. “Then again, we’ve been recording a lot…”

“Working on something new?” Eric asked the girls.

“Yeah, we want to make a music video, so we’ve been recording in different places, angles… It’s our first time trying something this fancy,” Luna said, grinning.

“When do you think you’ll have it ready? I wanna see it,” Steven said.

“We’re hoping to upload it next week,” Ruby said. “If everything goes well, of course…”

I let out a small sigh. I’d been neglecting my own recordings lately. With the move and getting used to things, it was difficult to find the time. Isabelle had asked me once, but didn’t push it. I was thankful that she didn’t, but I was starting to feel guilty.

With my guitar on hand and plugged to the amp, I started to think of something to play. The first melodies that came to mind were a couple of simple ones from old retro games, since I’d borrowed one of Noelle’s consoles and had been playing for a bit before bed. Fucking medusa heads, I swear…

…

How did that one go?

I began to play, and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Eric recognized the song in the first three notes. He waited for a moment and found the right time to join in with percussion. I chuckled silently and the two of us played a full loop of that song. We were going to leave it there… but then Luna joined with the violin.

I swear, my jaw dropped. I could tell Luna didn’t know the song, but she heard me play it and began to copy it on the second loop. Eric and I shared a look of shock and he continued playing with her.

Luna was good, I knew that much, but… hearing this song on a violin, especially directly after having played it on an electric guitar… it made something click in my brain.

It sounded like a mix of rock and classical music that just… Holy fuck.

“Ruby,” I called out. Luna stopped playing. “Think you can play this?”

I played the intro to the song, which I’d skipped before. I played it a couple of times while Ruby listened to it with closed eyes. She nodded slowly, tried it a couple of times with some mistakes, tried a third time more slowly, then got it.

“Luna, can you play this part,” I asked, showing her a verse. She nodded and played it as I asked.

“I…” I groaned. I had an idea in my head, but coordinating it would be difficult while playing, so… “Steven?” I offered him my guitar.

The guy smirked with eyes brimming with excitement and took my guitar. “You’re cooking something,” he said.

“Pre-cooked, really, but… indulge me for a minute or two, okay? You can play that, right?”

He did just to show me he could, and I admit I felt some jealousy. Jealousy aimed not only at Steven, but Luna and Ruby, too. It had taken me like a month to learn this song five years ago and they had picked it up just from hearing me play it a couple of times. It was, admittedly, a simple melody, but still… I’m surrounded by talent greater than me… which is selling these people short, really.

“Okay… Ruby.”

Ruby began, slowly. I signalled Luna to join, then Eric, then Steven. It was rough, of course, but… it sounded so damn good. It was cool and… new to me. Not that I was inventing a new sound or anything. More like… I was finding something for myself that I really liked.

“Yeah, the violin really fits there,” Steven said, nodding. “The contrast with the electric guitar is really good.”

“And the keyboard sort of brings them together, doesn’t it?” Luna said. “Who plays this?”

“It’s from a game,” Eric said. “An old game.”

I sighed. “You’re all nuts. How can you pick this up so quickly?”

“You could’ve done it, too,” Steven said.

“I’m not so sure.”

“Come on, not like the song was hard,” Luna said. “You’ve played harder stuff.”

“Yeah, but picking up a song on the fly like that… It still takes me a while.”

“Look, all I’m saying is that this further proves my point that we should form a band…” Steven teasingly sang.

“For what is worth…” Eric said with a nervous smile. “I’m… kind of starting to agree.”

“Oh yeah! I caught one! Three to go!” Steven cheered.

“Give it a semester, at least,” I told him.

That said, this little session might have done more to sway me than anything Steven could’ve said.

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