Thomas comes to visit.

What the girls had said had left me thinking all night and even the next day. It didn’t sour the night at all, but it did leave me with a faint, uncomfortable feeling that still bothered me as I was working on putting together Isabelle’s PC in her bedroom.

Participate in the talent show? Me? I’d been hearing for a long time about how Alice and Noelle were working hard to bring it back, but I always thought of it as someone else’s business. Like… Sure, it was a good thing that all the people with cool talents and skills would get to show their stuff. By all means, go for it, everyone. Break a leg. Participating myself never even crossed my mind.

“Oliver, you’d do far better than most,” Isabelle said from behind me. She was sitting on her bed with Cake on her lap while I installed the parts inside the tower. “I know people who’re going to sing, and they can’t keep a tune to save their lives. Another friend of mine is going to read poetry and a classmate is going to juggle. I’d bet all my money you’d do better than them.”

“Aren’t you broke right now?” I asked her.

“...Not the point.”

Well, I was broke, too, actually. Christmas really does a number on your pocket, doesn’t it? Anyway, it was worth it. Last night was fun. We ended up playing cards most of the night, and while I find card games boring most of the time, we laughed a lot last night.

“My point is that you already play like a pro. Of course the girls aren’t going to **** you to sign up, but they want you to show everyone just how good you are.”

“I know,” I said, sighing. “Look, I’ll give it some serious thought, alright?”

“You need to be quick, though. You have about a month and a half to get ready.”

We suddenly heard the doorbell ringing. I glanced at my phone to see it was 10:40 am. “Ah, can you get that? That’s probably Thomas. he called and asked me if he could come over for a bit.”

Isabelle stood up with a chuckle. “What? Did he get dumped?”

“On the contrary. He’s making time to come say hello because he’s too busy getting busy.”

My sister snickered. “Still hard to believe he’s dating an older woman,” she said on her way out.

Easier to believe than what I was doing, at least.

A minute later, the big guy came into Isabelle’s room with her in tow, a backpack hanging from his shoulder.

“Hello there,” he said, grinning goofily. “Merry Christmas, even if it’s late.” He extended his fist and I bumped it.

“You’ve been a stranger lately,” I told him, getting back to work on the PC.

“Y-Yeah, sorry about that.” He laughed. “But if anyone can forgive me, it’s you, right? You know how it is.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you boys alone,” Isabelle said. “I don’t want to be here to listen to whatever it is that guys talk about.”

“Beer, football, and porn, sis,” I told her casually.

“Every day of the week, every week,” Thomas said, nodding solemnly. “Ah, but don’t forget the cars.”

“And all the bricklaying we have to do tomorrow.”

“Yes, very funny.” Isabelle did not seem to find that as amusing as Thomas and I did. “Anyway. In return for you building my PC, I’ll make lunch today. You okay with that?” she asked me.

“Sure.”

“You staying?” she asked Thomas.

“Sorry, but no. I have… plans for lunch already,” Thomas said, his grin growing by the second.

“Alright, leaving. Don’t touch my stuff.”

I immediately started poking her closet over and over. Isabelle just sighed, shook her head and left, closing the door behind her.

Once we were alone, Thomas laughed. “You can be kinda childish sometimes, huh?”

“It just means things are finally going back to normal between Isabelle and I,” I said, shrugging.

“That’s good.”

“So? How was your Christmas?”

“Christmas Eve with my folks, Christmas day with my girlfriend.”

“Just you two?”

“You know it.”

“No wonder you’re smiling like an idiot.”

“And you’re grumpier than usual. What? Didn’t get any?” he teased.

“I didn’t, actually. Had to keep it family friendly.”

“Hahaha!”

“Yeah, laugh it up. That’s not why I’m grumpy, though.”

“And why are you?”

“They want me to sign up for the talent show in February. The girls gave me a new guitar, Isabelle a bass and mom an audio interface. I basically can’t say no.”

“Hmm. And what’s the issue? Don’t you know how to play, like, hundreds of songs already?”

“I don’t know about ‘hundreds’, but…” I sighed. “If it was just about playing a song, I could do that tomorrow. But… What song would I even play? Not to mention standing in front of an audience. I’ll freeze like an idiot.”

“Oliver, you’re talking to customers at the shop every other day, aren’t you? And most of them are girls trying to flirt. You can handle standing in front of a crowd. As for what song to play, just play your favorite and call it a day. You’re not gonna tell me you’ve never imagined yourself playing your favorite song in front of a crowd while listening to it, right? I sure have.”

“...” He got me there.

“You can think of the details AFTER you decide whether you want to do it or not. If you ask me, I think you should do it. I bet you could give the music club a run for their money.”

I grumbled and rubbed the back of my neck. “Like I told the others, I’ll give it some serious thought.”

“You do that. Oh, but I didn’t come here to talk about this.” Thomas began to rummage through his backpack until he found a small box wrapped in red. “Merry late Christmas.”

I laughed. “Did you come here just for this? I was going to give you yours at school.”

“I believe in doing things properly.”

“A day late.”

“Let’s just say I wasn’t looking at the time, alright?”

I took the box from him and opened it. It was… an ocarina. A black ocarina made of plastic.

“Don’t look down on it just because it’s plastic. I did my research and those are pretty durable and have good sound quality.”

I smiled. “Man, now I have two new instruments to learn? I’m gonna be busy.”

“I expect you to master it by next week,” he told me.

“Give me three days.” It was mostly a joke, but I did have a feeling it wouldn’t be all that hard. If I practiced, of course. This was actually really cool. I had considered getting a wind instrument before, but never settled for anything. “Thanks, Thomas.”

“Glad you like it.”

I stood up and went to my room, coming back with Thomas’ present in my hands. I gave it to him and he was quick to open it.

“Oh shit!” he exclaimed, looking at the book in his hands. It was a hardcover compilation of a comic Thomas had said he wanted to read. “This is the one! Thanks, man.”

“No problem. You don’t read online, do you?”

“Nah. I like physical comics.”

And that was the second to last present I had to give. Thomas and I talked some more before he left to meet Maria again.

A bit later that day, mom’s present arrived. She loved the new couch. It was longer than the other, so it fit more people. That said, mom decided not to replace it and instead rearranged the living room to fit them both. Kind of defeated the purpose, but it was her living room, so whatever.

I finished setting up Isabelle’s PC later that evening. I made sure everything was running well before going back to my room. The first thing I did was pick up my new guitar and played a few songs, thinking of which one would be better to play at school.

I said I’d give it some thought, but… I think I had made up my mind already.

I wanted to do it.

I would step out of my comfort zone once more.

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