I tune the instrument before beginning to pluck the guitar strings, producing a melody that immediately makes the children want to take their instruments and accompany me during the song. Mrs. Grayson hands each of them their musical instrument and the children return to sit on the carpet, excited. Well, let the lesson begin then.
CHAPTER NINE
Vincent Cooper
PRESENT (2023)
"You're not born with certain
skills, you have to acquire them."
Ry Cooder
When I cross the threshold of White's Bakery in the late afternoon, I find a few tables occupied by USF students while Steven’s making coffees behind the counter. I scan the whole place looking for Derek Wilson, the candidate for roommate, when I notice Maggie sitting at a table with a cup of tea beside her as she types something on her
computer.
Her long blond hair is tied back in a high ponytail and there’s a wrinkled look on her face.
Next to her is Will, the waiter who works at Speedy’s Pizza with me and has helped me bring my instruments to the stage acouple of times. He has a stack of books in front of him that he’s ignoring.
His attention is on the brunette girl sitting next to him, cross-legged on the sofa, who’s gesticulating animatedly:Nova.
Her voice is the most audible in the bakery. She almost overpowers Avril Lavigne’s voice as she singsEverybody Hurtsin the background. Nova drums her hands on her jeans as she talks to Will, who replies with amusement.
The pastel orange, off-the-shoulder T-shirt she’s wearing shows off her tan. She probably went to the beach recently. After all, it’s early June and so hot in San Francisco these days.
I stay frozen in my spot until Maggie looks up from her computer screen, noticing me. She raises an eyebrow, almost inviting me to approach their table, but I don’t move a muscle. Nova follows her friend’s gaze and her eyes light up. I want to lose myself in them.
She rises abruptly and reaches for me. “Cooper!” she exclaims before pulling me into a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
I encircle her waist with my arms, returning the embrace, and start spinning her around in my arms. “I missed you, too.”
We haven’t seen each other in nine days—last week I didn’t have to fill in for anyone at the restaurant, and our normal shifts didn’t coincide.
When I release her, she takes my hand and starts walking toward the table where her friends are chatting. “Good thing you’re here. Come. Sit with us.”
I hesitate, freezing in place. “No, I...” I’m afraid.
She freezes too, turning to look at me.
“It’s okay. I’m with you,” she reassures me. “Steve’s there, too. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, and you can change the songs. I have the playlist.” She tries to convince me with that usual beaming smile.
I can’t say no to her. Not when she’s trying to bring me back into her life as if I never left.
“Of course you run the playlist,” I retort, flashing her a slight grin as I make my way to the table, ignoring my anxiety.
She arches an eyebrow, following me. “What’s that supposed to mean? That I’m dull?”
“No, just that your trademark is unmistakable. You probably named the playlistteenage dreamand saved it with lots of emojis, didn’t you?”
Nova chuckles, nudging me with her shoulder. “I didn’t ask you to roast my playlists and ruin my mystery-girl aura. I asked you to sit with me and your future best friends. Now walk.”
The dark-eyed hurricane next to me takes my hand again and sits me down beside her, then hands me her unlocked phone, open on Spotify. Sure enough, a playlist titledteenage dreamis playing in the bakery.
I smile to myself before selectingEdge of Seventeenby Stevie Nicks and pressing play. Chills run across Nova’s arms the moment the song starts, and I hold back a small smirk.
I watch as she talks to Maggie and Will. She manages to go from complaining that the mayor ignores all her emails about funding for the kennel renovations to asking Maggie about her academic report, then picks up one of Will’s books and helps him underline the important parts for his exam. I get lost in observing their bubble of familiarity, afraid to interfere.
