Friends?
I blinked.
Two silhouettes walked out on stage.I froze as I realized Calvin was there, but also his brother.My stomach plummeted.I hadn’t seen Paxon at all tonight and I didn’t even know Calvin was here.Since Paxon and I had been on the fritz, I didn’t see much of his little brother.I figured Paxon had probably said something to Calvin and so he stopped asking for music lessons.It had hurt more than I realized once I stopped teaching Calvin.Without noticing, I had been looking forward to them just as much as Calvin.
What were the two of them doing?
Calvin awkwardly adjusted his guitar strap around his shoulder while Toby hurried up beside him with his own guitar.Paxon stood between them, holding a mic with visibly shaking hands.
He looked like he might throw up.Paxon was a sports person.Not a performer.Definitely not a singer.
Paxon glanced back at the curtain, toward me.Our eyes didn’t meet directly, but he was looking for me.Searching.
The auditorium dimmed.A single spotlight washed over the three of them as Calvin strummed the first quiet chords.
Toby spoke into his mic, voice low and a little teasing.“This one is for someone who really needed to hear it.”
The crowd murmured at the cryptic message.Me though?My pulse thundered.
Calvin shifted the tune into a soft, steady rhythm, slower than my earlier song, warmer, more vulnerable.Then Toby joined with his guitar with perfect harmony to form a ballad.
Paxon inhaled like he was about to jump off a cliff.And then he sang:
“I’ve been running from the answers,
Scared of what I might become.
Hiding behind every question,
Pretending I was strong enough.”
His voice was deeper than I expected.Rough, nervous, but achingly sincere.The auditorium went silent.
“But every step I took away from you,
I felt the ground fall out beneath.
I thought distance made me stronger,
But it only made it hard to breathe.”
My fingers curled around the curtain.My throat closed.Toby jumped in for the next part:
“So here he stands, a stubborn fool,
Heart in hands, mistakes and all.”
And then Paxon came back, Toby joining him, perfectly balancing the song as they sang, Toby adding that extra layer to the lyrics:
“If forgiveness has a melody,
I’ll learn the tune again.
I’m done with fear, done disappearing.
If you’ll let me in, I’m here to begin.”
A collective shiver went through the room.Paxon closed his eyes as he finished the last line, like the words were too heavy to look at me while he sang them.Calvin was able to smoothly transition the guitar into the next verse, telling me that he was continuing his lessons even without me.Toby stepped forward:
