Kylen follows my gaze and offers me an apologetic smile. “I warned you. The guy just refuses to clean up. Even my grandma gave him an earful. And believe me, when my grandma gives you an order, you’d better comply.”
“Is she that strict?” I ask as I lower myself on the chair Kylen gestures to. It’s right next to his at his desk.
“She’s the kind of person who is strict when she needs to be and the sweetest person in the world when she needs to be. I often wonder how she knows which hat to put on. I think she did a great job raising me. I know it wasn’t easy. As close as she and my grandpa and I are, they aren’t my parents. To think they had to do the parent thing all over again, and at their age?” He shakes his head. “It must have been really tough.”
Kylen and I have spoken about his grandparents before, but I love that he’s still comfortable being open with me about his feelings.
“I told you this at camp and I’m telling you now, they sound like amazing people. And you said they’re coming on Sunday for Parents’ Day, right?”
“Yep. I’m picking them up from the airport on Saturday.”
“Nice. It’ll be great to see them again, right? You probably miss them so much. The rest of us are used to being away from home.”
“Yeah, I do. But I guess I got used to it, too. Maybe because I like it here.”
“Yeah?”
He grins. “Yeah. I’ve got my friends, and you’re here. I can’t really complain.”
My cheeks heat up. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, too.”
He smiles and I return it.
“So what’s the exciting news?”
After taking a deep breath, I let it seep out of my nose and hold out the folder. “For you and your friends.”
He gives me a confused look before taking it and opening it. His brows dip with even more confusion as he slips the pages out and reads them. Then a humongous smile takes over his face. “Your song.”
“Yeah. And like I told you earlier this week, you guys can play it. If you like it, of course. It’s okay if you don’t. I understand.”
He holds up his finger in a one-minute gesture as his eyes move over the words. The smile on his face grows even bigger, if that’s possible. “Wow,” he breathes. “Raven, this is amazing.”
Every part of me grows warm. “Really?”
“Yeah. I feel it right in here.” He rubs his chest, where his heart is. “The way you captured the beauty of friendship…it’s how I feel about my friends, too. I don’t know if I could put it into words like you did here, but these are my thoughts and feelings exactly. It’s like you can read my heart or something.”
“Thanks. It means a lot that you like it. My friends were my inspiration, and you guys were the ones who gave me confidence.”
His eyes lift to me. “We were?”
“Yeah. I never really felt comfortable sharing my songs with anyone, not even my friends. Maybe because I was insecure and embarrassed. But once I knew how much you loved the other song, I guess some of that self-doubt vanished.”
He grins again. “I’m so glad to hear that. Because your music needs to be out there in the world.”
My face flushes so hard I feel it. “I don’t know…”
“I’m serious. Obviously that’s up to you, but I’m glad the band will bring this song to life. I really can’t wait to perform itwith the guys. I swear the song is magic. Maybe it’ll get us to one thousand subs,” he jokes.
“I hope so. Because you guys deserve thousands of subscribers. You’re amazing.”
“Thanks.”
I reach for my guitar that I rested on the wall. “I was playing around with the music. Want to hear it? You don’t have to use this sound if you don’t want to. I figured it wouldn’t hurt for you to at least hear it.”
“You kidding? Of course I’d love to hear your music. Honestly, I’ve been dying to hear you play since I saw the guitar in your room. I haven’t heard you since camp.”
“Trust me, I’ve improved a lot since then. I hope,” I add with a nervous laugh.
