“I’ve got to say, Mercury, I did miss hearing you play for me.”
Chapter 4
Dawson
Age 11
“What’s that you’re playing?”
The unexpected voice made me jump and I fumbled my guitar. It was still a little on the bigger side for me, but Mom promised I’d grow into it. I whipped my head toward my best friend as he came ambling up the path to our hideout. He always knew to find me in Neverland.
He smiled as he dropped down next to me on the hay, criss-cross applesauce style. His skin was a little pink from the sun and his blond hair was tangled like he got caught in a tornado, but that’s kind of how he always looked. Theo had a wild look to him that I’d liked since the day I met him two years ago, right in this spot.
I remember the first time he snuck up on me, I had been playing then too. He kept badgering me for my name and why I was there. I’d been so upset and angry that we’d moved to Austin that I hadn’t really talked to anyone that first week, so I hadn’t answered him at first. He hadn’t seemed to care since he just kept talking, telling me his name was Theo, that he liked my music, that he was my neighbor, and he just knew we would be best friends.
Guess he’d been right.
“It’s a Queen song,” I told him, tucking my head down so he couldn’t see my embarrassment. “I know it doesn’t sound that good right now.”
“Shut up, you sound awesome! Is that the guitar you got at your birthday party last week? I still can’t believe your parents got you one! I can’t wait until I turn eleven soon. Is it hard to play?” Theo asked, talking a mile a minute like he normally did.
“Kinda. It’s a little hard to hold, but I’m getting used to it,” I mumbled. I plucked at the strings, trying the chorus again to see if I could play it smoother that time. Mom had been teaching me to play since I was seven, then I started guitar lessons. I was getting pretty good, but I still struggled when learning a new song though.
“Hey, I think I know this one! It’s, uh…love something…” he said as he listened to me carefully. I couldn’t help but smile when he made an “aha!” noise then quickly backtracked when he didn’t guess it right.
“It’s ‘Somebody to Love’. It’s one of my favorites. I’m trying to learn it for my guitar class recital,” I shared with him.
Theo’s smile widened, showing off his slightly crooked teeth. “Dude, that’s so cool! Oh! You should dress up like that lead singer guy from the band when you play it! I can draw you a fake mustache and everything!”
“No way are you drawing a Freddie Mercury mustache on me!” I laughed off his suggestion. “I don’t want to dress up. That’s so embarrassing. I’m already gonna mess it up ‘cause I’m so nervous. I don’t need to look crazy too.”
“You’re gonna do amazing, Daws,” he promised. I looked up at him and he smiled at me all soft. I didn’t know why, but I felt all warm and calm whenever he showed me that kind of smile. It made him look…pretty. Could boys be pretty? If so, Theo definitely was. Really pretty.
I squirmed a bit and started up the song again. I messed up some of the chords and my voice was a little shaky with Theo paying so close attention to me, but I was getting better.
Theo interrupted with a loud yell halfway through the song and I stared at him with wide eyes as he leapt to his feet.
“Holy crud, I forgot I had something to give you! Stay right here, I’ll be right back!” Theo took off running toward his house before I could say anything else. I hadn’t been planning to go anywhere anyway, but okay.
It only took him about ten minutes, and he was panting and sweaty from running up to his house and back. He crashed onto his knees in front of me, holding out a guitar pick inches from my face. It took me a second, but I finally recognized the picture on the front of it.
The Queen logo was printed on the swirly blue pick with the lions, phoenix, and crown inside the Q. I took it from him carefully, flipping it around to see the band name on the back.
“I found this at a town market thing Mom dragged me to when I saw her last weekend, and it made me think of you. I know they’re your favorite. I kept forgetting to give it to you,” Theo explained with another big grin on his face. “It’s nothing special, but maybe it’ll bring you luck when you play at your recital.”
I had a bunch of guitar picks at home. I sometimes took Mom’s picks to use and I almost always got a new one whenever she took me to the music store. None of them came close to how much I loved this pick Theo gave me. I loved that he picked it out for me, knowing it was my favorite band and because it made him think of me.
I didn’t know what to say. When I got overwhelmed, I couldn’t make any words come out. Theo didn’t try to force me to say anything. He never did. He talked all the time, and hedidn’t care that I didn’t talk a lot or didn’t always know what to say.
I silently set my guitar down and leaned forward to grab Theo for a hug. He wrapped his thin arms around my back and let me show him how much I loved the gift instead of saying it. Mom always said actions speak louder than words anyway. When I let go, he just smiled at me again and nodded at the guitar.
“Alright Mercury, let’s see what you’ve got!”
I beganto wonder if I had somehow royally fucked up in a past life to deserve what was happening to me. It was the only valid reason I could think of to explain why I was being subjected to this torture.
“You done playing or did I throw off your groove?” Theo called from his hidden place up in the barn loft. My fingers might as well have been glued onto the stringers for as useless as they were then.
My mind was screaming at me to get the hell up and out of there, but my throat went dry and every joint in my body felt cemented in place. All my brain cells died an epic death the instant I heard Theo’s voice.
