“Seconded,” Perdita said, staring down at her own coffee accusatorily.
Octavius rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I did not call you guys here to mock my favorite coffee spot.”
“Favorite?” Bilal was muttering, just as Perdita was asking, “Why did you call us here, then?”
“Because I had an idea,” Octavius replied with a grin.
“Oh no, not an idea,” Bilal said.
“Oh yes, and it is the best idea I have possibly ever had.’ ”
They all looked at him expectantly, while he paused for what Fola was certain was dramatic effect.
“What is it, then?” Bilal finally asked.
“I’m glad you asked, brother!” Octavius pulled his backpack up onto the table and took out a folder. He opened it and began to remove what looked like… sheet music.
Octavius handed them each a sheet, and they all stared down at the foreign symbols and notes.
“What on earth is this, Octavius?” Perdita asked.
“Music! I think we should start a band,” he said.
They all blinked up at him.
“Tavi, are you drunk?” Fola asked.
Octavius shook his head. “Completely sober, and have been for the past three months!” he said.
“Then it must be a concussion?”
“Not that either. I just think it would be nice! Remember that time when we discussed forming a band together? I just thought,Why not? Why not do it!”
“Octavius… we were like seven…,” Perdita pointed out.
“Actually we were ten,” he corrected.
“Well, none of us can play an instrument,” Romeo said.
“Actually…,” Octavius said, staring at Bilal with a mischievous glint in his eye, “Bilal can play the guitar now. I’ve been giving him lessons.”
They all looked at Bilal in amazement. To be honest, Fola was looking at Bilal like that a lot these days. Her brother had completely transformed into someone she no longer recognized.
The uptight fencer had completely healed from his injury but decided to retire from fencing for good. He now spent most of his days traveling to obscure cities in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He had even traveled to Bangladesh to look into his own family history. And when he wasn’t traveling, he was living out of state with his boyfriend’s family. He did seem happier though… lighter—which was nice to see.
“Since when did you want to learn the guitar, Billy?” Perdita asked, sounding impressed.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, Anwar’s sister Aisha roped me into it. Said it would be good for my soul or whatever. Iamenjoying it though.”
“Well then, apart from Bilal and Octavius, the rest of us can’t play any instruments,” Perdita pointed out.
“The rest of you guys could learn?” Octavius said. They all looked at him with very unenthusiastic expressions. “It’ll be fun!”
“We’ll be bad,” Fola said.
“Good! Let’s be bad, then. It’s good to be bad at things.”
They’d spent an entire lifetime learning the opposite, that it was bad to be bad at things, and imperative they be the best, and so understandably, none of them looked all that convinced.
