Hi Everyone!
Sorry AGAIN about the MASSIVE delay, I think I'll just stop promising to pick up the pace. I know I can't keep that promise :)
However, I was very dissappointed with the amount of emails I got!
Apart from emails from friends who I asked to read it, I only got like TWO EMAILS! In a MONTH! (And, thank you again Dave+Anthony, for your kind words).
So, if you read this story, and you like it, EMAIL ME!
sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com removing the NOSPAM!
Go on, do it! Go!
REALLY big hugs for Luiz and Jon for their endorsements in their stories.
Also, please note: In Chapter 2, I referred to Rowan as Roland. I meant Rowan.. sorry about that :)
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Please note, this copyright notice is retroactive to all stories I have previously posted on Nifty. They are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, Copyright (C) 2007.
DISCLAIMER
This story involves relationships between males aged 15-19. If you do not approve of this, why the hell are you even reading it now? If you are a parent reading through the Internet logs of your young child, do not punish your child for reading these stories. He/she clearly has some questions about his development, and it is YOUR responsibility to answer those questions truthfully and honestly. If this material is illegal in your area, leave now. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. You know the drill. If you aren't supposed to be reading this, Don't (although some flames would be lovely to publicly dissect :)).
This story and setting are based on events in my life when I was 17 years old. Names and places have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Obviously most (but not all) of the relationships are made up. All of the ones involving me are. The real relationship I had when I was 17 is too painful for me to want to recollect, as it ended in a horrible tragedy due to Pancreatic Cancer. Hence most of my writing here is based on post-Leo time frame, where I was single and looking. I have also removed sections of my life that I have felt would have made the story too multitracked and confusing. I am trying to keep the number of characters to a minimum. I am also avoiding all cliches.
Finally this is set in the Australian High School System so if you don't know how it works go look it up. I'm sick of reading about sophomores and freshmen. We don't have that here.
Enjoy!
Note: This is my first story! So, please write to me and let me know what you think, email:
sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com
Of course, remove the NOSPAM there
~Kangen
And so, without further adieu,
Waiting for the Music: Chapter 4
As I placed my bag in the corner of the rehearsal room, I heard the dulcet tones of the Steinway grand piano in the centre of the room. My friend Ricky was playing (something by Flor Peeters I believe), and I sat down to listen.
Ricky was in his thirties, but he looked (and acted) like he was in his twenties. He was an exceptional musician, and I always enjoyed listening to him play or sing. He was a tenor, like me, so we had sat next to each other during rehearsals for the last few years, and, over that time, we'd become pretty good friends.
"You're here early," I checked the time on my phone, "Well, earlier than usual. Any reason why?"
"I'm taking the Rehearsal today." he replied.
"Really? Why? What happened?" I asked, enquiring about the usual Choirmaster.
"Knee replacement. Dave won't be back for a few months, so I'm taking over. You won't be needed for a few hours, and I have to accompany this stuff for the kids rehearsal, so go scoot and eat or something." He repl- ied, all business. I guessed he was probably under a fair bit of stress. He was, at the time, studying for a Business degree, and he probably was stressed enough without the added responsibilities of Choirmaster. I bade him farewell, then, and walked out towards the staircase leading back up to the Crypt Entrance.
"Oh, William!" I heard Ricky shouting from the rehearsal room, "Can you sing the Responsorial Psalm on Sunday? Great. Thanks for that."
"I didn't say yes!" I replied indignantly.
"Oh but you would've. Now, who's going to do Sunday week?"
"I don't care, so long as it's not me!" I replied, still mildly annoyed, as I walked back into the Rehearsal room. I noticed Rowan sitting quietly, reading a book by Robert Ludlum. Funny, I never really noticed him there the first time.
"Well," Ricky said, "What about you? Rowan, is it?"
"Um.. yes, yes, sir.. um.. Ricky, I can do it." he barely replied, his face slowly turning red (adorable!).
"Great. Do you need music?"
"Um.. yeah.. If you've got it that'd be great." More blushes.
"Hey! Don't I get music?" I interjected.
"You would, but you wouldn't look at the music until Sunday anyway. You can take it if you want." said Ricky as he handed out sheets of music to both of us. "Now fuck off and let me practice! Don't you people have dinner to eat?"
We all laughed as Rowan and I left, sliding the psalm sheets into our music folders.
While it was Choir policy not to allow school students to go out to the CBD to buy dinner (due to duty-of-care concerns), it was a widely ignored rule among the older students. Most of us, myself included, found prepackaged meals bought from home to be an even greater assault to the palate than the greasy "food" served in CBD foodcourts, and so we would often be seen going to play excessively long games of "football", and to miraculously return laden with empty fast food packaging. This convenient lie was supported by the fact that a few of the students actually DID play football in the nearby park - and hence the rest of us could use it as an excuse.
Once I had put away my folder, ready to go out and eat, I noticed Rowan sitting on a small chair just next to the exit.
"Where are you going?" he asked softly.
"Football!" I smiled as I slipped out the door.
A look of utter horror appeared on his face. "YOU play FOOTBALL!??" It was probably the loudest I'd ever heard him speak (which isn't really saying much).
I laughed, "No, not that football, FOOTBALL! nudge nudge!"
His look of horror turned to puzzlement. Then I realised that he'd been at a British International College for the past few years, and wouldn't be aware of the change in Choir policy.
"Oh, well, basically, we're not allowed to eat in the city, cos the pow'rs-that-be don't want to be responsible if we get mugged or beaten up or whatever."
He was still looking puzzled; "But what does that have to do with football?"
"Alibi while we go and eat in the city."
"Oh Great!" he smiled, "because I didn't bring anything."
Once we arrived at the Centrepoint Food Court, I noticed many of the places had closed since lunchtime - I guess it's more of a "lunch" place than a dinner one. In fact, only the greasiest slop-buckets appeared to remain open.
Rowan began looking at some of the shops as if presented with a menu consisting entirely of spam - that is, with general uncertainty and distaste. I noticed one shop that looked like it served a variety of Mexican foods, and I assumed it was the same place Andy had gotten his lunch that day.
"Try the Mexican over there," I said pointing, "it doesn't have much spam in it."
He looked at me confusedly.
"Haven't you ever seen Monty Python?" I asked, near-flabbergasted.
He shook his head sadly, "My mother only allowed me to watch TV since I got back from the UK."
"Oh." I said, suddenly feeling bad for embarrassing him.
"Of course, I watched alot of TV while I was there!" He said, smiling, "I guess I just haven't gotten a chance to watch that one."
"Oh, okay," I also smiled, trying to relieve the awkwardness I was feeling. "Try the Mexican, it isn't totally disgusting like the rest of this slop." I said.
He nodded and began walking resolutely to the Mexican place. I followed him, figuring I should probably try the Mexican myself before I recommend it to anyone else.
I ended up overtaking him and so I ordered my food first. Rowan ended up a few places behind in the queue.
"I'll find us a table." I whispered to him as I passed him in the queue. He just nodded and I took a look at what was available, table-wise
Because most of the shops were closed, most of the tables were available. I picked one with only two seats (I wanted Rowan all to myself, haha!) and put my food down and began eating. It wasn't great, but it was certainly the best of bad options.
A few minutes later Rowan came up to the table empty handed, his face blushing somewhat with embarrassment.
"This is going to sound.. really awkward," He said, going a deeper red, "but, um.. do you have two dollars I could borrow? I'm short." - He was so cute!
"Hey, no worries." I said, trying to put him at ease as I handed him the coin.
"Thanks" he mumbled as he quickly turned around and hurried back to the queue.
Yep, I thought to myself, I'm definitely interested in him.
===
That's it for this chapter. More on my getting to know Rowan in the next!
Hugs + Kisses,
~Kangen
and remember... emailing is the lifeblood of Nifty. Email me.
sakurakanNOSPAMgen@gmail.com removing, of course, the NOSPAM.