“Tempo okay?”
He nodded. “I can work with it.”
Naomi still had her eyes shut, nodding to the beat now. “She knows her place in this world. She can tear down its walls, and still nobody knows her name.”
Justin stopped playing and shook his head. “You’ve got an incredible voice, Naomi.”
She bit her lip, eyeing both of us. “Really? I don’t sound stupid?”
“No,” I said. “You’re giving me chills—both of you are.” I walked over and opened the case of my twelve-string acoustic. Another cheap and rare find from an online acquaintance.
Justin raised his eyebrows at my guitar. “Interesting choice.”
“Start again,” I said, setting the drums to loop mode and cranking the volume.
Layering the guitar chords on top of the piano gave the song a dreamy atmosphere. But Justin’s melody and Naomi’s vocals took the song to a place I could never go on my own. It tore at my gut and haunted my mind until all I wanted to do was get lost in it for hours. After our third time through, I decided to record the piano and guitar. Naomi insisted on reworking her lyrics before recording.
“Okay, Drea? If you don’t let Justin join our band, I’m seriously going to smack you,” Naomi decided.
I stared back at my computer screen, wanting nothing more but too afraid to ask. “You can join—if you want to.”
“Nah, I’ve got better things to do,” he said.
I swiveled to look at his grinning face.
“Smile, I’m only kidding.”
I didn’t find it very funny. He obviously had no idea how hard this was for me.
“But I’m only joining on two conditions,” he said. “One, I get to use my keyboard. And two, nobody shows up to practice wasted.”
“Fine by me,” I said.
“Hey,” Naomi pouted, “I sang better today than I ever have.”
“That’s what it seems like. Trust me, I’ve been in bands before. It always becomes a problem.” He looked down at his hands. “Anyway, I’m digging our sound so far. Reminds me a little of Portishead.”
“What did you play before?” I asked.
“You name it. Mostly metal, though.”
“With a piano?” Naomi picked up the water bottle and took a big gulp.
He shrugged. “Why not? Sounds like you need to expand your horizons.”
“She does.”
Naomi held her hands up. “Hey, I already told you I’m clueless, Drea.” She scanned the room. “So, why aren’t these walls painted yet?”
“I was going to pick up some paint this weekend and do it.”
“Okay, I’m
He chuckled and stood up. “No, thanks. I’ve gotta work.”
Her eyes widened. “You work?”
“Yeah, believe it or not. The rich boy works. Speaking of which”—he looked down at his watch—“I’m already running late.”
“How’d you score a job here so fast? I’ve been looking all summer,” Naomi said.
“My brother-in-law runs a computer repair shop on Lakeway. I’m his newest tech.”
I ejected his CD out of the computer and handed it back to him. “Well, um, thanks for the Black Lab and the ride and stuff.”
He studied me for a moment, his eyes intense with something I couldn’t even pinpoint.
“She’s kind of adorable, isn’t she?” Naomi asked.
I focused on his tennis shoes. Dirt was caked around the rims, and one of his laces was coming loose.
“Yeah, she’s kind of a lot of things.” His voice was soft, like he meant it as a compliment. But a lot of things could mean, well,
“You should double knot your laces.” I pointed at his shoes.
Naomi giggled and plopped on my bed again, and Justin let out what sounded like a soft laugh. I looked up at him hesitantly.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, smirking. “I’m off Friday, though. We should—”
“Make out!” Naomi shouted.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Practice. And come up with a name for our band.” He brushed his fingers against my arm. “See you later.”
