"You take this music thing very seriously," was the first comment that escaped his mouth after tasting his slice of pizza after. "When you talk about it, you make it sound as if it was alive."
"Well, it may not be a breathing, living creature, but it definitely has a soul," he stated with certainty. "I strongly believe that music has a unique energy that can heal a broken soul and give you back whatever you lost." He made a pause long enough to chew on his pizza and let the information sink in the other. "If you ask me, you must take it seriously. Music is my life. It's in everything I do."
Such a rock star response.
"Have you ever considered going pro?"
"Oh, not at all," he dismissed by shaking his head adamantly. "When you get into the system and submit to what the people want or expect of you, music stops making sense, and it just loses its purpose."
"Waaah! I would have never called you a romantic!" The crooked smile made its first appearance of the night and it was inspiring.
"Me?! A romantic?! I wouldn't put it like that…," he denied once again. "It's just that I have a deep respect for music. I don't want to stain it with money, deadlines and rankings. When it becomes about the means to an end, instead of being the reason for everything, it just doesn't make sense to keep playing."
The student fell deep into thoughts after that. He tried to think deeper about what the musician had said and the meaning it carried, while trying to avoid the original reason he had to learn music. Meanwhile, AJ kept focusing entirely on enjoying his dinner. That for the first time in a while, it wasn't frozen.
"I think I've never felt that kind of passion for anything." The comment didn't carry any regret. Instead, he was staring at the other with honest admiration.
AJ had never thought of himself as worthy of admiration. It's not that he thought less of himself, but he considered himself just an average guy enjoying his hobby. However, the beaming smile directed at him made him smile and feel warm inside. Maybe he did have something to give after all.
It felt right as it had never before.
"Hey, maybe I can rub it up on you," he winked at the guy, who instantly lowered his eyes and tried to hide his blush.
It was rare to see a guy blush so much for a simple comment or a joke. It made him want to provoke him more and more.
"I thought you would come with your friend," he dropped the comment without thinking, startling the other, who furrowed his brows in confusion. "You know, the guy that was with you at the supermarket?"
"Oh, Corey!" The light of recognition lit his features instantly. "Yeah, he's not much for social gatherings. He'd rather be at home."
"I see…"
"In fact, I was supposed to surprise him with whatever I learned, but after my first class I'm not so confident now," he smiled nervously.
"Oh, that's why you're learning? Do you want to play for him?" The guy was obviously not a music fan like AJ, which made him question his motivation to start learning an instrument; he would have never thought it was for someone else. "I can teach you something for you to practice during classes instead of random cords."
"Really?!" The guy practically jumped in his seat. "That would shut him up! He laughed so hard at me when I told him you would teach me. He said you would kick me out the minute the first string broke," he pouted childishly.
They both laughed, completely ignoring that he had almost earned a kick at the beginning. Though the idea of him breaking another string did make the musician's skin crawl. Luckily, that hadn't been the case and the result of their first session was oddly more gratifying than the musician would have hoped so.
Watching the guy swallow another slice of pizza, his mind drifted off to his friend—Corey—laughing his heart out at his friend. He had never seen him laugh, yet he couldn't stop thinking about it. The first time, he had seen him scared to death; the second time, he had been arguing and stomping feet; but laughing, that was uncharted territory he would love to navigate.
Would he be a loud kind of person when laughing, making everyone turn around to watch him, or would he be more on the shy side with a soft, light giggle? He didn't exactly strike him as a loud person, but something in the way he argued that day didn't paint him as a shy person either. Maybe he was the kind of person that wasn't meant to laugh and he would look sinister.
Having spent the afternoon with his student, he could now get a better read from the guy. He was an easygoing guy with a childish streak that made him fun and cute at the same time. He had this curiosity in him that made him look too straightforward, which he had mistaken for a strong character at first. There was still more to learn about him, but he was halfway there.
His friend, however, remained a mystery. He had only seen him twice and both times it was impossible to get a readout of him and it had been like watching two very different people. Now, knowing he was capable of even more emotions and expression, he just couldn't stop thinking about him.
"OK, so I know he's Corey, but what about you?" the young guy looked at him in confusion before realizing he hadn't introduced himself once. "You have to give me something. I can't keep calling you 'the strings' guy." A new fit of laughter had them forgetting about the last slice of pizza in the box.
And that's how the strings guy became Matt, who wouldn't stop whining because AJ didn't want to reveal what the letters of his name meant. After long minutes of trying, he finally stopped only knowing it was a family secret that would mean death to whoever discovered it.
He hadn't laughed so much in a while.
"So, Corey and Matt…," he repeated the names as if testing them in his mouth. "What's your story? I know you're close and you live around here, but nothing else."
Matt smiled warmly. Since the first day, he had felt curious about the musician, but he never imagined that maybe he could feel curious about him as well. What could he tell him without sounding desperate to blurt out all of his life to him? At the same, he didn't want to seem boring and lose the little interest the musician was showing.
"Isn't it like that?" The question confused Matt. "You two aren't close?"
"Oh, yeah. He's my soulmate," he clarified, puffing his chest like a proud puppy.
AJ didn't quite know how to react to that statement. Talking about soulmates implied something beyond serious, but the guy seemed too young for that. AJ was clearly older and he wouldn't even consider such a thing for him. The concept alone sounded like shackles.
He didn't even have a girlfriend. He would hardly consider anyone a soulmate, but coming out of Matt's mouth, it sounded cute. At the same, it made it clear why they had that air around them that screamed intimacy and complicity when they were together.
"That strong?" He joked, trying to set a lighter mood for the conversation. Matt was just staring at his hands, fidgeting with his fingers, and let out a sigh before smiling tenderly.
"I couldn't live without him…," Matt added in a soft voice right before snapping out of it and locking his nervous eyes with the musician. "By the way, I'm sorry for his first impression. Corey is not very good with people 'cause of some shit from his past, so…"
"Yeah, sure. Don't worry about it." AJ tried to discard it, but the little tingle of hurt was still bugging him from feeling he was being judged as violent. "I'm not gonna lie." Matt looked at him and waited patiently for him to continue, "when I thought he was stealing, it was very awkward," he sighed. "I know I look a certain way, but he was terrified, and I didn't even touch him…
"Thank God for that. Things would have turned ugly if you did," he confessed without really thinking. "It's just that people are not his thing. Don't take it personally, please."
"I just hope I didn't create a trauma or something…," he finally joked, wanting to leave the entire episode in the past.
"No way. He's fine."
The gathering was soon over, and Matt left with a grin on his lips. They had cleared the air between them. He had a successful first lesson, and even Corey's situation didn't seem to bother the musician as much as he thought.
On AJ's part, he barely had any time to process whatever had happened so far because he had to run to practice with his own band. They had been bombarding his phone for the last half hour asking where he was and threatening to go to his house and drag him out themselves. He couldn't keep avoiding them much longer, so he picked his guitar and ran his way to the truck.
His schedule was tighter than he thought. In all his planning, he didn't consider the time he would spend just talking with Matt; them getting along so well had not been a factor to consider.
By the time he arrived at the place they had rented for rehearsal, each member was doing their own thing; but it didn't take long for them to center their attention on him as he strode towards them. He was sporting his best apologetic smile and made a quick work out of setting himself so they could start soon.
"He's alive!" shouted the drummer while juggling his sticks. "What the hell were you doing, man?" The anger was skillfully hidden under layers and layers of playfulness.
"Sorry! The lesson took longer than I thought."
"Lesson? Are you studying?" Asked a second person who just joined the conversation while plugging his bass to the amplifier and started testing it.
"Nah! I'm tutoring someone. Guitar lessons."
The world stopped right there. They all shared meaningful looks between each other, bordering on curiosity and shock, but no one dared asking for details. AJ had never had a student before. This was an anomaly they weren't ready for, and it quickly became all they wanted to know.
"But you never teach." The drummer dared.
"It's not like I'm against it… I mean… why would I?" He defended, still not paying attention to the stares his friends kept exchanging.
"What about those two girls you had for like two days? You ditched them mercilessly," commented the drummer. "I think one of them cried."
"They weren't thinking about music exactly." That comeback earned him a couple of laughs and he finally lifted his head to meet his friends' eyes.
They were all locked on him, studying him like a science project. He could see the ideas floating in his mind, but they were being extra cautious about voicing them.
"What about that guy, the one with the Mohawk? He wasn't after your pants." The group laughed, but AJ just crocked a brow.
"Yeah, he wanted to get chicks and chicks dig guitars so he just wanted to learn how to look cool with one," he mocked the guy's words when he had asked him why he wanted to learn if he didn't want to put in the work.
For a moment, he had feared Matt would turn out just like one of them, people with hidden agendas that didn't really care for music. But so far, he had been honest with wanting to learn for his soulmate and was truly willing to put in the extra work. He was definitely different.
Besides, Matt knew by now how serious he was about his music and was still willing to go through whatever he deemed necessary for him to learn. He could see himself investing a couple of hours for him. He wanted to feed that little fire in his eyes and maybe help with making Corey laugh.
"Oh, oh, I know that smile!" The second guitar added with smugness. "I see what this is. You are earning points with a babe, ain't that right?"
AJ laughed loudly, "he's a guy you idiot."
"You want to earn points with a guy?" He wrinkled his nose and lifted his hands in a sign of peace. "Hey, whatever ruffles your hair, mate. I ain't judging."
"What? No, Owen!" He sighed tiredly, knowing they wouldn't get any rehearsal if he didn't clarify everything with them. "He's just a guy that showed up at the store one day and wanted to learn to play guitar for his boyfriend.
"And does the boyfriend know about these 'guitar lessons'," insisted Owen with a suggestive smirk and mocking quotations with his fingers, earning laughs from all the group.
"Oh, my God! Could we just rehearse?"
"Of course, if you're not too tired after your lessons?"
More laughs filled the place as AJ threw a headlock on his friend before ruffling his carefully styled hair. They had always been the same. A group of knuckleheads that would always have a good time.
After the joking passed, they got immediately down to business and the rehearsal continued as it should. There were only seven days for the main event and they could all already feel the excitement running through their veins.
The day couldn't get fast enough.