music in you | lutteo

one

He didn't want this job. In fact, he hated kids. All those family reunions filled with cousins and babies of his parents' friends- Matteo wanted nothing to do with them. The thought of a grubby toddler's hand touching his leg, much less his guitar, sent shivers down Matteo's spine.

So how he ended up at the Jam & Roller's after school music program is beyond him. It was probably- no, definitely- Simón's idea. ever since he heard about the program, Simón wouldn't shut up about it. All he talked about was how excited he was to 'instill the beauty of music in the youth of today.'

Matteo, on the other hand, couldn't care less. Sure, he loved music more than anything, but he just couldn't imagine himself teaching it to a kid.

"Hey, buddy." Matteo turned to see Pedro on the stage, re-arranging the microphones after the band had practiced earlier that day. "You leaving?"

Matteo sighed. "Nah," he waved his hand. "I have a thing."

"Oh, right," Pedro nodded, stepping down off the lip of the stage. "Mr. Balsano, the music teacher," he said with a smirk.

Matteo wanted nothing more than to leave right there, but instead he mustered up a sarcastic smile and leaned against the high-top table. "At your service." Pedro gave him a pat on the back and picked up a few drinks off the table. "Any words of encouragement?" Matteo asked with a sly smile.

Pedro shrugged, putting the dirty dishes on the bar counter. "Listen, I'm in the same boat as you." He dipped behind the bar, messing with the supplies below on the shelves.

Matteo scoffed, "I'm surprised Delfi hasn't made you sign a pact naming your first 5 children."

"Trust me," he said, his head poking back up over the countertop. "She has."

Matteo laughed, slinging his guitar over his shoulder. He knew Pedro was only half kidding when he agreed with him earlier. He acted all tough to relate to Matteo, but deep down Matteo knew that Pedro would be a family man. He and Delfi were mature that way- destined for a life in the big city with a million kids.

"Listen," Pedro said, throwing his dishrag over his shoulder. "Give it a shot- what's the worst that could happen?"

A million examples came to mind, but Matteo sighed, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

He didn't think he was right.

Pedro came up behind him and shook Matteo's shoulders. "That's my boy."

With that he was gone, and Matteo was left sitting there, alone. He took a seat on the edge of the stage and put his guitar on the stand. While contemplating the choice he made to be there, he started humming. He did this a lot, especially in instances where his mind started to wander- instances like now.

"Nice tune."

He was so off in his own world that the new voice made Matteo visibly jump. "Oh," he said with a slight chuckle. "Thanks."

"I've never heard it before," The girl said, taking a seat at the table in front of him. "Did you write it?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry- do I know you?"

"Oh sorry!" The girl said, standing up from her seat and dusting off her pants before holding out her hand. "I'm Luna."

"Matteo," he said, leaning forward to quickly shake the girl's hand before awkwardly sitting back down again.

"What do you do around here?" Luna said quickly, after what felt like a week-long silence.

"I'm in a band." He wondered if he should tell her about the music program, but decided against it. He barely knew the girl- and what would she care? "And you?" He asked. "We, uh, closed to the public about 20 minutes ago."

Luna's eyes widened, "Oh-"

"There he is! Just who I was looking for!" Julianna's voice boomed through the empty cafe, her arms out wide as she walked towards Matteo. Matteo smiled uncomfortably as she wrapped him in a side hug. "Ready to change lives?"

Matteo blinked, fixing his shirt as Julianna pulled away. "Sure," he said, unenthusiastically. Julianna gave him a look, and Matteo rolled his eyes. Luna's laugh broke the awkward silence. "Oh, Julianna, that's-"

"Luna!" She said, going in to give her a hug. "Glad you see you found the place okay." Luna smiled at Matteo over Julianna's shoulder, adding to his confusion of who the hell this girl was and why she was at the Roller after hours. "Matteo, this is Luna."

"We've met," Luna smiled, glancing at Matteo.

"Briefly," he mumbled. He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on the back of his heels.

"Oh good!" Julianna clapped her hands together in front of her. "Matteo, Luna's going to be working with you and Simón in the music program. Matteo, show her around, would you?"

"Where's Simón?" He shouted, as she was already halfway out of the cafe.

Julianna turned around, "Helping Ámbar with something in the rink." She was gone all too quickly and Matteo was left alone with Luna.

"Who's Ámbar?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"His girlfriend." Matteo sighed. "The king and queen of the rink." The two were amazing skaters. After they won internationals last year, the two never seemed to leave the rink, aside from the boys' band practices.

Luna's eyes seemed to fill with excitement. "There's a roller rink here? I haven't seen one since I was a kid."

"Yeah," Matteo couldn't help but let out a laugh at her appearance. He'd known this girl for a matter of 15 minutes and he could already see that she was easily excitable. "They're on our performance team."

"That's so cool!" Every time Luna got excited, which seemed to be very often, Matteo could see her green eyes sparkle, her pupils widening with every word. "Can I see?"

"What? The rink?"

"Well," Luna giggled, "You're supposed to give me a tour, aren't you?"