Elvis Lives

Chapter 20 - Stealing a Kiss

The hotel came into view again, but this time, Elvis wasn't staring at it. He had his face in his new phone. I showed him the app store and he had a grand time looking up anything that his mind could think of. I had showed him how to download apps and games, so, after a few hours, he was downloading away, mostly games and other apps that had to do with him. I had given him unlimited data, so he would be able to access anything without any problem. He had been doing this more than going through the hundreds of songs I downloaded onto his phone earlier.

"Name that Elvis song, huh?" he asked as we came into the hotel parking lot and I parked a few spaces over from where I last parked. Today was a cloudy day, but not rainy. It was cool enough that I had to wear a white cardigan over my pink top. Elvis had on a brown jacket over a white polo.

"I bet you'll get the top score on that one."

"Well, I don't know all my songs, but I know a lot of 'em. I'm still working on memorizin' the later ones."

"And you've been doing a good job of that so far." I pointed to the phone. "Try it out. We're here a little early, anyway."

"Okay, then."

He downloaded the app and got to it. We heard the beginning of one song – it played you the first few notes or lyrics to the song. "That one's easy," I said.

"Yeah, it is. That's 'Too Much'." The app played another one. "'Don't Be Cruel'." Another one. "Ah, this one's one of my favorite of my later songs – 'Burning Love'."

"That's a favorite of mine, too. I heard you belting that one out a couple days ago."

"It's catchy." Another few notes played and Elvis creased his brows. "I don't think I know this one."

"It's 'Suspicious Minds'. You haven't memorized that one yet? It's a popular one."

"I've only been here a week. Not even, actually. I can't learn all my songs – all 600 of 'em – in that short amount of time."

"Fair enough."

We went through a dozen more songs and the end score came up. Elvis groaned in dismay. "Aw, no... I got only eighty percent."

I laughed. "Well, you don't know all your songs, like you said. It's hilarious that Elvis Presley got an eighty percent on a test about his songs."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'll learn 'em all eventually, whether it be here or at home."

The atmosphere in the car suddenly became somber. I asked, "So... it could be at any time, right? When you wake up from all this? I've thought about it, and I guess that's what's going to happen. You're going to wake back up on that stage on the set of King Creole and realize that this all was a dream."

He put his phone down in his lap as he still held onto it, but he looked over at me. "It's way too real to be a dream. I think I just popped here, and then I'll pop back at some point. I honestly have no idea. I wanna be here long enough to make it to Elvis Week."

"That's another four months away."

"I know. I just hope I can make it there, or at least be here long enough to go and see my future wife and daughter, and any other relatives that I have."

"You have a few granddaughters."

He nodded. "I don't look 'em up on the internet because I'm afraid to, but... maybe to see what they look like..."

"Nothing's stopping you."

He stared at his phone, that crease in his brow. He huffed. "Okay, I'll look 'em up." He did so without me telling him how to do it. He really was getting the hang of how to use a phone. His brows shot up. "Whoa, so that's them."