music in you | lutteo

three

The first week of lessons was not going according to plan.

Or, it was? Considering Matteo did not have very high expectations going into it, he should have expected this. 

It was only day 3, his guitar strings had already been broken multiple times, and the amount of spit on his favorite microphone is enough to make anyone queasy. It was becoming routine for him to let Luna and Simón take the lead, while he sat in the background and watched the havoc ensue around him. 

Simón was on the edge of the stage, brainstorming ideas for showcase songs with a few of the kids. They were already starting prep for the big group number, and it was Julianna's idea to have the kids cover one of the songs from the Roller Band. 

"I really think you should do this, Matteo," Luna loudly whispers as she attempts to sling the guitar over one of the kid's shoulders. "I barely know what the notes are on this thing."

Matteo rolls back on his heels, shaking his head. "Yeah, but at least you know how to talk to them." 

It was true. She had a way with them that Matteo couldn't help but admire. The kids seemed to latch onto her, too. That wasn't really helping Matteo's ego, but he also wasn't complaining. To him, the less one on one action, the better.

Luna rolls her eyes. "That's not gonna help them learn guitar." She lets go of the guitar and Matteo winces as it almost falls to the ground. "See?" She asks. "You're the pro here."

Matteo lets an unconvinced chuckle escape, before impulsively catching his guitar before it rolls off the kid's shoulder. Leo's a scrawny little thing, arms barely long enough to keep the neck of the guitar up. He looks up at Matteo with a remorseful look on his face, and Matteo lets out a sign as he takes the guitar from the kid. Luna looks at him with an encouraging glance, as if to say go on, show him how. 

Having all eyes on him isn't making this any easier, but Matteo sits down and holds the guitar the correct way. Leo, watching in wonder, slowly reaches his hand out to touch the strings. Matteo instinctively pulls it back, but after another encouraging look from Luna, relaxes. "Use one finger," he says. "There's no need to be rough."

 Leo gently strums the string, looking up to Matteo for approval. "Like that?"

"Yeah, exactly like that." Matteo nods. He looks up and Luna's no longer next to him, but instead watching a few of the girls dance. He feels a wave of anxiousness fill him now that he's actually alone with the kid, and takes a big gulp of air in an attempt to calm down. "You, uh- you know the chords?" He asks timidly, feeling sweat bead on his eyebrow. It's getting hot in here again.

"I'm eight." Leo shrugs. "I barely know my alphabet."

"I should have known that by the way you held it," Matteo mumbles. Then, seeing the look on Leo's face, shakes his head. "Sorry," he says, running a hand through his hair. "That was shi- I mean not nice- of me to say."

Leo giggles. After a moment of silence, he asks, "So, are you gonna teach me?"

"Oh, right," Matteo awkwardly shifts his position. "So, uh, this is a C." Leo watches intently as Matteo goes through some basic chords, occasionally reaching out his finger to strum them as Matteo holds the chord down. By the time they get to A minor, the hour is almost up and Matteo wonders how time could have possibly passed that quickly.

"See?" Luna asks, nudging Matteo's arm. "Wasn't so bad, huh?"

Matteo shrugs. "I don't know."

Simón walks over to join the two, wrapping up a microphone's cord and putting it away on the shelf. "I say our boy's making some real progress." He pat's Matteo's shoulder while a smug smile plays on his face. "He'll be in full teacher-mode in no time."

Matteo scoffs, but lets himself smirk a little. "Don't get your hopes up. If Leo breaks one more of my strings, it's game over."

__

By the end of the first week, the gang had become to make some real progress. 

If real progress meant that guitar strings were no longer being fixed every 30 seconds, and song lyrics were semi-memorized. 

"One, two, three, four," Simón chants, and the three watch as the mess of a kid's group gets out a... version of Un Destino. 

The three stare at the kids up on stage, expressions blank. 

"You know what?" Simón's the first to speak up. "Not too bad, guys. We definitely need to work on some pacing, but not terrible."

"Were we watching the same performance?" Luna whispers from Matteo's side, and he lets out a chuckle while looking down at his shoes. 

He sticks his hands in his pockets and looks up at the kids. "Well, Leo didn't break a guitar string, so that's a bonus."

Leo throws a little punch to the air, making Luna giggle. "We'll get there, guys," she says. "We've still got two weeks."

Two weeks? Matteo didn't realize how fast the last week had gone. He had to admit, he was starting to look forward to working with the little rag-tag group of wannabe musicians.

And Luna.

She certainly was making this whole experience a little more bearable. She had a way of bringing him out of his shell. It may have only been a week, but Matteo really felt like he found a friend in her. 

"Hey, Matteo," Luna asked over her shoulder while they cleaned up the instruments on the stage. The kids had just left, and the they were the only ones left. Juliana had given them the responsibility of closing down the café. "I was thinking... what if we performed at the showcase?"

Matteo nearly choked on air. "What?" 

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to, but I just thought it might be fun." Luna's words rushed out of her in a ramble. "The song, I mean. It could be fun."

"Uh...," Matteo dragged on. "Sure." He settles, a small smile playing on his lips. 

"Really?" Luna claps her hands together and smiles wide. "Okay, yay!"

Matteo's fondness of this girl was gonna keep growing, wasn't it?

"You're so easily excited," he mumbles, looking down and pinching his brow.

"What?" Luna asks with a chuckle. 

"Nothing," Matteo says quickly, meeting her gaze and catching himself. "What did you want to sing?"

Luna shrugs. Truthfully, she didn't know. She didn't even really know why she asked him. She supposes it's because she heard his band practice as she was leaving the other day and thought he was really good. 

Or, because she's starting to have a little crush on him.

She wasn't surprised with herself when the thought of liking Matteo first occurred to her. She's had countless crushes on boys before. It happened a lot more often than she'd like to admit, but they all ended up being one-sided, really. Whether it was a boy from school, someone from a show she really enjoyed watching, or the cashier at the supermarket- all had no interest in reciprocating Luna's feelings. 

Because she didn't really even know them.

So when she realized that maybe she had a little bit of a crush on Matteo, it caught her completely off guard. 

Because she did actually know him. Granted, it had only been a week, but she'd already felt like she had known him for a lot longer than that. 

So maybe that's why she wants to sing a duet with Matteo. Or maybe it's just because she thinks he's talented.

"Or both." Now it's Luna's turn to mumble under her breath. 

"Huh?" Matteo narrows his eyes. "What did you want to sing?"

Luna smiles. "I was thinking we could write an original." 

Matteo scoffs. "Are you crazy? We've got two weeks." This girl was ambitious.

"Well," Luna shrugs, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "We better get started."

And that's how Matteo ended up at the park bright and early the next morning, two coffees and his guitar in hand.