Summer Love

Chapter 6: Guitar Lessons, Careers, and New Names

Sarah: I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before walking into the kitchen to meet Louis. He had now taken up meeting me wherever I was at the time he texted me. Today it had been my house. Mainly because it was a mere 10:05 and I was still in my PJs. Now I was fully dressed, my hair pulled into a fast braid and Louis was enjoying a cup of tea with my mother. They now were on a first name basis since I poured out my heart and soul in the Hideout. Louis still held my secret of the nightmares and the fact he was making me forget. It had started off little, only 10 minutes of scream free time. But each day it got longer. Now we were up to nearly 30 minutes of scream free time.

Today I noticed a guitar case strapped to his back as he drank the tea. "Oh hey," he said, jumping up from the stool. "It was very nice talking with you, Charlotte," he said.

"And you as well, Louis," my mother said. We walked down the stairs and out the door.

Once we were safely outside Louis asked, "So how much time are we up to now?"

"27 minutes," I said.

Louis nodded and pointed to the guitar strapped to his back, "So I'm guessing you know what we're doing today?"

"Um, I'm going to hit you over the head with that?" I asked jokingly.

"Um, no," Louis said. I giggled at his tone.

"So your going to attempt to teach me how to play that thing?" I tried again.

"Correct. It might be screeching agony but you know why we're doing this," Louis said. I nodded and looked at the beach ahead of us. I took off my flip flops once we reached the sand.

"So you know how to play guitar?" I asked. Louis smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. Not real well but enough," he said. I smiled.

"Are you into music?" I asked, taking a seat in the sand.

"Definatly," Louis said, unzipping the guitar case, "In fact I'm actually looking at being a singer someday."

"Really? Are you any good?" I asked.

"I don't know," Louis said. He pulled the strap over his head and strummed the strings once.

"Are you going to demonstrate?" I asked, smirking.

"Are you volunteering as victim?" Louis asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure your not that bad," I said. Louis strummed the guitar uncomfortably.

"I've never really sang in front of anyone whom could give me a direct opinion," he said, looking down into the sand.

"Your in a band!" I pointed out. He laughed.

"They're my very best friends. They wouldn't laugh if I was bad," he said, blushing. I gave him a look. He started to strum the guitar in a way that suggested a song.

"I thought I saw a man brought to life

He was warm, he came around like he was dignified

He showed me what it was to cry

Well you couldnt be that man I adored

You don't seem to know, don't seem to care what your heart is for

But I don't know him anymore

There's nothing where he used to lie

My conversation has run dry

That's what's going on, nothings fine Im torn," Louis sang. Torn was one of my favorites. I mean who didn't love those lyrics. As Louis sang them, I realized why he was in a band. He wasn't bad. I mean he wasn't who I pictured on my IPod someday but he definatly was better than some. Myself for instance. I was known to drive cats away with my voice. And cats probably didn't have amazing singing voices. Although I found myself laughing as Louis sang.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, seeming upset I was laughing.

"Intresting lyrics. So who was this man you adored?" I asked, laughing. Louis took a second to think before laughing.

"I don't know yet," he said. I laughed, falling back in the sand. Louis took the guitar strap over his shoulder and crawled over, putting his body so his face was hovering over mine. I continued to laugh. I started to realize I couldn't stop.

Charlotte: I could hear Sarah laughing as I walked outside to get in the car to go run errands. It had been forever since I heard that laugh. I smiled. She was starting to be happy again. Maybe. Just maybe.

Louis: I watched Sarah laughing, her eyes welling with tears from laughing. Personally I hadn't found it that funny. But, watching her laugh, I found myself unable to stop laughing. She opened her eyes for a few seconds, stopping laughing and breathing. Her smile held. As I looked into her eyes, the part of me that wanted Sarah as my girlfriend became more alert. Sarah looked truely beautiful smiling the way she was. Maybe it was that that triggered what happened next. Or maybe it was the fact she hadn't laughed at my voice. Or maybe it was just how much I wanted her to be my girlfriend. All I knew was there I was, my head over hers, looking at her, and all the sudden I leaned down and kissed her soft, pink lips.

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Sarah: Later that night Louis walked me home. This kiss had been amazing. The kiss had tipped my entire world off it axis. It made fireworks go off and somewhere in my mind there was epic guitar solo of the opening cords of Torn. While I walked home with Louis I felt a question pressing against my mind and finally I blurted it out, "So do think there's even a point pretending to be friends when obviously we're much more?"

"No," Louis said, barely above a whisper.

"Good," I said. I stepped in front of him and pressed my lips to his again. He kissed me, his lips soft against mine. Once again I felt sparks flying during the kiss. When we pulled apart I felt dazed.

"So I'm assuming we now take up the terms of boyfriend and girlfriend," Louis asked, smiling. I nodded, feeling as though I would be unable to form proper words. He smiled, "Cool." We arrived at my house.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow," I said.

"Yeah," Louis said. I smiled and practically ran up to my door. Once I was safely inside I smiled and blinked through the kisses. Louis had something. So far, I didn't know what, but I knew it was special.