Carpe Aestatem (original)

Chapter 24

Avery

"How long have you been playing the bass for?" Nace asked.

"Since I was ten. I remember telling my mom that I wanted to try the bass and my aunt got a bass guitar for me for my birthday that year. And I've stuck with it!" I said.

I had just finished unpacking, and I was in Nace's living room, about to go over some bass parts. "What do you want to work on?" He asked.

"The bass in 'Carpe Diem'. I seriously put off my Spanish homework to learn that part. Since we were recording it the following day. And I was in AP Spanish."

"Seriously putting off your homework to learn the bass part? You were so good!"

"Thanks."

"Okay, first chord." He said, putting his fingers on the frets. "Do you want to sing it? You do backing vocals?"

"I do, except on 'Carpe Diem', when Olivia does lead and Jenna does backing. I focus on the bass there."

"Alright, just follow my lead."

I played the first part. "That was really good!"

His dog then hopped onto the couch. "Did you like Avery's bass playing? Did you?" Nace said. "I'd say Ollie says you did a great job." (A/N: I know Nace has a dog, but I read somewhere that his dog's name is Ollie, but I'm not sure. Please correct me if you know, thanks!)

"Thanks, bud." I said. "And the turtles?"

"They hate me."

And we laughed so hard. "At an interview before the Madrid pre-party, we were asked what type of animal we would be, and I couldn't remember if I had said dog or falcon, and then Bojan said that my dog was a cross between a dog and a turtle, and then we were talking about my turtles, and then we joked how Jan was riding my turtles to work because he's late most of the time."

"Oh yeah! I saw it on YouTube!"

"Back to the bass."

We ran through the whole song. "I'm kind of struggling with the last part. The one that goes Sprejeli, da smo večni samo, in srečni samo, ko objema nas nebo, the chords in that specific part. It's a lot of chord changes. Promise me no inversions on this one?"

"No inversions. On the demo Bojan said he didn't hear any."

Nace played an A-Major chord. "That's the original A-Major. Now if I put it in first inversion..." He adjusted his finger on the frets. "It sounds like that." (Seriously trying to bring all my music theory knowledge back from last school year.) "Alright, let's hear it."

"Sprejeli, da smo večni samo, in srečni samo, ko objema nas nebo."

"You did it!" He said, and we high-fived.

"Can we run through the bass part on 'Plastika'?"

"Of course!"

By the time we got to the last chorus was the little bass solo in which I was really stuck on. "Is it the Csus7 then the AM? Or is it the other way around? Or am I getting all the chords mixed up."

"It's the A-major, then B-minor, then it's the Esus7. You're getting there."

I then played it. "Oh, it's the A-minor7, then B-minor, then it's the Esus7! I'm finally getting it!"

"You got it, Avery!"

That was the first time he ever said my name. "I'm really glad I'm getting a bass lesson from the Nace Jordan himself!"

"Glad I'm getting to mentor you. Anyways, wanna come walk the dog with me?"

"Yeah! Had enough bass playing for one night." I said.

"Haha. Me too."

Nace got Ollie's leash on and then we headed outside. "I kind of wish I had a pet, then I wouldn't be as lonely."

"Do you want one?"

"Yeah. I still remember when I was six, I asked my mom and aunt for a cat, but a few months before my aunt found out she was allergic to cats, and that put a damper on that."

"You live with your aunt?"

"So my dad passed when I was really little, couldn't have been more than a year old, and then my aunt Cassie offered my mom to live with her until she got back on her feet, and we haven't really left."

"Your whole family's been supportive of your involvement with music?"

"Yeah. My aunt supports it. My mom wasn't on board when I started guitar lessons, and when she realized I wanted to make it big and switched to bass, she became much more supportive."

"I was eighteen when I started playing bass on a cruise ship, around eleven or twelve when I started playing it as a hobby, and then I eventually ended up as the bass player on V Petek Zvečer. Then Martin said he was leaving the band-he's still close with us- and he was more than happy for me to take his place. And here I am."

"Gotta train myself for that when I make it big!"

We both laughed. "We're already kind of big in Nashville and the Nashville area, after only one concert. We have plans to release a song which Jenna wrote, but se still haven't come up with a name yet for our band."

"We can help."

"Really? As long as it isn't over a Messenger chat?"

We both laughed and headed back to the apartment. "Do you miss your old place in Mlaka?"

"I miss my hometown, but grateful that I got to be closer to my friends."

We were back in the apartment and Nace showed me his turtles. "I can tell they don't like you."

"Yeah. They keep snapping at me whenever I try to pet them."

"Turtles aren't for everyone, you know."

"TOORTOL!" He said, and we both laughed.

This was the first time I felt like I had a guy in my life. I really like Nace.