MASTERPIECE; lynn gunn + alexa san roman

two

Every since her encounter with Alexa, Lynn had been feeling strange. Not the kind of strange you felt when you were coming down with an illness, but the kind of strange you felt when you met someone who you could never forget. That was Lynn's problem. She couldn't get the image of the raven haired girl out her mind. This was problematic in her opinion as her mind should be focused on other important things, like preparing a portfolio in case a college responses to her application or practicing guitar for an upcoming gig with her friends. Yet, she couldn't get her mind off the girl she was acquainted with days ago.

"What's it like to be in love?" Lynn blurts out at her friend Brian who had looked up from the bass in his lap, in confusion. They sit in Brian's garage that had been converted to their little hideout, where they and their friend Alex came to play music together. However, at this particular 'band practice', Alex had not shown up yet, leaving Brian and Lynn to sit and wait for his arrival. Due to this, Lynn had gotten distracted from the guitar in her lap by her own thoughts.

"Uh, good," A muddled Brian replied before adjusting his answer, "Great, actually."

Brian raised his eyebrow at the distressed girl before him. She solemnly strummed her guitar, but it was obvious her mind was in a totally different place.

"What's all this about?" He curiously asks, leaning his bass on the couch beside him. The girl shifted uncomfortably, looking away from her instrument and towards him.

"What about love at first sight? Do you believe in that?" She continued, ignoring Brian's question completely.

"Woah Lynn, calm down," he nervously laughs, adjusting his posture so that he was leaning forward, "What's up, dude?"

"I don't know," she sighs, placing her guitar on the ground beside her, "I'm just curious, I guess."

She leans back, sinking deeper into Brian's couch. At this point, Brian knew something wasn't exactly right.

"Are you stressed out about college applications? Because I cou-"

"It's not that," she interrupts him. Deep down, she knew that she had not even thought about her application since meeting Alexa outside the coffee shop three days prior. Lynn had never met someone who took over her mind the way Alexa had, which left her stressed out about the way she was feeling.

"Well, what is it then?"

"Does the name Alexa ring a bell?" Lynn asks, pulling herself out of the pit she had made in the couch, "Black hair, works at the coffee shop across the road from my house?"

"Alexa San Roman?" Brian raises his eyebrow at the sudden mention of Alexa into the conversation, but he lets Lynn continue in the hopes it would get her out of her funk.

"Is that her last name?"

"What the hell does this have to do with Alexa San Roman?" Brian asks puzzled, causing Lynn to wince at him raising his voice. Lynn avoiding answering the question, instead picking up her guitar again to drown out the silence between the two of them.

"She's bad news, you know," Brian finally adds when Lynn begins strumming. He watched the girl, dumbfounded about her sudden odd behavior, as she played the chords to a familiar song. He eventually decided that it was probably better for Lynn to not talk about whatever she was going through until she worked it out herself, leaving her alone in the garage as he went into his house to get some snacks.

Lynn on the other hand, was waiting for something to explain what was going on in her head. She had met the girl once for christ sakes, and now all she could think about was her. The music she was playing was to help her clear her mind, but the time alone wasn't clarifying anything. Instead she had decided she needed to see Alexa again, as terrifying as that sounded, just to clear up whatever was happening in her head.

. . .

"You did what?!" Brian exclaims, his voice echoing through his house. Alex had just arrived at band practice, flyer in hand, grin on his lips.

"Is this a joke?" Lynn questions, raising her eyebrow at the taller boy, who had passed the colourful flyer to her. She quickly scans over it, noting all of the local bands printed on the front.

"It would be super fun guys," Alex smiles at them like it was the best idea anyone had ever had, but no amount of smiling could convince his two skeptical friends, who sat there, mouths agape at his stupid idea.

"Disneyland is fun, Alex," Brian crosses his arms in frustration, "Not signing up your unprepared band for a gig."

Alex had rushed in, an hour late, ecstatic about his idea, which involved signing up their band for a competition later that night. Now, both Lynn and Alex were dumbfounded Alex would do something so stupid without talking to them about it, but they knew it wouldn't be something that they could get out of. Brian glances at Lynn, who he knew was not in a particularly good place, "Didn't you think you should have spoke to us about it first though?"

"Probably," he pouts, before adding, "But the prize is a record deal and I couldn't say no."

"A record deal?" Lynn looks up at him, speaking barely loud enough to grab his attention.

"Yeah, isn't that cool?"

"Kinda," Lynn says looking at Brian, who wasn't happy with Alex, "It could be fun Brian."

"It could also be a disaster," Brian huffs.

"So," A smile begins to form on Alex's lips, "Should I ring up Justin?"

"Fine," Brian answers in defeat. Lynn smirks as she looks down at the flyer in her hands one last time, butterflies forming in her stomach when she re-reads, 'hosted by Alexa San Roman'.