'All of my friends say, It wasn't meant to be. It's a great big world, she's just another girl' the CD player sang out at me. I wriggled back in my seat making myself comfier. I had my feet kicked up on the desk. It wasn't as if there would be many customers today anyways. It was a Friday. No one ever shows up on a Friday. I guess I should introduce myself properly. My name is Brandon, I'm a 20 year old music fanatic. There's not much else to me really. Nothing interesting anyways. Where am I you may ask. I'm at my towns local music store. I work Monday-Friday from 10-5. I don't really have to do much. Hardly anyone in my area is passionate about music the way I am. I've been playing guitar for years now. I dabble in a little piano as well. Still have a lot of learning to do however. The store basically sells musical instruments as well as CD's, carrier cases, some posters, and other things like drumsticks and guitar picks. Just your basic music shop really. It was now 12:45, Friday afternoon, and Id only had four customers the whole week. I couldn't care though. The music store was my favourite place to be. Id bring my guitar in every day. Id pick a CD from the ones we had for sale and play it through the box like CD player we had. Today I chose 'The Killers - Direct Hits'. Such a fantastic album. I tried playing a few of the songs on my guitar but it's much more difficult to play a piece without having the notes in front of you.
I lay back further on my chair and slowly closed my eyes. A little nap won't do me any harm will it? A few minutes later I felt myself dozing off when the bell on the door rang as someone walked in. I shot up in my chair almost falling off.
'Good afternoon' i shouted across to the middle-aged man and woman who had just now walked in.
'Afternoon' the man spoke back to me in a gruff voice.
'Can I be of any assistance to you guys?' I asked politely.
'No thanks' the woman answered in a stern tone.
I watched as the couple moved away from the door revealing a young a girl who looked about my age. She didn't look too pleased. I could already tell what was going on. From my guess, the parents were going to look for a CD. Unfortunately for her, the girl must've been being dragged along with them. I leaned back in my chair and put my feet back up on the table. I looked over at the trio. I assumed the elder man and woman were the younger girls parents. I watched as they walked over to the CD rack. Called it.
'Honey look, The Beatles!' The man said excitedly.
'Oh yes' the woman said unenthusiastically.
'I thought we were here for a guitar' the girl said in an annoyed tone.
'Yes, Amelia. We'll get to that' the man said in quite a calm tone even though the younger girl was cheeky.
Amelia folded her arms and walked over to the guitars to the left of me.
'So what're you looking for?' I asked her.
'My parents want me to learn how to play the guitar. You see, my father used to play but his parents made him give it up for work. So they want to make sure I can learn it instead.' She said in a tone which helped me realise she didn't want to be here at all.
'I see, have you ever played guitar before or?' I asked curiously.
'Not really, a few years ago I tried one out in my music class but it didn't go so well. I'm not good with the whole hand-eye-coordination stuff' She said laughing a bit. I laughed too.
'Any type of guitar you're looking for in particular?' I asked.
'Acoustic I guess. I like their sound better than the others' she answered quickly.
'Acoustic is my favourite too,' I leaned over to the right of me and picked up my guitar. I sat it on my lap.'I've had this baby for years now'
She turned her body to face me and walked a few steps closer.
'Oooh,' she said enthusiastically. She looked at the guitar for a few moments then back at me.'Play something then' she smirked.
I sat up in my chair and got my hands into the correct positions. I started playing The Judge by Twenty One Pilots.
'When the leader of the bad guys sang...' She started singing beautifully.
After a minute or so of our duet, I stopped playing.
'You have a really great voice' I complimented her whilst smiling.
'Aw thank you,' she smiled 'you're fantastic at playing the guitar'
'Thanks!' I added enthusiastically.
'Honey, you're supposed to be looking at guitars. Not performing with...' she squinted at my name tag pinned to my shirt '...Brandon'
'I know' Amelia sighed.
'Sorry, I didn't mean to distract her at all' I said apologetically.
'Sure you didn't' the elder woman replied.
I didn't say anything. Amelia walked back over to the guitar rack and they all seemed to discuss which guitar she would be getting. I wanted to speak up and recommend some guitars but I felt as if I was already on the bad side of the girls parents. Five minutes or so later, Amelia turned and pointed at my guitar.
'Brandon, are there anymore guitars like yours on sale?' She asked.
'I believe there's one kicking around in the back,' I answered standing up 'I'll go have a look for ya'
I turned and pushed the door open which lead to the storage area of the store. I walked over to a stack of boxes in the corner of the room. If I had remembered correctly, there should be one in this pile somewhere. I started unstacking them, looking at the little pictures on each one. There was a good five guitars in this one pile. Boom! Sure enough, there it was, right at the bottom. I picked it up in two hands and carried it back through to the shop itself.
'You're in luck,' i said cheerily 'this is the only one we've got'
I handed it over to the man. He kept glancing between my guitar and the picture.
'This looks about right' he said.
'Yeah, that's the one' Amelia said looking over his shoulder.
He placed it back on the desk.
'How much then?' He asked smiling.
'All acoustic guitars are $200' I smiled back.
'Not for the guitar,' he replied to my confusion 'for lessons'
Lessons? We don't do lessons.
'Im sorry, sir but we don't do lessons here' I spoke sadly.
'C'mon,' he tried to encourage me '$200 a month. Just teach her a few lessons until she gets the hang of it' he offered.
It was a tempting deal, but she knew nothing. I thought about it for a bit.
'I guess we all have to start somewhere,' I said, coming to my senses 'deal!'
The man handed over $400 in cash.
'She'll be here on Monday, 11:00am' he informed me.
'I'll be here' I told him smiling.
The man picked up the guitar as Amelia and her mother left. I sat back in my chair and watched them leave. The door shut and I saw them get into the car parked outside of the shop. I saw Amelia get into the back seat. She put her seatbelt on and looked through the mirror. We caught eyes. I smiled at her. She smiled back at me.
'Miss Atomic Bomb, making out we got the radio on' the CD player sang at me.
-Liam
