Dreaming In Stereo

Part 20 ~ Busking and Milkshakes

Max's POV

If there were a list of Most Natural Things That Happen In the World, friendships would definitely be on there. One second you've just introduced yourselves and can barely remember the other guy's name and the next you're basically besties. Well, that's what happened with Ethan and I anyway.

We sat on the ground next to each other eating crushed ice and watching Chris and Lara perform songs together.

"Who's Lara anyway?" I asked Ethan.

"Oh, um..." Ethan put up a hand to gesture 'wait' as he swallowed a mouthful of crushed ice. "She's this girl."

"So descriptive," My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"She's like Chris's best friend. They've known each other a while now, and yeah. I guess you could probably say they're best friends," Ethan explained. "Sort of like you and me?"

"Ethan, we've known each other for three weeks," I said.

"We were best friends when we were 5. That has to count for something," Ethan replied. "Although, to be fair five year olds don't really know much about friends."

"Which means you were either a very smart 5 year old or a very lucky 5 year old to end up being friends with me," I joked.

"You did buy my friendship with a beanie," Ethan said. "This beanie, actually." He took off the orange beanie he was wearing on his head. "And I gave you that one." We were both wearing beanies--me the grey-green Nike one and Ethan the orange one.

"Anyway, if you had a choice which two animals would you cross?" I asked randomly.

"Um... ooh, hard question. Definitely, like, dog and something. Dog and cat maybe?" Ethan replied.

"Crossing a dog and a cat is the most boring thing you could've thought up of," I said. "It's like, the standard thing."

"What would you cross then?"

"A dolphin and a bird," I replied. "So you know, it'd be like a miniature dolphin the size of a sparrow mor something, and it can swim and it also has tiny wings so it can fly."

"What the-?" Ethan and I both burst into laughter. "Okay," Ethan continued. "What about which two dog breeds would you cross?"

"A beagle and a corgi. So it'd have, like, the body shape of a corgi but the face and fur colour of a tanned-fur beagle. That'd be so cute," I said.

"I'd cross a golden retriever and a dachshund. Have you seen a picture of a golden dachshund? They're so cute, they're like, the face of a puppy golden retriever, but with the body of a dachshund," Ethan told me.

"That'd also be pretty cute," I admitted. "Come on, let's just watch Chris and Lara."

We turned our attention to them, who had just started to sing a new song, an Ed Sheeran song, The A team.

"White lips, pale face, breathing in the snowflakes," Chris sang. He didn't even need a glance at the lyrics sheet. "Burnt lungs, sour taste."

"Light's gone, day's end, struggling to pay rent," Lara sang. "Long nights, strange men."

Their voices blended easily into the chorus of the song and all the way until it ended softly with Chris whispering the last words into the microphone. There was some applause, and then Lara waited politely for a while and then walked back to where Ethan and I were sitting just when Chris said into the microphone--

"And now, my friend Ethan and I will sing another one of our favourite Ed Sheeran songs, Give Me Love," Chris said.

"That's my cue," Ethan whispered.