Rock Prodigy

Chapter 10

This one's dedicated to perlaparrot for being a dedicated fan! Thanks girl!!

Enjoy!

PS I love this tune :)

Chapter 10

For the next couple of weeks, my life was completely consumed by music. I carried my guitar around with me wherever I went and every free moment was spent practicing. I went to Mac and Dan’s place after school almost every day and the band practiced together for hours.

Sometimes during lessons with Mac, I would regret my decision to join the band, mostly because he was so strict and yelled a lot but when the whole band came together, it was all worth it. I would spend a year getting yelled at by Mac just to play one song in a band that had as much passion for music as this one did.

Two weeks after I’d joined the band, we were practicing in the garage, playing Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses. I was completely lost in the music, my fingers moving slowly over the chords and when it came time for the solo, I didn’t even think about it but let my instincts take over. I vaguely registered that I was doing it a little differently than the original but it sounded good to my ears and I didn’t want to stop. When it was over, I got a satisfied feeling that only increased when Mac started singing again and when the song ended, I felt so filled with energy that I wanted to jump around the room.

“That was amazing,” Cindy gushed from her seat on the couch after giving us an enthusiastic round of applause. I grinned at her but her gaze was firmly on Troy who didn’t seem to be getting the hint. Cindy had been tagging along to practices as often as she could and though I knew next to nothing about love and romance, I kept discretely telling her to let Troy know how she felt.

Watching the two of them cast less than subtle glances at each other suddenly struck me as funny and I laughed out loud, a grin stretching across my face as the adrenaline from playing music moved through my veins.

“What are you laughing about?” Dan asked giving me a confused smile.

“I’m just happy,” I said, grinning at him. And I was happy. The band had become like a family to me and music was filling a void in my life. “Speaking of happy…” I trailed off striking the first few chords of a song that everyone new.

We all started to sing Happy Birthday to Dan who grinned at us, wincing when Troy’s booming voice hit a bad note. “Thanks guys,” he muttered when we were done and Mr. Parker had come in with the cake. We all sat down around the coffee table that was in front of the couch. I had a spot on the floor between Troy and Cindy and everyone chatted amiably as they ate their cake. I watched as Mac, Dan and their father joked around and grinned at each other. They all looked so similar and their gestures were even the same. When they smiled, they all had the same dimple in their left cheek and the corners of their eyes would crinkle in the same way.

I couldn’t help but smile a little at the three of them, wishing that I’d had something like that growing up. If I would’ve stayed with Ben and Sarah, would I be close with my little brother or sister? Would we be a happy family or would I have been the outcast. I didn’t even realize that my smile had faded and had been replaced by a frown until my gaze connected with Mac’s. I could see concern in his blue eyes as he looked at me steadily and I hastily planted a smile on my lips, trying to reassure him that everything was all right. His frown deepened a bit and I mentally sighed before focusing on the birthday cake I hadn’t eaten yet.

We all gave Dan our gifts and eventually Mr. Parker left, telling us to behave. Somehow, I ended up on the couch and Troy and Cindy were sitting on the floor, whispering to each other. Troy would say something to Cindy and she would giggle and blush. I rolled my eyes at the two of them and picked up Mac’s acoustic guitar in order to distract myself. I hadn’t played acoustic very much but I really liked the sound of it and I had recently bought a Van Morrison album so I started playing the first few chords of Brown Eyed Girl and soon everyone was singing with me.