Blue Eyes

Chapter 1

 

Blue eyes. That's right, it started with his perfect blue eyes. They were just like the sky on the warm spring day I met him.
I rode my skateboard, trying not to fall over. The weight of my backpack, violin, and my guitar pulled my center of gravity to my right. I would go walking, but everyone else wanted to go out a little after practice before crashing at Blake's house. I brought to his house a set of clothes, my laptop, and a notebook full of lyrics in my backpack.

I joined the band because Matthew wanted me to get out of my "depressive" state and have fun. I didn't think that having fun would include hanging out with four teenage boys with raging hormones. This band meant a lot to me, even though I didn't see myself being with them in the future. We met earlier that year, around March when Matthew pretty much forced me to join. They decided to have a practice session at Blake's place with me just kind of tagging along. It wasn't formal or anything, it was just a bunch of people hanging out and making music. I became moreso the backup member of the band. I learned everyone's parts so that I could play them, even if mediocrely. I was also in charge of giving them pointers, no matter how harsh they seemed. Even from day 1, I became their greatest fan as well as their greatest critic.

"Lead guitar, too loud. Leave some space for bass and second to blend in," I said, after catching their attention.

"Got it," James replied. They played the same excerpt again, this time James turned down the amp a little.

"See? That sounded a lot better. Try to practice with the right settings on everything, even if it seems like an inconvenience. It will help keep you up to shape in the long run. But now lead was stumbling over notes a little bit. Do it again with drums"

Blake gave me a small nod, waiting for Matt's count off.

Most practices since then became more like rehearsals, but as they were improving more and more, we began having more free time. We also got to know each other more, artistically and personally.

Matthew was my cousin, so I already knew what I was getting myself into. He was fun, but in the dad type of way. He would try to be super hip and in on everything, but still worried for everyone. He graduated the year before the band started and had a part time job working at McDonald's. I would always go and visit him while he was working.

James was the one who thought life was all about having fun. We knew he had a lot of social activities outside of the band, as he was the one who invited the most people to our gigs. He loved messing around with his parts and was usually the one to bring in the cool guitar solos and different sounding beats. He was also going to graduate, although most of the time he was just barely passing his classes.

Kenneth was the playboy. I didn't really mind, but I also didn't approve of it. He kept trying to get my attention, but he would never get the signals. No matter how much I tried pushing him away, he would always come back. He was in the same year as James and had average grades. He would go to a lot of parties and complain about getting rejected at every one by the hottest girls. We shrugged his rambling off, but we were still concerned for him. His lyrics were some of those more superficial types that you would hear more often than not on the radio or mainstream media. He came up with catchy tunes that would also sound somewhat familiar.

Of course I found Blake more interesting. At first, it was his eyes that drew me in. They were piercing like ice but as soft as small waves or even the sky. Then it was his voice. It was low and modulated, allowing every noise to come out of his mouth to do so smoothly. It wasn't just when he sang, but also when he was speaking. He was in my grade and we went to the same school, so naturally I spent more time with him than with any of the other members. We had the same language arts class, which meant I got to hear his voice more and read his writing. Most of his writing was creative, but not in the sense I would have usually thought about. It was less "and the unicorn jumped over the rainbow" than some of the writing I have read. It was flowery and had big words, but they would all make sense when thinking about why he chose those words. He would have lyrical sentences wherever he could, adding another layer to his writing. It all had a very picturesque quality to it. This impeccable nature made itself known into almost everything he did. He even turned pages with such grace that I didn't imagine was possible. It was these little things that drew me even more to him. He dropped out after this last school year. In the short time of me noticing him, I began to fall for him more and more.