The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know

How do you pronounce "caricature?"

How do you pronounce "caricature?"

Brendon and I went downstairs and left Flack Hall just as it began to snow again. He looked up for a moment and then said, "You know, when I first moved here, I thought snow was the most beautiful thing in the world," Brendon said. "Now it's just kind of annoying."

"I think it's magical," I said as I followed Brendon off campus and into the heart of Old Haven. I had never paid much attention to the town that I lived in. Usually, I stayed within the boundaries of the Kale campus, with the exceptions of my daily trips to the Aubergine. As it turned out, Old Haven was an adorable little town, especially in the winter. There were all sorts of small shops and houses lining the streets, and the snow accentuated the town's folksy charm. Old Haven was the opposite of Las Vegas, with its flashing lights and sweltering heat, and that was what I loved about it. "I feel like I'm in a postcard," I told Brendon.

"Me too, but I think that might just be because you're here," Brendon said as he gave me a smile. "Where do you want to go first?"

I looked around at all of the places that Brendon and I could go. It was a little bit overwhelming. "How about the smoothie shop across the street?" I suggested.

"It's too cold for that," Brendon said. "I do have some great memories there though."

"What happened there?" I asked Brendon as I came a little bit closer to him.

"I worked there before I got my job at the Aubergine," Brendon explained. "I used to sing to customers for tips."

"That's so cute, Brendon," I said.

"I don't know about that," Brendon said. "There were some people who didn't like it - mostly the other employees."

"They were just jealous of how many tips you were getting," I said.

Brendon laughed and said, "I doubt that. There's a really cool record store next to the smoothie shop though."

"Let's go there," I said.

"Alright," Brendon said. "I'll race you there." All of a sudden, Brendon sprinted across the street, and I tried to catch up with him. Brendon had quite a bit of a head start, but nevertheless, I almost beat him. Both of us were out of breath by the time we made it into the record store.

"Congratulations Brendon," I said as I tried to catch my breath. "You beat me."

"You're faster than I thought you were, Ryan," Brendon said. "Wait a second, is that a Queen record?" Brendon ran off to the other end of the store, and I followed him. By the time I caught up with him, however, he was looking at musical soundtracks. When he ran over to the hip hop section, I just gave up. Brendon's music taste was just as eclectic as he had claimed, while I was alone in the classic rock section, trying to keep myself from having another existential crisis.

I watched Brendon go all the way around the store, picking out record after record. It was entertaining just watching him get excited over music. Then again, Brendon was the sort of person who could get excited over anything. I had to take a few deep breaths to keep my heart from exploding as Brendon continued to look through the record store's collection. After nearly an hour in the store, Brendon finally came back to me with a huge bag of newly purchased records in his hands.

"When are you ever going to have time to listen to those?" I asked.

"I don't know," Brendon admitted. "I don't even have a turntable to play them on."

"Why did you buy these if you can't even play them?" I asked.

"I'm saving up for a record player," Brendon said. "I almost have enough money to buy one."