Burning love ~ Elvis Presley ~

Chapter 3

The next day once lunch arrived I rushed to the cafeteria in hopes of seeing Elvis again. I got there whilst it was still empty, well almost empty. There in the same spot as yesterday was Elvis and to my delight he was not only holding his guitar but playing it. Not wanting to disturb him I stood there just watching. Mesmerised. He had a real natural talent, his fingers dancing over the strings whilst his feet tapped to the beat, he was feeling the music.

Once others started coming in he stopped and deciding I didn't wish to be caught staring I made my presence known.

"Hey Elvis, you mind if I sit with you again today?" I asked.
Looking up into my eyes it took him a moment to respond "Sandy, I reckon I'd mind if you didn't wanna sit with me again".

With a grin I sat down opposite him, he returned my smile. We then both ate our lunch is comfortable silence.

Once I finished eating I looked up at Elvis to find him already watching me smiling
"What are you doing after school" he asked.
"Just walking home and working on some homework, why" I responded nervously.
"Well how's about I walk you home and ask your uncle if I can show you around town, if he says yes the homework can wait"
"That sounds wonderful" I responded excitedly.

By the end of the day I was a nervous wreck, I'd never had a boy walk me home before, I didn't know how uncle Laurie would react either.

We hadn't decided on a meeting point so I was just waiting near the front gate talking to Lilly, who was doubling my nerves gushing over the idea of a boy walking me home, once Elvis approached she quietened down, seems Elvis had an effect on everyone, I'd never heard her so quiet before.

I'm not sure how long the walk home was, it only felt like 5 minutes. Probably due to Elvis asking me many questions. He genuinely seemed to want to know me. He asked about my family, my likes, dislikes, school, we even had time to discuss our hopes, dreams and ambitions.
Staring right into my eyes Elvis asked "what do you want to do with yourself in the future?"
"Honestly Elvis I don't know if I could give you one answer, the world holds so many prospects for each one of us, but I know whatever I'll be doing it will be what god chose for me"
I then decided it was my turn to question "and what about you? What does the future of Mr Elvis Presley look like" I watched him for a long time deep in his own thoughts, just as we reached my gate he stopped me "I feel the same way as you, whatever I will become will be what God has chosen for me"

And with that he opened the gate and ushered me into my yard and then proceeded to walk to my front door and knock, I stood next to him awkwardly not entirely sure of what to do with myself, it didn't take long for aunt Fay to open the door, looking between us questionably.
Elvis quickly jumped in "good afternoon Ma'am, I go to school with Sandy here and I was just wondering with your permission of course if I could show her around town some"
I could have jumped for joy when she responded "it's fine by me son" until she said "but you'd better ask my husband, he's due back from work, won't you come in and wait"

So there we were uncle Laurie in his arm chair, Elvis and I on the couch, I was watching Laurie nervously but Elvis seemed unaffected, answering all of his questions with his quietly confident demeanour I'm growing to admire. But thankfully after many yes sirs and no sirs he relented on the questioning and told Elvis to have me back by 7:30pm for dinner, and with that we took off out the front door.

Obviously I had no idea where we were going so when Elvis stopped at a house the next street across I was confused.
He turned to me with that smirk of his and said "this here's my house, luck sure is on my side we live so close I get to walk you to school and home everyday" I couldn't help but let my excited smile show.
He then told me we'd have to go inside to grab the keys to the truck "oh no Elvis that's fine I'll just wait out here for you" I replied frantically but it was to no use as he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the front door.
"Momma, daddy, I'm home" he leads me through a door to the lounge room where a middle aged couple were sitting, I could only assume they were his parents, as we entered they both stood up.
The lady, short and slightly overweight rushed forward to hug Elvis "oh my boy, I was wondering where you'd got to, you were due home 20 minutes ago" her gaze flew to mine for a moment before returning to Elvis' a smile now on her face "and who's your little friend darlin?", "Momma, daddy this is Sandy, she's new to town and I offered to show her around town some, which is why we're here, I need the keys to the truck so we can head out"

"Oh nonsense, you's can stay here for supper first, I wanna get to know your friend" she responded before turning to me "the names Gladys and that over there is my husband Vernon" she said gesturing to the older version of Elvis on the sofa. Feeling unsure of myself I stuck my hand out "nice to meet you both ma'am" before I could react my hand had been put back in its place as she pulled me into a hug "oh no need for the ma'am business, Gladys and Vernon will do just fine" and with that she released me some before pulling Elvis and I into the dining room, calling for Vernon behind her.
Sitting down I felt slightly whiplashed, looking across at Elvis he was just watching his momma walking into the kitchen admirably, I looked to my other side at Vernon who had just had a seat, he must have found my wide eyed expression amusing as he chuckled saying "she'll try to feed you up lots so just make sure to stand your ground when you're full honey".

It didn't take me long to decide that Gladys and Vernon Presley were wonderful people and that even though I didn't get to see Memphis that day I was hoping to spend more time in their house and with their son.

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Bold italics are actual Elvis quotes :)