Sparks

One On One

''Hey again'', says a the guy from yesterday, wearing the same baseball hat.

''Hey'', I answer, ''green tea with milk?'' He nods and I go to make it. It's the next day and I am working at the coffee shop like I do every day. The hours might be long, but the pay is good, and I am going to miss the friendly atmosphere of early morning coffee making when school starts next week.

''Now tell me the truth'', I say to the guy as I hand him his tea, ''did you come back here because of the tea, or because of me?'

''Mainly you'', answers the guy, ''but the tea isn't bad either.''I smile and take his money before he walks out of the shop.

''Hey Ember'', says Sam, who has suddenly appeared before me, next in line.

''Hey'', I answer.

''So, about the practising thing''' he says, and for a second I think he's going to call it off, ''you could come to my house a couple hours before practice.''

''Sure'', I answer, ''do you want anything?''

''Huh?'' he says. I gesture towards the line of people behind him, which he apparently hadn't noticed.

''Oh, right'', he says, ''I'll have a doughnut and a vanilla moccachino.'' I get his order together and we say our goodbyes. I move on to the next person line, grateful that he didn't cancel our practice together. Because try as I might to ignore my feelings, I was really looking forward to it.

Later that day, after a long shift at the coffee shop, I take the bus to Sam's house for our practice. His house is a pretty two story with red brick. I look up at the second floor and I can see Sam through the window, plugging in his guitar.

I walk up the path and ring the doorbell. After a few moments it opens to reveal Emily, looking slightly confused.

"Hey Ember", she says, "Sam didn't tell me you were coming over."

"We're just practising a little bit", I answer, casually.

"Sounds good", she responds, "you can come in." She holds the door open and I walk in. The walls are adorned with baby pictures of Emily and Sam and there also a lot of pictures of their parents.

I remember Ethan telling me a while ago that their parents are diplomats or something and are always away in other countries on business. I can't imagine what it would be like to almost never see your parents. My mum's a university professor and my dad's is the manager of the local golf club and even though they're out of the house a lot they are always there at the end of the day.

"Hey Ember." I look up and see that Sam is descending the stairs.

"Hey", I answer. He leads me up the stairs and we enter his room. It's blue and the walls are bare except for a Rolling Stones poster over his bed. His bass guitar is leaning against the wall, plugged into an amp that takes up lot of the floor space.

I sit down on his bed and he grabs his guitar and sits next to me.

"So, you ready to practice?" he asks.

"Yeah", I answer. He starts to play the chords and then I start to sing. A couple seconds later he messes up and we start again.

An hour later he still hasn't gotten it.

"Are you sure you play the guitar?" I ask, laughing.

"I just haven't had time to practice", he says, trying to defend himself.

"Do you have a piano?" I ask.

"Yeah", he answers, confused, "in the basement."

"Then come on", I respond, getting up and walking out of his room. He gets up, grabs his guitar, and follows me out of the room, still confused.