Melted by You

3

"That's very expensive, Landon".
I pout.
"But it's good for my brain! Learning to play a music instrument would improve my focus greatly..."
"Emma told you how to convince us, didn't she?" my mom cuts me off.
"No".
"Landon" my dad sighs.
"Just a little bit. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I really want a guitar! It'd be so cool!"
My parents share a look, and my mom sighs.
"We'll think about it. Now go upstairs, you have homework to do".

I groan, and go upstairs. 'We'll think about it' usually means 'we will forget this within five minutes but get really offended when you ask us again' with my parents. However, I've learned there's not much I can do except for accept it. If I start rebelling they'll never listen to me. Emma is sitting in her room, doing homework with her earphones in, nodding along to her music.
"What are you listening to?" I ask, sitting down on her bed. She looks up, and pauses her music.
"Oh, nothing" she says quickly.
"Nothing?"
She blushes a little. "Eurovision music. It's no big deal..."
She gets a notification, and her screen lights up. I can see what song is playing.
"Hatrid mun Sigra?" I ask. "Isn't that Iceland?"
"NO" she yells, and she shuts her phone down again. "Now go do your homework".
I roll my eyes, get up, and walk towards my own room. I don't want to do my homework. It's so hard.

The next morning it's Saturday. Good old Saturday. I love Saturdays, I've got absolutely no obligations, and I can do whatever I want for an entire day. I have no idea what I want to do today. I guess I could ask Lucas and Dean if they want to hang out.

I open my eyes, and look at the light coming from the window. My bed is very comfortable, but I shouldn't stay in for too long. That'll just be a waste of my free day. So, I reluctantly get up, and walk towards the bathroom. I take a quick shower, and get dressed. Ten Am, I've got a whole day ahead of me.

I scroll through Molton Page, the school's social network. Alex posted a picture of her and a few friends from cheerleading, Isadora, Logan's cousin, posted a story about why capitalism prevents her from being able to dance, and Lucas posted a picture of him and some random girl.
'Who's this?' I comment. A few minutes later, I get a message saying it's his neighbor. Alright, he's been making new friends.

My mom walks in, happy as ever.
"Hi dear!" she says. "We've been thinking, and we decided we will buy you a guitar".
"Yay!" I yell, throwing my hands in the air.
"But" she quickly adds. "You have to get lessons too. You can't teach yourself".
I'm silent for a few seconds.
"Alright" I then say. "That's okay. I'll try to find a teacher as soon as possible!"
I hurry upstairs, and jump onto my bed. I've found an activity I can do for today.

I spend my entire morning scrolling through the internet looking for people who can teach me how to play in my city. I've found a few places, though they're all pretty expensive. I sigh, and drop my phone on my bed. I lay back, and close my eyes. I'm done doing this for today, it's time to go outside or something.

I hear footsteps on the stairs. My mom knocks, and opens the door.
"Landon honey, can you bring this package to a friend of mine?" she asks, and she holds up a small, brown package.
"Why can't you do it?" I ask.
"Because I don't want a guitar".
I groan, get up, and take the package from her.
"Are you blackmailing me?" I ask. "Blackmail is illegal".
"No, honey. I'm just using my rights as a parent".
She pays my head, and pushes me out of my room.
"The address is written on the note on top of it".

I walk towards the bus stop. I know the exact route I have to take, I have to deliver stuff more often for my mom. She doesn't like public transport, so she tells me to bring it for her. I kind of understand her, the neighbourhood isn't a really nice one. This one time, someone's cat got murdered. That guy is in jail now though, so I won't have to worry about that.

When I arrive at the right stop, I get out of the bus, and walk a short distance to the right house. I ring the doorbell, and a friendly old lady opens up.
"Hello young man, do you have a gift for me?" she asks, in a fragile voice.
"Hello Mrs Brand, nice to see you again" I say. "Here you go".
"Oh, how lovely. Come in dear, I'll make you some tea".
I smile politely, but shake my head.
"That won't be necessary, but thank you. I'll see you some time".

As I walk away, I see a small, black pile of fur hidden away underneath a bush. I stand still, and inspect it. I notice it's moving. It's shaking. Very carefully, I walk towards it, and kneel down in front of it. It's like a small animal.
"Hello" I say quietly. It looks up, and I see it's a kitten. A black one. It looks absolutely terrified. Carefully, I reach my hand towards it, and I pet it. It freezes completely, but slowly starts to relax when I scratch her gently on the head.
"Are you lost little one?" I ask. It doesn't answer. Of course it doesn't, it's a cat.

"Hello" I hear behind me. I look up.
"Have you seen... Lucy!"
A guy is standing behind me. He looks at the kitten I'm petting, and kneels down next to me. He looks a little familiar.
"Did you find her here?" the guy asks.
"Yes, I did. Is she yours?"
He sighs, and carefully picks the black kitten up.
"Yeah. She's not supposed to go outside yet. We've only had her for a week... Phew, I'm glad you found her. My brother would've killed me if he found out she was gone..."

I look at him, and tilt my head a little, trying to see who he looks like. He's got a tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and dark hair.
"What's your name?" he asks, looking up at me.
"Landon" I say. "You?"
"I'm Owen" he says, and he raises his hand towards me. "Thanks for calming her down, I was terrified. I left the back door open on accident, she must've slipped out..."

"Logan" I say. He looks up, and frowns.
"No, it's Owen".
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just... You look a lot like my friend Logan, and I just realized that".
He gets a small smirk on his face.
"Oh really? How funny. Does he have a brother?"
I squint my eyes, and nod slowly.
"Yeah, I think he does. Hey, he also has a cat by the way. Her name is... Uhm..."
I look at Owen again, and he's clearly holding back laughter.

"Wait a minute" I say. "The cat's name is also Lucy and he's had her for a week..."
"What a coincidence" he exclaims. I frown.
"Are you his brother?" I ask. He laughs, and nods.
"Yup, that's me" he chuckles. "Hey, if you want to, you can come to our house with me. Logan could be home any minute now, I'm sure he'd like to see you".
"Where is he?" I ask.
"He's visiting our cousin".

I think for a moment, and then nod enthusiastically.
"Okay! I've been to your house once before, but I'm not sure you were there..."
"I was upstairs" he says. "Had stuff to do. Anyway, right this way".
So we start walking towards Logan's, and apparently also Owen's house.

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