Home For The Heart - Zachary Merrick

~1~

~Alyssa~
I was walking through town, getting away from my mom. I should be grateful since she's the only parent I've got, but I just couldn't handle the comments anymore.

I walked near a park and heard a guitar playing, which stopped me. I recognized the tune. Why did I recognize the tune?

I walked towards the sound and noticed a guy sitting under a tree, playing a beautiful acoustic guitar.

I smiled and stood in front of him while he played. He finally noticed me and stopped, making my ears sad. "All the small things. A great song by a classic punk band."

He gave me a soft, shy smile. "You like Blink-182?" I nodded. "One of my favorites. Do you know any other songs?"

I sat down and waited for him to play again. He began to play another familiar tune. I swayed along until he started singing softly.

His voice was quiet but it was almost perfect. He stopped playing and I was in awe. "You can play and sing? You have got to be in a band in the future."

He chuckled and looked down. "Actually, I already am. I'm the bassist." I leaned back on my hands.

"That's pretty sick. Oh! I'm Alyssa." I had forgotten I was new to this damn town. "I'm Zachary but you can call me Zack or whatever."

I gave him a little smirk. "Okay, whatever. So what other bands do you like?" He smiled at the name I decided.

"I like Green Day, New Found Glory, and Saves The Day. That kind of shit." Ooh, me likey.

"Sick. I like your music taste. Mine's pretty much the same." I preferred music of rock with some heart-tugging lyrics than songs about rocking it with shawty.

"Can you play?" He held out the guitar and I put my hand up. "I can't. I tried when I was eight but that didn't go well."

He still handed it to me. "I'll teach you a couple chords. Here's a C," he put my fingers on the correct frets and I strummed, the sound ringing beautifully.

"And then an F," he moved my fingers and I strummed again. "And then an A," he moved them once more.

"They're not that hard once you figure out the correct ways to move your fingers around." I smiled.

"Nice! I can actually do something good for once!" I handed it back to him. "I don't think I've seen you around here before? Are you in middle school or?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm going to be a freshman at the Dulaney high school." He smiled.

"Cool. I'm going to be a junior. So you're fourteen?" Ah, I hate being young. "Yep. Sixteen?" He snapped his finger and shot me a finger gun.

I started to laugh. "You must be pretty popular at school." His smile dissipated. "Well, being in a pop punk band with three other idiots? Doesn't exactly get you invited to parties. But, here, everyone is invited wether the host likes it or not."

Something I'll be steering clear of. I was about to add to that when my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

I hate this piece of shit sometimes.

I pulled it out and up to my ear. "What?" I pulled it away as soon as Mom started speaking.

"You need to unpack! We got here two weeks ago and you're still living out of boxes." I put it back to my ear.

"Got it. Bye," I hung up and shoved it back. "Guess that's my cue to leave. It was nice hanging, whatever."

He chuckled again. "You, too, shorty." I rolled my eyes and made the walk back to my house.