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When I looked up, all the kids who’d been fumbling with their instruments were staring at me.
“This is my friend, Maeve,” Finn announced casually as he wandered towards a door with a “Staff Only” plaque on it. “She’s thinking about taking up the guitar, so I brought her along so you guys can show her how it’s done.”
I raised my hand in a polite wave while the kids stared at me and whispered amongst themselves.
“Pull up a chair,” Finn said over his shoulder as he unlocked the closet, disappearing for a moment before emerging with a guitar.
I made a beeline for the back of the room, unstacked a chair, and set it near the group, but not too close. That way, I’d be able to see the kids while they played, but I wouldn’t make anyone feel awkward.
Meanwhile, Finn threw his coat over the back of the chair at the front of the room and took a seat. Then he strummed a few times before tweaking the tuning pegs at the top of the fretboard so effortlessly I was instantly mesmerized. It was almost as interesting as watching him play, and I wondered what it would be like to hear music like that, to know an instrument like that.
Seconds later, he was ready to warm up, and as he led the group in an impassioned rendition of “Smelly Cat,” I had to laugh. It wasn’t the only time, either. I also got a chuckle when everyone adopted exaggerated Southern twangs for “Oh my Darlin’ Clementine.”
But not all the songs they played were easy. In fact, they became increasingly advanced. From “Eleanor Rigby” to “Three Little Birds” to “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” I couldn’t help but be seriously impressed. And once everyone was warmed up, they practiced the latest addition to their repertoire: “All of me” by John Legend.
Finn instructed that they would play it really slow, so everyone could practice as much as they’d learned. But by the end, even Lukas had dropped out, leaving Finn on his own to sing “All of Me”to…all of me, and my body burned from the emotion in his voice as the kids focused on his strumming.
But I wasn’t looking at his hands.
I was looking at his eyes, thirsty for the brief moments when he let them meet mine.
And as chills spread through my body, I blinked to keep my eyes from watering. Because I thought I loved that song before I heard him sing it. But after, it was Everything, and I’d never wanted to give someone all of me so bad.
