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It was the perfect Real Simple daydream.
Except for the instruments.
They were everywhere – neatly stacked on stands or hung on walls, but there were tons. Two different electric guitars and several bass guitars, along with numerous amps. There were also two acoustic guitars, a drum set, an electronic keyboard, and a computer and monitor with a whole bunch of wires running out of it, hooked up to various mixing boards and whatnot. There were also a couple of microphones on stands – fairly expensive-looking ones, too.
“Holy shit, you guys have a whole studio down here,” Shanna marveled.
“Yeah… just no real good sound baffling, so the acoustics kind of suck. My mom won’t let us put any up,” Ryan said, then blushed, embarrassed at the admission.
“Ah, she’s cool, his parents let us practice every afternoon till six and sometimes after dinner, so you can’t expect ‘em to give us everything,” Derek said as he went over and grabbed an acoustic guitar. “I thought we could wow the ladies first with some covers.”
“Yeah, well, if you wanted to ‘wow’ them, you brought them to the wrong place,” Ryan joked.
Derek lightly punched his friend’s arm. “So modest.”
“Unlike you,” I said.
“Well, somebody has to balance me out. Sit over there,” Derek commanded us, and Shanna and I sat down on a very nice sofa along the wall.
Derek sat down on the ground as Ryan grabbed an electric bass.
“Eh, I was thinking just acoustic at first,” Derek warned him. “Plus, you know I can’t play for shit.”
“Okay,” Ryan said, and grabbed the second acoustic.
“Oh, maybe you are the slightest bit modest,” I said.
Derek smiled. “No, I just always tell the truth, that’s all.”
I think you’re absolutely gorgeous, and yes, I want to sleep with you.
I’m in love with your roommate… I didn’t plan it, and I don’t really know if she likes me, but I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her.
I crossed my legs uncomfortably as I pondered that.
Derek started strumming – nothing special, but not bad. Ryan tuned his guitar first, then started playing scales – quickly and accurately.
After a minute, Derek turned to us. “Any requests?”
“‘Under The Bridge,’” I said.
Derek grinned. “‘Under The Bridge’ it is.”
He looked over at Ryan, who looked at me and Shanna nervously… and then started playing.
He was good. Though it was on an acoustic guitar and thus was softer, all the notes were recognizably the same as the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song.
Then Derek started singing.
Holy shit.
I had convinced myself that I would come here because I might discover that Derek and his friend were two no-account losers, with no talent and no futures, and thus Derek’s spell over me would be broken.
To the contrary.
They were good.
Damn, they were good.
Derek’s voice was very different from Anthony Kieidis’s, but in a good way – deeper, huskier, smokier.
Sexier.
The parts he’d described to me about the song – the plaintive wail, the pain – he brought his own darkness to it. It was different, but it was good.
And Ryan was quite good on the acoustic guitar. Maybe not professional level, but good nonetheless.
Together they were better than any street musician or coffee shop performer I’d ever seen. And better than most of the local bands I’d heard as I walked past clubs on Friday and Saturday nights.
As they neared the big climax, Derek turned to me and Shanna. “Okay, ladies, we’re going to need some backup for this. Ready?”
“What?” I said, immediately panicking.
“Sure!” Shanna agreed enthusiastically.
When the choral part came in, Shanna and Derek both sang while Derek howled Kiedis’s part. Ryan was good, Shanna was okay, but Derek was amazing. The emotion on his face was real, and matched the intensity in his voice. Chills ran up and down my spine as I listened to him – and heat ran through my body as I watched his muscular form and that beautiful face contorted in pain.
After it was over and the final chords from the guitar died away, Shanna burst into clapping.
“Oh my GOD, you guys are GREAT!” she squealed.
I joined in with her clapping, kind of stunned, as though I were coming out of a daydream – or a great kiss.
“Yeah, you are,” I agreed.
Ryan grinned shyly.
Derek looked at me disapprovingly. “You didn’t sing.”
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
“I told you you were supposed to sing, and you didn’t.”
“I… I’m really bad,” I said lamely.
