Stay

29

“Right. Well if you’re going to hover, then maybe you can help me out. I’m looking for a gift,” I quickly explain. “I’m almost done all of my shopping except for this one last gift.”

Lanky smirks and straightens his posture. “Looking for anything specific?” 

“My friend has a record player, so I was thinking something like that. He plays guitar so then I was thinking maybe an accessory for it but I don’t know.” I really was awful at picking out gifts.This is why I liked to settle for gift cards. Gift cards for everyone seemed like the best solution. Sure it was thoughtless but at least it was easy to choose. 

“A box came in this morning with these sick guitar straps from the seventies. I guess this old dude croaked and his grandson was giving his shit away. Anyways, it’s pretty cool stuff. A lot of it has some cool patterns... pretty trippy shit.” He leads us over to a side wall where guitars hung from the ceiling. On a shelf sat a plastic box full of fabric straps. “The name’s Pete,” he adds. “We’re supposed to say that first thing... something about making the customers feel comfortable. I think it makes us seem more like creeps but whatever.” 

“Evie,” I quickly introduce myself, taking the box from Pete’s hands. 

“Nice to meet you,” he smiles. “Do you know what kind of guitar your friend has?” 

“He has a bunch but he’s always using an acoustic.” 

“Acoustics are pretty standard. These should fit. I don’t really know much about guitars. I play drums myself, but my buddy has one. 

I hum a response, too preoccupied with the different straps. They all ranged from vibrant solid colours to more subdued neutrals. They were nice but it didn’t seem like the best gift. Not for Niall at least... not for Christmas. 

“We also have one that was signed by the lead guitarist from Led Zeppelin.” 

I could feel my heart stopping. My eyes widened as I nearly drop the box from my hands. “You have a signed guitar strap from Jimmy Page?” I nearly shout, too excited by this new found information. This is perfect! I could feel a bubbling in the pit of my stomach. Excitement rushing through me. I could already picture the look on Niall’s face when I give it to him...

Pete laughs, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. It’s expensive but-”

“How much?” I ask, cutting him off. 

“Eighty bucks.” 

Ouch. That wasn’t exactly the price I had been hoping for. I had a budget for twenty-five dollars per person, fifty for each parents. Eighty dollars on a guitar strap fell nowhere in that planned budget. But, it was a signed guitar strap from Jimmy Page. I knew how much Niall loved Led Zeppelin. It was also the first album we listened to together. It made sense... it was perfect. 

“I’ll take it.” 

- 

I pull onto the sleeves of my sweater. The heater in my apartment had stopped working some time between locking up my door and coming back from the consignment shop. It was freezing in here. 

Somewhere behind a pile of cardboard boxes was a small heater. I pulled it out from the back of my closet and quickly plugged in. I shut all of the doors and windows, making sure the curtains were closed securely. 

I turned the heater on full blast, hoping that the icebox my living room had turned into would soon melt away. Looking at my watch, I only had a half hour until Niall was due for a movie night. Unfortunately I was hosting it tonight. Hopefully he was fine with below temperatures.