On the Fritz

Chapter 3 - Part 3

Fortunately for Fritz's sanity, school was quiet on Monday.

Half of his year group was out on some biology field trip, and as a result, his classes were mostly empty. Not to mention, he'd taken his lunchtime revision out of the English class and into the dark and small practice rooms in the music block. It was nice to know that he was never going to accidentally walk into a detention session, but that wasn't why he'd go there – no, in that room, for the first time in his life, he was wholly invisible.

He'd always sit on the floor so he'd be out of view of the one window in the room, and if he ever heard voices or footsteps, he'd quickly twist the lock or give the piano behind him a cursory smack to make sure they knew it was occupied.

Perhaps it sounded sad, but Fritz liked being alone. He would sit with his back slumped against the wall, maybe with his eyes closed, even, if he wasn't entertaining himself with an English essay or some chemistry revision. Combine this with over half empty classrooms and some balmy September weather, and Fritz wasn't having a bad time.

It might have been that he was too relaxed as he stared at the wall in front of him, letting his brain fire off no thoughts whatsoever, but he had apparently let his guard down. The door threw open, and with a guitar in one hand and a stack of cables in the other, Will walked in and shut the door behind him.

He turned and paused when his eyes landed on Fritz, who continued sitting. Will's eyebrows pulled in.

Maybe he wasn't as invisible as he thought.

"Oh," he said, before he started beaming again. "Oh!"

"Hello," Fritz said.

"Is this what cool people do instead of eating their lunch in the bathroom?" Will asked, and Fritz nodded. Will sat on the chair in the corner of the cramped room, pulling the guitar up onto his knee. 

"Is that where you eat your lunch, Will?"

"Not if I can avoid it," he said, strangely deadpan, which suddenly made Fritz wonder if that wasn't a joke.

He decided not to comment on it. "Where's Thing 2?"

"Debate meeting," Will said. "And Gigi's on the biology trip so I'm here. I actually am one step away from eating my lunch in the bathroom, I think."

"Well, look at us," Fritz said. "Maybe we can go eat our lunches in the bathroom together."

"I think here's fine," Will said. "Might look a bit suspicious if we walk in together." Will gave him an unsubtle wink, and Fritz scoffed, but he was smiling. "Oh, hey, you know Caroli-"

"Nice bass," Fritz said suddenly, cutting Will off. Will grinned, now pleasantly distracted. 

"Yeah! It is nice. Love a four-string. Don't you play?"

"A little bit," Fritz said. "I had lessons a few years ago because I thought it was cool. It was alright."

"You would probably be really good at it," Will suggested. "I've heard so much about your fingers, some of it probably has to be true." 

"My fingers?" Fritz said, frowning, before Will gave him a cheeky grin, and the tactful joke registered on Fritz's face with an "oh". "Yeah, sorry. Very true. Or so I've heard."

"Bass is fun," Will said, letting the cables start snaking from his hand and to the floor. "You should get back into it."

"Maybe one day. I-"

"Wait," Will cut in. "Just remembered! Okay, so I was talking to Francesca earlier," he started, and Fritz began sinking into the floor. "And she was saying how she was talking to Caroline, who said she reckons you're a prude and you wouldn't have sex with her. I think she worded it more nicely although the word prude was definitely getting tossed around."