Carpe Aestatem (original)

Chapter 23

Sam

"What do you think?" Kris asked as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

The apartment was spacious for a small apartment. There was a kitchen, a nice living room, a practice space, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a little balcony overlooking
Ljubljana. "It's cute, Kris!" I said.

"Thanks. You can go get settled in now."

He led me to my room and I set my suitcase, guitar and backpack on the bed. Then I got a text from Michelle.

Michelle:
How's Ljubljana?

Sam:
It's cute. We forgot to book a hotel so each of us are staying with a band member and I'm staying with Kris.

Michelle:
NO WAY. Who are the rest staying with?

Sam:
Jenna's with Bojan, Olivia's with Jan and Avery is with Nace.

Sam:
Anyways, I need to unpack. I'll call you in a bit.

I dug out my percussion things, got out my clothes and Georgie. I got the drawers open and stuffed everything in. I had the Demoni hoodie, the Taylor Swift crewneck, a USN SENIORS sweatshirt and a few AE sweatshirts. I dug out my jeans, my concert clothes, some shirts and dresses, my PJs and I was all unpacked. "Now what?" I asked.

"Do you want to walk around the neighborhood and show you some places?" Kris asked.

"That's great! I'd love to."

Within five minutes, I had my GPS and Kris and I were walking around the neighborhood. "Do you have any siblings?" Kris asked.

"I have an older sister. Her name is Michelle. When I was little, I couldn't pronounce Michelle so I kept saying Shelly. And my real name is Samantha, but I go by Sam. But Michelle always calls me Sammie. What about you?"

"I have a younger brother, Maks and a younger sister, Maja. Maks is on the Joker Out team, and Maja is a little younger than you."

"You're the one that's half-Dutch, right?"

"Yes. My dad's Slovenian and my mom is Dutch. So I speak both languages. And English, if you can't tell."

I laughed a little. "What's your favorite thing about Slovenia?" I asked.

"The memories I've made here. From the band I was in with Jan, to meeting Bojan and his band, finally starting to pick up the guitar after meeting him, and now having two albums and having qualified for the grand final."

"Your dad was a musician?"

"Yeah. Have you heard of Big Foot Mama?"

"I don't think I have."

"He was in that band. And wrote some legendary songs here in Slovenia. I can teach you some if you want."

"Thanks, Kris. Although my guitar playing like sucks because I haven't picked it up since I started playing the drums."

"It's alright. You remember a few chords?"

"Not really. I need a refresher."

And then his phone rang. "Hallo?...Mam, ik ben met Sam van die band waar ik je over vertelde... wil je haar ontmoeten?... Wat dacht je van morgenavond? Oké, ik hou van je mam, doei." (I'll put the translation at the end of the chapter)

"Who was that?"

"My mom. She wants to meet you. So the plan for tomorrow is that we'll be with the band from 9 to 2, and then we'll be on our own for the rest of the day. My dad will also be there, along with my brother and sister."

"That's really sweet of your mom."

"She's really sweet. My brother looks a lot more like her, unlike me and my sister, we look more like my dad."

"Should we head back?" I asked.

"It's getting late. Let's go."

And then my phone rang. "Hi Shelly!" I said.

"Sammie! How's everything...where are you?"

"Kris and I were walking around his neighborhood."

"WITH THE KRIS GUŠTIN?! Hi Kris!"

"Hey Michelle!" Kris replied, waving.

"Where are Mom and Dad?"

"They're at a recent-parents-of-alumni dinner. I'll tell them that I called you and that you say hi."

"Alright."

"Nice to meet you, Kris!"

"Great to meet you, Michelle!"

I then hung up and we were back at the apartment. "Do you wanna watch something?" Kris asked as I took off my Demoni hoodie.

"How about Mean Girls?" I asked.

"The classic." (A/N I just looked at Sloflix and it has the Means Girls movie IN ENGLISH with Slovenian subtitles!!! And my school is doing Mean Girls for our musical this year so...another way to do my character study and learn Slovenian!!)

I pulled up my Netflix account and pulled up Mean Girls, one of my favorite movies ever, second to Mamma Mia! He looked at my recently watched. "You like movie musicals?"

"I'm part drummer, part theatre kid. I was the stage manager for my school's musical, which was Legally Blonde. I was ASM from the start of high school until junior year. This year I was the one behind the scenes, running the full thing."

"And I can tell you enjoyed that."

"I did."

Once the movie ended, I turned off the TV. "You tired?"

"Yeah. See you in the morning, Krisko?"

"See you in the morning!"

Here's the translation for the Dutch earlier in the chapter:
Mom, I'm with Sam from that band I told you about...you want to meet her?...How about tomorrow evening? Okay, love you Mom, bye