Carpe Aestatem (original)

Chapter 26

Jenna

It was 7am when I opened my eyes. Bojan was still there, on my bed, sleeping so peacefully. He then opened his eyes. "Good morning, Jenna."

"Morning, Bojči."

"How did you sleep?"

"After you came in, I slept like a baby."

"Glad I could help." He said, getting out of bed.

Then Martin and Ruby came in. "Hey, Jenna? You wanna come walk Ruby with me?"

"Sure! Just let me get dressed."

I put on my UCLA sweatshirt, my jeans and a simple T-shirt as well as my Converse, and eventually I was outside with Martin. "How did you sleep?" Martin asked a we were on the sidewalk with Ruby sniffing everything.

"I had trouble sleeping, so I decided to get Bojan, and he stayed with me for the rest of the night. Being in a new country without my parents is a little stressful."

"Leaving Joker Out was a tough decision for me, but I found a new passion! I still appreciate music and still close with the band."

"How long have you known Bojan?"

"Since we were eleven or twelve. You knew we had a band together before Joker Out?"

"Yeah. He told me last night. It was called Apokalipsa, right?"

"Yeah. It was a nice band, but our guitarists weren't that great. And then Bojan saw Kris and Jan at a concert, and he thought 'wow, they're really good!' Jan signed on right away, but it took Kris some time."

"And then you got Jure."

"Yeah. And then I left and Nace replaced me. I'm currently studying programming and want to go abroad, but I'm not sure when I am going to go abroad. You're starting university this fall?"

"Technically, I'm supposed to, but since we all got into the same college we deferred for a year to solidify our music foundations."

"Where will you be going?"

"University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA, if you can tell by my sweatshirt."

Martin laughed and and we headed back to the apartment. "Pancakes?" Bojan asked.

While Martin started the coffee machine and fed Ruby, I headed into my room and brushed my teeth. First full day in Ljubljana, we're going into the rehearsal space, pick the setlist for the first part of the tour, have us pick out a setlist and then we're going to run through a few songs, then we'll get lunch, then we're on our own for the rest of the day. I had no idea what Bojan and Martin have planned for this afternoon for us, so I texted my friends.

J.A.O.S

Jenna:
What are you gonna do this afternoon?

Sam:
I'll be meeting Kris's family

Olivia:
Don't know.

Avery:
Maybe run through some bass parts? Or maybe go to a cafe?

Jenna:
Bojan, Martin and I watched Gospod Profesor last night

Olivia:
Is it good?

Jenna:
They had to turn on English subtitles for me though. It was really good.

Sam:
Kris and I went on a nice walk around his neighborhood, and then we watched Mean Girls.

Avery:
I got to work on 'Carpe Diem' and 'Plastika' with Nace and then walked his dog. And met his turtles but I don't think they like me.

Olivia:
Jan and I just hung out on the balcony until the sun set, with his cat of course. And Jenna, Igor looks a lot like Mittens

"Breakfast is ready!" I heard Bojan call from the kitchen.

"What kind of coffee would you like?" Martin asked.

"The dark roast, if you have. Is Turkish coffee a dark roast?"

"Medium-dark."

"I'll take some!"

I sipped some of the coffee. "Oh my gosh, this is the best coffee I've ever had."

"It's my favorite. Turkish coffee with milk and sugar." He said, smiling.

Man, his smile is like a ray of sunshine. "What are we going to do after we rehearse?" I asked.

"I was thinking...maybe we go to a bookstore then hit a cafe, then teach you a few songs?"

"That's perfect!" I said. "Like the only song I know how to play by you is 'Carpe Diem'. I also know some Taylor Swift songs like 'Never Grow Up', which is one of my favorites."

"You also sing, right?" Martin asked.

"Yeah. I also like playing guitar as well. And we're still coming up with a name, you know."

"Over a Messenger chat?" Martin asked.

"Not how you did it. You just threw out names and Joker Out was the best option."

"Thank Kris for suggesting Joker Out. And it stuck!"

Martin, Bojan and I all laughed. "Anyway, we gotta go. Do you have your guitar?"

I ran back to my room and grabbed it. "See you at the bookstore, Martin?"

"Yeah! Bye, Bojan! Bye, Jenna!"

"Bye, Martin!" Bojan and I said at the same time.