Carpe Aestatem (original)

Chapter 27

Sam

When my alarm went off, I felt a body next to me in my bed. "Kris?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, dobro jutro, Sam. I've got some toast going." He said, looking into my eyes.

"Thanks, Krisko." I said, managing to get myself out of bed.

"I'll let you get ready. We're at the rehearsal space from 9 to 2."

"I know, Kris."

I got out a pair of denim shorts, my Reputation Tour T-shirt (which somehow still fit me!), and my blue Converse. "What do you think?" I asked.

"It suits you. How did you sleep?"

"Pretty well. The walk really helped. When I'm back home, I usually go on a little walk if I was stressed. I don't know if it helps with jet lag."

"I don't know. I'll have to Google it."

I then sat down and ate the toast. "Will I get to check out the drum set?" I asked.

"Yeah. Did you bring drumsticks with you?"

"I did. So I wouldn't have to borrow Jure's."

"Great!"

We then sat in silence, sipping our coffees. "I'm really looking forward to meeting your family."

"They're looking forward to meeting you too. You excited to experiment on the drum kit in the rehearsal space?"

"Anytime I see a drum, I am so tempted to grab a pair of drumsticks and just play a rhythm. It's like the best thing I could ever ask for."

"You're a Taylor Swift fan, right?"

"I am. I've liked her since I was seven. She was my main inspiration to try guitar. I stuck with guitar for about two years and then I wanted to try something new, and my sister suggested I try percussion. And I've loved it to this day."

"You're really talented."

"Thanks, Kris."

I then resorted back to my toast. "You know the crazy thing about music?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not a career path many choose."

"I have a degree in chemical engineering, and I'm a guitarist. I didn't expect to get into music, but thank Bojan and the rest of the Apokalipsa boys. When Jan and I merged with Bojan, he brought over Matic and Martin. I couldn't be more grateful for that."

"How did you meet Bojan in the first place? And the others from Apokalipsa?"

"It's a bit of a funny story. You know my dad is a musician, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Bojan's band was performing a song my dad had wrote. It was called 'Led s sevra', which was our primary school anthem. I came in during their soundcheck and said 'That song doesn't have distortion'."

I burst out laughing. "You seriously said that." I said, trying to sip my coffee without spitting it everywhere.

"Fourteen-year-old Kris thought I had some authority because I was the son of the songwriter."

"Fourteen-year-old boys."

"Little did I know that I would have a music career." He laughed. "My dad was more than happy."

"Can you teach me a little bit of Dutch?"

"Yeah! Of course!"

We then spent the next fifteen minutes of Kris teaching me a few Dutch phrases like 'My name is Sam' (mijn naam is Sam), so hopefully I would impress his mom a bit. "If you freeze up, just tap me on the shoulder, I can translate." Kris said, patting me on the shoulder. "After fifteen minutes, you're like a pro at this! Ready to rock and roll?"

"On Jure's drum kit? Of course!"

"Gimme five!"

We then high fived, I grabbed my drumsticks, and we headed to the rehearsal space.