Carpe Aestatem (original)

Chapter 28

Avery

"Good morning, Avery!" Nace said as he creaked open the door to my room.

"Morning, Nace."

Ollie then jumped onto my bed, licking my face. "Morning, Ollie." I said, scratching behind his ears as he licked my face.

Nace then sat on my bed. "Ready to go into the rehearsal space for the first time?"

"Yeah." I said, rubbing my eyes.

He then brushed the hair back from my eyes, and I sat up. "That's my girl. I've got some coffee going. Come out when you're ready."

Nace and Ollie then left, which left me some time to text my mom and aunt.

Avery:
Nace's a really nice guy

I then put on my shirt that said 'WARNING: I'M A BASSIST, NOT A GUITARIST' that my aunt made for me, my Hollister jeans, my adidas sneakers and my USN SENIORS zip-up. "What does your shirt say?" Nace asked when I came out of my room.

"'Warning: I'm a bassist, not a guitarist'. My aunt made it for me when I had some family over and they got confused when I said I played guitar and then pulled out my bass guitar. They thought I had been playing the acoustic guitar. I did before I switched to bass."

I sat down at the table, mug of coffee in hand, with Nace making gluten-free pancakes. My mom also has a small gluten intolerance, so I do eat gluten free food often enough that I'm used to it. "Are they good?" I asked.

"They should be. I've liked them. Do you want syrup? Fruit?"

"Do you have chocolate chips?"

"I'll get out the bag for you. I keep them hidden so Ollie doesn't eat one by accident."

Nace put the chocolate chips into a small dish and I took a handful and sprinkled them onto the stack of delicious pancakes. "I'm really glad that we worked through the bass parts last night. I really needed it."

"Glad we could. Anyways, we have free time this evening after we rehearse. Do you have any ideas of what we could do?"

"I don't know. I really don't know Ljubljana that well."

"Neither do I! I've been here since, March, I think. What was your favorite thing to do in Nashville?"

"I loved walking around downtown after school, especially Music Row and window-shopping at vinyl shops."

"I can take you to a music store this afternoon, then we can play some Sims 4."

"I remember you mentioning that was the only video game you played in that one interview."

"They all said more logical games, I know Bojan likes FIFA, but he said League of Legends."

"Does he like soccer?" I asked.

"You mean football?"

"Sorry, American terminology."

"He did. Everyone says he can do anything. He can speak almost any language, the sky's the limit for him."

"I used to think Spanish was my passion because I was good at it. I was even considering minoring in Spanish if I could."

"Would you have if you had the chance?"

"I would yeah. I'd be the only one out of all my friends who would minor in something. Most people would do it the other way around, but I'd pursue music rather than Spanish. Did you know my aunt is a Spanish teacher?"

"Really?"

"I'd give credit to her for getting me all the way to AP Spanish last year. Although I think I bombed the exam."

"Whatever your score is, you should be proud of yourself for getting to the advanced level." Nace said, putting his dishes in the sink. "You done?" He asked, looking at my empty plate.

"Yes. Those are probably the best gluten-free pancakes I've had in my life."

"That's my Avery!" He said.

I grabbed my bass and we drove to the rehearsal space.