Blue Moon of Kentucky

Chapter 14

Elvis saw Barbara Jean a few more times, but then they drifted apart and soon enough she found another boyfriend. Elvis once lamented to his father about his loneliness at school on the way home, begging Vernon not to share what he had been told with Gladys. Vernon promised, but also insisted that if Elvis was lonely, he ought to do something about the fact. Elvis thought it over for a few days before deciding that he would.

He did it by applying to be on the baseball team, but the coach insisted that he would have to cut his hair before he could play. Elvis said no, didn't get to play on the team and remained as lonely as he had been before.

There were brief moments when he actually considered changing his mind, but then he thought of how long it would take for his hair to regrow and how stupid he would look with really short hair.

He'd just have to think of something else, and in the meantime he kept doing what he had been doing all along–avoiding the other students and minding his own business. The classes did keep him rather busy, and he would sit in the library for hours to do his homework once school was over. But there was still too much time for him to wander around and feel lonely.

Elvis finished up his science worksheet before going over his history notes and then finally shut his books and got ready to go somewhere else, wherever that might be.

Making his way down the path leading away from the school, a gust of wind passed by. With the influx of air the sound of a fiddle was carried to his ears. Elvis slowed his gait and turned.

They had a music room, which he would have maybe liked to use but was afraid to. He knew it was on the ground floor and somehow he couldn't help but approach cautiously.

The sound of a piano joined the fiddle, both sounding pleasant. He recognized the tune as an Ernest Tubb song, though he couldn't tell which one it might be. He didn't get to listen to the radio as much as he would have liked anymore. When he got home at night, when it was all said and done, he was often too tired to keep his eyes open and enjoy the music. He fell asleep in front of the radio a few times and all that got him was wasted batteries and a whole lot of disappointment over said waste.

"Hey, you!" A male voice bellowed just as the sound of the fiddle stopped. "Why are you lookin'?"

Elvis felt the urge to run, but instead he stood and watched as a thick thatch of dark hair emerged. That boy probably had longer hair than he did. He sure wasn't going to be on the football team either.

"You're Elvis Presley, ain't you?"

Elvis cringed. "I reckon."

"You reckon?" A low chuckle. "You sing, right?"

"Some."

"You can come right in and sing with us."

"I don't know that song even halfway through," Elvis said, but something did pull him toward the music room as if yanked by springs. He arrived to find the boy in the company of a girl with a blonde ponytail bobbing behind her as she played the piano.

"I'm Pete," the boy said. "I'm in your Math class."

"Oh, yeah." Elvis blushed. He didn't remember Pete because he, too, kept a low profile and wasn't on his list of ones to watch out for.

"Algebra's boring as heck, ain't it?"

"Oh yeah," Elvis sighed. "Who is your friend?"

"I'm Sue." The girl grinned. Despite the grin he could tell right away that there wasn't an ounce of physical attraction towards him and he was glad for it. After Barbara Jean, another girl wasn't something he was ready to deal with.