Mailboy (Wattys 2015 Winner)

19. Yesterday

“But who doesn’t like the Beatles and Elvis? They are amazing.”

“I like Elvis, but Beatles aren’t really my cup of tea.”

I gasped, “It’s the Beatles, not just Beatles. You have ear problems.”

“Can we not do this? I don’t feel like fighting with you.”

“But I like fighting with you,” I blurted out.

He eyed me weirdly, “Why?”

“It shows who you are and stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess it is fun. Fighting with you, it makes me get who you are. You’re Nico Forrest and I don’t know your middle name yet. You hate the world but you have a soft side. You look good when you smile and you smell really good. You have eyes that remind me of a forest, which is ironic, really, because of your name,” I paused, “You like cake and hugs. You have insomnia because of your mom’s death. Your relationship with your dad isn’t the best, but I’d say you two love each other. You like it when people care about you and—”

“Zoey?” He said and the way he said my name created a squirmy feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

“Yeah?”

I was blabbing again and I knew it.

“Please, shut up. When you start talking you can never stop. It’s quite horrible. And a pain in the arse.”

I let out a small chuckle, “Sorry.”

“Your description of me is pretty accurate, but you’re missing a lot of things.”

“Wait, I know! Your type of music is Arctic Monkeys and the 1975 and All Time Low and bands like that.”

Nico smiled and ohmyGod he looked so freaking cute.

He asked me about the songs on the flash drive and I named them all by heart. He started to skip several songs before settling on one of my favorites.

Elvis Presley’s voice boomed in the car, making goose bumps appear on my arms, “Wise men say: only fools rush in. But I can’t help falling in love with you.”

I swayed along to the song, mouthing to the words. The temptation to start singing along was making every molecule in my body shake in excitement, but I controlled myself for the sake of Nico.

He rolled his eyes, “Sing along, Zorro. I know you want to.”

“If I can’t help falling in love with you,” I sang, smiling. “Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes…Some things are meant to be.” I wasn’t trying to sing well, this was Nico, for God’s sake; he could endure my horrible voice.

Something happened at that particular moment that made my mouth drop. A voice joined along to the song and it molded perfectly to Elvis’s voice.

Nico was singing.

I had heard him sing once before at the campfire. Then, I was too concentrated on what Oliver wanted to tell me and his voice faded out. Holy crackers, the boy could sing! His voice was raspy and sweet to my ears. It was a mix of Sam Smith’s and Harry Styles’ I stopped singing and just stared at him as he finished the song with Elvis. The veins in his neck and his Adam’s apple appeared more evidently. When the song was over, I clapped. The back of his neck got a bit red.

“Since when can you sing?” I asked as Ingrid Michaelson’s version of it filled the car. It was softer to my ears, but Nico didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as Elvis’s original version, he skipped it. Let It Be now played.