Trouble Clef

two

We burst out of the arcade with laughter. "I can't believe you got a PINK shirt!" I shout between laughs. "Hey! Real men wear pink!" he defends and grabs my head to give me a nuggie. "Ah! Derek! Stop!" I yell clawing at his arms. He finally stops and continues to walk to Music House. "You're going to pay for that!" I threaten and run after him. "Ooh I'm soooooo scared!" he mocks and runs away. I roll my eyes and Ty to catch up to him.

We soon arrive at Music House and stumble through the door. When we do, Ryan comes running up to us. "Where have you been?! I've been waiting for you!!" he scolds and looks at our prizes from the arcade. "Sorry! Are we late?" Derek says scared. Ryan sighs in relief, "No! You're still early! I just thought you'd be here earlier. Genevieve! There's a new shipment in acoustic guitars if you want to check them out?" I look at Derek excitedly. He smirks at me and waves me off, "Fine! Go!" "Thank you!!" I squeal and run to the supply closet. "Ok so your old acoustic needed some tuning right?" Ryan says. "Yeah. The screws kept loosening so I need to get it fixed," I explain looking around the room of guitars. "Well, since your family is grandfathered into our old system, you can get a new guitar for half price!" he says excitedly. My eyes widen. "Are you serious?!" I breathe, "Any guitar in this room?" "And out there!" he adds. "Thats incredible! Now I can use the money to get a new case with it!" I plan. Ryan nods and heads to the door, "I'll leave you to deciding which one you like." At that, he sauntered back to the waiting room. I glance around the room of guitars once more and try to decide which on to play first.

I settle on a Epiphone Emperor archtop guitar. It was cherrywood colored with a black tint as a border. I pluck at the strings and run my hand up and down the neck of the guitar. I start tuning it so that it fits the right key, and soon start to strum the intro to "A Team" by Ed Sheeran. I start humming a harmony for the intro as the guitar's rich sound echoes throughout the storage room. "White lips, pale face. Breathing in the snowflakes! Burnt lungs, sour taste," I begin to sing. I continue to perform the song in a light, high range. "And they say, she's in the class A team, Stuck in her daydreams. And they scream, 'The worst things in life come free to us!' And we're all under the upper hand. And go mad for a couple grams. It's too cold outside, tonight! And in a pipe, we fly to the Motherland, or sell love to another man. It's too cold outside, for angles to fly, to fly, to fly. Angles to die," I finish as I slowly strum the last chord on the guitar. Suddenly, someone claps behind me, and I straighten up, woken up from my serene day dream.

"Well well well! What have we here?" a tall, tan skinned, brunette boy says sauntering into the room. "Oh sorry, am I in your way?" I pardon. "Not at all! That was beautiful! Is that your guitar?" he asks smiling, his deep brown eyes twinkling in the storage room light. "It is now! My instructor, Ryan, told me about the grandfather deal and I HAD to try out the new stocks," I say and look down at the guitar. "It fits your voice. I could never fit into a guitar. I'm more of a piano guy. Actually, Ryan is my piano and voice instructor!" he says beaming. "Oh cool," I say and nod. Awkward silence falls between us. "So," he starts, "You're Genevieve right? Genevieve Benson?" "Uh, yeah. How'd you know me?" I ask cautiously. "Well you sing at my uncle's shack don't you?" he says smirking at me. I look at him for a while, "You're uncle owns Internet Café?" He nods, "Sure does. He told me about you one time when I was working tables. Your voice is incredible!" I blush a little and duck my head, "Thanks." I raise my gaze to the boy's face. He's so cute!! His tan cheeks were lightly fleshed with pink coloring. "I don't think I introduced myself properly. I'm Asher, Asher Crossheart," he says turning back to me. "Well, Asher, it's nice to meet you!" I say with a laugh. "So are you here for the raffle too?" Asher asks looking through the doorway towards the counter. "Yeah. It's so cool, the whole camp," I say excitedly. "Yeah? You interested in it?" he says, his eyes back on me. "Well why else would I come for the raffle?" I question. "Maybe you just really like raffles!" he shrugs. We both laugh at his attempt to cover his stupid question. All of a sudden, Derek comes running through the door. "GENE! ...and friend... Anyway, THE RAFFLE'S STARTING! Come on!" he shouts frantically.

I put down the guitar and stand up. "Come on!" Asher says and grabs my hand. .......he grabs my hand....... Let's keep that into account. We run out of the storage space and hustle over to the counter. Asher doesn't let go of my hand. I'm okay with that. I'm perfectly okay with that! "Hello everyone and welcome to Music House!" Ryan booms through a microphone. "We have a very special raffle for you all today! We're going to draw five names from this jar and those five winners will receive slips of paper!" he announces and pauses. "Oh wow! I've always wanted paper in slip form!!" Asher calls out from behind me. The room erupts with laugher. "Thank you for your input, Mr. Crossheart. Back to the raffle. Those slips of paper, that Asher feels so strongly about, are permission slips to attend the summer-long Global Chat for Music Camp!" Ryan says getting everyone on track. Asher pulls me closer to him and whispers in my ear, "You nervous at all?" "Pfft no! If I don't win I have my whole summer to record songs on my new guitar!" I whisper over my shoulder. "Well I hope you win! You deserve to!" he says holding my waist. "I hope you win too!" I say and pay attention to Ryan again. "People from ALL over the world will attend this camp, in Hawaii may I add!" Ryan announces. Cheers sound from all around the room, followed by oohs and ahs. Ryan turns around and lifts the jar off of the counter and into his hands. "So let's start the drawing, shall we?" Ryan booms and shakes the jar. He comes over to me and holds it out. "Genevieve, how about you pick first?" he offers tilting the jar opening towards me. I reach in and swirl the slips of paper around. Finally I choose one and pull it out. "Well, Genevieve, who is our first winner?" Ryan asks hand me the mic. "Uh...Amelia Darrow!" I say smiling. A little girl about 13 steps forward beaming. Ryan hands me a slip and pushes me towards her. "Congratulations, Amelia!" I say and hand her the slip. People clap and cheer as Amelia walks back to her spot in the crowd. Another person gets drawn and more cheers sound from the crowd. I sulk a little and look down. "Hey don't worry! You'll win! I know you will!" Asher says smiling at me. "Thanks. I just really hope I do," I shrug and turn back to Ryan and the drawing. "Derek Benson, how about you draw the next name!" Ryan says summoning my brother. "Uhhhhh..." Derek drones into the mic. He looks at me and smiles sheepishly. I laugh at him and give him a thumbs up. Derek reaches into the jar and pulls out a name. "Asher Crossheart?" He announces and lowers the mic a little. "What kind of name?" radiates from the speakers. More laughter fills the room as Asher goes up to accept his slip. "Congrats!" I say excitedly. "Thanks," Asher says calmly. "What's wrong? You're not excited about winning?!" I question. Who wouldn't be excited to win this opportunity? "I am, but I don't want to rub it in your face. So until you win, I'll play it cool," he explains and smirks. Aww that's so sweet!! "Just to inform everyone that this is our second last drawing, so don't loose faith!" Ryan assures the crowd. He draws a name and a man with a beard steps forward to accept his slip. "Okay folks, this is our LAST draw for this raffle," Ryan informs. He slowly reaches in the jar and slooooowly pulls it out. The crowd watches his movement with great anticipation. "Any day now, grandpa!" Asher shouts. Laughter fills the silence of anxious musicians waiting for their name to be called. Ryan shoots Asher an angry, yet playful, look. Ryan unfolds the paper and immediately smiles. "GENEVIEVE BENSON!" he shouts excitedly. Everyone claps and cheers. I clap and look at Asher. "Well, it was fun being here, but I guess it's not for everyone," I say sadly. Asher looks at me weirdly, "What are you talking about? YOU WON!" "Wait what?" I say and stand there like a dear in headlights. "I won?! I WON!!" I shout finally putting the pieces together. Ryan hands me a permission slip and I carefully take it.

Asher beams at me as I turn to him. "We're going to Hawaii!!" he says throws his arms up. He hugs me and lifts me a few inches off the ground. "Whoa!" I breathe and cling to his neck. He puts me down and laughs. "Sorry about that. I just got excited and...yeah," he says awkwardly. I laugh and shake my head, "It's fine! I understand!" Someone comes running up behind me and grabs my waist. They pick me up and spin me around. "MY SISTER'S GOING TO HAWAII!!" Derek shouts spinning me around. "DEREK PUT ME DOWN!" I scream blissfully terrified. We laugh as my feet touch the ground. "Oh I'm so happy for you! Just think of all the fun you're going to have! And just think of all of the space my room's going to have when you're gone!" he jokes. I punch him playfully, "You mean OUR room which you are NOT renovating?" Derek shrugs, "We'll talk about it later!" "No...we won't..." I say laughing. "Oh! Derek, this is Asher Crossheart! Asher, this is my brother Derek!" I introduce. "So YOURE the one with the weird name! Tell me, what kind of last name is Crossheart? Like, where's it from?" Derek quizzes. Asher shakes his head laughing, "I honestly don't know. But I'm part Italian." "Oh! My guitar!!" I say jumping. "Come on, I'll help you pack it up," Asher offers and heads for the storage space. Hawaii?! Hawaii!! What?! I'm going to Hawaii for the best music camp in the world! Wow!!